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I’m grateful for the culture of authenticity in this class

I appreciate how much time in class is given to reflection and thought

I appreciate that we created a space that is relaxed and versatile

I am grateful for the trust this classroom environment has instilled in us

I appreciate the diversity of identities and experiences this space holds

I appreciate the feeling of acceptance that this class created

Safe space to express opinions that are not of the majority

I appreciate the intentionally flexible pacing of this class

I appreciate that we not only allow but celebrate joy in our classroom

I appreciate the acceptance and support this learning community has in being open and sharing our thoughts on difficult topics even when we are not fully sure how to articulate them ourselves

Thank you for being dynamic, flexible, present, vulnerable, and comfortable

I appreciate this learning community for its thoughtfulness and care

I appreciate that there is value placed on every thought shared

I appreciate how we all have different focused interests in education and have found ways to share them with one another

I appreciate the space for silence and reflection

I appreciate each individual voice, and the collective silence

I appreciate the deep ways in which the people in this room talk and listen to one another, weaving a learning community through thoughtful words and attentive silence

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What everyone is taking forward from this course 

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What everyone is taking forward from this course 

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7:30-7:45 Accountability Partners

7:45-8:15 Semi-structured sharing of student-led learning projects

Version of post-it notes on wall but this time in groups of 3

Each person shares what they are working on for their self-directed learning

For each sharing, other two people write on a slip of paper:

What compels and inspires you about this exploration

What connections to/resonances with course readings, viewings, and discussions you discern

What encouragement you can offer for continuing and concluding this self-directed learning project

8:15-9:00 Discussion of and preparation for self evaluation

Reflect back on two sets of structures for your self-evaluation:

Course outcomes and goals

Mid-semester conferences and your identification of your standards for your learning in this course

Group activity (15 mins)

Put up big post-its, each with a course goal

Everyone walk around with little post-its with examples, reminiscings/memories from class, questions (including how have they evolved…), of how you have been working toward each goal

Walk around and read others’ contributions and think about your own

Break

Individual time spent on electronic or hardcopy handout for individual reflection (make copy for yourself of electronic version: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WgOlbmJjImjxk9cT0BdLH8V7sEokTjfsfc23jAzXC0o/edit?usp=sharing )

(1) Link back to course outcomes and goals

Through active partnership with course collaborators, you as students in the CLC will:

Examine your own educational experiences, past and present (examples: phase 1, journals, specifically critical educational incident, also conversations with classmates to exchange experience)

Distinguish and describe varying purposes and standards for education, and practice assessing and supporting them in partnership contexts (examples: texts, introductory panel with co-educators, partnership work, your own standards, journals)

Build capacity to promote educational justice in Philadelphia and its suburbs (texts, journals, course discussions, partnership work)

Author an educational statement of purpose, with in mind: your work as a student within the BiCo, as an aspiring educator, as a community member (example: your ongoing articulation of your work as an educator, mid-semester conference)

Develop a set of skills and commitments that facilitate learning—your own and others’—and align with your purpose (course structure & activities, pedagogical strategies list co-created in class, journals, self-directed learning, lesson/activity planning and informal (re)presentations, portfolio, course where we rehearsed Ladson-Billings education debt)

Take a few minutes to write to yourself about how you have met these goals

(2) Link back to mid-semester conference and your identification of standards for yourself for the course

Take a few minutes to write to yourself about how you have met these standards

Draft:

A final course self-assessment and proposed grade (about 3 paragraphs)

For the final course self-assessment, please discuss your labor and growth in the course according to your standards for your work and the assessment criteria in the syllabus, the grade you believe you have earned, and why.

9:00-9:10 Revisiting texts

Take 10 minutes to revisit (all) texts and select one sentence you are prepared to read aloud to the whole class

9:10-9:20 Affirmations

Take a minute or two to formulate an affirmation of our learning community—perhaps a new understanding about the potential of a learning-community approach

Only one phrase, quality, sentence!

9:20-9:30 Read arounds

Read around of both text lines and affirmations

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Preparation for self evaluation in CLC Fall 2022

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7:30-7:45 Partnership groups

Check-in

What has happened/unfolded in your partnership work that you expected, and what has happened/or not happened that was unexpected?

What do you take from both re navigating the work of education mid/post pandemic?

7:45-8:40 Reorient around lesson plan

Share with Margo and Alison lesson planning process/experience:

Take 4-5 minutes in your partnership group to decide what to share (lesson itself or insights from planning)

Then 4-5 minutes either teach a part of what you planned or talk the plan, and an insight you gained

Feedback (4-5 min)—glow and grow

BREAK

8:45-9:15 Readings

Dewey was a well-known and still often-cited American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer who wrote in the half of the twentieth century about “progressive” or experiential education and social reform.

Freire was was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who advocated critical pedagogy and the idea of “conscientization”— the ways in which individuals and communities develop critical understandings of their social reality through reflection and action.

Groups of 3:

Possible guiding questions:

What constitutes an “educative” experience? (connect/contrast to unlearning)

What is the nature of freedom? (connect/contrast to hooks, Love, Muhammad, Simmons)

What is purpose? (connect with accountability)

“...the importance of the participation of the learner in the formation of the purposes which direct his activities in the learning process…” (Dewey, ch. 6)

What is a teacher’s ethical responsibility? What is the “ethical formation of selves and history”? (Freire)

What can of “presence” might you embody as an educator?

What is the role of the educator?

“...to teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge.” (Freire)

9:15-9:30-? Accountability Partners

Touch base with your Accountability Partner—about today’s class, about your work, etc., or

Silent, individual reflection time

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jKLVGwJGggmpLOHdG3-bSKUjmf48w4ZBmxRAk6XwVH8/edit?usp=sharing

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Notes on 4 corners activity

Everyone selects a statement from Strike for the Common Good

People walk around the “gallery” of statements

Margo asks that people choose which statements they are drawn to for use in the 4 corners activity—stand near one that you are drawn to talking about, pick it up and read

Teachers should not politicize the classroom

People matter—that’s not political; but some other things have become politicized

Distinction between saying that education is a political act (which it is) and polarizing; should be intentional

No matter where we are, politics is part of the structure; need to have a voice politically to ge things to happen

Educators need to be able to accept opinions and beliefs that are not their own; teachers should share their political options to help students be able to discuss political issues with people you disagree with

Out of fear of being “political,” people avoid real conversation

Things that are presented as objective are actually from a perspective; teachers can be accused of politicizing; but also teachers can impose strong views

Depends on how you understand “politicize”; politics should be talked about; encourage students to voice their options and learn how to interact with politics

Politics are major issues that affect our country, so it’s weird not to talk about them

Not talking about things is also a form of power us

Everything inherently has values; to act as though you are not politicizing is to pretend things are devoid of political influence

Capitalism treats our schools as potential sources of profit, mechanism for disciplining youth, and to train students to accept unequal society, not as a place to unlock student potential

It’s hard not to think this when growing up in certain spaces; schools not showing kids whole spectrum of reality

We teach obedience to students and respect authority rather than to question authority or resist and question rules; capitalism influences need to control people

Capitalism incentivizes students to live in this unequal society; without capitalistic mindset there would not be incentives to create change; without monetary motivation there is no incentive

It’s easy to blame capitalism when it’s the current system, without thinking about previous systems that were less effective; the bigger problem isn’t capitalism but things that have been invented under it; in my town, it’s what private education does to public education—separation by economic class

I was always told I would have a better chance to succeed if I went to private school; have to “buy” success

Public schools are not all the same; location dictates “quality”; unequal distribution of wealth in different areas

Public schools alone shows the capitalism at play

Bring Solnit into dialogue with Strike for the Common Good

Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark

Draw on Solnit’s points to support or complicate positions taken up in 4 corners

Individual writing/reflection

a personal connection to either of the readings and/or activity and/or to your practice (current or anticipated)

8:20-8:30: Debrief / Revisit Modes of Learning as Living Document

Add a few items to modes of learning paper

Connect to partnership work, if relevant, or experiences or in other classrooms or learning spaces (see images under "Sculpting, Human Barometer, and Other Forms of Embodied Learning")

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I find it difficult to choose just one theory to apply as a lot of them have overlap. Of course there are differences within their particularities but they fall in the same vein of constructing a classroom that either deviates or directly opposes one of control and domination.

Theories such as

Culturally relevant pedagogy

Student voice

Funds of knowledge

Cultural wealth model

etc.

All pull on the idea that social capital is abundant within all communities outside of the prescribed frame that white supremacy constitutes. This looks like cultural celebrations in the classroom, utilizing culture as a lens for understanding, centering and uplifting student agency within their learning, redefining metrics of success - even reconsidering if success is something to be measured.
Transition into small group conversation
Clarified or complicated?

Clarified

Question: How do we apply these ways of being as full selves into STEM Courses?

Acknowledging the subjectivity of these fields and their histories and legacies of oppression

Bringing in different ways of knowing

Larger Group Discussion

Metric of success and who establishes standards

imposed set of standards and being

Constant re-evaluation of the application of these theories: Reform vs abolition

The ways our institutions (Haverford and Bryn Mawr) are or are not committing to the mission of creating a better space for all students

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I find it difficult to choose just one theory to apply as a lot of them have overlap. Of course there are differences within their particularities but they fall in the same vein of constructing a classroom that either deviates or directly opposes one of control and domination.

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Class Notes 10/24/22 (Alison's and Margo's notes):

7:30-8:00 Meetings with Accountability Partners to

Check-in

Read a line from your journal and discuss it

Check in about your self-directed learning plans

Consider the process/assignment: How does this kind of assignment reflect the forms of engagement we have emphasized in this course thus far?

Consider the content: From the post-it note conversation last week or any comments we have left on your journals, what was one question or comment that you wanted to reflect on and how are you imagining that this self-directed study will be generative, useful, and/or life giving in your CLC work and in your broader learning life?

8:00-8:40 Human sculpting: take turns being sculptor and clay

Round 1 Human Sculpting in pairs: “Accountability”

Everyone pairs up; laughing over shoes; people start sculpting one another; some more quiet laughing;

Round 1 Noticings: self love; couple of circles; simple—one or two changes, not a lot of variation; flexibility and on point; hug—reframing accountability as more positive than it has been previously; experience of clay: positive but physically difficult

Round 2 Human Sculpting in pairs: “Education System”

More noise; louder laughing; more twisted shapes

Round 2 Noticings: hands away from body this time (versus toward body last time); lots of levels represented; not natural positions (twisted, stained); sharp shapes (versus more rounded the first time): Pause question: What if it had just been “education” and not “education system”? -> less rigid, lots more variation; clay noticed levels, too; different starting points in education

Round 3 Human Sculpting into group of 3-4: “Partnership”

Round 3 Noticings: lots of similarities: some sort of connection between group member (touching, holding hands, arms connected; some facing in and some facing out (connected but different); different to have more clay->can depict something more, more possibilities; can depict relationships (very relevant to partnership as a word); gives option to storytell; not working on your own

Round 4 Human Sculpting into group of 3-4: “Education”

Round 4 Noticings: What would you have called your sculpture: (1) Steps, building blocks; progress; (2) ray, entitled; (3) supporting differences/it takes a village; (4) level headed but also equity—all at same level  or artificial equality

Stepping back to think about activity:

We interpret sculptures as different things not just in relation to the words

Language—deriving different understandings/meanings from the same form

Lots of modeling on self first to understand the constraints of the clay

Diversity of representations can provide clarity—makes you rethink what you are understanding in your brain

Translation in understanding is inherently different; rethinking and understanding differently

Communicating how to move silently is nearly impossible; higher chance that something gets lost in translation

Silence points out who the driver is; if we are all talking, it would feel more collaborative

Without using words you can’t get smaller details/nuance

Have to surrender yourself; talking helps (and laughing does too)

Just with one partner, you can negotiate a lot more; with larger group, can’t check in as much

8:45-9:05  Mid Semester feedback discussion

It is difficult because there are conflicting ideas.

For example, should we have more structure or more free flowing class?

like the activity we just did

So we need ot find balance

How could each person find that balance?

Impossible to cater to everyone, just avoiding extremes

For example, NO serious stuff or serious stuff ALL the times

We have chance to choose what we contribute to, so you can decide when to share your thoughts and when not to

Students can individualize for yourself

When to engage more actively, loudly,

(Alison says…) One thing I would ask is to be aware of that choice

In the feedback overall, people gave more attention to what is working well than what is challenging

It doesn’t need to be a majority of the class that wants to do something differently in order for it to matter, to the class. It could be just one or a few people.

Important that the conversation about changes to the course comes from the instructor

No matter how open ended it is, instructors still have an expectation (that may not be explicit)

This is a complexity to the open endedness

Option is to have a second, more specific or more delineated option

For assignments out of the classroom, there could be an additional line that makes an assignment more concrete

Giving everyday examples – like an email, for example

What about the partnership work? How are you framing your thinking about it?

I went into it thinking I would be able to see things we talk about in the course at play. I’ve stepped back and tried to stay present, just learning about the background of the community, and as someone who will be here for two years, I’m shifting my expectations about what will come from this partnership on a longer time frame

We are in a Chemistry classroom, so I am learning the material with students. I enjoy talking with students, but feel very uncomfortable answering questions. But I learn a lot about from Katie, and the classroom overall.

Echo sentiment about not knowing. What will be the balance between learning and teaching? We agreed we will go with the flow…How will I fulfill this role as an educator if I know nothing.

How does it make your body feel to say your job is to be present? Rather than finished and fixed?

9:05-9:10: Reminder about and prep for conferences

What conferences will include:

Say something you’ve learned from your Accountability Partner or the structure of the Accountability Partners

What are you learning and how much? (If someone asked you what you are learning, what would you say?)

In lieu of grades, what are your standards for your own learning—to what standards are you holding yourself?

Questions you have (PCD doc, self-directed learning, making use of Partnership time, anything else)

9:10-9:30: Lesson planning (part 1)

People meet in partnership groups look at templates for lesson plans/facilitation/workshop

Think about how to put theory we have read and discussed into practice, either for your partnership context or for another context—what learning/engagement/growth do you want to be supporting?

Start drafting some notes toward a lesson plan (we’ll continue this next week)

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Met up with Accountability Partners

Shared our Week 4 Journal as a story with groups

Focus on looking backwards, reflecting on where we come from and how our experiences shape us

Present our experience and practice sharing and choosing what to share with others

Story Sharing Guidelines to keep in mind:

Intros, order, time keeper (2 mins), 1 person speaks at a time

Most important part is to listen

Stories are stories, not analyses.

Reflected to self on how it felt to share and also to listen and be listened to

Vast array of different stories and types of schooling and how our experiences shape our understandings

Same stories at different times in education

Storytelling process was interesting: taking into account time, what matters in the story, who’s the audience

What’s the purpose of stories and analyses?

Telling a story opens space, analyzing closes a space

When do we want to invite others to interpret? When do we want to give more guidance for interpretation?

Think about purpose, context, experiences.

Pedagogical Strategies: Meta Moment - Think about the space and structures and practices used this far in EDUC 200 to allow students to engage

Different ways to engage with materials - important to have comfortable and uncomfortable/push and challenge topics

Writing

Discussion

Partners/Small Group

Large group

Mirroring back points - Affirmation

Makes people feel heard

Brings back to educators/facilitators

Is it best that teachers always affirm and respond? Or how do we put it back on student discussion?

Time and Space to Silence - time to think

A response is not always immediate or required.

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Accountability Partners:

Marika and Nora

Kat E. and Zora

Megan and Zoe

Emma and Sarah

Josh and Emi

Van and Abhi

Delaney and Kira

Miron and Evelyn

Meghan and Lorelle

Brisa and Carol

Zadoc, Ariana, Kat K.

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Questions to address in relation to Ladson-Billings article

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Questions to address in relation to Ladson-Billings article

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Because I know I often feel lost in class (tend to zone out a bit/not the most auditory learner), I aim to be understanding of everyone and take time to explain/repeat as needed to make sure everyone feels like they can keep up. I think I know how to be a good student and how to do well in school which, in my experience, is primarily accomplished through good time management and discipline. I want to work on being more engaged in the classroom.
– Nora Goldfarb

I can struggle with focusing in the course in whole group settings due to the time required to go around the room; however, that's something I greatly want and need to work on in order to actively listen to and acknowledge everyone in the room. I think a strength of mine would be overall diversity of teaching areas, though. I have been in suburban environments, rural schools, and special education classrooms and have seen many differences in each setting. I'm also enrolled online in Early Childhood Education courses and am learning about child development which brings a diverse perspective from this course as at times, I feel this course focuses too strongly on higher education.
– Kat Erickson

Something a little scary for me is I do not want to be a “classic” educator. I would love to teach future doctors and patients and families, but I don’t see anyone else in this class having similar goals which scares me a little; in other words, being different scares me. But I think my outlook and differences maybe nice for other people to learn from (hopefully)? I would really like to be a holistic healthcare provider; I am extremely passionate about taking into account culture, lifestyle, identities, religion, disabilities, gender-identity, etc. into creating treatment plans for my future patients. As someone who is bi-racial and grew up observing massive differences in culture, I know how deeply that can affect one’s outlook on healthcare and how that can make healthcare education inaccessible. One doctor I admire has this quote that states “education is the best preventative medicine” and I resonate with that a lot! Teaching patients and families about medicine can help them live a healthy lifestyle and can even help them trust healthcare and doctors (especially minorities and immigrants).
– Megan Heflinger

I feel like I am always working on making those around me feel safe and comfortable to share and be open and honest and that is another reason I am so interested in community work at Common Space and the workshops explained there.
– Ariana Solecki

I have a short attention span sometimes and I think that helps me empathize and work with younger students who also have attention deficits. I bring energy and creativity!

I am not a great audible learner, and I thrive with visuals. So far with the first two weeks of class, I have been able to retain information from our discussions because of our visuals with the drawings and the pipe cleaners.

I love hands on learning and will always bring excitement and energy to any project. This semester I am particularly struggling with my depression, which adds a layer of apathy to everything that I do and can make it hard for me to show up and be prepared- be accountable. I am chronically late and still cannot navigate SEPTA busses at all- trains are fine. I am a bit scared to work in a high school because I feel so close in age to the people I would be working with. I'm struggling to find the words for everything I want to say right now but I will try to elaborate in my next journal entry.
– Moe Shephard

Every weekend I go to Boiling Springs, PA to be with my gf and son. I don't try to say a lot, but when I do say something I put a lot of care into it. Sometimes I will skip talking for a class because I don't have an idea that is bold and thoughtful enough for class.
– Josh Nevarez

I believe that I am a very fast learner, and am very adaptable in different situations. I have had to deal with a lot of difficult situations with parents and their children last summer, so I believed I am equipped to handle difficult situations with the best of my ability. I am very patient, and very caring.

I really enjoy working with students one-on-one! I have tutored middle schoolers and high schoolers for the past three years and have loved every second of it. One challenge for me would be working with a large group and possibly maintaining authority in the classroom, just because I haven't had much experience in this environment in the past.

I've found that the way that I listen to and process information takes longer than I thought it did. Oftentimes I don't have any immediate responses following a comment or discussion, and after thinking about it overnight or for a couple days I come to a better understanding of what my own opinion is. This can pose a major mental block to classroom participation and also acting under pressure (like what someone mentioned during class about practicing improvisation). I would really like to get better at improvising and contributing whatever I have at the moment, so that is something I am actively working on! I think this can also be a strength in that I listen well and enjoy considering all sides of an argument rather than focusing on my initial reaction/opinion. I also am really excited to learn from and about the educators in our partnerships, and that excitement acts a really great motivation for me to make the most of my partnership.

I learn best by talking to people, I often ask a lot of questions, sometimes to the point that I feel I may be asking to many questions. So long as I am engaged in discussion or conversation I am probably learning. My weakest point by far is organization. I am very scatterbrained and when I am not in the moment I can really struggle with keeping myself on track and on top of the things which I need to get done.
- Zadoc Bond

I would say I am mostly a visual learner. Audio presents itself as a small challenge occasionally (i.e. trying to read silently while music is playing unless it's instrumental/no lyrics, listening to audios for information without any accompanying visuals). One of my strengths is design, particularly graphic design. It is not something I pursue academically but I work two jobs on campus related to it, which allows me to explore the basics of design and tie-ins to accessibility.
- Lorelle Adames

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Ariana Solecki- Monday Aug 29th Education Class Notes-1

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assignments in detail for the semester

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syllabus: a working document