Tag Archives: SLA

Mar 29

Thoughtfulness

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[In my attempt to push my own thinking, I'm continuing to unpack in writing some of the things that I say a lot. I always say that I want SLA kids to be "thoughtful, wise, passionate and kind" -- and I do -- so I thought it was a good idea to take those words apart a bit. This is part one.]

Once we accept the premise that the purpose of school is to help our students become fully realized citizens of a modern world, we have to ask ourselves what are the universal traits of the modern citizen?

We want people who are thoughtful.

Not “thoughtful” as a synonym for “nice.” Our world needs people who are truly “full of thought.”

There has long been an anti-intellectual thread to American society and sadly, school has probably done as much to perpetuate it as it has to eliminate it. By catering to the “right answer” and a reinforcing curricular decisions that taught kids in a top-down, “we know what is best to learn” fashion, we have long sent the message that thoughts that are outside the proscribed canon — and therefore kids who are outside the proscribed canon — are not o.k.

When we treat our classes as lenses on the world, not walled-off silos, we allow students to make connections to other ideas in such a way that will allow them to connect idea to idea, thought to thought, in ways that can be never-ending.

When we honor the ideas our students have and dare them to push those ideas further, we teach students that the world of ideas is a place they can live.

When we model thoughtfulness by deconstructing our own ideas in public, we teach our students that thoughts are not fixed, final and perfect, so that students can understand how reflective practice can lead us to deepen our ideas.

When we are open as teachers so that student ideas can influence and change our own — so that we are a learner in our own classrooms as well — we teach students that authority has no monopoly on ideas, on “right.” A teacher who is willing to say the words, “I never thought it that way,” to a student in a classroom opens a child up to the power of their own ideas to influence others, and that is an invaluable lesson to learn.

And when we create an inquiry-driven, project-based curriculum, where students can take the ideas of the classroom, make them their own, go deeper into the ideas that most speak to them, and then build artifacts that reflect their ideas and the path they travelled to develop them, we let students see the power of their ideas made manifest in the world.

In the end, the hallmark of a great school isn’t the number of ideas, facts and thoughts of ours that our students remember at the end of four years, it is the sheer number of ideas, facts and thoughts they discovered that built on the foundations we helped them to build.

It is the thing a test can never measure, and we have to do it anyway.

We must help our students be thoughtful.

Mar 23

SLA Summer Teaching Institute

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On behalf of the SLA community, I am proud to share an email about the SLA Summer Teaching Institute we sent out this week:

We are excited to invite you to join us for SLA’s Summer Teaching Institute in partnership with Drexel University!

This professional development opportunity is designed for teachers from all disciplines and backgrounds. Participants will immerse themselves in SLA-style teaching and learning as we focus on inquiry-driven, project-based, technology-enriched learning. The week-long institute will be from July 15th-19th, 2013. Participants will receive three graduate credits from Drexel University.

For more information and to register, click here.

Sincerely,

Chris Lehmann (SLA Principal)
Joshua Block (SLA humanities teacher)
Tim Best (SLA science teacher)

Seven years ago, SLA opened with the idea that our school could be both a powerful learning institute for students and for educators in Philadelphia and beyond. With the success of EduCon, and the work many SLA teachers do both locally in Philadelphia and with schools all over the world, this represents an important next step for us as a learning institution. We are grateful to Drexel University for their partnership, and I know that the hard work Josh and Tim (and others) are doing will mean that this will be an incredible week of learning for all involved.

Join us.

 

Mar 19

SLA Students Make Anti-Violence PSA

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Since this blog is called “Practical Theory,” I think it is important sometimes to show the powerful, practical work that kids can do. This is a PSA made by SLA 11th graders for their English class. We need to always remember that kids care deeply about their world, and they are capable of sharing a vision of that world when we give them the tools and give them the chance.

What if high school wasn’t just preparation for real life? When we treat high school as real life, kids can do work like this:

Jan 31

EduCon 2.5: Creating the Conditions for Structured Inquiry

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Some thoughts from others about the session I ran on Sunday morning – Beyond Googling: Structuring Inquiry

Inquiry Breaks Down Rigidity – by Kristen Swanson

Why Inquiry Learning is Worth the Trouble by Ian Quillen of KQED

So my Sunday morning session at EduCon was entitled Beyond Googling: Building the Conditions for Structured Inquiry. The slide-deck is at the bottom of post. It was an evolution of a workshop I’ve done before, but my whole goal was to really think about the session on both the real and the meta-session level. (Yeah, I just made up a word.)

The goal was to create an environment where some real tough questions around what this word “inquiry” really can mean in the classroom, followed by more problem-solving around how to do that well. In a workshop like this, there isn’t much research going on (although, given that almost any group of teachers at EduCon will have at least one internet enabled decide, if not five to ten of them – so that’s a challenge for next time, I suppose.)

I enjoyed doing the session, especially as session participants really engaged deeply in the questions we were asking. One thing that came out organically from many folks was something I was hoping would — inquiry isn’t just question and answer, it is very much a process…. and that the word can represent the idea of a deep dive into learning through questioning and seeking.

The 90 minutes went by really quickly, so much so that we were way over time before we all realized it was time to go. That’s what inquiry is supposed to do – it’s supposed to get people talking, researching, questioning and learning so much that time really does just fly by. So the session ended up being a pretty good model for what I hope folks can then do in their own classrooms, I think.

But what did I learn by facilitating the session?

It was a chance for me to keep exploring the idea that inquiry really requires people — students and teachers — to live in the uncomfortable places, and that’s hard. Inquiry requires that we all develop a nimbleness of mind so that we do not give in to the orthodoxy of our own ideas. That’s important for students and teachers (and principals) so that we can start to really hone our skill of deep thinking.

It was a chance for me to hear folks bring up empathy over and over again, as inquiry means deep listening and deep understanding of others – other texts, other people, other ideas. Inquiry should help all of us develop our ability to question to learn, not just argue to win.

It was a chance for me to think about — and talk about — how inquiry cannot just live in the classroom or as a stand-alone pedagogy of the stated curriculum. Inquiry allows students to access the hidden curriculum, as they will question grading structures. They will question discipline policies. They will question how teachers and students interact. And while, on one level, kids have been doing that for years, if students are taught the true spirit of inquiry, this will be far more than the traditional “Why do we have to do [x] this way?” Kids can question, problem solve, and most importantly, they can understand the complexity of school and of learning in ways that help them grow up well.

Perhaps my take-away, more than anything else, is how the longer we go on this journey at SLA, the more of a seeker I have become. Doing this workshop was a chance for me to step back and really look at how I have come to believe deeply that the inquiry process doesn’t just teach us a way to teach and learn, it gives us a powerful lens through which we can live our lives.

Jan 23

EduCon 2.5 Eve

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The badges are made, the presenter bags are packed up, Ryan and Tsion have sent the email with all the student jobs, the parents met tonight to go over all the different roles they play. Tomorrow, all the Advisories will straighten up the rooms one more time, and then this Friday, Saturday and Sunday approximately 600 educators will come to our little corner of the world for the sixth iteration of EduCon. It never fails to amaze me that we pull it off every year.

And today at our faculty meeting, we took a few minutes after going over all the last details to step back and think about what this conference means to us as a community. EduCon is not just about SLA, not by a long shot. The community of educators who come together every year to discuss the intersection of progressive education and modern tools is made up of incredible teachers who amaze me with their insights and ideas. And EduCon is as much about every attendee and facilitator as it is about SLA. But for those of us who make SLA our educational home, EduCon is truly a twin moment of both humility and pride.

We are – I am – amazed at how our little corner of the educational world has been able to serve as host for a conversation about the ideas we most hold dear. For our students, they get to understand the power of their own ideas and hard work and voice as they see themselves as vital participants in an international conversation about how we can make schools better for students and adults worldwide. For our parents, it is an opportunity for them to see their children in a powerful light, and it is an opportunity for them to give back to the school that educates their children. For our teachers, it is a moment to step outside the day-to-day where we struggle and sweat and work toward the impossibly unachievable ideal of our best ideas and realize that other educators can see that we get closer to that ideal that we often give ourselves credit for.

And, of course, it is for us an incredible learning weekend where we can tease out ideas with like-minded educators and push our own thinking. EduCon is, for me, the most profound three days of learning every year because it is the time where so many of the people I learn from virtually all year long show up to our school with an open heart and an open mind, ready to teach and learn.

So for those folks en route – welcome and thank you for coming to Philly. Our apologies in advance about the weather. For folks who can’t make the trip, feel free to join in virtually – we’re streaming the entire conference again this year. And thank you to Ms. Rami, Ms. Laufenberg, Ms. Hull, Mr. Herman, Ms. Pahomov, Ms. Dunda, Mr. Best, Tsion, Ryan, Nikki, Jeff, Dr. Heller and all the other EduCon planners. Thank you to all the SLA teachers and parents and students who make EduCon happen. Thank you to all the facilitators who take so much time to craft thoughtful, meaningful, progressive sessions. Thank you to everyone who comes into EduCon ready to learn. This conference is about the conversations – and that means it is about everyone who shows up and co-creates its meaning.

Welcome to SLA. Welcome to EduCon 2.5.

Sep 25

The Big News: SLA’s Next Adventure

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So… we’ve been working on this for a while, but I can finally make it public:

We’re working with The Franklin Institute, Drexel University and Powel Elementary to open up an inquiry-driven, project-based middle school in West Philadelphia!

Powel Elementary has been a gem of a progressive elementary school in Philadelphia for years – it is where SLA Counselor Zoe Siswick went to elementary school, actually. But as a K-4 school, it has had to help their students get into a new school for 5th grade without a clear middle school choice to go to. Powel is a few blocks from Drexel University, and Drexel is committed to the neighborhood, so this was an opportunity for Drexel to play a powerful role in reshaping the educational opportunities for the kids in their neighborhood.

SLA, The Franklin Institute and Drexel have worked together on several projects over the past four years, and we at SLA are incredibly lucky to have two incredible partners like TFI and Drexel. This project really is the logical evolution of the relationship of the three organizations.

So Powel will grow to a K-5, and we will work with our partners and The School District of Philadelphia to open a middle school. For us, it is a chance to take our inquiry-driven, project-based approach to the middle school level and offer more kids in Philadelphia the opportunity to learn this way. We have always taken very seriously the original charge the district gave us – to be a research and development school for Philadelphia. This project allows us to continue to honor the trust SDP showed in us by expanding our model to a new school, a new neighborhood and a new grade level.

It’s going to be the next step in an incredible ride.