Invented spelling

This is the first in a series of guest posts by local innovative educators. Thanks to Piaf Azul, director and teacher at Harmony Homeschool, for kicking off the series.

For beginners, writing can seem like just an exercise in hand-eye coordination (penmanship) and memorization (sight words). But that’s not what writing is at all.  It’s art: communication, self-expression, the creative process. At Harmony Homeschool, we change the paradigm with Writer’s Workshop. At first, the kids are often dubious, but soon they are eagerly clamoring for a chance to share their latest writing with the group.

The way we get from Point A (Does my a look round enough? Are there two l’s in hello?) to Point B (And then the dinosaur and the kitten flew away . . . ) is through invented spelling. One of the tenets of Writing Workshop is to just get your ideas on paper, using your best guess.  

It’s hard at first for kids to break their habit of asking, “How do you spell ______?” every couple of words, but eventually they  begin to write on their own. A hushed feeling of concentration descends on the group. Invented spelling gives children the freedom to experience writing as meaningful, the way any author does. Don’t worry; they will learn correct spelling eventually, through editing and through individualized spelling lists pulled from their writing.

At the end of the semester, we invite the parents to join us for an Author Share, where the kids read their stories to the audience. The looks on their faces as they command everyone’s attention make it clear that they understand that writing is power!

Piaf Azul

What would Wendell say?

I recently had the pleasure of attending “An Evening with Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson,” one of the highlights of Edible Austin’s Eat Drink Local Week. It was a fascinating, wide-ranging dialogue between two of the world’s most interesting and important thinkers about food, agriculture, sustainability, and—yes, indeed— education.

Berry’s remarks that evening led me to revisit some of his writings (which are many and varied, including poetry, essays, and fiction) as well as his always enlightening interviews. In one such interview, published back in 1993 by Jordan Fisher-Smith, he articulated what for me are the most valuable characteristics of the schools here at Alt Ed Austin:

My approach to education would be like my approach to everything else. I’d change the standard. I would make the standard that of community health rather than the career of the student. You see, if you make the standard the health of the community, that would change everything. Once you begin to ask . . . what’s the best thing that we can do here for our community, you can’t rule out any kind of knowledge. You need to know everything you possibly can know. So, . . .  all the departmental walls fall down, because you can no longer feel that it’s safe not to know something. And then you begin to see that these supposedly discrete and separate disciplines, these “specializations,” aren’t separate at all, but are connected. And of course our mistakes, over and over again, show us what the connections are, or show us that connections exist.

The people I’ve met and observed at these little schools share a deep sense of community and an understanding that real education is about seeing and making connections. I believe Wendell would approve.
 

Big words

 

Paula Estes has a tradition of surprising her students at the annual Living School holiday potluck with gifts they’ve designed themselves without knowing it. This year was no exception.

Last week she invited the kids to write a few sentences on what they like about their school, leading them to believe it was for some other purpose. Then she stealthily loaded their responses into the “word cloud” generator at Wordle (where words that appear more frequently in the source text are given more prominence), and voilà! The new school t-shirt design was born. The shirts were a hit at the holiday party, and families report that they were inspired to try some interesting things with Wordle at home.

I am struck by the amount of love in this cloud (and this school community). Which words would rise to prominence in a word cloud about your school?

Lots of opportunities this week!

This week is brimming with public events at local alternative schools. Each is a great chance to check out the school’s facilities, learn about its programs, and meet staff, students, and parents.

• The Austin EcoSchool will open its doors on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons for a Barefoot Books fair, with sales benefitting the school.
• On Tuesday evening you can attend an information session at Clearview Sudbury School and get answers to all your questions about the Sudbury model of education.
• Also taking place at Clearview this week is the school’s first movie night. Everyone is welcome to join the local Sudbury folks on Thursday evening for a showing and discussion of Voices from the New American Schoolhouse, a documentary about the well-established Fairhaven Sudbury School in Maryland.
• Friday is the Inside Outside School’s Expo Day, where kids will present the projects they’ve worked on all semester. You can also buy cool stuff handmade by the Apothecary Class.
• Later on Friday, head to the Whole Life Learning Center’s open house to learn about its unique programs, including “Freedom Fridays,” which feature enrichment classes that are open to the homeschooling community.

For more details, go to the Alt Ed Austin Calendar, where you can click on any event to find the time, location, and other specifics. If you can’t make it to these special happenings, no worries: contact any of the schools listed in the Directory to arrange a visit of your own.

Welcome.

I’m glad you’ve found Alt Ed Austin’s blog, where I’ll be writing about alternative education, Austin schools, and a small constellation of related topics. I hope you’ll stop by frequently and join the conversation.

Here’s a preview of what’s in store:

• Interviews with innovative educators
• Profiles of individual schools
• News, announcements, and wish lists from local alternative schools
• Essays on education theory, practice, and policy
• Guest posts from students, teachers, parents, and other experts
• My own observations and musings about learning and schooling
• Opportunities for civil discussion in a community of people who care deeply about education and our children’s future

What else would you like to see here? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.