�ݺ�ߣ

C uriosity

1

Act
?1:
?��It
?is
?a
?miracle
?that
?curiosity
?survives
?formal
?education.��
?Be
?Explorers.
My
?story
?today
?is
?about
?blurring
?the
?lines
?between
?school
?and
?real
?life,
?and
?the
?story
?comes
?in
?three
?acts.
?Each
?act
?starts
?with
?
an
?Einstein
?quote
?and
?a
?critical
?issue
?facing
?us
?as
?learners
?and
?citizens.

Be Explorers

Act
?1
?of
?my
?story
?really
?starts
?with
?me
?just
?wanting
?to
?be
?a
?good
?parent
?and
?a
?fun
?dad
?�C
?nurturing
?my
?sons
?to
?be
?explorers
?with
?
strong
?curiosity.

17 years

I
?have
?two
?sons
?�C
?Phillip
?is
?8
?and
?Jackson
?is
?5.
?
?And
?I
?worry
?that
?too
?much
?of
?the
?next
?17
?years
?of
?their
?lives
?will
?be
?spent
?in
?rows
?
and
?columns
?of
?desks
?�C
?sitting
?and
?getting.

#FSBL
Father-Son-Based Learning

So
?we
?explore
?together,
?a
?lot,
?and
?we
?call
?it
?#FSBL
?�C
?Father
?Son
?Based
?Learning.
?We
?scrap
?book
?and
?share
?our
?adventures
?with
?
an
?email-?�\based
?blog
?called
?Posterous.

Often,
?our
?adventures
?begin
?with
?MARTA
?�C
?Atlanta��s
?public
?transit
?system.
?I
?drive
?us
?to
?a
?station,
?then
?my
?boys
?drive
?almost
?
every
?decision
?from
?that
?point
?forward.
?As
?the
?adventure
?unfolds,
?we
?send
?our
?observation
?journals
?to
?Posterous.

��It��s amazing what
happens when you
simply ask questions...

Learning becomes more
about asking the right
questions rather than
retaining the ��correct��
knowledge.��

Two
?Aprils
?ago,
?we
?ended
?up
?spending
?a
?couple
?of
?hours
?learning
?how
?to
?operate
?a
?construction
?crane
?and
?how
?to
?talk
?to
?
strangers
?�C
?in
?real
?time
?and
?on
?social
?media.

Observing
Questio
ning

And
?it
?seems
?that
?practicing
?all
?of
?this
?#FSBL
?observing,
?discovering,
?and
?questioning
?is
?really
?helping
?us
?to
?think
?like
?designers
?
and
?innovators.
?Which
?brings
?us
?to
?Act
?2.

Imagination

2

Act
?2:
?��Imagination
?is
?more
?important
?than
?knowledge.��
?Engage
?Community.
Act
?2
?is
?really
?about
?imagination.
?It��s
?about
?what
?all
?of
?this
?practice
?to
?be
?explorers
?caused
?to
?happen
?next.

Do
?any
?of
?you
?remember
?that
?1970s
?Tootsie
?Roll
?jingle?
?�C
?��Whatever
?it
?is
?I
?think
?I
?see
?becomes
?a
?Tootsie
?Roll
?to
?me!��

L
PB PBL
Because
?of
?#FSBL,
?my
?sons
?and
?I
?have
?developed
?a
?collaborative
?imagination
?habit
?and
?a
?jingle
?of
?our
?own
?�C
?��Whatever
?it
?is
?I
?
think
?I
?see
?becomes
?a
?PBL
?to
?me!��
?We��ve
?work
?on
?a
?dog
?park
?project
?and
?a
?blood
?project
?thanks
?to
?Jackson
?needing
?blood
?
drawn
?at
?the
?hospital.

Engage
Community

#FSBL
?helped
?train
?me
?to
?see
?#PBL
?everywhere,
?and
?it
?stretched
?my
?imagination
?about
?what
?school
?could
?be.
?I
?wondered
?what
?
would
?happen
?if
?we
?engaged
?community
?this
?way
?�C
?as
?school.

Transdisciplinary

Community Issues

Problem-Solving

Synergy

So,
?my
?teaching
?and
?learning
?partner
?Jill
?Gough
?and
?I
?developed
?Synergy
?�C
?a
?transdisciplinary,
?community-?�\issues,
?problem
?
solving
?course
?for
?8th
?graders.
?

As
?the
?backbone
?of
?Synergy,
?we
?taught
?our
?students
?to
?observation
?journal
?with
?a
?group
?Posterous.
?Our
?team
?of
?26
?people
?
accumulated
?about
?100
?observation
?journals
?a
?week.
?We
?created
?a
?small
?army
?of
?see-?�\ers,
?dreamers
?and
?doers.
?

How might we...

From
?that
?collection
?of
?observation
?journals,
?our
?team
?engaged
?in
?a
?variety
?of
?projects
?�C
?like
?one
?about
?the
?Moore��s
?Mill
?area
?of
?
Nancy
?Creek
?that
?runs
?through
?the
?school
?campus.
?Instead
?of
?hearing
?��When
?will
?I
?ever
?use
?this?,��
?we
?heard
?a
?lot
?more
?��How
?
might
?we��?��

Worki
ng to
be her
e

Synergy
?used
?community
?issues
?as
?curriculum
?-?�\
?PBL
?with
?a
?capital
?P.
?It
?engaged
?a
?community
?of
?learners
?with
?their
?wider
?
community.
?School
?was
?more
?relevant
?and
?purposeful.
?Which
?brings
?us
?to
?Act
?3.

Hu manity

3

Act
?3:
?��It
?has
?become
?appallingly
?obvious
?that
?our
?technology
?has
?exceeded
?our
?humanity.��
?Empathize
?&
?Empower
Through
?community
?engagement,
?our
?learning
?became
?relational
?and
?empathic.
?Sure
?we
?were
?using
?technology,
?but
?using
?it
?to
?
network,
?connect,
?and
?act
?on
?things
?that
?really
?matter.

Empathize & Empower
There
?were
?so
?many
?great
?Synergy
?projects.
?Two
?more
?quick
?examples.
?3
?girls
?focused
?on
?whether
?grafciti
?is
?art
?or
?vandalism��
or
?both.
?Four
?boys
?interested
?in
?the
?food
?desert
?English
?Avenue
?hosted
?a
?job
?fair
?and
?helped
?two
?unemployed
?adults
?secure
?
much-?�\needed
?jobs.

By
?reimagining
?school,
?Synergy
?connected
?us
?to
?an
?even
?bigger
?tribe
?of
?empowered
?explorers
?empathizing
?and
?engaging
?
community
?�C
?like
?Emily
?Pilloton
?and
?Project
?H
?in
?Bertie,
?NC.

How m ight we transform school?

Curiosity Imagination Humanity

1 2 3

Be Engage Empathize &
Explorers Community Empower

Conclusion.

I
?know
?the
?tribe
?for
?formal
?education
?transformation
?can
?grow
?even
?bigger
?�C
?as
?more
?of
?us
?practice
?curiosity,
?imagination,
?and
?
humanity
?by
?practicing
?these
?three
?acts.

lemme see your
tootsie roll -
I mean, PBL...

email
seepbl@posterous.com

I
?hope
?you��ll
?give
?these
?acts
?a
?try.
?I��ve
?set
?up
?SeePBL.Posterous.com,
?so
?you
?can
?practice.
?You
?can
?email
?your
?observation
?
journals
?to
?seepbl@posterous.com,
?and
?you
?can
?experiment
?with
?a
?PBL
?research
?lab.
?Lemme
?see
?your
?Tootsie
?Roll
?�C
?I
?mean,
?
PBL.

�ݺ�ߣ

Lemme see your tootsie roll i mean, pbl

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Lemme see your tootsie roll i mean, pbl