The trio were skirmish about using ZOOM at first, but I believe they are sold because they are most definitely solid now. They are DJ'ing the online environment in amazing ways and the two hour workshops for 8th-12th grade students go by in milliseconds. Every day when it ends they say, "How did that happen?" Zip. Zap. Zoom.
The beauty of the work, however, is how the teachers simply need to frame the discussion/writing activity and step aside. The chat blows up, our Google Docs explode, the break-out rooms get hot, and we simply await to see what amazing work the kids will produce. I'm there for all the instruction. Dave, Kim, and Shaun are National Writing Project all the way, inviting kids with invitations to write in their notebooks, to find their voice, and to name their world. They provide guidance with models, prompts, instructional tools, and shared practice. Then, Wola! Everything takes off.
I had to laugh yesterday because Shaun consciously made an effort to change his language to the KY Y'all from the northeast "You guys." I made a comment about the Y'all acting as Young Adult Literacy Labs, and a young man, Dereje - an Ethiopian-American - corrected me and said, "Nope. That stands for You Awesome Little Liberators." They are liberators, indeed.
All four of us processed the day thinking, "This generation has something special happening to them." They are kids born around 2004 and their 15 years of existence has been loaded with school shootings, government incapabilities, BLM, caged immigrants, and test-only instruction in their schools. They have a 'write' to complain, "The adult community needs to step aside. They obviously have no ability to function. Just look at this nation right now."
They called us out to say that Op-Eds, a traditional way of sharing opinions, moves too slow and accomplishes too little, even though we shared multiple models. They argued that their online, socially mediated movements are doing more to change the world than any newspaper ever has. They are internationally united, too....bonding with kids from multiple countries as they discuss global affairs.
The one thing they have had at their disposal, every step of the way, is the Internet and 24/7 technology to connect them. It will be something to see what becomes of the future as their generation gains the reigns.
My contribution..."You can't forget history, folks. The fact that we are able to chat, interact, write, share, and video conference as we do - especially as a coterie of heterogeneous individuals - is because of a tremendous amount of history (and science, art, math, logic, etc) that has allowed these moments to happen)."
It is something to see them interact, move quickly, maneuver, and plan for action. It is inspirational.
I applaud the teachers, however; Kim, Shaun, and Dave are the masterminds behind this....that is, providing them a space to process, think, research, argue, and share. If only more of our in-school experiences did such work.
It should be pointed out, too, that 100% of the kids have no desire to return to school this fall and prefer learning online. They miss the social part of high school and the face-to-face, but do not psychologically feel it's the right time to return. As Shaun pointed out, "I wonder why no one is listening to them."
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