Tag Archives: The Falconer

Self-Awareness & School Change: @GrantLichtman #EdJourney, episode 5, week 4

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From Grant Lichtman’s chapter in The Falconer entitled “Step 2: The Boundaries of Subjectivity and Objectivity.”

Sun Tzu says, “So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.

And…

Acceptance that something is possible opens a lot of doors to creative thinking.

Most recently, Grant’s #EdJourney blog posts on The Learning Pond have touched repeatedly on schools that voluntarily invite regular reviews from visiting colleagues – schools that practice vigorous feedback looping and self-awareness. On another thread, Grant has been reporting on a series of schools that are rethinking and/or abandoning the AP (Advanced Placement) tests. Our week 4, episode 5 video-interview below concentrates on these stories…

@GrantLichtman #EdJourney, episode 3: Systems of Innovation – Midwest

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How might we understand the parts and the whole of a system?

Mr. Usher asked the Children to measure off a square on the ground that measured six feet on a side and to mark the square with the string they had found in the toolbox. When the yellow strong was measured out and stretched on the ground, and two of the Children had wisely put large stones on the string to keep it in place, Mr. Usher asked the Children to sit around the square on the ground.

“Now, Children,” Mr. Usher began, “we’re going to learn a very important skill today, more important than how to throw a baseball or how to make peanut butter sandwiches, and almost as important as how to read or write or do addition and subtraction. I want you to look at the square we’ve marked out, and I want you to write down everything that’s in the square, or is happening in the square, or is part of the square, or makes something happen in the square. Everything. Work together and come up with a list. Tell me when you’re finished.” And with that, Mr. Usher sat down with his back to a thick young oak tree, pulled his hat down over his eyes, and looked as if he had decided to take a little nap.

This passage comes from Grant Lichtman’s chapter in The Falconer entitled, “Step 3: Understanding the System.” Our schools are systems. How do we understand these systems? How might we understand them better?

Grant’s #EdJourney road trip is in the second week. Grant is studying the systems. What is he finding within the yellow string that he is setting in place with large stones…

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Catch up on the whole season…

Denver – @GrantLichtman #EdJourney, episode 2 – 9.13.12

Grant Lichtman’s #EdJourney Videocast, Episode 1

Synergy-PBL: Questions are waypoints on the path of wisdom #CFTSI12 (1 of 3) Appetizer Flights: Pre-Institute Assignment

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Synergy-PBL: Questions are waypoints on the path of wisdom #CFTSI12 (1 of 3)
Appetizer Flights: Pre-Institute Assignment

On Monday and Tuesday, June 25-26, Bo Adams and Jill Gough are facilitating a ten-hour workshop at The Center for Teaching Summer Institute (#CFTSI12 on Twitter). With this post and two more (coming soon), institute participants and blog readers alike can find a three-part outline of our session (at least as we intend it before we start!), complete with links to many of the resources we plan to use.

Appetizer Flights: Pre-Institute Assignment
Choose a Flight or Mix-N-Match to Make Your Own Three-Part Assignment

Inspired by Flights, a restaurant in Memphis, TN (dined at during #MICON12), that expands the idea of a “flight of wine” into a full-restaurant delight, our pre-institute assignment and CFT-SI 2012 structure come to you in Flights – “dining triples” that can be enjoyed as presented or mixed and matched to design your own tasty, three-part experiences. Before the CFT-SI begins, please partake in one of the three flights below, or create your own from the nine selections. For instance, one learning-diner may decide to immerse herself in the “Cozy-Chair Reading” Flight and consume all three reading selections. Another nibbler might decide to combine “Peak Learning” + “7 Essentials” + “Geoff Mulgan” for a diner-designed flight. We want your dining learning experience to be a culinary-cognitive delight! Bon-appetite!

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The “Writing-Is-Thinking” Flight

  1. Peak Learning Experience – “Think about your own life and the times when you were really learning, so much and so deeply, that you would call these the “peak learning experiences” of your life. Tell a story (you may include pictures, symbols, or other icons, too) about this peak learning experience, and respond to the question, “What were the conditions that made your high-level experience so powerful and engaging?” If you have already engaged this prompt in an earlier workshop, please describe another peak learning experience in your life, or “copy and paste” a previous story/response. (adapted from 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times, Trilling and Fadel, 2009). 
  2. How We Hobby – Describe a hobby, interest, or passion that you WISH you had. How would you go about learning and developing this hobby, interest, or passion? Be specific and try to tell a story.
  3. Walking & Talking – Some would argue that walking and talking are two of the most complex human learning endeavors. Reflect on how your child or a relative’s child learned to walk and talk. Describe the experiences in some kind of recounting or storytelling.

The “Cozy-Chair Reading” Flight

  1. Reading from The Falconer re: Questions book excerpt
  2. “7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning” article 
  3. “What PBL Isn’t, and What it Is: 2 Videos from High Tech High” blog post

The “TED School Design” Flight

  1. Geoff Mulgan: A short intro to the Studio School (6:16)
    “Some kids learn by listening; others learn by doing. Geoff Mulgan gives a short introduction to the Studio School, a new kind of school in the UK where small teams of kids learn by working on projects that are, as Mulgan puts it, ‘for real.'”
  2. John Hardy: My green school dream (6:16)
    “Join John Hardy on a tour of the Green School, his off-the-grid school in Bali that teaches kids how to build, garden, create (and get into college). The centerpiece of campus is the spiraling Heart of School, perhaps the world’s largest freestanding bamboo building.”
  3. Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering (4:08)
    “Gever Tulley uses engaging photos and footage to demonstrate the valuable lessons kids learn at his Tinkering School. When given tools, materials and guidance, these young imaginations run wild and creative problem-solving takes over to build unique boats, bridges and even a roller coaster!”

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Coming Soon…

Synergy-PBL: Questions are waypoints on the path of wisdom #CFTSI12 (2 of 3)
The First Course: “School Tools” – PBL for the Adult Palette
(Day 1 – Monday, June 25, 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.)

Synergy-PBL: Questions are waypoints on the path of wisdom #CFTSI12 (3 of 3)
The Second Course: “School’s Cool” – PBL for the Student-Learner
(Day 2 – Tuesday, June 26, 8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.)

Synergy-PBL: Questions are waypoints on the path of wisdom #CFTSI12 (After 3)
Coffee and Dessert: What Will Sweeten Your Teaching After #CFTSI12?
(180 Days of Possibility in 2012-13 – Keeping the Conversation Going)

[Cross-posted at Experiments in Learning by Doing]
[Cross-posted at Synergy2Learn]