Dangerously close to risk stage level five
December 18th, was day 60 of this pandacedemic year and it was our last Friday of this fourth of eleven cycles of the year. Although we are wrapping up the calendar year soon, we are only about a third of the way through the Abrome year as we stretch our year into mid-July. Nonetheless, time does seem to be flying by. As I’ve been doing every day recently, I woke up and immediately checked the latest numbers related to the pandemic nationally and locally. When I went to the Austin Public Health Key Indicators for Staging I saw that we were kissing the risk stage level five zone. When the county goes to stage level five, we will go entirely remote, as all schools should, as well.
Remote cell morning meeting
Everyone in the remote cell showed up for the morning meeting where I led with the question, “how many days are there ‘til Christmas?” Before I finished my question one of the Learners shouted out, “SEVEN!” The Learners shared a variety of intentions for the day: breathe, breathe more, sew, free write, make dog treats, play Rogue Lineage, take dog to vet, make scarves, watch Netflix, and rest. After reviewing the practices we would all focus on I asked if anyone had any announcements. One of the Learners told us that it was her mom’s birthday. Another Learner told us that she was taking her dog to the vet to be put to sleep. We asked her about her dog, and she told us his name and showed us a picture of him. He was an old dog, and had been around since she was born (over 13 years). It was clear to us that it was going to be a difficult day for her, and we expressed our sympathy as she prepared to say goodbye to him.
At the in-person cell, one of the shadowing prospective Learners came dressed in a quick dry outer layer with no base layer. He was cold and shivering and quickly realized that he was underdressed for the cold weather. The Facilitators talked with the Learners the prior day about how to dress in the cold, as they have many times over, and this shadower said “hypothermia means you die.” Facilitator Lauren offered him a blanket or a coat, but the shadower said that he would first focus on moving around. It was not a great way to start the day but it did allow me to send a message to the other Facilitators over Slack reassuring them that these moments of struggle for shadowers is not a bad thing, but instead it is a good thing because they are seeing what it is like to be outdoors in a Self-Directed Education community.
One of the best seats in this classroom of life
I had a remote check-in with the oldest Learner at Abrome in the late morning. As we talked about different ways in which she could manage her time and her projects I offered up some of the tools that I use to manage my time. While admitting that I was by no means perfect, I shared that I had gotten a lot more out of my time that year because each evening I would set goals for the next day, and because I used a goal tracker that allowed me to not squander precious time and energy each morning trying to figure out what to do next. She asked if I could show it to her and I shared my screen and allowed her to see how I used a spreadsheet to track my goals. As we were talking she started to move around and took her attention off of her tablet (which she was using to talk to me with) and onto her computer. It was a bit distracting trying to talk to her while she was typing away. I asked her if she wanted to end the meeting because it seemed to me that she was not really present anymore. She then told me that she was listening, she was just trying to create her own tracker. We then spent some time talking about ways to format the spreadsheet she was using.
Facilitator Ariel had a challenging day with the youngest Learners as they tested boundaries with him. As a new Facilitator in a community that rejects coercion, Ariel is going through the process we all have of not trying to control the behavior of Learners while simultaneously not allowing Learners to impinge on the autonomy of others. When the youngest Learners poked him with a stick and three rocks his way he opted out of playing with them. They were upset that he walked away, but they were also frustrated that he didn’t set his feelings aside and quickly get over it. Then another Learner got upset at him for not cutting a branch off of a live tree so he could play with it. I later reassured Facilitator Ariel that he was not alone in this experience, as I have been there as well, and with younger Learners these are experiences that will allow them to fully internalize the importance of autonomy and consent, whereas the much easier approach adults take of demanding respectful behavior actually undermines that.
Interacting with a Texas millipede
Facilitator Lauren was spending her time that day with the two shadowers and an adolescent Learner. One of them wanted to go see the ammonite that some of the other Learners had been talking about, so they began their trek, with one of the younger Learners choosing to join them on the trek. They stopped at the Apartment Complex (a series of caves) along the way. There, a shadower and the younger Learner played while Facilitator Lauren, the adolescent Learner, and the other shadower talked.
They then continued on their trek toward The Cave where the ammonite was, and along the way found a giant millipede. They enjoyed observing the slow moving millipede, and then picked it up to experience the sensation of the many feet crawling over their fingers.
Once they arrived at The Cave, they all took time to appreciate the beauty of the ammonite. Who knows how old it was? Maybe 430 million years old. This took up the attention of the entire crew for quite some time.
Then one of the shadowers asked Facilitator Lauren and the adolescent Learner if puberty was uncomfortable. It was a sincere question that centered on emotional discomfort and how it might impact an adolescent’s relationship with family members. It was pretty amazing that this prospective Learner felt comfortable enough to ask a question about puberty to different gendered people they had only met two days earlier. It was certainly a great sign of their level of trust in the community.