Last weekend I went to Philly for Educon. We arrived Thursday evening, and walked to the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) Friday morning for a 9:00 session on making videos. My group worked on a film about the importance of using instructional videos in class. While filming, we can upon a Spanish 2 class that was in the middle of a film-- Apocolypto. We had a good conversation with don Marcos, the teacher, about how he is using the film. Mark said something interesting at the end of our interview: when he assesses reading comprehension he asks the questions in English, when he assesses writing he gives the prompt in English; this way he can truly check on and assess the skill he is focused on.
That afternoon I observed a Spanish 1 class. Melanie was reviewing the nosotros form of the verb. The project the students are working on is a promotional video for the school that highlights all of the things that "we" do there. What a cool idea! Suddenly, project-based learning in world languages made more sense!
Friday night was a panel discussion. The four panelists were business and community leaders from many backgrounds. There was some tension between the woman who markets to teens and tweens and the man who was a social activist, and it was a very lively discussion. The theme of the conference was connections, and that was the focus of the panelists discussion.
Saturday began with a keynote address from the Philadelphia chancellor of schools. What incredibly difficult circumstances the district has dealt with! 5,000 teachers laid off. No wonder SLA has Rosetta Stone for Spanish 3 and 5! Nevertheless, every faculty member from SLA that I spoke to or listened to expresses optimism and commitment. They are doing amazing things in very difficult times.
The first session I went to was on Window teams. Bryan had asked any of us attending who serve on a window team to consider coming, and so I did. I did have a chance to share my frustration about my own team, and got some hope for improvement soon.
After lunch I participated in a conversation about inquiry and project based learning. Teachers and students from SLA shared projects and processes. I am amazed at how articulate SLA students are! They had no difficulty working individually with groups of teachers.
The third conversation for the day was about Mastery Tracking. It was disappointing: the teaching as described was like a "traditional" classroom, but kids have more chances to demonstrate mastery of the material. On the way back to the hotel, Bryan shared what he knew about the iSchool in NYC, and it did not match what I had heard during the conversation. Nevertheless, I did get some ideas about how to make sure my students are meeting standards before advancing to the next level.
Saturday night supper was provided by the school and served by parent volunteers. It was a taste of Philadelphia-- eggplant parm, cheese sticks, wings, salad, and the iconic cheesesteak. It was followed by a mixer at a local bar, that would have been more fun if you could have told who were conference participants and who weren't. Plus, without seating after an hour my hips started to hurt, and it was very hard to hear. But still, nice to get out and listen to each others' stories.
Sunday started with a panel discussion on connections in education. It was another lively conversation among leaders who were more directly connected to education than Friday's panel. Session four was about Convergence Re-imagining Education Project:Envisioning the Future of Learning. That was an engaging conversation. This group of people from many constituencies is doing some very exciting work, re-imagining school. Their plan for systems that support great learning could apply to any school, even MVS: standards for knowledge, skills and dispositions; a coordinated network of adults; technology as an enabler; assessments of learning, for learning, and as learning (meta-cognition); re-imagined spaces for learning; a coordinated network of institutions, organizations, agencies, federations, and businesses; resource allocations; and funding governance, and quality assurance. Their vision of good learning: competency based; personalized, relevant and contextualized; learner agency (vs. compliance-- learners are co-creators); socially embedded with peers and caring adults; open walled- not confined to school. I spoke with Kelly Young after the conversation about our Immersion program and the MVS Immersion Method in reference to learning without walls; she was eager to hear about it, and I left her with contact information (though I still have not heard from her) We were invited to receive a copy of the report by signing up at learnercenterededucation.org-- it is due to come out soon.
Session five was about taking care of myself. We got to blow off some steam and make a plan for self care. My blessing bracelet has helped me with that; several times a day I stop and name four blessings or things I am grateful for as I touch each bead-- it helps me to practice gratitude and to be better present for my students. Other suggestions I got: Breathe. Check out the chime at mindfulness bell (an app). Headspace (which has a fee involved).
The last session was about authentic learning and authentic assessment. Authentic learning includes a real-world problem with real-world returns. It stems from need, includes personal choice/passion, and involves risk: real problems, real passions, real risk, and real returns. There is reciprocity. Who determines meaning? Is the student voice included? There are consequences/impact. It is relatable-- it has cultural relevance. Questions to ask when assessing: Why is this assessed? Who does the assessing? Does it assess what I am teaching? It was a provocative conversation at the end of a very full weekend.
We had cold and dreary weather in Philadelphia, but the good things happening at SLA and at other schools and classes around the world provided some light in the murky atmosphere of school improvement and reform.
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