Guerilla Educators

Funding Needed for Anacostia High School Project

It has come to my attention that the project, attached, in which students from Anacostia High School in Washington, DC, as part of a year long water monitoring student initiative of the Anacostia River does not now have funding.  Ms Brenda Gadd, Director of the Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC), Ms Carrie Manfrino, President of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI), and Guerilla Educators have developed the project as a template that can be used for students from Oakland to Detroit to DC.  The Anacostia students are scheduled to travel to LCRC on Little Cayman Island for a week in February to study reef systems and island habitats as part of a year long "we all live downstream" water monitoring study of the Anacostia River System.  Their work will be academically, scientifically, and socially rigorous, technology driven, and FUN.  The Friendship Charter Schools CAO thought he had secured the $25,000 to send 20 students to CCMI, but this is apparently not the case at this time.  Funding for such a transformative project to involve historically under-represented DC students in NOAA type work is, to be colloquial, a "no brainer".  All of which to say that if there is an angel who would support this project, the money would be put to very good use on behalf of a hard working group of inner city DC teens.  I know this is a real long shot with such a short turn-around time but the return in terms of civic/academic/scientific leadership development of these students is enormous so it is worth that shot.

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Thank you for your time.

Thomas Friedman at CEFPI 2010 World Conference

Thomas Friedman was the Keynote Speaker at the 88th annual CEFPI World Conference which was held in San Jose on September 24-27,2010. Mr. Friedman's presentation was based on his best selling book, "The World Is Flat" and was, by turns, poignant, controversial, funny, thought provoking, and always entertaining. His main premise is that technology has changed the world and offers keen insights into how we can live optimally in a wired world.  Here is Tom Friedman's talk presented in its entirety:
Watch Tom Friedman at CEFPI World Conference in Educational & How-To  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Educon 2.2 Student Voices

Much has already been deservedly written about the amazing, brilliant, innovative, education-based conference, Educon 2.2, at the Science Leadership Academy in the School District of Philadelphia that took place on January 29, 30, and 31, 2010. IMHO, Educon truly could not have had the degree of success it did without authentic, hands on SLA student involvement in virtually every aspect of the program. This video is a compilation of some of those student voices and their take on why Educon is important to them, their school, and to the world of education. They are truly a tribute to the tremendous work of Mr. Chris Lehman, Principal at SLA.  Take a look...

Good article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about Educon, here.

Educon 2.2

Today, Guerilla Educators conducts a "conversation" around Educational Commissioning at Educon 2.2.  Our conversation description is as follows:

World-class teaching and learning can, and perhaps should, take place under a tree. With this in mind, our conversation will focus on the essential non-difference between the physical facility (the school) and the teaching and learning that takes place inside of those spaces (the School). We will explore and build on the idea that the educational facility can be used as a 5 dimensional (including time and cyberspace), hands-on teaching and learning tool to achieve academic and civic objectives.

Our Essential Question then, is:

In a wired world unfettered by the geography of place, how do we design teaching and learning spaces to accommodate the education that takes place outside of the physical walls of the "school"?

Follow up tomorrow...

Educon 2.2

We are pleased to announce that John Sole, President and CEO of Guerilla Educators in collaboration with the architect, David Schrader will be leading a "conversation" at Educon 2.2, one of the most innovative and important educational conferences taking place in the country.  Our starting point of the conversation is Educational Commissioning.

Conversation Description: The main idea is that, in a perfect pedagogical world there is an essential non-difference between the physical facility (the school) and the teaching and learning that takes place inside the walls (the School). Our conversation will focus on how the structure of the school, the very walls, should be a 3 dimensional teaching and learning tool. We will also take a look at how students should be involved from the very beginning of the school design process both to authentically inform educational facilities design and to use the design process as a powerful "real time" method to achieve rigorous grade appropriate curricular and civic proficiencies.

Conversational Practice: Authentic Youtube style video examples of students conducting architecture projects across the grades and participating in school design charrettes will frame and contextualize the conversations. We will also use the physical facility of the SLA with the participants as a vehicle to demonstrate the permeable nature between teaching and learning and the structure where that takes place.

Educon 2.2 will be held between January 29 - 31 at Science Leadership Academy, in Philadelphia.

Guerilla Educators Consulting Services

Below is a partial list of clients who have employed the expertise of Guerilla Educators Consulting Services to advance their architectural design and/or educational programs:

• American Institute of Architects
• The School District of Philadelphia
• Council of Educational Facilities Planners International
• Delaware Valley Green Building Council
• SchraderGroup Architects
• Fielding Nair International
• Philadelphia University
• District of Columbia Public School System
  
• Milwaukee School District
• Alliance to Save Energy
• York Suburban School District
• University of Wisconsin
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Education Environment Planning Consultants
• Regina Board of Education
• Philadelphia Zoo
• Re:Vision Architecture
• Wallace Roberts & Todd Design
• LOTI (Levels of Technology Integration)
• IQity
• GreenWoods Charter School
  
• Journal of Teacher Education
• Edutopia
  
• Barack Obama Green Charter High School
• Cayman Islands Ministry of Education
  
• MaST Community (Math, Science, and Technology) Charter School
• Friendship Public Charter Schools
• Meeks Educational Technologies
• Hamilton School District, Hamilton, Ohio
  
• Rose Tree Media School District
• Puerto Rico Department of Education
• Norristown Area School District
• East Norriton Middle School
  
• Educational Entrepreneurs Professional Association
  

Call us today at, 215-510-2059 to see how we can help you!

The Student Digital Video Initiative; Engaging Our Youngest Citizens

The Student Digital Video Initiative (SDVI) will integrate the Project Based Service Learning (PBSL) methodology with digital video documentation of the project processes to tell the community based stories of the students.  With the assistance of their teachers and world class Community Partners, students will design, implement, and report out about news, cutting edge education, and important issues in their communities.  All projects will be academically rigorous and students will achieve mastery of grade appropriate curricula across a wide range of disciplines and state mandated standards.  We believe that PBSL is the most effective pedagogical strategy for ALL students and that there are 4 Hallmarks which makes PBSL so effective: Ownership, Engagement, Citizenship, and Working Cooperatively.  Concurrent with the design and implementation of their projects, students will learn how to shoot, edit, and create video documentaries of their real world stories.  As 21st century citizens our students will need to use technology as we used the #2 pencil for most of the 20th century.  With the explosion of viral video into our culture and its influence on information, politics, and business, it will be incumbent upon our future leaders to be proficient in the manipulation and transmission of visual images.  Many cultural pundits believe that the video documentary will be the standard by which we send and receive packets of information.  The SDVI addresses these cutting edge cultural imperatives and gives our students the tools to become leaders in a global, wired society.
The SDVI is a template for use in and out of classrooms anywhere in the world. With YouTube and other "viral video" sites now an integral part of our cultural, information, and political fabric, it is becoming critically important for our younger members of society to achieve the technological and real world skills necessary to function as 21st century citizens and leaders. By combining the real world context of PBSL with visual documentation skills, the SDVI will also provide the teaching and learning environment for students to achieve mastery of grade appropriate curriculum and standards across a wide array of disciplines. Organizations that want to close the Digital Divide and  effectively educate our students in a real world, global context while giving them the tools to flourish in a wired world will want SDVI.  Visit the Knight News Challenge to comment on this developing idea. 

Intergenerational Projects

Service Learning projects that involve students and older adults working together offer unparalleled opportunities for both groups to learn from and provide service to each other in many unique ways.  Over the years, we have conducted a great number of intergenerational projects that have brought history alive, have made lasting friendships between young and old, have been a powerful catalyst for teaching and learning, and have been FUN.

During one such intergenerational project, 4th grade students were conducting ongoing interviews with older adults from the Interac Senior Center in Philadelphia.  These interviews provided a wealth of living history.  In one interview, a student learned that his elder interviewee was a member of the elite Tuskeegee Airmen, the all-African American aviation pursuit squadron of World war II.  Another interview yielded a receipt for the interviewees great-grandmother who was a slave in South Carolina.  The receipt transferred ownership of great-grandmother from the plantation master to his daughter.  Living history!  In another interview, an elderly participant told of the time when the site of our school was a pear orchard where she used to climb the trees there.  On the site was an old building that had a chip out of the old stone in one of the walls.  That divot in the wall was made in 1776 during the Revolutionary War by a musket shell from a Prussian mercenary who was in pursuit of an American irregular soldier.  History come alive!

This video documents some of the activities that took place between older adults and 5th graders at a public school in Philadelphia.  The project had a strong technology component and a global reach.  Take a look...

Other activities included water monitoring of their neighborhood waterway, the Wissahickon Creek, class trips with the older adults, and of course, a great celebration at the end of a successful year.