This past weekend we hosted a virtual information session and open house. Five families dropped in to learn about Abrome and Self-Directed Education, and one has already followed up with some admission specific questions. We were thrilled to have so many families interested in liberation attend. Unfortunately, we spent more time than we would have liked talking about how the pandemic is preventing prospective Learners from shadowing ahead of enrollment because we need to be fully remote during this period of unmitigated community spread of Covid-19.
Morning meeting
We did not meet on Monday as we were celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so we came together on Tuesday morning for day 73 of the pandacademic year. At the meeting everyone shared one fun thing they did over the weekend: a 14-mile bike ride, hiked with her dog, 4.1 miles of walking with his dogs, played on his Kindle, slept and ate, Minecraft, hung out with friends, dealt with his cat who decided to not be in a good mood, breathed oxygen, training with crew, went to a safe outdoor restaurant, spent most of her time on her tablet all day, finally completed Jurassic difficulty (a game on Friday), hung out with mates in Houston (and is now quarantining).
During the meeting, a younger Learner kept talking over others. In response, I muted him several times and we discussed the need to honor the practices we are working on. Facilitator Ariel had shared the practices at the beginning of the meeting which includes each member focusing on active listening during meetings so that we don’t talk over each other. He also received feedback from the Facilitators and an older Learner. Upset, the Learner left the meeting early. Facilitator Ariel then reached out to his mom to get help scheduling a 1-on-1 with him that morning. When they linked up later in the day for the 1-on-1 Facilitator Ariel tried to talk about the difficulties with meeting, but the Learner did not want to discuss it. Facilitator Ariel recognized that this was an opportunity to just spend time with the Learner instead of forcing a discussion he did not want to have, so they hung out over a video chat while the Learner talked about a dinosaurs and video games.
After the morning meeting Facilitator Lauren hosted the Set-the-Week meeting where we scheduled in our meetings and offerings for the four days of this week and the last two days of the cycle next Monday and Tuesday. We had hoped that Learners would fill the schedule with offerings, but only a couple of offerings were proposed. Both Facilitators Antonio and Lauren posted offerings that required commitments from Learners to attend because they would require us to deliver supplies in advance of the offerings. Unfortunately, only a couple of Learners committed to attending. If we were a school that did not value the autonomy of children and adolescents we would simply demand that the Learners stay engaged with us all day on Zoom, and that would certainly make adults more comfortable about what we are doing, but we cannot sacrifice their autonomy for adult comfort. With offerings being optional, each Facilitator had at least one offering that went unattended on Tuesday: 7-minute workout, coffee and read, free write, yoga.
Among Us
One offering that did draw a couple of Learners in was Among Us. It did not receive the heavy turnout that it has received other times this cycle, but it was scheduled at the same time as an offering and a 1-on-1 check-in. In addition, the Learner hosting the Among Us offering was 15 minutes late, which may have deterred some Learners from joining in. Those who joined in still enjoyed the offering, and hopefully the Learner who organized it walked away with some lessons learned about organizing.
At the coffee and read offering only the three Facilitators showed up, but we really appreciated our time with each other. I was reading Progressive Dystopia again, and I just couldn’t help but share with the other Facilitators some amazing excerpts from chapter three. In particular, I was really drawn into Savannah Shange’s discussion on the way that the school-to-prison-pipeline framework helps highlight the carceral impact of schooling but how it fails to fully explain the carceral nature of schooling.
Facilitator Ariel and a younger Learner checking in on each other, one of three 1-on-1 check-ins during the day
I came back together with Facilitators Ariel and Lauren at 3:00 p.m. for our continuing discussion of Raising Free People by Akilah S. Richards. The conversation was in many ways a spillover from our coffee and read offering as we talked about liberation work when working with children.
At 3:30 p.m. I said “meeting started” to begin the afternoon roundup. First we reflected on the favorite thing we each did that day: read, hang out with a Learner on Discord, an amazing yoga practice, taking a nap, making Valentine’s Day cards for kids with cancer, Minecraft, exploring Google maps, wrote a horror story and it is just about to get to the good point, and played with mates on VR. Then we shared what we want to do by the end of January: newspaper article, mountain biking, more creative cooking, find a way to make a good income and have a good life, find a source of income, Minecraft, breathe, work on a project on Minecraft, practice driving, go to Altitude again, and watch the first Jaws movie.
One of the most interesting things I noticed on the day is the eagerness with which some of the older Learners want to take on more adult responsibilities. One Learner plans to get his permit on Wednesday, another Learner is starting her job on Thursday, and a third Learner is looking for a sources of income. It will be interesting to see how they leverage their freedom to pursue their interests.