This Friday...

Today I had to step out of class while our advising discussed Fridays.

They came up with some ideas, and skillfully used the democratic process (according to the teacher who stepped in for me). Here were the top ideas:

Video games
Movie: Poltergeist
Tumbling
Dodge ball game

Our current plan is to work with our buddy class at 9:30. We will be taking them to the library, then to the park where we will play group games to get to know them. I heard rumor there are pedi-cabs involved. In addition to having assistant teachers support their literacy time, our class will continue to have events with Billy's k-2 class. Friday is one of these scheduled days. There will be some pockets of time around this activity. Given I wasn't there to provide that important detail, our advising's option do not fit for a few reasons.

I want to honor the democratic process by tabling some ideas, explaining needed steps for some to be possibilities, and explaining my zero vote on one of them.

Tumbling and Dodge ball--great ideas. We need to reserve the shared space ahead of time. Often one day is not enough lead time for this. We also need to reserve extra dodge balls. If a student would like to tackle this, either of these would be options for a future Friday.

Movie-Poltergeist. This IS a PG movie, but may contain content that some parents object to. I would need to notify parents ahead of time that it is shown. I am comfortable with the 7-8th graders, but am interested in comments from 6th grade parents. For me to okay this idea, students would need to provide some content/academic value and get the okay from 6th grade parents to show. If students want to make it part of our Halloween party, then just permission is needed.

Video Games. This has my zero vote. I have yet to see convincing arguments for using educational time to play video games. While we can debrief movies based on plot, theme, etc., I don't see even thin connections with curriculum (independence, community, or fluencies). Don't get me wrong, I love Street Fighter as much as the next guy, but I will play that and Ms. Pac Man on my own time. What more, as MS advisors, we have an informal "no game" during school hours policy. I would need to confer with my teammates.

I believe that students could advocate for video games as part of our winter party before break. I wouldn't be thrilled, but again in a democratic school not everything has to please me. It would be a special occasion. There are also strict rules on what games are allowed, etc. Interested students should work with Nick to understand those regulations, and plan ahead if it is important to them. For Friday activities, I will continue to place a zero the use of video games in school. I would rather see people fix radios, create business plans, write stories, and do art. After school, feel free to challenge me to a game of frogger.

Since I have had to table many of the ideas due to practicality or ethical reasons, I will bring some team building games for the first hour. Students may opt to participate in them, or work on their PLP's, or address any academic concern notifications they may have. We will then meet with our buddies.

Thanks,
Tobie