Adventures in Learning
Re: Terra Nova High School will close after this year
i am a student at terra nova…if i had never come to terra nova i would be flunking out of school.. partying every weekend.. not knowing what to do with my life.. not focusing on work i actually WANT to do and one more thing? i LOVE coming to school. how often do you hear that?? this sickens me. there are no budget cuts, our test scores are above average..this is simply small school discrimination and i will not have it. this school is NOT closing, and it is extremely unfair. the students, parents and advisors had no idea they were thinking about shutting it down, so no input from us was given. why would they not tell us? simply because they WANT the school closed without trouble from us. well now they are in for it. we are not losing this school without a good fight. before i came to terra nova…i didnt care about my education. at all. but now that i am here, all i want is to learn and i want to have a future. i know what my future is looking like because of this school. and without it? psssshhh….. i would be down the drains so to speak.
“anonymous”
(via radicallane)
How to start book sharing in public space? Cool way to reuse obsolete phone booths…
2012
Originally posted at Oregon Save Our Schools’ blog My heart is breaking over comments made by well-intended folks that if teachers just believed in their students, they can bring them out of poverty and into the arms of an ivy-league school. If I could, I would save every kindergartner that walks through my door of … Continue reading »
Posted by dloitz ⋅ January 29, 2012 ⋅ 7 CommentsCan a group of like minded parents and community members, support an education model for our children? An education that is designed for our evolution and not for our economy? Can we change the paradigm and create a new kind of education that is more organic and true to the needs of our imminent future? … Continue reading »
Posted by dloitz ⋅ January 27, 2012 ⋅ 4 CommentsOriginally posted at Line Dalile’s Website: www.writingisfun-linedalile.weebly.com Broken pencils and bitten rubbers scattered on my wooden desk while books sat quietly in my bag. The sound of flipping pages, falling rulers and sharpening pencils never seemed to abandon my ear. It’s another school day where the first row students actually paid attention and wrote down … Continue reading »
Posted by dloitz ⋅ January 20, 2012 ⋅ 3 CommentsOriginally posted at Adora’s Blog ”The customer knows best.” It’s an adage seemingly old as time (for us young’uns, anyway). While it’s not always the case (as anyone who has worked an intense over-the-phone customer service job before may know), it’s certainly always valuable for businesses to listen to what clients are saying–whether surveys, market … Continue reading »
Posted by dloitz ⋅ January 13, 2012 ⋅ 22 CommentsSo many people are raising the flag around “engagement” now, calling for student engagement and political engagement and social engagement. They aren’t talking about marriage though, and maybe that’s what is missing in the conversation. In the heart of a marriage proposal, or engagement, a seed is planted. It’s the investment of two people into … Continue reading »
(via Snowball Challenge to $150,000 | IDEA: The Institute for Democratic Education in America)
My friends and Followers, today is a day I ask a favor. IDEA,The institute of Democratic Education in America, is doing amazing work via two dozen organizers (including me), a committed & hardworking staff, education innovation tours around the country, the list goes on.
I am asking you to consider pledging even just $3 a month for the next year. If you’re feeling generous, go for a bit more and skip a lunch outing each month. Times are tight, but education needs you. So much to do, so little time.
Parents, teachers, business owners, students, we need everyone, and IDEA is helping to create that change it.
As little as 3 bucks a month, you can be the change. (they even accept paypals)
I have pledged that, and if I can get 10 others to pledge 3 dollars a month I will double my donation. I know a lot of you love all the links that I share, much of that energy is due to my work with IDEA! So think of it as an investment in me and an investment in good education resources!
Please message me if you donate and I will give you an Adventures in Learning Shout out!
(via Can A Community Support Education? (Guest Post by Donna Mikkelsen) « Cooperative Catalyst)
Can a group of like minded parents and community members, support an education model for our children? An education that is designed for our evolution and not for our economy?
Can we change the paradigm and create a new kind of education that is more organic and true to the needs of our imminent future? Can we create an education system built around the integrity of the community’s values that can sustain itself without being tethered to the bureaucracy, politics and the outdated industrial model of our current education system?
There are a growing number of parents who want to be more invested and involved in the education of their children, who have something of value to share. At The Garden Road School (www.thegardenroad.org) we welcome and provide the opportunity for that to happen.
Community Supported Education is a concept born out from ten years of innovation, experimentation, and hard lessons won as a small school trying to change the world. We have endeavored to provide an educational environment that is natural, balanced and inspiring for our children. Our drive has always been to improve the human condition and to help others cultivate their natural genius at the same time, cultivating our own as educators.
n reference to the last post on empowered youth voices, I wanted to publish a few links to some articles and resources which have been influential, thought provoking and empowering for me on this and related subjects. Please check out these articles from Cooperative Catalyst, as well as some of the other resources here:
Youth Rights, Dignity, and the Anti-Democratic Values of Pubic Schooling – A powerful article on the ways in which traditional public schooling poses an inherent threat to youth empowerment, and which also includes a free pdf link to an amazing resource called The Teenage Liberation Handbook.
Ten Reasons to Abolish Homework (and Five Alternatives) – A succinct and persuasive article which outlines the ways in which homework supports and recreates all kinds of oppressive power structures, and shows how the learning can be radically reimagined when this arcane tradition is challenged.
Permission to Speak: Content Classes, Democracy, and the End of School – An honest reflection from an educator’s perspective about the ongoing process of actively stepping back to give students the space they need to step up.
And just for good measure, watch this ill video of members of FIERCE–a queer youth of color collective from NYC–mic checking members of the Obama administration at a conference. An inspiring example of what empowered and collective learning–entirely free of the classroom–can look like:
(via Betterness: Economics for Humans - Harvard Business Review)
“Betterness: Economics for Humans” is a powerful call to arms for a post-capitalist economy. Umair Haque argues that just as positive psychology revolutionized our understanding of mental health by recasting the field as more than just treating mental illness, we need to rethink our economic paradigm. Why? Because business as we know it has reached a state of diminishing returns—though we work harder and harder, we never seem to get anywhere. This has led to a diminishing of the common wealth: wage stagnation, widening economic inequality, the depletion of the natural world, and more. To get out of this trap, we need to rethink the future of human exchange. In short, we need to get out of business and into betterness.
Click through to see a collection of all the guest posts at the Cooperative Catalyst!
1. A culture of critical collaboration
2. Interdisciplinary problem solving, every day
3. Tinkering with solutions and reclaiming failure
4. The shared power of the pencil and pixel
This is so true. If we just change these things in our own classes, all the other issues would start to be worked out.
We have had a number of recent new student/youth leaders join us at the Cooperative Catalyst, either as guest bloggers or members. Here is a handful of their important posts!
Youth Rights, Dignity, and the Anti-Democratic Values of Public Schooling
Learning Revolution, Are You Ready? (Guest Post by Line Dalile)
It Takes People to Make a Change, Not a Government (Guest post by student Diego Negrón Reichard)
Hey Mr.Knowitall, 2 Weeks Detention…For Talking Seriously About Education
