[Ryan]

My parents came home one day with a Commodore VIC-20. I would save my allowance money to buy a magazine each month which had DOS programmes at the end; simple code for ‘kaleidoscopes’, ‘worms’, and other such things. I spent hours typing in pages of code to watch pixels slowly moving across the screen, debugging through meals and after homework. None of my work could really be saved, so I would start over the next day from scratch. From that point, I was hooked. I evolved into an Apple II and Commodore 64, racking up vast telephone bills on CompuServe with my 300 baud modem. I thought I was a super-hacker, chatting around the world on BBS and playing early online MUDs.

[Ryan]

We took a handful of students and faculty mushroom hunting last autumn and all came back with baskets of chanterelles. It was a really nice day out, breaking down the classroom walls and the barriers between students and teachers. No pics, but lots of memories ????

[Ryan]

Hi Kate,

I’m currently building a one week summer school programme for our incoming Y8/Y9 students that is constructed upon the practice of solving problems. Each student will identify a problem that they would like to address (practical/abstract/personal/local/global/etc.), and will present a project of their creation which expresses their approach and their considerations, supported by a one-page white paper. The format of their outcome is open. We will also be working collectively to address a school problem (absence of composting from our school canteen), as a team project. The programme includes R&D workshops, short taught interventions (10 mins max.), Breath & Movement workshops, and Technical Writing labs. Feedback will be issued in real time and during feedback sessions at the end of each day.

The overarching theme is Problems & Possibilities, exploring the interoperability between the two. I’ve selected faculty from across disciplines who will be working collectively in a supporting role to help students find expression for their projects.

I’m still working out the details, but have been busy erasing as many boundaries as I can find in the timetable 🙂

[Ryan]

Hi Carl,

I love the D&D idea. I’ve been overseeing a D&D club at our school; it’s been a bit hit and miss, as school has been largely online for us and they are tired of screen time, but the guild continues to grow. I had not thought of using this as a language tool. Great idea! I’d love to hear more about how you apply this.

[Ryan]

Our Head of Natural Sciences was vetting each basket of mushroom. A risky job!

[Ryan]

I agree that society has a heavy bias towards extroverts; we are still very far from a world where everyone can thrive according to their natural dispositions. My guiding philosophy is that everybody should have ‘their own pot to grow in’.

In my experience, I’ve seen both ‘introverts’ and ‘extroverts’ (I don’t believe the categories are so clear cut) struggling with online learning. I believe that the reasons for this are very complex and generalisations wouldn’t serve us well. Sometimes, students are struggling with underlying issues that become more pronounced in the midst of strain (i.e. if a student has a difficult situation at home and now they are trapped in that ecosystem). Certainly, online learning has brought to the forefront the flaws and limitations in our traditional approach to education. With introverts, I’ve seen more ‘locked in’ behavior. As you’ve mentioned, some have been thriving.

With that being said, do you not feel that throughout childhood development, healthy off-line social interaction with peers is an important process for most individuals?

[Ryan]

Hi Jennifer, I’d love to hear more. This year I began to run intermittent workshops for my Y9 students, but haven’t yet brought much of the content into my regular classes. I’d love to hear what sort of practices you use and how/when you integrate these? I made an attempt to do face stretches, because I thought it would be fun for everybody to make Haka warrior faces, but they didn’t want to appear silly in front of their peers. Understandable for that age group. They did get into some basic pranayama practices, such as Nadhi Sodhana. I’m just figuring out what works at this point. I would love to learn what works for you.

[Ryan]

Thanks for the information about the composting expert. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.

I’m working with our chemistry and biology teachers to explore the soil science within the composting process. Next school year I plan to run a ‘Soil Society’ elective where students will manage and investigate the ‘soil research centre’ (sounds better than ‘compost’) while also creating a student-led platform/forum that will provide them with a voice into ecological concerns beyond the school community. The biggest challenges at this point are 1) creating a composting system that is appropriate for the school, and 2) getting students to manage the daily work of composting. In a school that has an overly-full academic workload, gaining this sort of engagement is a real challenge.

Perhaps there are others who have experience with maintaining student engagement with this sort of programming?