Sunday August 12th

Reminder, we are spending the day tomorrow at the Zeitgeist Annual Media Festival in Kensington Market - Augusta Street across from Freshmart.

For those interested, we will meet at 11am in Bellevue Park (Kensington Market) to finish the half hour workshop we are presenting at the festival. We will walk over at noon together.

August 7th Student Union Meetings, and August Plans

Agenda:

1. This Sunday and Zeitgeist

2. Free Art'Scool 

3. Proposal for summer hiatus, last two weeks of August

4. Fall workshops and planning

In Attendance: 9 people

Facilitator: Laura

Note taker: Roxy

Decisions:

1. This Sunday Classes are Suspended, instead, we have a field trip to the Zeitgeist Media Festival (website), which is running from 12pm-8pm in Kensington Market (on Augusta street across from Freshmart). 

2. We have been invited to run a half-hour workshop at the Zeitgeist Media Festival for a half hour; the first 10 minutes will be a dramatic/artistic presentation of our framework and what it means to be a part of free'scool; then, we will run a short critical thinking exercise/discussion. All those interested in helping with this workshop/presentation, we are having the planning meeting on Friday August 10th at 3pm in Bellevue Park in Kensington Market

3. The last two Sundays of August (19th, and 26th), we will take a break from classes, to allow free'scoolers a chance to enjoy the last 2 weekends of the summer. All other free'scool activities will continue (free art'scool wednesdays, student union meetings, outreach, work meet-ups); we will resume Sunday classes in September. 

4. In September, we will host a workshop series (2 Fridays of the month) on the following topics: popular education teaching methods, facilitation and non-violent communication, cross-cultural conflict resolution, anti-oppression, and two possible workshops: bringing a human rights framework into the classroom, and taking back power. 

Discussion:

1. Zeitgeist

- we have been invited to do a workshop; at the last meeting it was suggested that we suspend classes for the day to attend the festival

- There were some concerns raised about Zeitgeist, as many of their 'solutions' to capitalism, and structure are questionable

- Perhaps we should run a critical thinking workshop with them

- We definitely have to go in with a critical mind - there are some really great things they are doing, and some things to be questioning

- It is a really great outreach/networking/educational opportunity

- Some were under the impression that we were going to run classes in Bellevue Park and float in and out of the festival

- We wanted to continue classes for continuity, and because all the courses are in the middle of their teachings

- but we can learn from zeitgeist

- we don't necessarily have the capacity to have some of our people at the festival and others in class

- it is not the best impression if we show up just for our half an hour session and nothing else

- "While i love classes, I think this opportunity for a full day of networking and learning is too good to pass up"

- see decisions - we couldn't make a decision by discussion because most saw the value of both continuing classes, and simply going to zeitgeist. We put it to a vote. 1st was asked if we wanted to do classes in Bellevue park - there were 4 'maybe' hands, no definite yeses. Next option was to go to zeitgeist all day: there were four clear yeses. 

- What are we going to do for our half an hour presentation?

- Ideas: critical thinking, something participatory to give them the 'free'scool experience', a theatre of the oppressed piece on free'scool to be developed in the Drama club on Wednesday evening

- after hemming, and hawing, and almost having to vote....we reached a collaborative compromise!

- 5-10 minute dramatic presentation; 20-25 minute critical thinking discussion/exercises. 

* note: drama class did not prepare presentation on Wednesday the 9th - open preparation is Friday, August 9th at 3pm in Bellevue Park. 

2. Free Art'Scool Updates (by Veronica):

- everything is going well

- the schedule for tomorrow (wEdnesday August 8th) is very open; especially because it is the first one. We will have visual arts and crafts starting at 5pm, drama at 7pm, and and ceremony and music at 9pm

- In a week or two, we'll start holding clear classes with instructors from a variety of diciplines

- Word of the day: Perspective for this Wednesday 

- I have one of the best thespians in Toronto wanted to hold a drama workshop

- Someone thinks they might be able to get a ballroom dance instructor

- Open to help, suggestions, and participation

- very excited to start!

3. Proposal: 2 week Sunday Hiatus August 19th and 26th. 

- everyone was ok with this...didn't take us more than 2 minutes

4. The Fall

- workshop series in decisions was discussed

   - location suggestions: OISE (need to pay), Friendship house with a 'pay-what-you-can'

   - think on this for a week and come back

   - Dates: to be decided based on availability of facilitators

- other topics/concerns mentioned but not fully addressed:

  - need to make material more accessible for those who cannot attend events/meetings - this concern was diverted to the website production, which is still under process and aims to be very clear and accessible with loads of resources

 - we need space! pretty soon winter is coming. 

    - recognition that we've been deliberating on this for a while

   - space proposal still in the works

   - we need any and all space we can get! 

   - We need a big advertising and class 'blitz' in September

   - because of space constraints and growth, we need to change up when we run classes

 - It's great to focus inwards, but I want this group to do more with what's going on in the world!

   - recognition of our limited capacity at the moment and slow growth process

closed the space by moving into Human Rights class. 

Economics Class, Alexandra Park Sunday August 5th

Texts for the economics class on August 5th are posted at
http://occupyeconomics.ca/pdf/memetics.pdf

Sunday August 5th Schedule

Sorry for the late schedule post - there were some proposed changes in the last student union meeting, that took some time to work out. So without further a-due.....

12:00pm - Set up Library and Opening Ceremony
12:30pm - Kung Fu (last week of Kung Fu before September)
1:15pm - Community Resilience
3:15pm - First Nations History (Last week with Brenda!!!!!!!!)
             - Real Democracy
5:15pm - Potluck and Social
6:15pm - Economics (now with Dix AND Laura)
             - Understanding Resistance
8:00pm - pack up and head out!

Saturday July 28th, and Sunday July 29th Schedules

Saturday, July 28th:
Starting at 12pm in Queen's Park, Occupy Gardens is hosting a garden party. Bring some food for the potluck (and a reusable plate, fork, and cup), some instruments to jam, and good spirit. There will be discussions and free gardening classes all day! Free'scool will be there as well - we have some things to discuss as a group, and are bringing banners and information on the mega quarry. If you can contribute some materials as well that would be great.
If anyone would like to help set up, please come at 11:15am.

12:30-1pm - Opening Ceremony
1-2pm - Plant a Summer Garden: Hands on Workshop
           - Campus Garden Tour with Dig In! UofT Campus Agriculture
2-3:30pm - Food Politics and the Occupy Movement: talk and discussion
2:30-3pm - Garden Tour of Kahonitake Kitikan: Native Students' Association Garden
3-3:30pm - Seed Saving: hands on workshop
3:30-4pm - Vermicomposting: hands on workshop

Sunday, July 29th:
12:00pm - Gather - opening free'scool ceremony
12:30pm - Kung-Fu
1:00pm - Community Resilience
3:00pm - Real Democracy, First Nations history
5:00pm - break! Potluck (please bring food!!!!!!!), relax, go for a walk
6:30pm - Natural Cordage Making, Economics Discussion
8:00pm - Understanding Resistance (this week, we're looking at arts-based resistance)
10:00pm - go home : )

An update for Sunday, July 22nd

1. Natural Cordage class has been pushed to next week. 

6:30-8pm slot will be used for some small-group free'scool work...like we did last week. topics include: little truths parade through pedestrian sunday, media class/stories, megaquarry and saturday (july 28th) support. 

love you all, and free'scool is developing AMAZINGLY!

A beautiful Sunday in the park: Recap of July 8th

After a few weeks of rain and then our break, yesterday, we had a great day for learning (although it got a little chilly at the end). As usual, we gathered around 12:30pm and set out the books in a circle, outlining our classroom (s). 

In Human Rights, we discussed the responsibilities of human rights (who and how to hold accountable) , taking special interest in the Megaquarry planned for southern Ontario. This class is slowly moving timeslot to Tuesday at 7:30pm, OISE. Therefore the Human Rights Class will take place Tuesday at 7pm, Sunday the 15th at 1pm, and then, starting Tuesday the 17th, Human Rights will only take place on Tuesdays.              

Homework for the week: create a drawing, poem, lyric, sentence, article, word, etc. on the right to water. 

Next, we split into 2 groups for Real Democracy and First Nations History. 

Real Democracy had a review week - discussing the 3 major oligarchies (feudalism, monarchy, and republic), next week the class will begin to explore Athenian democracy. 

First Nations History read narratives and had a discussion on residential schools, and Brenda shared a little about her thesis which uses storytelling and mapping to exhibit her experiences. 

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During social hour we had peaches, cherries, water, and pasta with vegetables, as well as our skule-wide discussion. We discussed: student accountability, workshops for teachers, and the school's name. 

Student Accountability: Our classes have fairly consistent numbers, however, it is often not the same people. A combination of being free, and happening on a summer weekend affects the consistency of all the classes' student-base. We discussed ways in which to improve regular attendance, applicable at the teacher-learners' discretion. These range from assignments, to class synopses, to certificates. The linked document presents a list of all approaches we hope to continuously develop: Raising Learner-Teacher Responsibility Skule-wide support: create a memory box and recycling bin for Sundays - an anonymous system for continuously receiving ideas and criticisms; weekly rotations of organizing group to take responsibility of passerby and general email list; statement of collective liberation visible on Sundays represented by its mascot Anti O. 

Workshops for Teachers: recognizing that most are new to the type of paradigm we operate under, and following up on requests from both students and teachers, we discussed workshops/classes for teachers to learn about popular education methods. We discussed asking popular educators to give a workshop on their experiences/popular education methods. Looking to do a workshop once every 2-3 weeks outside of our Sunday classes. Please contact Roxy (course coordinator) if you would like to get involved in the development of these workshops. 

School Name: the freeskule has recently received notice from the UofT engineering society, that 'skule' is a registered trademark, and we have until the 31st of July to cease use of the word. We discussed the legality of this cease and desist letter, as well as its immorally. We talked about solution-names: freeskule *get rid of the space*, toronto free skool *need to talk to anarchist toronto free skool*, toronto free school,  the rad school *rad as in radical*, and jokingly entertained the idea of the Alternative University of Toronto (AUofT). These suggestions + those from the facebook group will be brought to the student union meeting on Tuesday the 10th. Ultimately though, we need to talk to a lawyer before a decision can be made. 

Other: fundraising - some members of the student union are organizing a treasure hunt on the island to fundraise for freeskule. If you would like to get involved, talk to George on Sunday, or email us. Next Sunday, July 15th, from 6-8pm we have a guest-teacher-learner, Grace Thompson-Campbell, coming help develop a political intervention theatre piece in support of the fundraiser. 

space - Laura has started a gallery space with others, and will have some workshop/art space for freeskule sometime late August/early September. 

July 11th - meeting to discuss general intro to freeskule class.

July 25th, 7pm Hart House UofT - Human Rights class' Families for Education Festival organizing meeting.

July 28th - keep your ears open. 

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After social hour, we had Economics, followed by a new 6-week course that started this week entitled Understanding Resistance (equity class transformed, 8-10pm). In this class, we completed a thought experiment which asked learner-teachers to imagine themselves as a cooperative society whose homeland had been overtaken by a competitive society and they were forced to make refuge in the competitive society. Learning from their experiences, they recognize that the only way their culture will survive they must assimilate the competitive society. In groups of 6, students created mindmaps exploring how they would assimilate the competitive society, and then shared. At the end of the class, we will re-do this exercise and examine the differences. Next week, Understanding Resistance will look at ways in which people are resisting the dominant education system, with specific focuses on Ghanaian education, and Indigenous Research Methodology. 

Homework: write down 1 way in which education is used as a tool to segregate, suppress, or hurt people. 

All in all, it was a great day. Teachers, look to the attached document for freeskule tips on how to create classroom continuity. Students, see you tomorrow (Tuesday June 10th) at 6:00pm OISE 5th floor for our student union meeting, followed by Human Rights from 7:30-9pm. (That means we have to start the student union meeting on time!)

p.s. next Sunday Doug is coming at 1pm to teach a Plant Identification Course, followed by natural dyes in the evening. Bring a white shirt if you want to learn how to dye naturally!