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Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Share the Agile Learning Center model and support ALC programs at the Manhattan Free School.

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Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

Share the Agile Learning Center model and support ALC programs at the Manhattan Free School.

Share the Agile Learning Center model and support ALC programs at the Manhattan Free School.

Share the Agile Learning Center model and support ALC programs at the Manhattan Free School.

Share the Agile Learning Center model and support ALC programs at the Manhattan Free School.

Manhattan Free School
Manhattan Free School
Manhattan Free School
Manhattan Free School
1 Campaign |
New York, United States
$7,405 USD 40 backers
49% of $15,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

We are a team of educators, entrepreneurs, and social change agents who are building and sharing Agile Learning Centers -- a 21st Century model of education. 

Hey Agile Learners!

Does this sound familiar? Long, slow, boring hours wasted in school with someone trying to make you learn something irrelevant and uninteresting, yet when the need to know about it arose in your life, you quickly and easily learned what you needed to know from any handy information source.

If so, you're probably an agile learner.

In fact, it seems like most people start out being agile learners, and have the capacity to identify what they need to learn when they need to learn it. Unless we've been drained of passion by droning teachers and tedious assignments, we maintain our connection to our natural hunger to learn and grow.

Did you know it's possible to organize your whole education this way? A school can actually serve the learning needs of a student instead of bending children to a curriculum that some committee of gray-haired academics has decided is "good for them." 

Introducing Agile Learning Centers

Best practices of Agile Software Development
     meets 
the wisdom of Collective Intelligence
     meets
the magic of Self-Directed Learning

Agile Software Development

The world is changing so fast that businesses have had to figure out ways to empower teams and individuals to have faster cycles of responses and decisions than their management hierarchy can find out about and respond to. This is especially true in high-tech fields like software development where the traditional strategy of gathering needs and requirements, creating a careful design and critical path execution plan, and delegating the parts of that plan to departments and teams tends to churn out a product that is outdated before it is released.

Agile practices have evolved to allow business to get out of their own way and empower teams and individuals to respond directly to user needs in quick, iterative sprints.

Student's kanban board 

Some of the Agile structures we've adopted are morning stand-up meetings, kanban boards, and weekly sprints.

Collective Intelligence

Agile Learning Centers are optimized to adapt the learning needs of their students. Instead of cumbersome curriculum, tiresome traditions and excessive rules, we provide a lightweight framework and the social tools to adapt and evolve it to best fit the needs of the learning community.

Gameshifting Board

Some of fun tools for getting things done together are: Gameshifting, Polymorphism, and Dynamic Alignment

Self-Directed Learning

The power of self-directed learning has been demonstrated by every human who has learned to speak, crawl, walk, or navigate social expectations. Before kids ever go to school, they've already accomplished these kinds of huge things, essentially on their own. Humans have managed to do these things for many thousands of years without "schooling."

And in the last hundred years, Free Schools, Open Classrooms and other alternative educational models have demonstrated the ability of children to continue that inherent pattern and learn in mere months things that it takes years of "teaching" to accomplish in traditional schools.

The best way to maximize learning is to maximize engagement. The kids who are choosing what they're doing and learning are fully engaged. Agile Learning Centers are organized around this as the centerpiece of students' time.

The First Agile Learning Center (the next, and more?)

During the past school year (2012-2013), we piloted this model in New York City at Manhattan Free School. We succeeded in revitalizing the school's culture and community, the kids loved it, the staff loved it, and we are excited to take it into a second year. We also got the school out of debt so that this year's revenue is all available for this year's operations.

We even have a group starting a second Agile Learning Center in upstate New York. However, we are painfully aware of a responsibility to share our work with others who know the mainstream educational model has expired and are seeking practical, viable, and affordable solutions.

We know there are people around the world hungry for these tools to make places for their children's learning to thrive.

What these funds make possible

1. Agile Learning Facilitators (ALF) Training Program

This week we announced that we would offer a training program to people wanting to learn to work in an Agile Learning Center. We already have 8 people signed up, but we need assistance in producing the content and materials for the program.

ALF program participants will be able to work directly with students at Manhattan Free School, or at the upstate Agile Learning Center starting in Chatham, NY. They may also work towards starting another Agile Learning Center in a new location. 

2. Our Coaching Program

Children in an Agile Learning Center get to choose their own coach -- someone that they trust and speak with weekly about their learning priorities and needs. We started our coaching program partway through last school year and never got it running fully. We need to dedicate some more time and resources to making this vital part of the model serve our students better.

We need to re-launch our coaching program and provide adequate training and support for our coaches to be effective. 

3. ALC Starter Kit and Web Site

We have a basic web site for our school, but need to invest in one for Agile Learning Centers to document and share our framework. We want to provide an ALC starter kit and grow a community of learners and educators to continue to evolve and curate the model. All materials will be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License.

More About the Agile Learning Center at Manhattan Free School

You can learn more at Manhattanfreeschool.org

Watch Agile Learning Centers presentation at the Emerging Leader Labs Vision Showcase


Other Ways You Can Help

The Agile Learning Center is always looking for useful donations, especially in the technology department. Computers and other tech hardware/software will be greatly needed as we expand our student body this year. If you are interested in donating in this way, please contact us at info@manhattanfreeschool.org 

Thank You!

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Choose your Perk

Gratitude

$5 USD
Experience the warm fuzzies that come with contributing to a meaningful project. Share your impact with our gratitude video after the campaign is funded.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
6 claimed

Agile Learning Center Stickers

$25 USD
Share your love of agile learning with a nifty 3x3 Agile Learning Center Sticker!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
4 out of 150 of claimed

Original Student Art

$25 USD
Enjoy one-of-a-kind art from students ranging from 6-10 years of age!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
5 out of 20 of claimed

Personal Kanban

$50 USD
Receive a copy of the book, "Personal Kanban: Mapping Work, Navigating Life" and a sticker! Thanks to Jim Benson and Tonianne Barry for making this perk possible!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
4 out of 100 of claimed

Custom Minecraft Creation

$75 USD
One of our uber-geek students, who can build anything in Minecraft, will build a custom creation for you!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 5 of claimed

Group Fitness Class

$75 USD
Participate in a Strength from the Core group fitness class led by our Student Life Coordinator Ryan Shollenberger, located at Green Fitness Studios in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 25 of claimed

Party at Manhattan Free School

$100 USD
Come celebrate with food, mocktails and live musical performance at the Manhattan Free School. Meet people in our community and get to know others who are supporting Agile Learning Centers!
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
1 out of 50 of claimed

Custom Ball Point Pen Portrait

$100 USD
Emerging Leader Lab support team superstar, Madison Dezelsky, will draw you a ball point pen portrait. See the media gallery for examples of Madison's work.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
4 out of 5 of claimed

Google Hangout with Staff

$150 USD
Participate in a meaningful Q&A with Agile Learning Center staff and explore how to adapt this model for your own community.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 10 of claimed

Founders Wall

$250 USD
Contributors at this level will be acknowledged on our web site's "Founders Wall" with their names and link to social media for one year.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
2 out of 25 of claimed

Trikke Lessons

$250 USD
Learn how to navigate a whimsical, flowing, health-building Trikke via a private lesson in Central Park from Director Arthur Brock.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 5 of claimed

Golf Lessons

$250 USD
Tomis Parker, Community Manager, will give you an hour-long golf lesson at Chelsea Piers in NYC. (special note: option to play mini golf and get an ice cream cone available)
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 3 of claimed

Midnight Snack with Staff

$500 USD
Join the Agile Learning Center staff for a midnight snack, featuring: Ryan's Frozen Banana 3.1.1 -- a frozen banana dipped in peanut butter, rolled in hemp granola, and covered in a chocolate shell; Arthur's special family recipe for grilled cheese and peanut butter; and Tomis' world-famous bottomless popcorn.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
1 out of 10 of claimed

Brunch with the Staff

$1,000 USD
Be treated to an intimate and delicious brunch with Agile Learning Center staff in NYC.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 5 of claimed

Portrait by Sally Zieper

$1,000 USD
Receive a custom painted portrait from Sally Zieper, Manhattan Free School Alum. See the media gallery for an example of Sally's work.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 3 of claimed

Personal Training Sessions

$1,000 USD
Boost your fitness routine with a fitness assessment and three 1-hour personal training sessions in NYC from Ryan Shollenberger, our Student Life Coordinator and Fitness Coach.
Estimated Shipping
October 2013
0 out of 2 of claimed

Custom Super Hero Costume

$2,000 USD
Become your own super hero when NYC Dance Activist Mahayana Landowne makes you a custom Super Hero cape and mask!
Estimated Shipping
October 2012
0 out of 3 of claimed

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