Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Reflection on Symphony

I don’t know if the topic was ironic, (we discussed Symphony) but today it all came together for the kids in both period 2 and 5. Maura also said her kids had dynamic conversations in both sections so our school today was on a roll. I want to make sure I thank all of our visitors who took the time to come in and challenge our kids thinking pushing them in new directions. Period 2 welcomed the wonderful Bud Hunt and Kelly Dignan, and Period 5 had the terrific threesome of Lucie Stanish, Christian Long and Eric Grant. All of them have our big thanks!

Period 2 had such a wonderful conversation centered around changing education to make learning more meaningful and significant for themselves. They even proposed having a fishbowl for the school board and bringing them here or going there to show them how learning can look and be different. I challenge them to do so. Why not? I hope they see that education exists for them not something that should be done to them. The power to change rests in them, not in me, not in Karl Fisch, and not even in our guests that attended today. If they have a vision and a purpose for redoing education, they need to embrace the passion and vision to make a difference. If they don’t do it, who will? If they don’t do it now, will anyone ever make the changes necessary? I wouldn’t be surprised if some AHS kids are emailing the school board and Scott Murphy to come in for a discussion.

Period 5 had a great conversation as well focusing instead of homework with their learning and finding the symphonic connections to school. They also really focused on how school could look different but no one seemed to think about how to change it or what steps are necessary to make the changes that they see need to be made. I would challenge them as well to take some action. In this class I saw the inklings of great thoughts. Kudos to Nick and Justin for making some excellent points! I am so impressed by the entire class for really seeing learning differently and how they are beginning to truly grasp that learning looks different than simply regurgitating facts. Learning is applying the information in new ways so that they understand it.

Some things for both classes to think about:
· Who is education for?
· What role do you play in changing education?
· If you know education/ school should look differently, why not do something about it?

Remember kids, there was only one thing I wanted you to do this year: Change the World. What are you waiting for?

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