Atherton - Day 2 and Crazy Travels

The day started out well, yesterday. I made it to Atherton Community School in a record three hours (door to door). I had such a great day at Atherton. They are planning a really exciting project designing all of their signage for their new building (opening next year). I got to present to the students at an assembly about critique and they are really getting into the Kind, Helpful, Specific critique format. I'm starting to fall in love with the students there - especially the rambunctious ones, you know the ones who are easiest to get to know, right away. One boy, in particular, has a really rough home life and is new to the school - you can just tell how badly he wants to be loved and accepted, so he's constantly seeking attention in mischievous ways... but if you can find moments to point out anything positive, his whole being lights up as if no one has ever said anything positive to him, before. It's so fun to shine a light on his strengths, and he is getting good at shining a light on other kid's strengths through critique.

The whole school has posters up about Ron Berger critique in every classroom. It's really exciting to see! And they are getting good at being kind, helpful and specific (their strength is kindness). For their next project, they are using a community resource full of 3-D printers, computers with CAD software, laser cutters and top quality equipment for printing that is about 10-minutes away that will allow students to design and possibly manufacture the signs for their new building. I am working with Ian from Chapel St. (an organization opening "free" schools - our charter school equivalent, I think) to design the project that kicks off next Wednesday with a kid-friendly Stanford Design workshop for the students that will introduce design thinking and the project. I'm excited about helping teachers design web pages for all of these projects kicking off at different schools - I hope they'll swap projects.

So the day started out well, but soon fell apart when I left the school. Atherton is normally about a six hour commute (in total - three hours each way with walks, trains and transfers), but last night was really insane. A train that derailed and caught fire (luckily no one was injured) cancelled all trains between Atherton and Manchester. It took quite a while to find a bus stop (there is no bus station in Atherton) and once I had no train, bus or car ride home in sight, it started to snow, again. After about an hour, I found a bus that took slightly short of forever (I was a bit cranky at this point, so I think my sense of time was off) to get to Manchester Picadilly, and that train station was ridiculously crowded. I ended up squeezing on a train and I definitely got closer (literally and in conversation) with a group crammed together like sardines in the luggage compartment. Getting home was a five hour journey, but I shouldn't complain since it ended with Darrick, pizza and wine...life is good. 

I'm writing this post on my phone while standing in another luggage compartment in a train to Sheffield. Oh trains... I used to love riding you.

Snowy, Train-Chasing Monday

England is totally covered in snow. The whole country is frozen over. I was watching the news this morning, listening for school closures, hoping I could work from home and watch the Inauguration. No such luck. It's amazing how quickly the beautiful white nightfall turns into brown, sock-soaking sludge on the sidewalks. Sadly, my one pair of snow shoes (rubber boots I've had since high school), cracked on their first real test in the snow - too much pressure for one pair of shoes to take on for seven months in England. So, my running shoes and I are working together to try to keep my socks dry, today - neither of us are very well-designed for the challenge - we're definitely the underdogs against the unrelenting, flowing, sludgy sidewalks. I ordered boots on Amazon, yesterday - the cheapest option that looked the most like the ones I see all of the women wearing with their stockings and dresses as they power-walk past me and my soggy socks on the way to work.

The Leeds train station computers were down, this morning, which added much excitement to the morning commute. Usually, the final destination is accompanied on a set of screens by all of the stops along the way. Both of my transfers on trains this morning are stops, rather than final destinations (and I have no idea where my trains end up after I get off on my stop). So, I had to ask a couple conductors (one who sent me astray out of confusion or inability to understand my accent). Eventually, I ended up running across the train station from Platform 1c to Platform 15b. I literally jumped on the train as the doors were closing (the whole time I was running and dodging people, the theme song for Scarecrow and Mrs. King was playing in my mind - which made the whole experience more secret-agent like and fun, rather than stressful). It looks a bit like a blizzard outside my train window, so the walk to Goole High School should be exciting. I think I have almost every piece of clothing I brought on as a layer, right now (you can image how fashionable I look). I better get ready to transfer trains in Brough... since I've never been there before, trying to find the next train to Goole should be an adventure... Happy Inauguration Day!

P.S. - I realize this seems to be a picture of chasing a goose rather than a train, but I had no time to take a picture while chasing the train.

Sledging (apparently not called sledding here :) in Roundhay Park

Dixons Allerton - Day 1

Friday was the most energizing work day I have had with a school, so far. At Dixons Allerton in Bradford, three teachers (a science, humanities and English teacher) have been given the full day on Fridays with twenty-five Year 9 students to trial project-based learning. Rachel Taylor brought our team together in the morning to meet each other and begin a full day of project development. I presented briefly on what project-based learning looks like at High Tech High and how our school is based on three integrations: integrating diverse students, integrating hands and minds, and integrating the school and community (connecting school with the outside world). Project-based learning is one of the tools we use to achieve these integrations and to help students become collaborative, problem solvers ready to change the world for the better and feel prepared for further education and their chosen careers. While High Tech High's design principles are personalization, real-world connection, teacher as designer and common intellectual mission, Dixons Allerton's design principles are all about celebrating diversity, aspiration and achievement. High Tech High and Dixons Allerton share very similar goals for our students, and both profess to focus on personalization to push all of our students to grow and achieve their dreams. The challenge for us as teachers and schools, in general, is really sticking to these design principles and pushing ourselves every day to do what is best for our students. The teachers and school leaders at Dixons Allerton definitely seem dedicated to their vision.

Half-way through the day, our project-based learning team steered away from just looking at the big picture and grand goals of project-based learning and we jumped into the specific project planning for the group of 25 students we will be kicking the project off with, next Friday. The three teachers, who had not worked closely together before, jumped into collaborating and decision-making with ease and efficiency. After exploring countless HTH project cards and examples of projects, they decided on creating their own variation of Chris Wakefield's and Diana Sanchez's Comic Super-Heroes project - incorporating the history of heroes and comics, the art of plot structure and character development, and the science and physics behind super-powers. They felt confident that the project would inspire and excite their students. We worked on developing the project planning packet and then we jumped into our six-hour plan for the first Friday of the project. One of the key tools for measuring student growth, goal setting and progress will be an interactive, reflection journal (inspired by the reflective journal students keep at Hartsholme Academy). I can't wait for next Friday! I am really excited to get to know the students we'll be working with and see how our first day plan unfolds. You can view the plan here.

* I didn't take the photo included with this section, but it's my favorite photo from the Dixons Allerton web page. It includes Rachel Kidd, a really inspiring, energetic and dedicated school leader, along with students and the school chickens that roam the enclosed quad.

Yewlands Day 1 (at Hartsholme Academy)

Today was my first day at Yewlands Technology College in Sheffield (where the Full Monty was set). Oddly enough, my first day at Yewlands meant a site visit with staff, an hour and a half away, to Hartsholme Academy in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. So, I set out on the frozen streets of Leeds (with a brave, generous Darrick accompanying me to the station for moral support) at 6:30a. I took a train from Leeds arriving in Sheffield at 8am, followed by a 20 minute cab ride to Yewlands. When I arrived at Yewlands, I got on a mini-bus with 11 others (including two HTHMA interns) for an hour and a half drive to Lincoln. A highlight of our bus trip was the question game Lucie brought, when we each drew a question from an envelope and had to answer it aloud so that the group got to know each other a bit. Thursday was the second day in a row involving 6 hours of travel time for only 6 hours in a school. At times, this job feels a bit like UK public transit boot camp.

Hartsholme Academy was a really inspiring school - the most impressive school I've seen so far in England. It is an elementary school that is truly centered around children and full of experiential, immersive learning. I was lucky enough to be involved in an online project tuning with Chris, HTe teachers and some of their staff. I got to see the product of that project tuning - a project called Parachutery - in action. A video will be coming soon! What really struck me (and I want to take it back to my classroom) was the way they really transformed the learning space to become an alien crash landing site, or the country of France, or Nelson Mandela's prison cell...every classroom had been transformed into an immersive learning environment. I wanted to linger and learn in every classroom. And you should have seen how engaged EVERY student was! They all wanted to tell me all about what they were doing and share what they were creating on their iPads. Such a beautiful environment!

After our tour (full of great student interactions) and an inspiring talk from teachers and school leaders, I got to meet with the team of teachers I will be working with, who have been given the charge to completely change the Year 7 (6th grade) educational experience at Yewlands. They are a group of primary trained teachers who have really  been given free-reign to transform Year 7 to better serve their students (which is not something that typically happens in England). The group talked about dreams of simplifying the schedule, untracking classes, teaching in teams to build stronger relationships, etc. They are an amazing group of teachers willing to make change and take risks, and they have the full support of their administration. I can't wait to be a part of their team at Yewlands!

Meanwhile, as I'm beginning to unwind on the train...I'm feeling how physically, emotionally, mentally and professionally exhausted I am....and it's only Thursday. Everything is so new, stimulating, cold and far away. I am looking forward to a weekend of being snowed in. There is talk of schools being closed tomorrow due to the snow blanketing the North. I feel like my mind and body is a little snowed in at this point.

Chapel St Atherton Day 1

This morning, frozen fog was forecasted and the streets were cloaked in mystery. The trains held down their horns through blind turns, and I arrived 40 minutes late to Chapel St. Atherton, due to delays and 2 extra train changes in order to get back on track.

I arrived to classroom observations at a free school in a temporary building with a student population of 40 year 7s (6th graders). I saw a lively chemistry lesson and a math lesson before sitting down with a new teacher in charge of project-based learning at the school. She had a project planned that asked students to create pamphlets about hygiene in groups of four. The lesson started with engaging (and gruesome) videos about personal hygiene that hooked the students. Then, they moved into groups of four to choose topics and a team leader/editor. They went through a research challenge, finding online research, library sources, re-watching videos and asking experts in different rooms throughout the school. In the end, they gathered their research and created their first drafts of pamphlet pages.

It was a tough topic to get kids excited about, so overall, I was impressed by the students willingness to jump into the activity. I imagine the students who struggled will be hooked in with projects that inspire them with a topic they are more interested in and a real audience, in the future. It was a great first day working with the kids from Atherton. They have a lot of energy - especially the lads I met. I am looking forward to seeing that energy applied to their work as they become more engaged. I can't wait to dream up and plan engaging projects with the small, dedicated staff.

Goole Day 2

On Monday, I arrived for my second day at Goole High School coated in snow and with a new ID badge - bar code and all. I met with Louise (the wonderful geography teacher I'm working with) and with Nate and Sara (HTHMA's fabulous interns). First, I sat in one of Louise's lessons and watched as she sang, taught and inspired her kids. I was invited to work with a student sitting by himself who proved to be a car expert (much more excited about cars than geography).

After the first lesson, I rejoined Nate and Sara and helped them with ideas for their 1 hour Intro to PBL lesson (which they would be delivering to all of the year 9s, aka 8th graders) and the 9 hours of lessons they would be delivering to one particularly spirited group of Year 9s that I will be co-teaching with Louise once we launch the Goole Docks project.

Nate and Sara had great ideas and we worked through lunch when a photographer from the Goole Times came to take a picture they'll be running about the Goole High School and High Tech High connection. It will be the second recent news story run in The Goole Times (building the pressure on us to help our students create beautiful work for the community).

After school and a glimpse at Goole High School's detention, I met with Stuart - the director of Goole Studio School to open next year. Stuart and I talked and asked each other questions for about an hour. Then, Stuart spared me the mile walk to the train station in the snow and drove me 40 minutes to the closer train station in Wakefield (named before Chris arrived ;-)

Stuart spoke passionately about his belief in PBL and the real-world connection to real problems and jobs in the community that Studio Schools would offer. The school has been working hard to make connections with local businesses to build projects with tangible effects. Stuart also shared some of the history and context of the British education system before he dropped me off at Wakefield Westgatate Station - a short 20 minute ride to Leeds. That final ride marked the end of another productive and informative day in Goole.

Recovery Weekend at Home and a Tour of Our Flat

It's been a weekend of recovery, bargain shopping and learning to navigate Leeds - our new home for the next six and a half months. The Leeds Market is less than a mile away and full of fresh food and cheap goods of all sorts. Darrick and I splurged on a few kitchen items since we're cooking in almost every night. Now, we've got ourselves a cutting board, a colander, a plastic spoon and a third pan. Come on over and we'll cook you something from the local market :-)

I'm starting to feel like myself, again, and thanks to the Leeds pharmacist, my eyes are no longer infected and goopy! I truly have a new outlook on life. And we've paid our TV tax, so we're no longer hiding from the BBC TV tax enforcement van. 

Darrick and I got out to Roundhay Park (only a 10 minute bus ride from our place), today, and walked around one of the largest parks in Europe with David and Clare Price. The park is really beautiful and incredibly expansive - full of dogs frolicking off leash, large lakes (freezing as we speak), forest trails, a giant grass ampitheater, a folly (a fake castle), and so many paths to explore! I can't wait to go back! We had soup afterwards and watched some of David Attenborough's documentary on Africa, before riding the bus back to our place. We're planning an early dinner at our local pub, tonight, before it's back to work (back to Goole), tomorrow.

Darrick just finished the video of our flat if you'd like to take a tour, MTV Crib-style - http://youtu.be/Asci9yVF30I

England is Intense

So far, England has been intense. I know it will get better and there is so much to celebrate, but this has been an intense week. I only made it to one school before I got sick, ended up with two eye infections and sadly had to write apologetic e-mails from bed about missing my first days at three different schools. And then, this is the first piece of mail we received in England, which was addressed to "Legal Occupier" (and probably was meant for the last tenants). David Price generously lent us his television when we arrived, which we've now unplugged (in fear of someone searching our place) until we can afford the £145 TV tax or return the TV. I had to type up the letter word for word, because you have to read it to believe it... I love that the legislation they refer to is the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984. How do they know we're watching TV?:

Dear Sir/Madam, 

As you have not responded to our letters yet, you have left us no alternative but to proceed with the final stages of our investigation. 

An Officer has been scheduled to visit LS2 7EJ to find out if TV is being watched or recorded illegally. The Officer may visit your property any day of the week, morning or evening. 

The information below explains the procedure. You may refer to it during a visit from the Officer. 

Yours faithfully,

Jane Jeffers

Leeds Enforcement Division 

What you need to know about the enforcement process

• We can apply to court for a search warrant to gain access to your property.

• An Officer can take your statement under caution, in compliance with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 or Scottish criminal law.

• Anything you say to the Officer may be used as evidence in court.

• You risk a fine of up to £1000, in addition to legal costs.

• If your property needs a TV License, you will still need to buy one.

What is a TV License? Watching TV is super serious over here. England has not welcomed us quite yet, but we're hoping she'll warm up to us soon...

Getting the Hang of It

I think I'm starting to get the hang of living abroad. My first failed attempt at opening a bank account ended in tears - stressed about not having a way to get cash, pay rent, book a train the next day for work or pay basic utilities. My second failed attempt at opening a bank account ended with laughter - what are the odds of Innovation Unit sending the wrong letter AGAIN and having my first utility bill assigned to CANDY Staff? I think the key to living abroad is laughter - and I'm hoping with enough, I'll cure my constant cold and pink eyes. Stress is definitely overrated. I'm giving up stress, today.... don't know why I packed it in the first place. (Probably shouldn't give up attempting to open a bank account, just yet, though...there will be a third attempt.)

Darrick and I walked into the Leeds Corn Exchange down the street today on our way home from the bank and found this amazing atrium hiding inside. So many places and experiences to discover in Leeds...

Day 1 at Goole High School

Today was my first day working with one of my assigned schools in England. I barely slept, awake most of the night with a crazy sore throat and first-day jitters. I made coffee and then headed to the train station before sunrise. In order to get to and from my flat in Leeds and Goole High School, I ended up walking four miles and riding four trains (over two hours of train adventures). Every day will be a walking/public transportation extravaganza.

Adventure #1/ Day 1: Goole High School

After speed-walking the mile between the train station and Goole High School, I made it just in time for the start of the morning meeting. Denuta, the principal, stood at the front of the presentation hall dressed in fishnet stalkings, tall black boots and a short dress with graffiti art on it and held a shark stuffed animal which was meant to represent Ofsted (the British equivalent of WASC). Hundreds of staff members sat listening in groups. Denuta explained that Goole is meant to be visited by Ofsted (the shark) within the next month. During their staff day, Denuta led the staff through a Prezi with video clips from Rocky V and Chambawamba. The videos were meant to inspire the staff to be resilient. In our table groups, we read about, discussed and demonstrated eight Teach Like a Champion strategies, like Cold Call, Exit Slips, Pepper, etc. Everyone was asked to incorporate the strategies in their lessons.

After a few hours of the whole staff meeting, I met with Louise, the geography teacher I'll be designing and co-teaching a project with until Spring Break. We talked about the two HTHMA interns coming next week and the project we will be launching together in four weeks. We read through an assigned Ofsted article about how to move from a 'satisfactory' to 'good' school in order to avoid program improvement. It became clear how deeply embedded and enforced the testing and marking culture is in British schools. Even teacher observations include a rubric with 8 categories and a clearly marked grade for each. I look forward to fitting PBL adventures within the British school system, and Louise is looking forward to it, also. I know it will be a great experience to co-plan and co-teach with Louise.

On my walk to and from Goole High School to the train station, I got a sense of the "very deprived", friendly community (with low expectations) that "time forgot", as it has been described to me. There are few opportunities in Goole and apparently few that ever leave. I'm looking forward to getting to know the students. Today was a staff day, so I only got a glimpse of the hundreds of staff members who work at GHS and I received a confusing induction checklist (that rivals HTH with its use of acronyms). I need to finish my checklist before next Monday, but for now, I'm looking forward to meeting Darrick for a drink at Friends of Ham, a pub near the station that David Price recommended.

P.S. - Anyone who comes to visit us, we are definitely taking you to Friends of Ham!

Arriving in England

Darrick and I arrived in Leeds after 20 hours of travel. As we passed through border check, they emphasized that they were "not happy" that Darrick was staying so long on a visitor's visa, but they still let us in, begrudgingly. Phew!

David and Clare Price picked us up at the airport, shared sparkling wine (from Leeds) and homemade salsa with chips, right when we arrived. We watched a recap/celebration of the London Olympics and slept in their guest room. They were incredibly generous and welcoming. They treated us like family and helped us on our shopping spree to get bedding, dishes, cookware, towels, curtains and hangers for our new place (introducing us to the British equivalents of the 99¢ Store, Walmart and Target).

We are (somewhat) moved into our flat, 10 minutes away from the Leeds train station. We had our first afternoon tea with the Price's after finding our local Sainsbury market where we bought milk. Our flat is a wonderful place to live with a view of the church across the street (where beautiful bells chime on Sundays) and a river to our backs. Our first night at "home", we went for a pint and "bits and bobs" to eat at our local pub. Darrick had fish and chips with mushy peas, and I had bangers and mash. We felt very wanna-be British.

The next morning, we hopped on a train to London where I had two full days of meetings and Darrick embarked on two full days of exploration.

The meetings were a bit more confusing than clarifying, but I'm hoping my role in schools will be to help identify bright spots and support challenges, so that I can help school leaders design and document meaningful action research. I feel like I'm in way over my head, but luckily, I've always enjoyed swimming.

When Darrick and I returned to Leeds, I came down with the flu that he had just defeated, we smoked out our flat with our first attempt at cooking at home (apparently, the oven wasn't cleaned), I discovered which coffee shop NOT to go to (it's never a good sign when a jittery guy behind you says he'll wait and then the door is locked and the sign changed to CLOSED when you leave) and I failed to open a bank account after Innovation Unit gave me the wrong paperwork. Our first full 24 hours in Leeds were filled with sickness and comical mishaps (ending in a late delivery of Dominoe's pizza - the only place that would take our chip-less American credit card). I'm really missing home, even though I feel lucky to be on this grand adventure and I know Gracie is having wonderful adventures of her own with my parents.

Tomorrow is my first day of work in a school - Goole High School. It's a 15 minute walk to the train station and an hour ride each way, by train. I'm working with Louise, an inspiring social studies teacher, who is going to be implementing the Goole Docks project that Chris and I helped design over Skype. This week will bring 4 first days of school at Goole High School, Chapel St. Atherton, Yewlands in Sheffield and Dixons Allerton. I get really nervous about one first day of school, so I feel like my butterflies have been multiplied by four... I'm hoping I can sleep, tonight. Sweet dreams!