Reschool Yourself

FAQ

What is “reschooling”?

Reschooling, as I define it, is evaluating and understanding your own education, then filling in any gaps that have disempowered you and building on existing strengths.

If you experience “Impostor’s Syndrome” — fearing that you’ll be found out for being a phony — or have tendencies that make you unhappy, you’re in need of reschooling. Maybe you feel ignorant every time someone refers to an event in U.S. history. Maybe you’re a worrier or workaholic, or have major regrets about things that you have or haven’t done, and these patterns developed while you were in school. (See Why Reschool? for more on how this often relates to our formal schooling.) Reschooling means empowering yourself to make a change wherever you see the need — whether you take a class, read a book, or seek medical, psychological, or financial counseling. I firmly believe that it’s never too late to reschool yourself, whatever your age or circumstances.

Why are you going back to your old schools?

My immediate goal in going back to my schools is to trigger memories of my education, in order to understand and move beyond them. I have regrets over the way I approached school, in part because of competitive and achievement-oriented school structure. I want to make peace with my educational past so that I’m in charge of the way it influences my future.

My long-term goal is to help transform the way people think of education, questioning the practices in school that are often taken for granted — like grading, homework, and punishment and reward systems. I want to emphasize that I’m not in the classroom to critique individual teachers or administrators, or to get a full understanding of the modern educational system. Instead, I’m observing the traditional way that millions of teachers and kids “do school,” and to what extent I think this influences outcomes like character development, resourcefulness, self-management, and joy of learning. I can speak only from my own experience and what I observe.

What final outcomes do you hope for?

I hope to:

* understand how my experiences in school shaped my identity

* change beliefs about myself that have limited me until now

* reconnect with the intuition and creativity that children naturally have

* fill in gaps in my knowledge and feel confident in my level of education

* write a book reflecting on the experience as a whole and sharing knowledge gained

Among other things, I hope that the project helps me to be content, fully present, confident in my actions, and willing to risk making mistakes. I also hope that the experience inspires other adults to reschool themselves in their own ways.

What do you do at the schools, and how has this evolved throughout the fall?

I began by volunteering as a classroom aide in the early grades, but I soon decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity to learn alongside the kids experientially. I found that being “just one of the kids” brought back my own school memories more effectively than volunteering as a grown-up. As much as possible, I do what the kids do. In the lower grades, I practiced handwriting, illustrated stories, or played games on the blacktop at recess. Since my purpose is to reconnect with the carefree joy of childhood, I try to participate as much as possible. I am, however, always taking notes on what my adult mind observes.

In middle and high school, I’m shadowing a student from each grade for a few days each. I’m continuing to do whatever the students are doing, whether it’s taking a science quiz, running the track in P.E., or eating lunch in the quad. In class discussions, I’ll answer questions if called on, but I tend not to raise my hand, lest I be pegged as “that creepy super-senior.” The more serious the classes get, the less patience I have for subjects that don’t interest me, so I’ve been more selective about the classes I attend. I tend to go for half days but try to get at least a taste of a student’s full schedule. Since I’ve recentered the project on remembering my own school experience rather than getting a full picture of the current educational system, I’m not concerned about skipping some classes.

I’m always interested in other people’s perspectives on school, so I chat informally with the teachers and students about their experiences. A couple of my classmates have even returned to middle and high school to teach.

How do the kids react to you?

This is the most frequently asked question. In the lower grades, the kids seemed happy to have

I wrote in my post about P.E. class that the older kids tend to have a lot of questions for me, like “What are you doing here?” and “Can you you put me in your book?” Here’s an excerpt from the post:

You’d think that I’d blend in more with the older, bigger kids than the little ones, but the opposite is true. Whereas the younger kids just seem happy to have a big playmate, the older ones have a lot of curiosity about what I’m doing back at school and are constantly asking me questions. My favorite question was from one quirky boy, who approached me with a determined look on his face and said, “No offense, but are you a girl, a teenager, or a woman?” I was tempted to answer him by breaking into the Britney Spears ballad, “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.”

What do you write about?

• School Experiences and Memories in and out of the classroom, from participating in a math competition to attending a middle school dance. I try to capture the experience vividly, in part to help readers remember and reflect on their school experiences along with me.
• Educational Philosophy and Practice, comparing my experience at my old schools today to my previous experience, as well as to my ideals.
• What I’m Learning: I’ll weave the new knowledge and skills I’m gaining into my writing.
• Personal Development: The overall goal of the project is to overcome perfectionism and workaholism, to learn to take care of myself and do what makes me happy. I’ll share the “Reschooling Tools” I’m using to make these changes, as well as the ways they affect me.

What’s your timeline for the project?

I left my full-time job with Spark in June and launched right into Reschool Yourself. Over the summer, I began clearing mental and physical clutter, and catching up on what I’ve missed in the last few workaholic years. Reschool Yourself’s official duration is for one academic year. Here is an approximate schedule:

Fall 2008 - Revisiting the Past in the School Classroom

• August - September: Elementary School
• October: Middle School
• Early November: High School
• Early December: College

Spring 2009 - Creating the Future in the Global Classroom

• January through mid-June: Domestic & International Travel

Are your teachers still at the schools you attended?

Elementary: none. However, there are several teachers and staff who were teaching at the time (they just weren’t my teachers), and they hosted me in their classes. I’ve run into a handful of my old teachers who now sub at the schools, and I’ve spoken with one on the phone.

Middle school: a few. I’ve participated in classes taught by my old math and drama teachers, as well as classes taught by other teachers who were at the school when I was a student.

High school: almost all.

I’ve gotten to visit my old classrooms even when they’re occupied by new teachers, and the physical space has triggered memories I’d long forgotten.

What kinds of things do you plan to learn?

The list continues to evolve. The main areas I would like to master are:

Technology. To me, it’s like a best friend in middle school, dependable until the sudden and inevitable betrayal. I would like to invite technology to become my faithful life partner.

History & Politics. I’m the Ugly American, plain and simple. At least I have liberal values and the desire to learn more. Now that my brain has released the individual case histories of 150+ youth and their families, it will have some extra bandwidth to absorb the BBC News.

Finance. When I hear words like “amortization,” I feel an aneurysm coming on. To me, managing money means keeping every receipt ever printed for me….crumpled in a desk drawer, weighing on my conscience because I will never look at it again but believe that I should. On the bright side, I know exactly what I bought at Safeway on 1/3/04, which I expect will come in handy in an obscure court trial one day.

Other areas I want to explore include learning to:

· grow fruits & vegetables organically

· dance well, especially hip-hop & salsa

· use Adobe Photoshop and the rest of the Creative Suite

· remodel a house

· change the oil and tires on a car

· take advantage of frequent flyer miles

· meditate for more than 10 distracted minutes at a time

· maintain a monthly budget

What are your plans for the website?

They are many. Here are just a few:

* Writing and photos capturing visiting my old schools and unearthing keepsakes

* Details about how I find and structure each learning opportunity

* Knowledge I gain from books, apprenticeships, classes, and travel

* Ways for people to post stories about their own reschooling experiences and exchange resources

How are you funding this project?

I continue to raise start-up funds through individual sponsors - readers like you! - and am in the process of funding the rest of the budget through publishing and grants.

Where will your writing be published besides in the blog?

I’m exploring freelance writing for magazines and newspapers, and I’m putting together a book proposal as I go along. If you have suggestions for writing and publishing opportunities, please email me or leave a comment.

Will you be filming your experiences?

I’m learning a bit about filmmaking as I go and am capturing key moments on digital video when inspired. I’ve found this fall that shooting an editing video has taken time away from writing, so video will be a minor aspect of the project. In the spring, I expect to film highlights of my learning experiences, as well as occasional video logs to update readers on the project. I’ve also always wanted to do an ultra-dramatic confessional, Blair Witch Project style, so I plan to achieve that little dream.

Have you read the book Eat, Pray, Love?

The book was part of my inspiration for creating Reschool Yourself. In fact, I was so energized to start writing again that I put down the book around page 50 and didn’t finish it until 10 minutes before attending an Elizabeth Gilbert speaking engagement. (I was sheepishly reading in the line for the women’s bathroom right before the talk began, feeling like a kid rushing to finish her homework before a quiz.) When Gilbert finished speaking, she’d charmed me and the 750 other women in the audience (as well as the 20 men) into wanting to be her best friend.

Have you seen the Adam Sandler movie Billy Madison, where he needs to repeat grades 1-12 to inherit his dad’s successful company?

I usually say that Reschool Yourself is “like Billy Madison, but for real.” I have seen the movie more times, and can rattle off more ridiculous quotes (“That’s quacktastic!”), than I care to admit. I plan to sing Billy’s song every day, skipping to school with a brown bag lunch packed by my mom:

Back to school, back to school, to prove to Dad that I’m not a fool.
I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don’t get in a fight.
Ohhhh, back to school, back to school, back to school…

Check out the post “Billy Madison vs. Melia Dicker” to see how our back-to-school experiences compare.

Can I subscribe to your blog?

Yes, if you’d like a heads-up when I update the blog, you can subscribe through a blog reader like Google Reader, which will let you know when I post - normally, several times per week.

What if my question wasn’t frequent enough to be answered here?

Congratulate yourself on your originality and email me or leave a question on the forum. I’d be happy to answer what inquiring minds want to know.

Updated 10.27.08