At our first divisional faculty meeting, we used some provocative insights from Warren Berger‘s A More Beautiful Question to examine some of our familiar routines and practices through the lens of our important summer learning experiences. We wondered together about how might these powerful experiences reframe how we look at the familiar so as to make it seem new again and open for inquiry.

Below is the outline of our learning plan for the activity:

As faculty moved through the gallery, they left stickers on items that resonated for them.

Here is the short list of some of the ideas that captured our attention. We’ll continue to explore these and identify some immediate actions we can take and from which we can continue to learn.

Homework (vuja de lens – choice and motivation)

• What if we didn’t have homework?
• What if it was student-driven/chosen?
• What if there was no distinction between homework and classwork?

Homework (vuja de lens – insight and family)

• What if we really asked ourselves why we assign homework?
• What of the answer really turned out to be because we grew up doing homework?
• What if homework was just folded into classwork? What if the work was really about the learning and not the place?
• What if was student-driven/chosen?
• What if there was no distinction between homework and classwork?

Connecting Across Divisions (vuja de lens – togetherness and collegiality)

• How might we make a 14-year institution feel like a 14-year institution?
• What if there was time at the end of each week for us to be together socially?

Homeroom (vuja de lens – less pressure and self-direction)

• What if there was a time of pause/relaxation to start the day?
• What of we got our bodies/minds ready to start the day?

Morning Routines (vuja de lens – precious life and discovery)

• What of the routine in the AM included teaching students how to take care of the mind/body?
• What if we allowed for more opportunities for kids to talk about what’s on their minds?
• What of Monday AM and Friday PM homeroom were longer so that the week could be bookended in thoughtful ways.

Email (vuja de lens – declutter and new experiences)

• What if we found new ways to organize email?
• What if email was not always text, but included audio?

Email (vuja de lens – reconnection and comfort)

• What if you had a conversation instead of sending an email?
• What if the morning started with team conversation over coffee?
• What of we could find ways to better capture the flow of ideas in email conversations?

Parent Communication (vuja de lens – realizing and surprise)

• What of we shared more positive news with parents?
• What of we shared more photos?
• How might we get more parent feedback about what their experiences of school-home communication are like?

Lunch (vuja de lens – togetherness and community)

• If we can’t add more time to the transition between recess and lunch how can we make it feel better?
• What if it was easier to get your lunch and eat in alternate spaces?
• How might we get more parent feedback about what their experiences of school-ho communication are like?

Lunch (vuja de lens – family and living)

• What if lunch routines were more self-directed?
• What of we always measured food waste?
• What if kids had a deeper relationship with the folks who work in the cafeteria?
• What if relaxing music were played during lunch?

Independent Work Period (vuja de lens – exhilarating and awe)

• What of students were driving the curriculum more so that they were excited to use this time for seeking out experts and/or digging deeper into their work?
• What if using this time as downtime was seen as a productive use ?
• What if students more comfortably saw seeking out hep/support as a positive?

Teachers sorted by their subject/Kids sorted by their age (vuja de lens – risk and 26 miles up)

• What of we were all more willing to take a risk with our teaching?
• We break these barriers on Discovery Day? What if we broke them for a week? Longer? Completely?

Space (vuja de lens – freedom and living in the moment)

• What if more classes happened outside?
• What if more of the furniture was mobile and flexible?

All that in 35 minutes! What’s exciting is how our focused collective attention produced so many actionable possibilities. Lots of good energy to get to the “how” questions now.