Learning Community

Day 64 of AY20-21: being remote together and separate, online and off

Morning meeting time

Morning meeting time

We headed into Tuesday hoping to build on the positive first day of our pandemic-induced, fully remote experience for cycle five (assuming Central Texas doesn’t miraculously begin to take the pandemic seriously in the next couple of days). Facilitator Ariel led the morning meeting. Because we had a larger group he needed to balance the need to make space for people to share while protecting people’s time by not having the meeting stretch into the day too much. He started by asking everyone in the meeting to share an offering they were looking forward to over the course of the week. Half of the responses were diverse, and half were not. The diverse responses included free write, Roblox, nature journaling, yoga, bike project, bike project, a check-in with a Facilitator, and Minecraft. And six people said they were looking forward to playing Among Us, again. Facilitator Ariel then asked if anyone learned anything new yesterday. While there were some interesting responses such as there are 1 quadrillion ants roaming the earth (disputed) and dynamic IP isn’t good for whitelists, most of the learnings revolved around Among Us: Abrome Learners are too ‘big-brained’ to lose, being honest can help you win the game, Marlowe bullies me (said in jest), [Learner] is sneaky. While the goal was to keep the meeting short it started to stretch out as a couple of Learners kept jumping in to ask each other questions, set up meetings with Facilitators, or to try to organize gatherings on Discord. Before things got too out of control Facilitator Ariel adjourned the meeting and encouraged folks to communicate with each other on Discord.

After the morning meeting I had offered to tinker around with the Rubik’s cube with Learners who found it fun while we were in person, but with us being remote it just did not move anyone to want to participate. So after waiting around for five minutes I decided to do some easy administrative tasks and prepared for the 7-minute workout. I was pleased to see three folks show up for the workout, and it looks like we will have the same folks showing up each day, with hopefully some Learners dropping in from time to time. We are just holding space for the Learners and inviting them in if they choose.

Coffee and read

Coffee and read

Facilitator Ariel followed up the 7-minute workout with a coffee and read offering, where we all grabbed some coffee and sat down to read. Much like my free write offerings the turnout for these offerings are not expected to be very large, and the only people who joined were me and Abrome’s oldest Learner. After getting a tour of all the bikes that Facilitator Ariel has in his apartment (among three people) while we brewed our coffee, we settled down to read. I was reading Curious by Ian Leslie for my Education Conversations book group conversation later in the week, the 18-year-old Abrome Learner was reading These Truths by Jill Lapore, and Facilitator Ariel was reading the Coyote's Guide to Connecting with Nature. The hour flew by but each of us came away quite pleased with the offering. Even though we were not directly interacting during the offering it was nice to feel as though we were in the same room, drinking our coffee, reading good books.

At noon I decided to join the Among Us offering that was so popular the day before. I joined the Learner who was hosting the offering as well as two other adolescent learners. They had to wait for me to figure out how to download the app on my tablet which had previously only been used to fly the drone, and they waited quite some time before I realized the tablet was so old that it was not able to download the app without a system update. Frustrated they asked if I could just put it on my phone, which I did. We then got to playing. While the Learners all find Among Us to be a fun game I was quite confused. I did not get the point of the game and ended up just running around trying to avoid getting killed. I realized that I could call a meeting so that we could vote to decide who the imposter was and that that was my best hope of winning any rounds. Yet I did not. I’ll give it another go in the future.

The American woodcock

The American woodcock

Facilitator Lauren held a nature journaling offering at 1:00 p.m., and an older Learner decided to join her for it. Facilitator Lauren went on a hike just before the offering and saw an American woodcock among some prickly pear cacti, and decided to sketch the bird and share her observations in her journal.

Facilitator Lauren also had two one-on-one check-ins with Learners on Tuesday. Because we are entirely remote one of the Facilitators requests at least one check-in with each Learner each week just to touch base. Some Learners are often around and communicate, while some are only around for the morning and afternoon roundups. We also have two Learners who simply do not like being remote and do not regularly show up for meetings, either. So these one-on-one check-ins are really valuable for many of the Learners, and most certainly for the community, as we try to bridge this remote period during the uncontrolled community spread of Covid-19 in Central Texas.

At 2:00 p.m. I hosted a free write offering and was thrilled that two Learners showed up. The 13-year-old Learner who often shows up for free write during remote periods attended, as did the 18-year-old who was making the most of the offerings that day. The 13-year-old Learner chose to work on a new book that she had hoped to get published, the 18-year-old Learner did some stream of consciousness writing in her journal, and I worked on a blog post about how the problem is not so much remote schooling as it is the pandemic. After the free write was over I looked at the clock and saw that I had just enough time to rush off to a nearby park for my monthly jump in the water as part of my polar bear plunge commitment to the 13-year-old Learner. It was 70 degrees and based on weather forecasts this was as good as it was going to get. It was a cold dip in the water, but I am quite grateful to be in Austin during the winter as opposed to most other parts of the country. February is going to be rough though. I then rushed back to Abrome for the afternoon roundup.

Facilitator Lauren was leading the afternoon roundup and with one fewer attendee than the morning she decided to offer up three prompts. She asked the Learners what offerings they participated in, what the best thing they ate was, and what the best part of their day was. Because many of the Learners did not show up for any offerings they did not have an answer for the first question. But for those who did, the favorite was Among Us, with coffee and read coming in second. Nature journaling, free write, and the 7-minute workout all got a single vote, as well. As for food it ran from the healthy to the unhealthy: leek soup, bananas, dates, eggs, broth, chicken with rice, grilled cheese with turkey, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chocolate chips, ice cream, apple cinnamon Cheerios, Dino Nuggets, and Monster. The favorite part of the everyone’s day unsurprisingly included gaming for many: playing Rogue Lineage, playing Minecraft, playing Fall Guys, hanging with friends online, and playing with friends online. But there was also non-gaming favorites, as well: nature journaling, shaving all the hair off of their head, writing the first part of their new book, journaling, one-on-one with Facilitator Lauren, breathing, doing art, and visiting the greenbelt with a guardian.

Day 63 of AY20-21: our first day of 2021

Monday was our first day of the week, our first day of the fifth cycle of the pandacademic year, and it was the first day of 2021. It was also our first day being entirely remote as the county moved to risk stage level five on December 23rd. So we came together excited to be together again, but disappointed that we do not get to come together in person given the state of the pandemic.

With 15 total participants (although some joined late and some dropped off early) it was going to be a challenge to keep the morning meeting short, so I reminded folks to please stay muted if they were not speaking and to hold off on side conversations. Of course when folks haven’t seen each other for two weeks (or months if they were in different cells) sometimes the urge to just speak to others can take over. So I tried to gently remind them to use chat or Discord or wait until the end of the meeting for those conversations. As a last resort I would make use of the mute option.

Also, with so many participants we could not spend as much time checking in with each person, so they each briefly mentioned how they were feeling or how their holiday break went: good, good, fine, good, okay, breathed, rough, pretty alright, kinda interesting, good, doing well. One Learner just fell to the side and off screen which I took as either being exhausted or not wanting to share.

We quickly moved into the Set-the-Week meeting. Set-the-Week is how we collectively decide how we are going to structure the week, but it is something that we have not been doing this year as we’ve been outside and offerings outside tend to be much more spontaneous than they are when we are indoors (non-pandemic times) or fully remote. The Set-the-Week during this remote period allows us to schedule offerings and one-on-one check-ins around the meetings everyone in the community is expected to participate in (morning meeting, afternoon roundup, Set-the-Week, and the weekly Check-in and Change-up).

Set-the-Week

Set-the-Week

Offerings are simply invites for others to participate. No one is required to attend an offering and sometimes no one shows up to an offering. That is feedback that can help the host to decide to keep it open for people to drop in on in the future, to change up the schedule to make it easier for people to come, or to remove the offering altogether. Each Facilitator put up a variety of offerings throughout the week that would allow for the Learners to drop in and participate in something the Facilitator was interested in doing. My offerings for the week include a daily 7-minute workout, a daily free write, and a 2021 visioning / resolution workshop on Monday.

Two Learners proposed offerings for Monday, with one of them requesting that his offering be listed daily for the entire week. One wanted to have a Roblox offerings start at 10:30 a.m., right after the Set-the-Week, and another wanted to start an Among Us offering at 11:00 a.m. Each offering would require Learners to drop into different Discord channels.

The Roblox offering was led by an 8-year-old Learner, with two older Learners dropping in to play. There was some confusion as to whether or not they would play together, or if they were just going to play their own Roblox games while sitting on the same Discord channel, with the latter being the intention of the Learner who was leading the offering. Both of the Learners who dropped in eventually found their way over to the Among Us offering which was led by a 14-year-old Learner who was in his first day at Abrome.

Some of the Learners who dropped in for Among Us

Some of the Learners who dropped in for Among Us

Among Us is a multiplayer game and over the span of two hours a total of seven people joined the game. A much better turnout than I have ever had for one of my offerings. I was told that the game was really engaging and that it was made even more fun by a 16-year-old Learner constantly trying to throw people off by asking questions that made them question their assumptions. For example, he would deceive other players by saying, “it’s not about the past, it’s about the future!” as he led them away from the logical path they were going down. A 14-year-old Learner kept working out his logic out loud, which made the deceiver’s work all that much harder. Apparently it was a blast of a game, and I’m expected to join in on Tuesday.

7-minute workout

7-minute workout

I had my 7-minute workout scheduled for 10:45 a.m., during the time that the Roblox offering was being held. It was a more challenging workout than I remember, and I tweaked my knee, but at least I was not doing it alone. It’s a daily offering so we will give it another go on Tuesday.

I had our oldest Learner show up for my 2021 visioning / resolution workshop, and we decided the best way to spend our time was to come up with goals in different categories: academic/intellectual, professional, health, relationship, and financial. We had also considered other categories such as spiritual and environmental. We discussed what makes goals helpful, and then we listed out three goals for each category. We then went back and pulled out the one goal from each category we were most intent on accomplishing, and highlighting other goals that we wanted to focus on during the year. Then we worked on making the clears more specific and putting dates on when we would like to accomplish the goals by. We circled back around to the daily tracker that the Learner and I worked on in December. The challenge will be following through on accomplishing the goals now given that New Year’s Resolutions rarely tend to stick.

Next I had my free write offering which no one showed up to, so I wrote by myself. At the same time Facilitator Lauren had a dance party offering. Facilitator Ariel and a Learner showed up for that party, and they spent it listening and dancing to some of the Learner’s favorite music. There was dancing, but it was seated dancing. We are hoping that an 8-year-old Learner who loves to dance will show up at the next one so that she can get people out of their seats.

Later in the afternoon Facilitator Ariel had an offering for Learners to grab their dogs and join him on a walk while chatting over Discord. No one showed up to that offering either. Then, at 3 p.m., all three Facilitators came together to discuss Akilah S. Richard’s Raising Free People. It is a book that we’ve handed out to all of the Abrome families (and families who have had Learners shadow), and that the book group that I lead at the local library has recently read. While all three of us have read the book, we are doing a slower read through the book and discussing it twice a week for the three weeks of this cycle. We only gave ourselves a thirty minute block to discuss the book, but it was a lively discussion and we all felt good about the amount of time that we will allocate to it this cycle.

Afternoon roundup

Afternoon roundup

At the end of the day the Learners and Facilitators came back together again for the afternoon roundup. Each of them told the group what the best part of their day was: Among Us, Minecraft, getting new nail polish, playing two rounds of Among Us, petting her pet dog, selling something on Rogue Lineage, watching the livestream of Among Us, the goal setting workshop, not feeling gross (relative to their feeling that morning), Among Us, Among Us, and no one showing up for Roblox. That last one was not exactly the best part of the day, so I asked the Learner about it. That’s when two other Learners said they did show up for it, and they explained that it was unclear how they would all be together without playing the same game. It allowed the Learner to more clearly articulate his vision for how he would like the offering to play out next time, and he was encouraged to give it another shot sometime. We then covered the offerings that were scheduled for Tuesday, and told the Learners that we looked forward to coming back together again tomorrow.

Day 62 of AY20-21: our final day of 2020

Tuesday, December 22nd, was day 62 of the Abrome pandacademic year, the last day of cycle four, and our last day of 2020. It’s been quite a ride thus far, in spite of all of the disruption and struggle faced by members of our community and by society at large.

How many moons?!

How many moons?!

At the remote cell’s morning meeting, we all shared what was one thing we would each do over next two weeks (of break): finish building a house in Minecraft, breathe, breathe, hang out with friends online, and work on myself. We then quickly turned the conversation to the Saturn-Jupiter great conjunction that happened the night before. While I had made time to see it earlier in the week, when Saturn and Jupiter were getting closer and closer to each other, I did not make it out early enough to observe the planets closer together in the night sky than they have been for 800 years. I was kicking myself for missing a rare event until I realized that even though it’s been 800 years to this point, I only have to wait 60 years for the next one on March 15, 2080! I’ll only be a couple years over the century mark by that time. Another Learner said that while he was watching a livestream of it, they were talking about the moons that were visible which led him to begin researching the moons of Jupiter. So much for Self-Directed Educated kids not wanting to learn if they’re not forced to by a teacher. I pulled up some images of the celestial event and remarked that the four moons of Jupiter were surprisingly visible. Two Learners quickly corrected me on that, as the four Galilean moons were visible, but Jupiter has 79 moons!

The mixed-age setting of Abrome benefits both the older and younger Learners

The mixed-age setting of Abrome benefits both the older and younger Learners

The in-person cell had a fun and challenging day. There was lots of hanging out on this day between Learners young and old. The combination of our commitment to mixed-age groups and keeping our cells no larger than nine people (including Facilitators) means that sometimes the Learners get frustrated not having more same-aged peers with them. However, the mixed-age setting should be a defining feature of an education setting as it helps to eliminate the desire for Learners to create hierarchies among same-aged peers that produce real harm among Learners (e.g., cliques, judgement, bullying). For example, if there are a bunch of 13-year-olds together there will be a desire for the Learners to start judging where they rank in terms of popularity, looks, athletic ability, etc., but when it is a collection of young people who range in age from 6-years-old to 16-years-old there is much less of a need to compare oneself to others. Further, younger Learners are able to look up to and mimic older Learners, while older Learners develop empathy and leadership skills, and they take on a nurturing role with younger Learners.

Having seen Facilitator Ariel and an adolescent Learner biking one day the prior week, a younger Learner decided to bring his bike on our last day of 2020. The Learner really likes to test the boundaries of his capabilities, and this can sometimes scare other Learners and be a cause for concern for the Facilitators. But Facilitator Ariel made sure to let the Learner know that he only wanted to ride with him if he could commit to safe practices. The Learner said that worked for him, and then Facilitator Ariel followed up with a concern about the young Learner biking without his shoes on. So the Learner put his shoes on and they took off biking.

Shooting at something with a magic wand?

Shooting at something with a magic wand?

Back where the rest of the Learners were, the two other young Learners were involved in a variety of ever evolving games and exploration. As the pandemic numbers continue to worsen in Central Texas we expected that the county would declare risk stage level five at some point in the cycle, and when they did we would revert to a fully remote experience. We were already committed to one remote cell since we were in stage level four. For kids who suffer in conventional school settings, remote learning can be a godsend, as it allows them to escape the constant judgement, stress, and demands of schooling. But for our Self-Directed Education community, we have no Learners who benefit from a fully remote experience, as one of the benefits of SDE is the ability to come together and pursue interests with others who do not try to manipulate or control the Learners. Seeing these Learners engaging and playing really is a thing of beauty in a world that insists on locking kids down in even non-pandemic times.

The prospective Learner who was wrapping up his shadow was still feeling things out, and part of that included testing boundaries. For example, that morning he lightly but intently poked some folks with a stick and waited for a reaction. Facilitator Ariel gave him feedback telling him, “please do not touch him from my knees up to … the top of my head.” So the shadower then tapped him in the shins. This is not uncommon at Abrome when new people join the community, because when we tell Learners they are free, they want to see if we really mean it. Lots of schools might tell students that they’ve turned the school upside down and that the students are in charge, but the students learn quickly that they are only in charge of a tiny range of options that the adults have laid out for them. Quite frankly the schools should stop doing that because it is a form of gaslighting.

While we fundamentally believe in autonomy for all people, we are also a psychologically safe community that is anti-oppressive and consensus based. Or at least we are constantly striving to be one. So the poking incident was a great opportunity to express to the Learner that freedom does not mean license, and that our freedom includes accountability to one another. And although these conversations can be difficult for young people, especially young people who have only ever known rules and demands of them, they help the Learners to recognize the potential of freedom within their lives and how it can be used to support them and everyone else in the community.

The younger Learners, a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, who were playing a variety of games later broke a glass bottle that was in the dried out river bed. When asked what happened the Learners plainly stated, “we found it and decided to break it.” Abrome’s non-reliance on punishment opens up more opportunities for honesty from Learners, particularly when they know they may have done something harmful. But that does not mean that they enjoy having a conversation about it. As Facilitator Lauren attempted to engage them so that they could think through what compelled them to break it, and what the consequences of the act could be on others, the Learners started to walk away. Facilitator Lauren followed them because this was one of those moments they actually needed to discuss what happened because the Learners violated the Abrome agreements that every member of the community committed to. In particularly, the principle of taking care of others and taking care of the space. She said, “I need you to stop. We need to acknowledge what happened and we need to make it safe. We need to fix it.” Facilitator Lauren was concerned about them cutting themselves so she did not insist that they pick up the glass, but she did insist that they be with her while she cleaned it up. They started to point out where the pieces of glass were among the rocks, and then they all discussed why it was unsafe. One Learner said that it was no big deal because he could just walk around it, and that people could walk around it too. Facilitator Lauren struck a chord when she asked what would happen if a raccoon cut its foot. They acknowledged that it might not be able to move around for food and water. This was an example of how Abrome approaches difficult situations without relying on punishments. By doing so, we are able to have meaningful conversations rooted in trust and respect, that allow us to focus on the ethics of a situation instead of compliance and looking good in the eyes of others.

Back in the remote cell I had a scheduled check-in with one of the older Learners. She messaged me on Discord and said that we should cancel the meeting because there was no point in meeting. I asked her to explain and she said she had a rough week and was not thinking about the topic of the meeting. I said we should have the meeting anyway, as it was scheduled and I had made plans to be there, and that we could discuss her week or anything else. When she got on the call I reaffirmed that we did not have to dwell on the original topic, and we soon found our conversation drifting to all the ways that she wants her life to be after Abrome. Some of the conversation touched upon her desire to someday get a college degree, so I asked her if she wanted to take some community college courses. She said she did but that she had no idea how she could go about that or pay for it. I challenged her on that, asking her how she could find out if it was possible, and we then talked through what it means to look up that information and reach out to people who can help. It was a nice conversation and as I left she continued to scroll through the website of Austin Community College.

What an amazing quetzalcoatlus nest

What an amazing quetzalcoatlus nest

Back at the in-person cell the shadower was sharing the snacks he brought for the last day of his shadow. He was super excited to be able to offer something to the community and the community was super excited to try out his gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free vegan treats. He brought enough for each person to have two of them, although not everyone wanted to eat two treats.

Imaginative play continued on this last day of the cycle, and calendar year. One of the Learners decided that he was going to build a replica of a quetzalcoatlus nest, and then chose to reenact what it might have looked like for one to hatch. It was an impressive display, and everyone was sure to keep their distance in case the mother was ready to swoop in to protect her hatchling.

As the day wound to a close I held one final afternoon roundup with the remote cell. The Learners reflected on one thing they did that day or one thing they appreciated: being with family, writing music, watching Vikings (tv show), finishing a book, writing a blog post, letting chickens out of their coop, cleaning out a shelf in their room where they found old stories that were pretty funny, and working on art. The last to go was the older Learner I had a meeting with and the thing she said she appreciated was our chat. Then she addressed everyone and announced that she was officially signed up for college.

Day 61 of AY20-21: shadow periods work

Day 61 was the last Monday of the fourth cycle of the Abrome pandacademic year. It was also the first day of winter. In the morning meeting I asked the remote cell, how will you celebrate the 1st day of winter? They responded with make apple sauce and winter ornaments, breathe, I don’t know, nothing special, and blinking a couple of times. Clearly first day is not that big a deal to the folks in the remote cell. As for me, I was going to enjoy the nice balmy first day of winter weather with a trip to the area where the in-person cell was spending their day so I could take some video of them from afar, as well as drop off some cards. But before we ended our call we discussed ways that we could welcome the Learners from the in-person cell if they were forced to go remote, tomorrow.

I stayed in touch with Facilitators Ariel and Lauren so that I could find them when I arrived at their location. They were both relatively close to each other and did not hike very far, so I found them pretty quickly. Several of the Learners saw me before I saw them and came over to talk to me. I had to request that they keep plenty of distance from me since I was not in their cell. I was able to hand off holiday cards to Facilitators Ariel and Lauren, as well as a birthday card for a shadower who would be turning 14-years-old over the holiday break. I then tried to get the drone to work, which was not that easy since the iPad I was using apparently did a software update overnight and it was asking me for a password I did not know. As I plodded my way through that experience I tried answering some of the questions from the Learners, but it is virtually impossible to give full attention to a conversation when dorking around with emails, passwords, and technology challenges.

As the Facilitators and Learners fanned back out I was able to get the drone up in the air to film the Learners in action. The adolescent Learners were hanging out near a climbing wall talking, so I maneuvered the drone toward the younger Learners who were scaling the walls of the canyon like mountain goats. I was surprised at how agile the Learners were in scaling the rocks, and it was clear that they had had plenty of practice over the prior two weeks. I had only planned to stick around for about a half an hour as I needed to get back for a Check-in and Chat with an Abrome family and for offerings that I was hosting, so I pulled the drone out of the sky as quickly as possible so I could get on my way.

At that point one of the shadowers came up to me and told me that she wanted to go home early. I asked her why, and she said that she was bored and not learning anything. Also that the outdoor experience was too tiring for her. I asked her if she had an understanding of what Self-Directed Education was, and what the deschooling process entailed. She said that she did, and that she likes freedom, but that she felt that she really needed more guidance from teachers who would tell her what to do. At that point I acknowledged her stated needs, as Learners who have been schooled for a decade can sometimes find deschooling during the shift to SDE hard to grasp, and uncomfortable. I was only seeing her for a moment, but it was clear that the shadow period worked as it should for this Learner in highlighting that Abrome was not the schooling experience that she wanted. I told her that it was a shame that that was the only time I was going to get to meet her in-person, and that I wished her the best of luck if that was the last day that she was going to be at Abrome.

When I got home I wrote up a quick email to her and her family. I reiterated how important the shadow period is for us:

“We value the shadow experience precisely so that prospective Learners know what Abrome is, and we understand that not everyone will like what they see. It allows us to go into a true partnership well informed about what learning and community will look like at Abrome for the Learner.” 

I then encouraged them to review the webinar that we previously shared with them so that they could revisit what Self-Directed Education is, and what it means to deschool. I also shared the following passage from Akilah S. Richard’s Raising Free People to highlight that what we are doing goes beyond schooling, which the shadower suggested she was looking for: 

“… I am constantly learning about myself, putting habits and ideas away and claiming or reclaiming others, as a result of my growing understanding of my way of learning and of managing my emotions and relationships. This—not leniency and a really fun curriculum—is what unschooling means and what it facilitates when you learn how to tap into it. It is a literal act—to consciously and logistically remove schools and classrooms as a child’s primary space for learning and socializing. More than that, it is an entire approach to life and relationships. In that approach is a constant growing and sharpening of the by-products of anti-oppressive, personally driven learning: self-knowledge and healthy self-determination, safe relationship building, socially just leadership and collaboration, curiosity,and genuine joy."

The shadower’s family said that they would pick her up early, so Facilitator Lauren walked her back to the drop-off point. As they waited, Facilitator Lauren invited her to paint with her, and the other shadower and an adolescent Learner came up to the drop-off point and joined in. When her guardian came to pick her up, he said that they were really proud of her for giving the shadow experience a chance.

Much of the day was spent scaling the walls of the canyon

Much of the day was spent scaling the walls of the canyon

Back at the in-person cell the other shadower and the adolescent Learner expressed their disappointment that the shadow period did not work out for the prospective Learner. They knew that the Self-Directed Education environment gets stronger as the community grows, and as adolescents, they would have also benefited from having another teen around. The two then began talking about astronomy The remaining shadower then searched for, found, and played a video on relative star sizes that he was excited to share.

The younger Learners were busy playing the entire time. They had come down from the walls of the canyon to play a hunter vs hunted game called “cougar stalks deer.” The shadower later joined in on the game as well. Essential to the Abrome experience is the opportunity to engage in unlimited free play in a mixed-age setting. This does not look like schooling to most, which is a good thing in our eyes. Many can intuitively appreciate the benefits of free play for younger Learners, but as young people age the expectation too often is that they will let go of the games to dive into academics. We hope that the Abrome Learners never lose their love of learning or their desire to play.

As the day came to a close the remaining shadower said they were excited to come back to finish up their shadow the next day. He then added that he planned to bring some gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, vegan treats on the final day of the cycle, and of the calendar year for Abrome.

Day 60 of AY20-21: growing in trust

Dangerously close to risk stage level five

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

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.

Screen Shot 2020-12-27 at 9.00.00 AM.png

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

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

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.

Day 59 of AY20-21: a rough day for some

Everyone in the remote cell showed up for the morning meeting on Zoom. It was a pleasant way to start the day for us. We started the meeting with a fun prompt: who do you believe is most likely to hack into government security systems? Three people said that a 14-year-old Learner would be the most likely to hack in, while three others said that a 16-year-old Learner would be the most likely to physically break in. Each nominated themselves. Also, a 12-year-old Learner said he was the most likely to break in. We then moved to our intentions for the day, and the 16-year-old said he planned to break into the Pentagon. Like any good Facilitator would do, I advised him not to tell people his plans. Especially over Zoom.

The in-person cell had a more difficult morning than the remote cell did. When one of the younger Learners was dropped off the first thing he said was that he had a rough morning because he got into a struggle with his mom about getting off of Roblox (so he could get to Abrome in time for the morning meeting). Facilitators Ariel and Lauren were also having rough mornings, as Facilitator Lauren had a heavy traffic hour-long commute (clearly many people are no longer staying home due to the pandemic) and Facilitator Ariel needed to catch a ride because his car died. They had hoped to make the best of the day even with the less than stellar morning leading up to the morning meeting.

Free range kids in a natural state of being

Free range kids in a natural state of being

They held their morning meeting at The Wall. When it was finished, some Learners wanted to go one way, and other Learners wanted to go another way. The Learner who said he had a rough morning walked off by himself, and two younger Learners soon followed him. So Facilitator Ariel agreed to go with those three, while Facilitator Lauren agreed to go with the older Learners and the two shadowers. When Facilitator Ariel caught up to the younger Learner who walked off he asked him if everything was okay. The Learner admitted that he was still upset about having to get off of Roblox and having a struggle with his mom about it.

Getting dirty while exploring

Getting dirty while exploring

As the day went on he continued to find difficulty controlling himself and that made it difficult for his peers. He kept taking mask off, for example, and the other Learners kept giving him feedback on it. He was also taking some risks while climbing, which also made the other Learners uncomfortable. It culminated when he took them up some rocks that took them well beyond their comfort zone. Although they did end up at a really cool cave that made for great exploration and fun, so there was a silver lining. At the end of the day the Facilitators checked in with the Learner’s parents about his most difficult days at Abrome, and they agreed that it seemed to be that when he starts his day with Roblox and then needs to leave in the morning that it tends to make for a bad day.

Facilitator Lauren went in the opposite direction with the older Learners and the shadowers. Their day was going okay, as they made a fire and activity built up in the Learners around the fire. But when one of the shadowers walked away from the fire with a stick with hot embers on it Facilitator Lauren asked the shadower to please come back so that the shadower did not inadvertently start a brush fire. The shadower got really emotional with the feedback and began to withdraw. She then said she was really sad, and a 13-year-old Learner asked why, and the shadower said “I don’t know.”

For much of the rest of the day the shadower needed a lot of nurturing. Both Facilitator Lauren and the 13-year-old Learner provided it for her. And while the 13-year-old Learner is fabulous at caring for others, she often overextends herself to care for others. Facilitator Lauren and Ariel made it a point to check in with the next day to remind her that while it is appreciated, that it is important that she is also taking care of herself and not overextending herself. Later in the afternoon the same shadower had a bug crawl into her shirt, which caused her to panic. As Lauren helped her change out her shirt, the shadower said “I can’t do this outdoor thing.” It was hard to tell if this was just a statement made in the frustration of the moment or the day, or if this was a definitive statement on whether or not she could see herself at Abrome. Challenges and struggles lead to growth, so we embrace them, even if they are particularly difficult. At the same time, Abrome is not for everyone, and we would surely find out over the next several days of the shadow if Abrome was for this prospective Learner.

Facilitator Ariel with a young Learner

Facilitator Ariel with a young Learner

Back in the remote cell I had a great 25-minute checkin with with a 12-year-old Learner. We talked about him learning how to ride a bike, and also about his brother’s motorized bike. At the end of the day we began the meeting with rose-bud-thorn reflections. One rose was that a Learner got to talk to her grandparents, one bud was the a Learner made great progress on his art project, and one thorn was another Learner saying he did not have much to do that day. Then I added a prompt asking what is one thing that would make each of them happy. The answers were breathing more, good food, having her own supply of Sushi, Christmas (presents), and having more clothes and new furniture. For me it was to get people to stop focusing on competing with each other. I feel a world without forced competition would certainly lead to fewer rough days for all.

Day 58 of AY20-21: welcoming two shadowers to Abrome

Day 58, Wednesday, December 16th, meant that we only had five days left in the cycle. Because we require prospective Learners to shadow with us for five days, those who wished to enroll for January needed to begin shadowing no later than that Wednesday or wait until January to shadow. We had one Learner lined up to shadow since the beginning of the month, and we had a late shadower rush through the admissions process to also begin on Wednesday. We only had room for the additional shadower because one of the Learners who was originally meeting in-person moved to the remote cell due to exposure concerns. It was a hopeful day for everyone at Abrome, knowing that we may be able to grow our community as we launch into the new year.

At the in-person cell the Learners warmly received the two shadowers. Facilitator Lauren told an eight-year-old Learner that the 13-year-old shadower was into paleontology, and they both got right to talking about their interests. They both shared that they each had brought dinosaur books in their backpacks that day! The 15-year-old shadower was nervous, but talkative, and shared that she often had challenges in new settings. They joined the rest of the Learners and Facilitators in declaring intentions for the day, with the 13-year-old saying he hoped to learn a lot that day.

Facilitators Ariel and Lauren offered to host a Self-Directed Education panel to help introduce the shadowers to how SDE works outdoors, without coercion, and within the Abrome community. But the Learners decided that they did not want to settle down for a panel on that day, and suggested maybe trying it later in the week. Each of the Learners shared a bit about themselves to help make the shadowers feel more welcome, and then the shadowers chose to share a bit about themselves. A younger Learner shared that he was autistic, which put one of the shadowers at ease.

At the morning meeting for the remote cell, as we talked about what we had planned for the day, two adolescent Learners suggested that I write an open letter to school leaders about how they should approach schooling during this wave and the dangerously high levels of infection that we will likely face for much of the winter. So besides the offerings and meetings I had scheduled for the day, I added that to my list of goals. Two of the Learners missed the morning meeting, so I checked in with each and encouraged them to join us later in the day. For one of the Learners, we had a scheduled check-in after the morning meeting. He joined me ten minutes late, apologizing for sleeping in. Some folks just don’t appreciate how much adolescents need sleep. Even with a 10:00 a.m. start time, which is much later than the schools in the area, Abrome Learners still are not getting enough sleep.

Ready to ride

Ready to ride

At the in-person cell, one of the adolescent Learners and Facilitator Ariel bought brought their bikes to ride. Together they went with another adolescent Learner and the 13-year-old shadower to The Bridge. At The Bridge the former challenged themselves on their bikes, while the latter painted. The older shadower stayed with Facilitator Lauren and the younger Learners, and got into a long conversation with Lauren. After extended conversation the shadower shared that she felt a sense of trust with Facilitator Lauren, even though she does not trust people often.

Some were attracted to the heat, others to the marshmallows

Some were attracted to the heat, others to the marshmallows

Later, the Facilitators, Learners, and shadowers met up at The Bowl. Facilitator Lauren brought a camp stove, and the group roasted vegan marshmallows and made hot chocolate. The stove and the associated hot treats have been a huge hit this cold December cycle. The adolescent Learners and shadowers spent much of their time hanging around the fire, while the younger Learners were running around playing. One of the Abrome Learners and the 15-year-old shadower connected on their shared interests in mythology, and then art. The shadower then made some art out of a stick she had charred in the camp stove.

At one point, one of the shadowers started to drift away from the group as he explored the area. One of the adolescent Learners went up to him and said that she also used to go off on her own, but that she learned that it is important for us to build up trust with each other before folks begin to venture out on their own. Also, that they should bring a walkie talkie with them, as well. Facilitator Lauren added that she wanted shadowers to stick near Facilitators for now, until they could be sure that the shadowers had a good sense of where they were and that they could quickly be found if need be. It was a great example for the shadower of how we value autonomy, but also how we are a community that looks out for each other and therefore we need to agree to certain boundaries.

This cycle seems to be all about finding a good vantage point

This cycle seems to be all about finding a good vantage point

I had two check-ins on the day. In the afternoon I met with an adolescent Learner who wanted to talk about Elon Musk trolling people over pronouns on Twitter. After he gave me a synopsis of what happened, I responded that I did not think that is was particularly amusing that this billionaire felt the need to call out trans and non-binary people over pronouns. We then got into a discussion over what it means to be ‘triggered,’ if being ‘triggered’ is sometimes a better option than mocking people, and what people with power can do with their time. Later in the day, I stumbled across a blog post which expanded on some of the points that I made and shared it with him on Discord. After the check-in it was time for my Free Write offering. Only one Learner has been coming to the offering which I have been hosting each day, and on this day I continued to work on the open letter, which I later published.

Back at the in-person cell one of the older Learners threw a stick onto the rock ledge above them and a rock fell off and grazed the head of one of the shadowers. While being outdoors is far safer during this pandemic than being indoors (the odds of transmitting Covid-19 in a closed environment are nearly 19 times greater than in open-air environments) being outdoors does carry risks. This point was made clear on day one of this prospective Learner’s shadow. Both the Learner who got hit with a rock and the Learner who threw the stick were shaken and upset by the experience. After receiving an ice pack and realizing that it was a minor injury, the shadower leaned over and assured the Learner that she knew that he did not mean to hurt her. He said that he felt terrible that he did something that hurt her, and she responded that she hoped he would feel better soon. The shadower then shared how trustworthy everyone seemed at Abrome, and how it was in start contrast to her experiences at school where bullies reigned. The other shadower then added on that he has always always seemed to stand out as weird at school, and Facilitator Lauren responded, “welcome to your tribe.”

A friendly reminder from the Abrome crew to give a damn

A friendly reminder from the Abrome crew to give a damn

Day 57 of AY20-21: exploring in place

On Tuesday I started off the morning meeting with the question, what’s better, cold pizza, hot pizza, or an apple. Two people said an apple, three said hot pizza, and none said cold pizza. I asked them for their justification and it all came down to personal preference. I’m glad no one said cold pizza, as that might have made question this whole project. We had two Learners during the morning meeting so I followed up with messages to them to check to see if they were alright.

Connecting with nature

Connecting with nature

It was cold that morning for the in-person cell, so the conversation about clothing continued on from previous days. One of the Learners reported that she dressed perfectly for the day, but later needed to borrow a wool blanket from Facilitator Lauren to get through the morning. We have been fortunate to learn these lessons the hard way in less than extreme weather conditions. Also, extreme winter weather in Texas is not that extreme.

The Learners told Facilitators Ariel and Lauren that they wanted to explore, but they did not want to feel super tired at the end of the day. They decided to start the day at the Rock Wall and allow the day to unfold from there.

Surveying her playground

Surveying her playground

The remote cell has not exactly been teeming with interactions between Learners and Facilitators, so I made sure to try to make the most of my time between meetings and my Free Write offering that one Learner showed up for. With that time I checked in one last time to verify that two prospective Learners would begin shadowing with the in-person cell, the next day. The one family needed to quarantine after Thanksgiving so we were holding our breath that they would be able to shadow before we were forced to go entirely remote. The second family came to our attention this weekend, and I needed to go through a very quick process of interviewing them, having them watch a required webinar, having them fill out paperwork, and dropping off two books for them to review in advance of a shadow. They were determined to make the shadow happen before the end of the cycle. We had room for both to shadow only because one of the in-person Learners needed to quarantine after a family member flew in from California after the death of a loved one.

I also scheduled a nice Check-in & Chat with a parent of the first Learner to enroll at Abrome. The meetings are meant to give guardians and Abrome a formal opportunity to share concerns, observations, and advice with each other. Some families need a lot of support, and others are fully bought in and trust what we are doing. This guardian does not need support so we ended up talking about issues of racial justice, the impact of the pandemic on society, and what it is going to take to get parents to let go of their fears in a way that would allow them to trust their children to enroll at Abrome.

At the in-person cell they discussed ways they could be welcoming to the shadowers who were joining on Wednesday. The cell did a great job welcoming a prospective Learner earlier in the cycle, so there was not much to talk about. But they did talk about the impact that body language could have on someone who was trying to navigate a new space.

Playing Trekking the National Parks

Playing Trekking the National Parks

As they stayed in one place they took outTrekking The National Parks, a game that has been a favorite at Abrome that we have taken outdoors with us as of late. It’s a game with the exact number of pieces needed to play, so we were concerned about having it outdoors and inadvertently losing a piece, as we have lost more than our share of pieces even when we were inside the Abrome facility in pre-pandemic times. So Facilitator Lauren pulled out a tarp to lay under the game to make sure that no pieces were lost. Two Learners joined Facilitators Lauren and Ariel in the game. The younger Learner who was new to the game was invited by the adolescent Learner to be on her team so he could learn the rules.

Nearby two other young Learners were recording a movie using one of the Facilitator’s iPads. After the Trekking game was finished, the younger Learner joined in on the fun. Later in the day a younger Learner climbed to an elevated spot on the rock wall and could not get down. He was scared, sad, and embarrassed, and decided that he wanted to go home. He also said that he hurt his thigh during the climb. After a conversation he said that he was no longer in pain and did not need to leave. He then spent the rest of day he kept testing the strength of his leg by running and jumping. While the Learners in the cell expressed a desire to explore, the day ended with them still at the Rock Wall. But even though they did not travel far, they were still able to explore.

Day 56 of AY20-21: cold days are always better with vulture remains

Looking up information about birds in the area

Looking up information about birds in the area

Day 56 was the beginning of the last full week of cycle four. It was the beginning of a very hopeful week, with perhaps two prospective Learners starting to shadow later in the week. We also entered into the week uncertain if we would be able to finish it, as it seemed we were quickly heading toward risk stage level five, which would require us to go fully remote. But before my week got started I needed to finish updating a document that I volunteered to work on for my Stanford Business School class about criminal justice reform. The goals of my writing were to make clear the central place racial justice should hold in efforts to address harms brought by the criminal justice system, and to emphasize that we did not need to limit ourselves only to reformist approaches to change, but that we could instead embrace abolitionist efforts that would not legitimize the violence of the status quo. After tinkering with the document much of Sunday and all Monday morning I sent it off, not knowing if my contributions would be appreciated by a more conservative leaning group than I’ve worked with in many years.

Learners occupying different levels of the Urban Assault Wall

Learners occupying different levels of the Urban Assault Wall

With the writing done, I was able to shift my focus entirely toward Abrome. I waited for the remote cell Learners to join me on the morning call, and then began the meeting at 10a. Everyone was sitting at home in front of their computers nice and warm. I led the meeting with the question, what is one interesting thing that happened to you this weekend? One Learner said he rode his new Ebike around his neighborhood, while another said he learned how to ride a bike for the first time! Another Learner said she spent much of the week crocheting and another said she built a gingerbread house. We then moved into the Set-the-Week meeting where we planned out our offerings and check-ins for the week. No one proposed any new offerings so it was a pretty quick meeting. I anticipate more participation when the entire goes remote … assuming we go to stage level five in the next couple of weeks.

Facilitator Lauren with a young Learner

Facilitator Lauren with a young Learner

The in-person cell had a very different experience to start their day. Monday was cold, surprisingly so for some. One Learner counted his lucky stars that his mom insisted that he wear insulated pants instead of shorts. A really good call. Another Learner, who started the day off with a disagreement with his parents about how to dress that morning, learned first hand why we say "cotton kills" as he stepped into the Abrome day underdressed for the cold weather. Facilitator Lauren put a mylar blanket around him and they called his guardian to swing back around with some warm clothing so that he could make it through the morning.

Adolescent Learners finding time for conversation while a young Learner runs by below

Adolescent Learners finding time for conversation while a young Learner runs by below

The in-person morning meeting was quite short. They added in gratitudes for the article of clothing they most appreciated on that cold (for Texas) morning. Then they set intentions and had another discussion on dressing for the cold. After that, it was time for the remote meeting for in-person Learners who could not make it that day. The youngest of the in-person Learners was out that day because of dentist appointment so he jumped on Zoom with Facilitator Lauren. It was a fun and playful morning meeting as he jumped on his bed and giggled his way through the morning meeting. All in all a pretty happy demeanor considering he had gone to the dentist.

After the Learner who was underdressed was appropriately dressed and thawed out he joined two of the adolescent Learners at the Urban Assault Wall, which they had been intending to visit since day one of the cycle. It was certainly worth the long hike as the landscape was beautiful. Two younger Learners discovered a bunch of vulture feathers and bones, including talons, while they were exploring the area.

Investigating the remains of a vulture

Investigating the remains of a vulture

On the hike they heard random people calling out one of the Learner’s names. It was a bit unsettling, until they noticed signs for a missing dog with that name! Then they came across the people calling out the dog’s name. Fortunately, later that day they came across the people with the dog they were looking for. The in-person cell ended the day talking about the possibility of going remote in the coming days.

Back at Abrome I had a nice Check-in and Chat with two Abrome families. We try to have a Check-in and Chat with each family every three months so that we can discuss how things are working for their Learner and their family, and so that both Facilitators and the guardians can raise awarenesses or concerns. We had hoped to check in with each family by the end of the cycle, and this day was a good start.

Because no one was coming to my offerings I was also able to squeeze in a call with a family that inquired about enrollment for a 4-year-old girl for January 2022. Then the day came to an end. While waiting for Learners to show up for the afternoon roundup one of the Learners asked me to quickly solve the Rubik’s cube. This was after telling me that morning that she was going to order one. I would not mind having a little Rubik’s cube club here at Abrome. Another Learner led the afternoon meeting and used rose-bud-thorn as a prompt for folks to reflect on their day. It was a nice warm day for the folks in the remote cell.

Day 55 of AY20-21: the bad business decision of being safe during Covid-19

What do you call a day where everyone shows up for remote meetings, but only three Learners show up in-person? You can call it day 55.

This fourth cycle of the pandacademic year has thrown us a few curveballs. It was the first cycle that we had to make one cell remote because we entered into risk stage level four in our county. It was the first cycle without Facilitator Jennifer, and with Facilitator Ariel. It was the first cycle that a Facilitator (Antonio) was fully remote, meaning that Facilitator Lauren would be helping to train up Facilitator Ariel. It was also the first cycle that we had to make some difficult calls about who needed to be remote for the cycle. Surprisingly to us, it was the first cycle we had shadowers join us (three of them!). And it was the first cycle where we moved away from the green spaces that we had been getting used to since September. We have done our best to remain agile and flexible as we’ve gone outdoors in small, physically distant cells of no more than 9 people each.

Everyone showed up for the remote morning meeting! It was the first time that they all showed up to a meeting since one of the Learners was forced to move from the in-person cell to the remote cell. Meanwhile, in the in-person cell, one Learner couldn’t make it because they did not have a ride, and another Learner took a personal day. Coupled with no shadowing prospective Learner and having had one Learner go remote, on top of starting with a smaller cell than the remote cell from the very beginning of the cycle, the in-person cell seemed tiny for the day. Not that the three young Learners who showed up were complaining, as they had the full attention of two Facilitators.

After the remote morning meeting, one of the Learners stuck around to talk to me on Zoom. He is always interested in the business aspects of things so he asked about Abrome’s strength as a going concern. As we talked about the challenges that the pandemic has posed to our community, he stated that he does not want Abrome to close. While I know that he cares about Abrome, I was surprised to hear him say it so plainly. This particular Learner, who has been with us since the day we opened in the fall of 2016, has had some rough moments at Abrome, more so than all the other current Learners combined, and he has said more than once in moments of frustration that he does not want to come back to Abrome. We have had some really challenging moments discussing how to maximize autonomy within a community, and have had long conversations around topics such as consensus decision-making, honoring commitments, and nonviolent communication.

I told him that I did not want Abrome to close either, and that after losing a couple of Learners that we were now growing, ever so slowly. I told him that this pandemic has parents scared about the future and that many are clinging even harder to the false notion of schooling as a safety net that will at the very least not allow their children to fall down the economic ladder from where they are at now. But despite that, that a tiny percentage of families would appreciate our approach to community care in the face of pandemic. That they would want to be a part of an education community that was willing to make bad business decisions such as going outdoors in small groups for the year, as opposed to the schools who chose the more profitable business decision of bringing everyone indoors so they can absorb families who are fed up with virtual schooling or requirements for kids to wear masks in class. And that this was a continuation of us having always made bad business decisions such as allowing kids to practice freedom, refusing to force them to do math or language arts each day, or forcing them to perform for parents once every six weeks. Because sometimes good business decisions are really harmful to kids and families.

I then asked him why exactly it was that he did not want Abrome to close. He told me it is because everyone is nice and he gets to play computer games. And that was a good enough answer for me.

Investigating the golden ant colony they found

Investigating the golden ant colony they found

The in-person cell was having a blast that day. They chose not to hike so they could recover from all the physical exercise over the prior four days. They stayed at what they call the Rock Wall and made hot chocolate. One Learner forgot his water bottle that morning, so he left for the second half of the day, leaving them with a 1:1 Learner-to-Facilitator ratio! They found some fascinating golden colored ants that took there attention for quite some time. They also had a conversation about what they would do if there was lightning in the area, as the forecast suddenly shifted to the possibility of thunderstorms over the next hour. Fortunately the weather was perfect that afternoon.

The remote cell found no cool golden ants, but we did do a free write that afternoon where a Learner showed up and shared the hour with me. That same Learner later led the afternoon meeting. Her prompt for the meeting was asking the other Learners about their intentions for the weekend. She then adjourned the meeting, and I got back to work trying to find ways to allow parents to trust that they can allow their children to practice freedom. It may not be the best business decision in terms of growing enrollment, but it is good for the soul.

Lots of interesting finds on this Friday

Lots of interesting finds on this Friday