Reschool Yourself

About the Project

Snapshots of Reschooling

Now you're all in big, big trouble.

The photos taken in and out of the classroom this fall tend to be among people’s favorite things about the project, especially those of me looking like Will Ferrell’s Buddy among the elves. I’ve uploaded some of them to Picasa and Flickr, and I’ll continue to do so over the next couple of months. I’ll let you know when I add more.

Shots from each of the schools and me in action. Highlights include the Middle School Dance, Middle School P.E., and College Dorm Life.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdicker/

First days of elementary school:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24221612@N07/

December 24, 2008 About the Project 0 Read more >

Mulling Over Memories & Spiced Wine

I’ve taken a breather from blogging in the past few days to let my fall reschooling sink in. It feels good to take a few days of real vacation, probably the first that I’ve let myself have since August. When alone, I work myself into the ground, but when I’m with friends, they thankfully wrench me away from my workaholism. And whenever my sister Gill comes to town, as she did this weekend, then the wild rumpus starts.

During the holidays, I’ll be blogging sporadically. Gill and her fiance, Brian, are in Sonoma this week, and Darren arrives tomorrow. This means there will be lots of carousing and posing for ridiculous photos, but not as much writing. Next week I’ll be buckling down and gearing up to spend the spring in Jackson, so I hope to get rid of the piles of CDs and bags of yellow pads that seem ready to swallow me whole.

I’m still mulling over and making sense of my time in the classrooms. The final step of revisiting the past will be processing “personal artifacts”: old photos, home movies, and keepsakes. Perhaps most importantly, I’ll read the writing that I’ve saved from my school days, such as newspaper editorials, humor pieces, journal entries, personal statements from my college applications, and the short autobiography I wrote my senior year of high school. My teenage writing is rife with school stress and nostalgia for a carefree childhood, and it helps me understand the powerful influence school had on who I became.

I spent so many years wishing that I could just be a kid again. Now that I’ve taken the opportunity to relive my childhood in many ways, I’m finally ready to let it go.

December 23, 2008 About the Project, Childhood 2 Read more >

Classroom Phase Complete!

I officially completed my classroom reschooling today, almost four months exactly after I began August 20th. I’m glad that I decided to spend a week tracing my way back through the grades. It felt good today to see all the kids I’ve connected with over the fall and revisit the school spaces. I spent yesterday with the fifth, fourth, and third graders and today with the second and first graders, ending with kindergarten at the very end of the day. Coming back to where I started gave me a strong sense of closure. I’ll write a longer post soon about my last week of reschooling and how it all feels. At the moment I’m running out the door to various appointments and holiday parties — onto the next thing right away as usual!

In the next few weeks I’ll be doing the following:

  • Sharing stories that haven’t made it into the blog yet
  • Sorting through old journal entries, photos, and other keepsakes
  • Clearing major clutter and preparing to spend the spring in Mississippi
  • Reflecting on overall lessons learned and personal progress during the fall reschooling
  • Making plans for the spring, including what I want to learn and how to proceed with writing the book

As with the end of the college phase, my brain is brimming with information, images, and ideas. It’s so overwhelming that I feel like I need to zone out watching some awful reality TV just to let it all sink in. Maybe when I get home tonight, I’ll fashion myself a homemade diploma with Crayolas and construction paper, so I can make my graduation official.

December 19, 2008 About the Project 0 Read more >

Five Observations While Coming Full Circle

This week I’m revisiting my schools in reverse order to record descriptive details that I couldn’t focus on while participating: students’ hair color, teachers’ vocal inflections, and so on. I went back to high school on Tuesday, middle school today, and am finishing up at elementary school tomorrow. The timing just happened to work out that way, but it feels right to come full circle and end in kindergarten where I began four months ago. Here are five observations so far as I return for a second round of reschooling:

1. I feel that I’ve neutralized the emotional charge that school used to have for me, and I hope it lasts. While I still feel compelled to help transform public education, I’ve come to appreciate the great things about my schools and have stopped dwelling on the not-so-great ones.

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December 18, 2008 About the Project, High School, Middle School 0 Read more >

Thank you for Amazoning!


Just a quick note to say thanks to those of you who are using my link to enter the Amazon website. In just a few days, the total is nearing $70, which is incredibly awesome for something that doesn’t cost either of us anything. The number of purchases has increased my referral rate; now 6.5% of anything you buy through the link (electronics, housewares, etc.) will go to Reschool Yourself. You can now click on the Amazon logo in the upper right corner of the homepage and then shop as usual. Even though the Reschool Yourself code disappears from the URL, it’s still tracking.

Since I used to work for a wonderful independent bookstore, Readers’ Books, I must encourage you to buy books from your local indie bookshop (or from the Readers’ website). But if you are shopping Amazon anyway, especially for non-book items, please use the link. Thank you!

December 14, 2008 About the Project 0 Read more >

Reschooling this Spring, at Home and Abroad

I know I’m putting off something when I look desperately for just one more email to answer, and when I serve myself a bowl of chocolate sorbet and then go back to the freezer for two extra servings. Now I’m chewing my fingernails down to nubs. All this restlessness comes from a resistance to writing about the spring phase of Reschool Yourself.

I’ve been resistant to writing about my spring plans because they’ve changed somewhat since I envisioned the project almost a year ago. At the time, I was working 50-60 hours per week, and nothing sounded better than taking a learning adventure around the world. Thailand, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Egypt….I couldn’t wait to visit them all.

Since the summer, however, my wanderlust has turned into a craving for stability and structure. I’ve been nomadic and scattered, moving from San Francisco to Sonoma and traveling to all corners of North America for conferences and visits with friends, family, and my partner, Darren. I’ve felt unsettled by having most of my worldly goods stacked in my parents’ garage, and by living out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. My most grounded moments have been at Darren’s apartment in Mississippi, when we’ve stayed close to home and developed a healthy daily routine. I still have the desire to travel far and wide, and I may still do it this year, but first I need to ground myself.

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December 10, 2008 About the Project, 7 Read more >

Newsflash: Fall Budget Fully Funded!

This morning an anonymous donor surprised me by fully funding the rest of the fall budget. I am speechless at this generosity. THANK YOU! I am incredibly grateful.

I’m now able to turn my attention to documenting the fall phase and planning the spring phase. Spring plans will involve reschooling at home and through travels and leveraging the project to make change in the education system. Details this week, pinkie swear. If you’d like to contribute, visit the updated sponsor page. (I’ve also updated the FAQ page.)

A huge thank-you once again to all who made this possible: sponsors, readers, and especially my partner Darren for designing and helping to maintain the site (and lending his unwavering support). There are many exciting developments to come!

December 8, 2008 About the Project 6 Read more >

Reschool Yourself Supporters Rock

I was just updating the sponsor page with this week’s donations to Reschool Yourself, and I realized that people have contributed a total of $6,065 since the journey began in August. This includes family, friends, friends of friends, and people who discovered the project and were inspired to contribute. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’ve supported my dream to do this work. I hope that when you look at the developing site, you know that you co-created it. Your personalized thank-you notes with a photo will be on their merry way this week.

If you’re shopping with Amazon, please remember to go through this link (then navigate as usual) so a percentage of anything you buy will be donated to Reschool Yourself. Thanks to those who have already done this.

$935 to go before December 31! If you’d like to contribute in any amount, click here.

Thank you to the newest donors:

Education:
Joanna Hall
Fern Markgraf
Grant & Heather Shellen
Alice & Patrick Watanabe

Technology:
Winsome Villiers

General Expenses (while writing the blog and book, developing the site, and spreading the word):
Anonymous
Chris Balme & Gianna Driver
Paul Schmitz
Brian Tomasini

A huge thanks also to those who launched the project:

Education:
Alex Marsh
Alicia Ross
Dr. Sally Stewart

Technology:
Anonymous
Lynn Chikasuye

Project Launch & General Expenses:
Anonymous
John & Sylvia Balinbin
Jayne Carlin
Gillian Dicker
Laverne & Kelly Dicker
Julian Evans-White
Jorge Fernandes
Katie, Matthew, & Olivia Griffin
Katherine McGuire
Yasuko Nishida
Jim O’Connor
Margaret Pinard
Dale & Jean Schwindaman
Christine Wei
Michael Yeany

A special thanks to Dr. Sally Stewart and two anonymous donors, without whom this project would not be possible.

December 7, 2008 About the Project 0 Read more >

Trying to Process When There’s No Process

I’ve just spent the last five and a half hours walking around my alma mater, visiting every place I can remember that holds some significance for me. I visited places like my freshman year dorm, the study lounges, and the music building where I took piano and voice lessons. I took over a hundred pictures, wrote down memories, and then lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling because I was so exhausted.

How do I make sense of all this stuff, and what do I do with it? Those questions have been plaguing me for the nearly four months I’ve been doing this project. I have stories and handouts from nearly every grade that I haven’t yet been able to share, because once I complete one grade, I start the next. If there happens to be time in between, I always have new material to write about instead of going back and documenting the old.

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December 6, 2008 About the Project, College 1 Read more >

College Bound

I’m heading back to the Bay Area after 2.5 weeks in the south, and true to form, I’m tightly scheduled as soon as I arrive. I’m going straight to Santa Clara Unversity, the Jesuit liberal arts school from which I graduated in 2002. I’ve been back only a couple times since, and I was surprised to see that new buildings had sprung up all over campus, and others had been completely renovated. I have to squeeze college into four days, because fall classes end Friday and finals start next week. I’m glad that if I need more time, I can come back the first week of January.

My plans on campus include:

  • A three-night stay in a suite with a private bathroom in my sophomore year dorm. I won’t have to wear a robe and rubber sandals to the shower or carry one of those caddies and am not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
  • Classes in Psychology, Philosophy, and Classics with five of my former professors. Coffee with a Religious Studies professor.
  • Visits to my old haunts on and off campus, including the campus dining room, the Mission church, the music practice rooms, the gym, and Mission City Coffee.

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December 4, 2008 About the Project, College 3 Read more >