“Are you with me now?” AJ Ryder
What No Plan B?
Interviewer: “Did you ever get discouraged?”
Coach: “No, because I didn’t have a Plan B.” Ime Udoka Coach of the Boston Celtics talking about his life.
If the phone don’t ring it’s me –
“Among other things, teachers are expected to work with students and their families to fashion learning plans for each of the district’s nearly 80,000 students, including sharing data with families and seeking their reflections on what their children need post-pandemic.” Leaning In by Future Ed
This is great news about learning plans and I’m hopeful that the City of Baltimore makes learning plans into a meaningful process. A learning plan for every student is one of the designs features BPL was founded on over 27 years ago. It would be great to hear from Baltimore. Either way: “If the phone don’t ring or if it does ring, it’s still me.”
RE, RE, RE
Reform
Relearn
Reinvent
Redesign
Reimagine
And on and on……
The Re prefix all started for me back early at PS 92 in Brooklyn. We played the pretest, test and retest game. It was easy to understand that the pretest didn’t count and came before the test hence, I could figure out that pre meant before but the re in retest was a tough one for me. Back then, re meant taking the same test over hence, retest. So, does reform mean taking the same form over? Wouldn’t it be better to say these words without the re? How about we imagine, learn, invent, design, invigorate, and form? Language can frame our actions and box us in. Read about Edward Bernays the grand-daddy of propaganda and public relations.
Where’s this in the curriculum?
Below is a photo from Maple’s Met TGIF from Principal Ben Carr of Kyle meeting Manitoba's Leader of the Official Opposition, Wab Kinew. Kyle and Wab have committed to sitting down again soon to talk about systemic racism and Kyle's interests in politics. As Ben states, “It was a week to remember.”
Or is this THE Curriculum?
“We know that kids learn best when they’re interested in the curriculum. But our traditional model leaves a lot to be desired. Prescribed curriculum regurgitated in front of a classroom full of quietly sitting children is not the way to interest those children.” Maureen O’shaunessey. Is this really true or is this a language trick to keep THE Prescribed curriculum driven way more by adults? Do kids really learn BEST when they’re interested in THE Prescribed curriculum? Or, do they learn BEST when they are the curriculum and the community is the school?
Next thing on the agenda will be to Rescribe THE Prescribed curriculum.
Great news this week, The 311 Credential is fully funded by Newark’s Workforce and DOE. The 311 is going to spread and give Newark youth a way to get to where they want to go as they become adult and not have the system treat them like children. Thanks to Karen, Brooklyn, Joe, Charlie, Kurt, Mario and, and… We start this summer. This work will be part of B-U and HFF.
Also, our B-U work is starting this summer in Sweetwater School District. It will continue throughout the school year both in and outside of schools. Way more to come on this one for the CA statewide work. Anthonette, Rodrigo and former Equity Fellow Vernon Moore are instrumental in getting this all setup. PD starts today.
LEGO Conference
While we want everything to have meaning, gamers and players expect little meaning, and yet, there is a great deal.
Gearing up for both the LEGO conference next week and Big Bang in July, our IBPLC group worked up a way to use BPLiving measures by making sleep, movement, eating well, healthy relationships, managing stresses and understanding harmful substances into activities of play. This is part of our challenge for the LEGO grant. We have done quite a bit of work around taking ACLM materials and bigpicturizing them so, the measures don’t lose their meaning to the self and community, Fitting lifestyle medicine into the IBPLC work of Personal Qualities and getting students and schools to start where they are at to generate and sustain this work is the challenge. As Danique says, “Lifestyle is Medicine.” This is one of the biggest and most ubiquitous equity challenges out there and we are barely scratching the surface. The health disparities in black and brown and low-income communities are large. The massive marketing and the physical addictions to foods and pills by corporations to schools, homes and communities is creating ever widening disparities. We are sending a different message and backing it up with ways to take actions that make you feel better while staying in good health.
Be well!