Abrome

Our first inclement weather day of the 2021 calendar year

Our first inclement weather day of the 2021 calendar year

Wednesday was going to hopefully be our first in-person day of the calendar year, and of the last two cycles! Unfortunately, nature decided to crush our hopes of being back together again. Instead, day 86 of our pandacademic year was our first inclement weather day of 2021. And just another remote day. We have varying standards for what constitutes an inclement weather day and discomfort is not one of them. Inclement weather days are reserved for hazardous conditions that needlessly put Learners or their families in risky situations. The forecasted temperatures were not necessarily low enough, and the win was not high enough, and the rain itself was not likely enough, but the combination of the three plus lightning made the call an easy one.

I opened the morning meeting at 10:00 a.m. with the agenda, a review of the Community Awareness Board, announcements, and then a pretty deep prompt:

We’ve struggled a bit with people being present while remote. For example, people asking what the prompt is even though we have had practices such as actively listening, minimize apps, and post the prompt in the chat. What is a reason being present is important to you when someone you care about is talking, or for others when you are talking? Or give an example of a time when someone was not present that made you feel ignored, not seen, or not heard.

The prompt was intended to get everyone to really consider how they show up for each other. Some of the responses focused on the impact on Abrome meetings: so a meeting doesn’t take ten times as long; [not being present] makes meeting take longer and it is kinda annoying; because people should listen to what others have to say and the meeting takes longer when people are not present; annoying when people are not paying attention and extends meetings. And some of the responses to the prompt were a bit deeper: its important to me because I do genuinely think about the things that people say in this community, and I also get angry and defensive when someone isn’t listening to me when I’m trying to speak, and i don’t want to make people feel like that; to communicate with community and friends; I want people to feel like they matter and what they say matters; to understand others in the community, empathize, know what’s happening in their lives, for people to know I care; so I know people hear me; when my mom is on the phone; by being present with others we are at least validating that person’s existence.

high fives

high fives

After the morning meeting Facilitator Ariel jumped on a one-to-one check-in call with an adolescent Learner while the rest of us geared up for the seven-minute workout. After the call Facilitator then jumped into the seven-minute workout with the usual crew sans one and then we high fived each. I immediately moved into my free write where I was joined with the adolescent Learner who comes most often to free write. Thirty minutes after my offering started, Facilitator Lauren had a check-in with the other Learner who sometimes comes to my free write offering.

A very fun one-to-one

A very fun one-to-one

Afterward Facilitator Lauren had a 30-minute check-in with the youngest Abrome Learner. It was only slated for 15 minutes, but since neither had anything to attend to they just hung out and had fun. When Facilitator Lauren commented that they doubled their time for the check-in when she needed to go the Learner said, “thank God!” as if he wasn’t loving the one-on-one attention he was getting from his favorite Facilitator.

Ready to swing stage 1

Ready to swing stage 1

While Facilitator Lauren and I were focused on connecting with Learners remotely, Facilitator Ariel trekked out to meet up with a younger Learner in-person (still masked up and socially distanced).

Ready to swing stage 2

Ready to swing stage 2

Not all Learners have responded to being remote in the same ways. Many of the Abrome Learners who are eager to play with each other at Abrome have rich online lives at home, and being remote has hardly caused a hiccup for them as they dive into those activities and communities when they don’t have the ability to be with us in person. But others struggle. The younger Learner that Facilitator Ariel went to visit certainly misses the in-person experience at Abrome. It was convenient that Facilitator Ariel was able to hang out with the Learner briefly before the weather turned really bad.

Facilitator Ariel’s in-person one-to-one with the Learner revolved around Facilitator Ariel allowing the Learner to show off his swinging skills, first swinging a stick, then swinging on a rope swing. The Learner’s younger brother was sure to take up as much of Facilitator Ariel’s attention as he could, as well. The weather was already too cold (even though the Learner was barefoot for part of it!) and then the rain came, as well. Facilitator Ariel and the Learner said their goodbyes, but not before Facilitator Ariel was informed that he was the Learner’s best friend.

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At 1:00 p.m. Facilitator Lauren hosted an art and fart offering as creating art has been something that we have been able to come together around. And unsurprisingly, farts are quite popular among a subset of Learners, although the fart part of the art and fart was about farting around, just hanging out with one another. Two Learners showed up for this offering, as well as Facilitator Ariel. It seemed to be more of a hangout than anything, as some made art, some made food, some just talked.

Immediately following the art and fart offering I had a one-to-one check-in with a Learner, while Facilitator Ariel and one of the Learners who attended the art and fart hosted their joint online gaming and Minecraft offering. Two younger Learners also showed up for the offering, and both stuck around for another 15 minutes after the hosts dropped off at 3:00 p.m.

45-minute workout

45-minute workout

After my one-to-one check-in with a Learner, I joined three other adult Learners in the extended workout hosted by another Learner. These workouts have really challenged us, and put the seven-minute workout to shame. And even though I complain, it’s been great.

For the afternoon roundup Lauren reviewed the practices, had everyone communicate via popcorn for game shifting, and then opened up the meeting to announcements. Because a younger Learner wanted to co-lead the morning meeting with me, and I declined because of the prompt we had lined up for the morning, Facilitator Lauren let him co-lead the afternoon roundup with her. Meaning she let him come up with the prompt and move everyone through that portion of the meeting. He asked everyone to share their favorite type of gemstone or mineral, and also their favorite type of tree. There was very little overlap in the former: amethyst, green tourmaline, diamonds, green geodes, iron, rubies, bismuth, limestone, gold, blood diamonds, aquamarine, and gravel. I don’t think the Learner who chose blood diamonds knows what the blood represents, and we can follow up with her on that. I asked the Learner who chose gravel if it was because he ate so much gravel at the pump track, and he said it was. There was lots of overlap in the latter: live oak, cedar, cedar, cherry blossom, cherry tree, cherry tree, redwood, cherry blossom, pecan, cherry blossom, cherry blossom, and “I don’t have one.” The responses may have reflected tiredness at the end of the day, our first inclement weather day of 2021.