IN SCHOOL

I am at the school in Houston TX.  Through the gates. Signed in. And offline.

No photographs yet as I am on a borrowed school laptop.  There is a security protocol to me getting my own computer or phone online here.  And downloading images onto another computer is fraught with difficulty so no photos yet.

This is a charter school which means  that though they have the government funding, and still follow the accepted curriculum, they have more leeway in operation and application of the curriculum. This school is part of a collection of schools called KIPP. (Knowledge Is Power Program).  They have a mantra for the kids “Work Hard. Be Nice.”  The school districts are zoned and there is such a long waiting list for KIPP schools that the children get in to their local school by lottery.  Each school has a different emphasis. This faculty (in this KIPP school) and their school leader have created an environment of inter departmental learning. Each code feeding into each other creating a more holistic kind of schooling. The teachers communicate with each other all the time looking for ways to cross teach. Oh how I wish I was their drama teacher!

But I am for one workshop today. Many of the students who are coming to my workshop have utube accounts. I will be interested to see what they are publishing and what they see as worthy of  publication. Or is it just a matter of throwing as much mud as possible  and seeing what sticks.  They are kids. Kids need to explore. And throw mud.

Today I will be teaching a workshop on Social Media using drama tools to emphasise the lack of communication this level of communication really has.  And build ways to extend the communication using their chosen mediums. Also the importance of MANAGING the internet. Using Social Media as a tool. Maybe we will even get to discuss what communication actually is. (Though who knows!)  I hope to learn what these kids see as important and what these young people hope to see as important in the future of Social Media.

Where is all this going? What a big question. Though there is no destination – no end, just innovation and creation.

It is only 9am here and already I am thoroughly enjoying the smells and sounds and rhythms of school life.

Have a lovely day.

celi

WEATHER here is WARM and still and lovely.