For me, quality wins every time.
Yes, I can eat my weight in French fries, but I would give them up for a month to have one order of Thrasher's French fries (if you are from Maryland, you will know what this is without clicking the link, and you will immediately have images of the beach or the Inner Harbor pop into your mind).
I think writing a book is great, but a beautifully crafted poem is just as good (if not better, according to Mark Twain: "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.").
The point here is that we have such an emphasis on getting a lot that we have forgotten about getting quality. I, and consequently, HoneyFern, am all about quality. This makes much more sense when you take the long-view, the research-based position on education (vis-a-vis how people learn and actually remember what they learned, versus how to cram information into a small, expedient box). Students will not get a lot of worksheets and a million grades, but the worksheets they do get will be targeted to the skill they are lacking, and the grades they get will matter and mean something.
We are not factory-model education, and this is a huge adjustment for parents and students. Students don't realize how much more challenging it is to work on projects they design; parents have a hard time seeing the design process as valuable, being more used to seeing percentages on products.
This is okay. It takes a while to adjust and adapt to this new way of thinking, and HoneyFern understands this completely. The best part is that if we do it right, the student is learning the value of this way of working in the pursuit of something they are passionate about, and parents get to see a kid excited and challenged by school and coming home wanting to keep working.
Yes, we get a lot done. We have deadlines and take quizzes, and sometimes I get all rigid and teacher-y with the writing process and high standards (the motto: "Do it right, or do it twice."). Students can't just slap something down or phone it in.
But the quality of the final product is unmistakable and deeper than you could imagine. And that beats quantity, hands-down, every time.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Happy Birthday, John Coltrane!
In addition to being John Harbaugh's 50th birthday (Go, Ravens!), today is John Coltrane's birthday.
To celebrate, a little jazz for Sunday morning. Have a great day!
To celebrate, a little jazz for Sunday morning. Have a great day!
Friday, September 21, 2012
To Do List
HoneyFern has quite a to-do list. Some of it is less urgent than others, but it all needs to be done by just one person at this point.
This is causing a bit of stress, as you could imagine.
Here it is, in black and white, and not in order:
1. Recruit a board. A real board. Not the board I have currently, which gives advice and ideas but does not give substantial philanthropic support (read: either contribute funds or locate and cultivate relationships for fundraising purposes) and are not particularly invested in future vision and expansion. This was not a problem at all when HoneyFern started; they did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is help in building a foundation and being a sounding board for me as I developed programs. Now, I need a board that is more invested in the school, literally and figuratively.
2. Grantwriting. Lots of grantwriting. This step comes after we successfully receive 501 (c)3 status, and must happen before step #3.
3. Location, location, location. Time for HoneyFern to move off the farm, onto the, well, farm. To expand to 50 students, we need to move, and I'd like to find a similar set-up: acreage with a farmhouse. Living where we do, we will eventually recruit a student who is horse- or animal-crazy, enough to want to study them, and we need to have space (and zoning) to do so. I have a vision of a student getting a four-year-old horse and training and showing that horse as their curriculum for the year. Think of it: physics, anatomy, literature, phys ed, art - everything in one glorious beast.
But I digress. Back to the list.
4. Marketing. Hard to market what you do not have (money and a location), but it is time to blitz metro Atlanta with the glory of HoneyFern. The marketing department is hoping to recruit a board member with this area of expertise, too.
5. Recruit teachers. I have several teachers in mind, but it will take a certain kind of person to teach at HoneyFern. They need to believe deeply in the mission and vision and be willing to work harder than they ever have before. The payoff, though, is that everything revolves around educating the students. There is no superfluous fluff that takes time and energy away from what is important. Teachers also have equal input into the development of the school, just as students do. I would like to add at least four teachers.
And finally....
6. Recruit students and families. We are, literally, nothing without them. Really, we are recruiting visionaries and innovators. There is nothing like HoneyFern in Atlanta; there is no school that encourages students to so fully embrace the idea of developing their own path and then matches that vision with rigorous academics to have a full curriculum that is project-based, rooted in application and fully accredited. On top of this, tuition is lower than the spending-per-pupil of all local school systems, the student-to-teacher ration will never be more than 10:1, and students will have a lifelong relationship with a mentor who cares as much about their success as their own families. To me, this is a slam dunk.
Is that all, you say? Realistically, each one of these can be broken down into a million mini-steps, but those are the big ones, as I see them. Ultimately, I will need help, so it all starts with the board and volunteers.
Currently taking referrals and suggestions, so if you would like to be a part of something important, get in touch. Join our mailing list, get in touch directly, give us a call. And thanks!
This is causing a bit of stress, as you could imagine.
Here it is, in black and white, and not in order:
1. Recruit a board. A real board. Not the board I have currently, which gives advice and ideas but does not give substantial philanthropic support (read: either contribute funds or locate and cultivate relationships for fundraising purposes) and are not particularly invested in future vision and expansion. This was not a problem at all when HoneyFern started; they did exactly what they were supposed to do, which is help in building a foundation and being a sounding board for me as I developed programs. Now, I need a board that is more invested in the school, literally and figuratively.
2. Grantwriting. Lots of grantwriting. This step comes after we successfully receive 501 (c)3 status, and must happen before step #3.
3. Location, location, location. Time for HoneyFern to move off the farm, onto the, well, farm. To expand to 50 students, we need to move, and I'd like to find a similar set-up: acreage with a farmhouse. Living where we do, we will eventually recruit a student who is horse- or animal-crazy, enough to want to study them, and we need to have space (and zoning) to do so. I have a vision of a student getting a four-year-old horse and training and showing that horse as their curriculum for the year. Think of it: physics, anatomy, literature, phys ed, art - everything in one glorious beast.
But I digress. Back to the list.
4. Marketing. Hard to market what you do not have (money and a location), but it is time to blitz metro Atlanta with the glory of HoneyFern. The marketing department is hoping to recruit a board member with this area of expertise, too.
5. Recruit teachers. I have several teachers in mind, but it will take a certain kind of person to teach at HoneyFern. They need to believe deeply in the mission and vision and be willing to work harder than they ever have before. The payoff, though, is that everything revolves around educating the students. There is no superfluous fluff that takes time and energy away from what is important. Teachers also have equal input into the development of the school, just as students do. I would like to add at least four teachers.
And finally....
6. Recruit students and families. We are, literally, nothing without them. Really, we are recruiting visionaries and innovators. There is nothing like HoneyFern in Atlanta; there is no school that encourages students to so fully embrace the idea of developing their own path and then matches that vision with rigorous academics to have a full curriculum that is project-based, rooted in application and fully accredited. On top of this, tuition is lower than the spending-per-pupil of all local school systems, the student-to-teacher ration will never be more than 10:1, and students will have a lifelong relationship with a mentor who cares as much about their success as their own families. To me, this is a slam dunk.
Is that all, you say? Realistically, each one of these can be broken down into a million mini-steps, but those are the big ones, as I see them. Ultimately, I will need help, so it all starts with the board and volunteers.
Currently taking referrals and suggestions, so if you would like to be a part of something important, get in touch. Join our mailing list, get in touch directly, give us a call. And thanks!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Out of Time
Time is a cruel mistress. Schools of all kinds are governed by the clock and the calendar.
HoneyFern has avoided some of this, but today we ran smack up in the face of it: we don't have enough time. Students are at HoneyFern three days a week, and in those three days we jam-pack as much as we can.
However.
This morning we had an hour-long morning meeting, which is really unavoidable when you have things everyone wants to talk about. Then a 22-minute news program turned into 45 minutes over lunch because we stopped and talked about teacher strikes and unions and the 47% of America and who that is. And we had to eat and play Wiffle ball and talk about our fieldtrip to Mountasia (it's academic, for the student building the go-kart).
In between all that we planned the scale model of a suspension bridge (had to be re-done several times to make the model feasible), did group and solo math, removed the air filter and seat from a riding lawn mower (for the go-kart), discussed schematic drawings (for the go-kart), peer-edited a book review, read "Paul Revere's Ride" and discussed how to make a better second draft. Tomorrow looks to be similarly jam-packed.
The difference?
In not one minute was there anything that wasn't directly related to something a student had chosen to study. I may have designed a lesson or found a resource or led a discussion, but every bit of today was focused on the students. Exhausting and refreshing at the same time. Time is still at a premium, but we get to choose how we spend it.
And that is a gift even an extra hour in the day cannot top.
HoneyFern has avoided some of this, but today we ran smack up in the face of it: we don't have enough time. Students are at HoneyFern three days a week, and in those three days we jam-pack as much as we can.
However.
This morning we had an hour-long morning meeting, which is really unavoidable when you have things everyone wants to talk about. Then a 22-minute news program turned into 45 minutes over lunch because we stopped and talked about teacher strikes and unions and the 47% of America and who that is. And we had to eat and play Wiffle ball and talk about our fieldtrip to Mountasia (it's academic, for the student building the go-kart).
In between all that we planned the scale model of a suspension bridge (had to be re-done several times to make the model feasible), did group and solo math, removed the air filter and seat from a riding lawn mower (for the go-kart), discussed schematic drawings (for the go-kart), peer-edited a book review, read "Paul Revere's Ride" and discussed how to make a better second draft. Tomorrow looks to be similarly jam-packed.
The difference?
In not one minute was there anything that wasn't directly related to something a student had chosen to study. I may have designed a lesson or found a resource or led a discussion, but every bit of today was focused on the students. Exhausting and refreshing at the same time. Time is still at a premium, but we get to choose how we spend it.
And that is a gift even an extra hour in the day cannot top.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sweden, You're Doing It Right
Sweden leaps ahead of the curve once more with my dream school; there are no grades, no classrooms and students learn together based on ability, not age.
Every part of the school is designed to engage students and facilitate learning, with areas for independent and collaborative work. It is more like a house than a school, with a flexible, welcoming feel.
This is, incidentally, the way HoneyFern is laid out (with less modern furniture). See previous blogs on grades.
Read more on this new school here.
Every part of the school is designed to engage students and facilitate learning, with areas for independent and collaborative work. It is more like a house than a school, with a flexible, welcoming feel.
This is, incidentally, the way HoneyFern is laid out (with less modern furniture). See previous blogs on grades.
Read more on this new school here.
Monday, September 17, 2012
What Are You Afraid Of?
What are parents afraid of when they cling to the current educational system? Aside from the issue of finances (a not-insignificant issue when you see local private school tuitions soaring into the mid-$20k range) why would parents who want the best for their kids continue to keep them in an institution that continues to educate their children as factory workers?
Fear.
What if my kid doesn't learn?
What if they cannot get into college?
Statistics to answer these questions are hard to come by; non-traditional students can be homeschooled, unschooled, privately schooled in a progressive school (like HoneyFern) or a free school (like The Sudbury School of Atlanta), occasionally public schooled, or some combination of these using online classes and early enrollment in college. Every college in the union accepts homeschooled students, with some actively courting them. The Met Center in Rhode Island has a 100% acceptance rate to college, and 98% of graduating seniors go; they have a 94% high school graduation rate for a school that is public, non-traditional and accepts some of the most challenging students in Rhode Island.
For traditional schools, stats are easy. Here in Georgia, the graduation rate is 60%; this means that only 60% of students who entered high school graduate in four years. Graduation rates, as a whole, are dropping across the country, and only 25% of students tested recently on the NAEP writing test demonstrated proficiency in writing. Forty percent of college students in 2011 required at least one remedial class in their first year in college.
With statistics like those, there isn't much to cling to in the old way of doing things; it simply isn't working for the vast majority of students and is actively failing those at the very top and bottom of the spectrum (and doubly failing those who are 2e, combining gifts and challenges at the same time).
Don't be afraid. Come into the light, where your student is engaged, challenged and involved in their education. Embrace the 5e model of doing, and look beyond traditional schooling for your student. There is something more than a test score.
Don't be afraid.
Fear.
What if my kid doesn't learn?
What if they cannot get into college?
Statistics to answer these questions are hard to come by; non-traditional students can be homeschooled, unschooled, privately schooled in a progressive school (like HoneyFern) or a free school (like The Sudbury School of Atlanta), occasionally public schooled, or some combination of these using online classes and early enrollment in college. Every college in the union accepts homeschooled students, with some actively courting them. The Met Center in Rhode Island has a 100% acceptance rate to college, and 98% of graduating seniors go; they have a 94% high school graduation rate for a school that is public, non-traditional and accepts some of the most challenging students in Rhode Island.
For traditional schools, stats are easy. Here in Georgia, the graduation rate is 60%; this means that only 60% of students who entered high school graduate in four years. Graduation rates, as a whole, are dropping across the country, and only 25% of students tested recently on the NAEP writing test demonstrated proficiency in writing. Forty percent of college students in 2011 required at least one remedial class in their first year in college.
With statistics like those, there isn't much to cling to in the old way of doing things; it simply isn't working for the vast majority of students and is actively failing those at the very top and bottom of the spectrum (and doubly failing those who are 2e, combining gifts and challenges at the same time).
Don't be afraid. Come into the light, where your student is engaged, challenged and involved in their education. Embrace the 5e model of doing, and look beyond traditional schooling for your student. There is something more than a test score.
Don't be afraid.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Magic on a Sunday
David Blaine is one of the more mysterious people of our time; this morning, I am pleased to offer you his TedTalk on the subject of holding his breath for 17 minutes underwater.
Have a magical week!
Have a magical week!
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