The Rookery

The Power of Place

I'm trying not to look at calendars - the amount of change in the past month is overwhelming.  It is humbling and exhausting to be trying to bring our Heron classroom online.  As a first year teacher, you often spend more hours planning than you do teaching and I've found that to be true again.  I am creating systems and content. In the absence of routine, I'm planning meticulously. I'm trying to invent new traditions.  I'm throwing a lot of things on the wall to see what sticks. I'm making a lot of mistakes.

One of the greatest challenges is bending these on-line tools to our school's progressive will.  They are tools that are designed for extrinsic motivation - grades, mostly.  They're analogous to reams of worksheets waiting for gold stars.  Some of them have really good content, but without being able to wander among the tables to provide encouragement, context and instruction, I find that often the students get frustrated or blast through things without giving it much thought just to be able to check it "done." (Today I had a student ask if watching a video or getting a hint would affect his score.)

It's not true that progressive education only uses "intrinsic" motivation.  I've only taught a few kids who were purely intrinsically motivated.  They were amazing, but they also never did anything unless they felt like it.  These creative maelstroms would listen to a carefully planned lesson and say, "Hmmm...I think I'm going to do this instead."  No amount of cajoling, praise, threat or puppy eyes would shift them (and grades weren't a much more successful motivator later on.)

So if most kids aren't purely intrinsically motivated at Prairie Creek, how are they motivated?  I've "had more than one visitor wonder why the kids are working so hard if they don't get grades (or candy.)  "How do you get them to do work when it doesn't 'count'?"

This past week has brought in to sharp focus the power of relationships.  Relationships live in the space between purely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation - indeed, they literally fill the spaces between the us. We build classrooms in which the drive to work comes from the respect we have for one another.  The expectation is that we are together to learn and create and play.  I model engagement and excitement in the classroom and, because of the relationships we've nurtured, the students want to do the same.  I don't use fake praise to motivate kids - but I definitely share in their excitement when they've done a good job, when they've worked really hard, when they've figured something out.

And now they are so very far away.  I rely on quick smiles, crinkled up noses, and furrowed brows to see how things are going and urge kids in to new challenges.  A well placed, "You've got this," can help a kid tackle the hardest things.  A smile and a, "is that your best work?" can engender a smirk and re-engagement.  And an excited "ooh! ooh! ooh!" can inspire a kid to go above and beyond.  All of those tools are gone (or at least mediated through a tiny screen). 

In an effort to make sure work and expectations are clear, I've created checklists which seem to shift the conversation to, "What do I have to do" instead of "what do I get to do."  Google Classroom, Khan, and CommonLit amplify the impact by measuring kids' progress in "turned ins"  I am conflicted.  Abandoning a checklist all together would put the burden on parents to provide an enriched environment in which students are choosing from among many options (but needing a lot of interaction and feedback.)  That's not a fair ask.  You'd be doing my job.

So I inch forward.  Tools like FlipGrid provide opportunities to share and celebrate work in a genuine way.  Students are beginning to use the technology creatively and are making new traditions every day. I'm hanging out in our Zoom Room for hours, encouraging students to stop by with questions or work shares (or life shares).  It's the closest I can come to being in a real classroom. The more chances I get to connect, the more I can use relationships to motivate learning and the deeper I hope the learning can be.  It won't be the same - but it can still be good.  I know it can because your kids are amazing.

Making Distance Learning Work in Your Home - Tips from some Old Hands

My colleague Molly started this document the first night we found out that distance learning was a possibility.  We know how hard it can be.  We're doing it, too.  We wanted to share some tips from our collective years of working with kids (both yours and our own.) Please feel free to share anything you think might be useful.  

First of All - You’ve Got This

The best thing we can do for children (and ourselves, really) is to provide routine and figure out what you can control or make certain when everything else is not certain. YOU CAN STAY SANE! Trust me! But it takes work upfront AND LOTS of consistency and parent self-care. These are not have-tos but they are suggestions that I as a parent of two younger school-aged children have learned help things go well over the years. 

This will Take Time - You can try things for a few days and then make changes.

We are all scrambling trying to fill spaces that may be here for a long time. No need to scramble! Slow down and prioritize. What is most important to work out in your family right now? How to all be together? Is it how to take personal responsibility? What is most important? Focus on that. Remember, we take six weeks at the beginning of the year to develop norms with each other so that we can function well as a group and individuals in a group space. You may not have six weeks but you can take four days! Know there will be challenges. Think progress, not perfection. 

Be Clear About Expectations

Talk to your children about what it will mean for the family to be home together for an extended period of time. Work together to create household agreements and link them to their classroom rules. Ask them: What are some of the rules you follow at school? Which of those rules can we use at home? Write the agreements down, make sure everyone agrees to them, sign them, and post them somewhere visible in your home. 

Let them know you will create regular routines and that EVERYONE'S needs will be met (parents included!) each day. Stress to them this is NOT homework, this is learning at home that their teacher has given them because they can’t be together. Remind them that their teacher and classmates look forward to connecting each day. And just like at school, their teacher expects them to do this work as well so they can learn and be ready for when we return to school.

 

Develop a Schedule  - Start now, before Distance Learning Begins 

This is probably the most important thing you can do.  Develop a schedule with your child that includes their interests/needs AND yours.

1. Keep it routine but not rigid. Let them know that each day they will be doing learning and playing at home - sometimes with a parent and sometimes independently. 
2. Set expectations for different times of the day and be firm about keeping them. Children will respond if you are clear and they are part of the decision making/understand the logic/reasoning behind it. Now is the time to be honest with our children and not placate their every want. 
3. Write the schedule up every day in the same place.  Have your child help with the schedule. Use a timer and clock throughout the day.
4. Make sure your schedule has a start time and an end time. Help your children to distinguish that even though they are working at home - maybe just like you - there will be time for work and time for play.
5. Work in time for you. If you and your parenting partner (if you have one) are working from home, work out a schedule that fits each of your working needs.  Communicate with your children which parent is available to help them and when. Also, work in some times in which they are totally independent and you are too. List those on your schedule so they can expect them. If one parent is always responsible, they may experience burn out. If only that parent is available to support the children, work in independent times for you while the children are occupied. 
6. Do similar things at the same time. Is there something you want or need to read? Schedule DEAR or independent reading time for your child at the same time.
7. TAKE BREAKS and schedule them throughout the day. We routinely take a break of some sort - outdoors for 20 minutes, snack for 10 minutes, bathroom/drink/movement around the school breaks, transition to a new activity.
8. Help your child make checklists or to-do lists that they can control. Write tasks that need to be completed (they can write their own or you can write them together) and give them check boxes so they can track their completion. 
9. Work household chores into the schedule of the day - Choose a room in the house you will tidy together, have them make snack for the family, teach them how to do their own laundry and put them in charge of washing their own clothing for a day, etc.
10. Keep bedtimes, wake up times, and meal times routine. 
11. If  parents and children are working in the same room, decide how and when your child can come to you with questions. For example, maybe you wear a special hat or something that indicates to the child that you are not able to be talked to at the moment? When the hat comes off, you are available. 

 

Working With Siblings

Are there siblings that can help in the household? Are there siblings that will need support? 

1. Be Clear About Expectations - Now is the time to meet with them and talk about how your family is a team and we will all work together to make these new changes successful for everyone in the family. Remind the children of the problem solving chart to use. 
2. Give Children Their Own Spaces - Make sure they know when are times they are expected to work together or apart.  Even if they are all in the same room, they should have a designated space to work.
3. Be Mindful of Child Care Asks - If an older sibling is “in-charge” for a portion of the day, be aware of the effort that can take.  Make a plan to help the older sibling feel extra appreciated at some point for their effort to support the family.

 

Choice Time

Choice time everyday! Maybe they spend some time engineering with legos. Maybe they spend some time drawing or coloring or playing a board game with you or other family members.  By making “choice time” a clear part of the schedule, you honor it and eliminate the need for children asking for it constantly.

Rest Time

Many camps establish a set “me time” during the day to give everyone (counselors included) a chance to unwind. This is another time you can set boundaries and expectations around a child’s access to you.  Quiet activities in a quiet space are key. This may be a great time to integrate music into the day.

Help Time

You don’t have to spend every moment they are “working” with your child. You might need to explain to them an activity or get them started. Once they can do it on their own, let them know you will be stepping away to do other things. Have them circle the things they were confused about and you can work on it together in a designated “I needed help” time.  Younger children might benefit from a visual reminder (an open sign, a silly hat) of when you are available to them.

 

Get Outside

Don’t forget to get outside - ALL OF YOU! This could be at the beginning of your “school day” to get some fresh air to start, in the middle of the day before lunch (like recess!), marking the end of your “work day”, OR as PE at any time during the day. 

1. PE ideas 

•  Ball skills - dribbling, throwing, catching
• Walking/running around the block. 
• Does your child know how to ride their bike? Could you use some fresh air and walk or run? Go together!
• Yoga! Cosmic Kids Yoga is a favorite of my kids https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga
• https://app.gonoodle.com/ Has all sorts of activities related to movement. There are movements that enhance focus, calm, energy, etc. 

 

Incentives

Kids are motivated by a lot of things - including wanting to feel like they are a contributing member of your family and a valued member of their class.  Sometimes though, when the reward of a behavior is more abstract, an extrinsic incentive might be helpful. Give yourself permission. It’s O.K. - those of us who are parents sometimes use incentives in our homes, too.

Spark Joy (with compliments to Marie Kondo)

How can you incorporate different elements of joy, laughter, and fun together as a family?  Maybe it is baking a batch of cookies, watching your favorite family show or movie, or finding an old family album to look through? Perhaps you will make a scavenger hunt around the house. Or simply, just read with them. Find ways that you already know are successful in making people in your family laugh and joyful (including yourself!)

 

Decision Fatigue

You are likely exhausted by making so many decisions right now. Your children are too. See what you can take off their plate and what you can take off yours.   Take one day at a time and shift things as needed. Routines and expectations can be modified as needed - but you need to have someplace to start.

One Step at a Time

Of course, you might not have the capacity to do all  or any of the things on this list. So I stress again, TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN about expectations. Get feedback from them about what they are excited about/interested in while also being clear with them about what you will need to do as a parent and what your availability will be during certain times. They are much more understanding than you may realize. If you set yourselves up for success by taking the time, everyone will be happier.

The Herons at Home

The bus pulling away on Tuesday.

I kept a brave face on Tuesday until almost the end of the day.  But it was really hard to watch the bus pull away and know how fundamentally things could be changing in the weeks ahead.  As teachers, our days are filled with a thousand gestures - a smile, a nod, an eyebrow raise - and a thousand moments.  There are silly jokes.  Gasps of getting it.  And questions...so many questions from the mundane (Can I go to the bathroom?) to the profound (Where does an infinite universe expand in to?). There are so many touch points with each kid.  I collect so much data throughout the day. As the children come in to the room, I have a chance to greet each one and see how they're doing.  When we are in a lesson together, I can scan their faces and know (pretty accurately) who is still confused and who's getting it.

There are ways of doing many of these things on-line, of course, but I have spent the past twenty years honing my analog skills.  The past four days have been a humbling whirlwind of finding possible tools, assessing them and beginning to learn the ones that seem like they might work for us.  The foundation we've built is solid.  I know our students will be able to learn in the weeks ahead.  But I want to do more than get by.

These next days will be for developing new tools and traditions that will bring more of the experience of being in the classroom to the Herons at home.  How can we spark things together?  How can we continue to connect in a meaningful way?  How can we keep the Herons being Herons? How can I capture those moments and gestures and touch points? I welcome your ideas and expertise - especially if they're ideas for some of the technology the Herons have already used in the Google suite.  It won't be the same, but it can still be good.

We can do this.  I know we can.  Here we go.

Everything in its Place - Carbon and Climate in Perspective

 

Dan pointing out the effect of photosynthesis.

Tuesday's STEM day was a great chance for the Herons to learn about a broad swath of fields - the afternoon afforded us a chance to dive more deeply (quite literally) into a single field.  Dan Hernandez came to teach the Herons about some new data we'll be collecting during forest school - the carbon respiration of soil microbes.

 

The seed for the project was planted last year when we were studying microbes.  The Herons learned that almost everything on earth is teeming with microbes - including the soil.  What looks like "dirt" is, in fact, an ecosystem.  That's as far as we took it last spring...but this year we were ready for more. 

An aside: one of my favorite parts of teaching in a mixed age classroom is the opportunity for the older students to teach our new Herons about what we learned the year before.  Over the years, this organizational memory grows - some of what the older students teach is what they learned from the older students the year before.  This layering is what can give a project like Village so much depth - there is a collected knowledge in the community.

OK, back to microbes.  On Tuesday, Dan came in to teach us about what we would be measuring.  First of all - we'd be

The Herons took notes as we learned.

measuring carbon...but what is carbon?  Last week, as part of our electricity theme, the Herons had learned about atoms, electrons, neutrons and protons.  They knew that electrons moving was what we call "electricity" and we even got a chance to build atoms using electrons, neutrons and protons.  We kept building until we created a carbon atom (this is still pretty abstract for the kids but they are beginning to understand that atoms are the smallest thing we can break "stuff" into and still have it be "stuff").

 

Once we had figured out what carbon was, we had to figure out what carbon had to do with microbes.  Dan did a brilliant job of taking the Herons through the carbon cycle - first plants pull CO2 out of the air when they use photosynthesis to create sugars out of Carbon and water, then the carbon returns to the atmosphere in a variety of ways from us burning those sugars and exhaling to the energy being released through decomposition or the burning of fossilized plants.  The Herons were charmed by the idea of Dan eating simple carbon to break down (a banana) versus more complex carbon like wood or coal.

But wait...there's more.  When the Herons watched an animated map of the levels of CO2 throughout the year worldwide, they became alarmed.  At certain points in the year, dark red clouds of CO2 (colorized data points in the animation) swirled over the globe.  "That's bad!" several exclaimed.  There is so much (justified) talk about climate change in our media that the students are often fearful but don't have a strong understanding of what's going on.  It's like when I was little and would fall asleep with my head propped on my pillows so that I could hear the "nuclear sirens" with both ears.  They know change is happening.  They know it is bad.  But the fear is vague.  Many use language like "the world is going to explode" and "we're all going to die soon" when they talk about climate change.  They are joking...kind of.

Dan beautifully and expertily helped the Herons place their understanding in a deeper, more accurate context.  He pointed out that, in fact, this Carbon variation throughout the year has been part of the carbon cycle since there were deciduous plants.  He acknowledged the students' understanding that CO2 levels contribute to climate change and that, yes, there was a lot more carbon in the atmosphere than there was a hundred years ago.  

I interrupted and tried to help by pointing out that technology was one way humans adapt to new situations and that we've already developed technologies to help like wind and solar energy and that their generation will continue to innovate and create new ways to hold carbon.  Dan was able to go even further:  natural places like bogs and prairies and forests are already storing a lot of carbon.  In fact, natural processes have already absorbed half of the extra carbon we have released with fossil fuels.  Learning about the natural world, protecting it, and expanding it is a great way to have an impact on climate change.  And, as Dan pointed out in his incredibly supportive, enthusiastic way, "You all are already doing that."

Dan demonstrating the carbon capturing device at Forest School.

The next day Dan returned for Forest School and taught us how to use the CO2 monitor to measure the amount of carbon

Today we followed a carbon atom through the cycle using a probability game.

released by the microbes in a sample of soil.  We've picked our site and will return to it every week as the weather warms to chart the activity of the microbes.  Real science.  It's very exciting.

I was struck at how quickly students go to a very dark place when it comes to climate change.  You may be surprised to learn our data collection is not going to be connected to an explicit "climate change" theme. It feels like too much developmentally to burden them with that single focus.  Ideally, there's not one "climate change" talk, but many small conversations along the way so that students build an understanding gradually and without fear.

Instead, the data will show us that as the soil warms, the microbes are more active. We may have a chance to look at decomposition rates, too. We will weave that into our understanding of the complex system we are a part of.  Our impact on climate may be a part of the discussion but isn't the main thrust of our work.

As an elementary environmental educator, I see my primary role is to help students develop a deep and visceral connection to their world.  I want them to muck about and see how things work.  I want them to watch a place change throughout a year.  I want them to have a favorite plant, tree, mammal, microbe, rock, lichen, bug, fungus, bird, flower, seed, turtle.  I want them to understand the processes that shape the world.  I want them to be filled with wonder and awe.  Right now is the time to lay the foundation and make the connections so that, as they get older and choose careers and choose how they live and choose how they vote, they will have a deep understanding of the natural world they live in and they will be able to affect the change we need.

When Was the Last Time You Failed?

The Herons at the entrance to the ropes course.

As a teacher, I preach constantly about the need for failure as a part of the learning cycle. "If it's not hard, you're not learning." "When you mess up and fix it the learning sticks more than if you just get it right." "Your brain produces more robust connections when you fail and then figure something out."  Engineers expect failure.  Authors know that even their thirtieth draft won't be perfect.  Mathematicians can struggle with a problem for years.  Historians go down a lot of dead ends.

I know this.  I believe this.  And yet, up on the ropes course at Wolf Ridge, it was very hard to remember this.  My foot slipped and suddenly, for the first time ever, I had fallen off of the single wire.  No problem.  Intellectually, I knew just what to do.  Our naturalist, Claire, had demonstrated what to do; she had demonstrated it twice, in fact.  It was super easy.  No big deal.  Just put your feet on the wire, push out your legs, tuck your feet under you and stand up.

Nope.

She said I didn't need to use my arms...maybe she meant I needed to use them a little bit.  Legs out, feet under, stand up...

Nope.

The wire swayed so much each time I tried to stand. I didn't have the strength to get it to stand still.  I'll admit that I thought some words I won't type here.  I also berated myself for all of the trips to the gym that I had found good reasons not to do.  And then I thought for a bit.  Luckily, my ground partner was distracted by some scat and the rest of the class was busy way over at the entrance to the ropes course.  For the moment I was alone.

So I started my very ungainly way across the wire.  Push, pull, grunt, yank, flounder, rest...repeat.  Again and again and again and again and again.  Very eventually I made it to the next platform where I laid down on the cold wood and took a very deep breath, happy that I had not needed a dramatic mid air rescue.  Rationalizing that it was for the best that the Herons had missed the whole thing - after all, it might have freaked them out to see me unable to get up.

Ah, and there, I now realize, I was mistaken.  While I would have been (very) embarrassed by the Herons' encouragements, it would have been very good for them to see me struggle...a lot...and survive.  They would have seen that I can't do everything (yet...I've been doing a lot more squats since Wolf Ridge).  They would have seen me persist.  They would have seen that I, too, have a lot to learn.

We so rarely have the opportunity to fail in front of our kids.  They see us as finished products, able to do so many things seemingly without effort.  They don't see our fails.  They really don't see our epic fails.  All they see is ease (because we want to put them at ease).  But failure is just as important to model as kindness and tenacity and responsibility.  Normalizing failure (and survival and re-consideration and practice and re-trying) can be a huge gift.

So talk about your tries and your fails with your kids.  Share those stories often.  Show them how you manage things that are hard at first.

And be in awe of your children who fail every day.  As adults, we spend most of our time in our comfort zones professionally and personally.  Our kids have no such luxury.  They confront difficult new tasks multiple times every single day.  They expect things to be hard at first. They struggle a lot.  They're amazing. 

All In a Day's Work

One of the challenges of writing a blog is that often, in a single day, there will be two or three things that I could write an entry about.  (This problem is compounded in January when all of my writing energy goes into narratives.)  By the time I peep my head back into the blogosphere, there are thirty to forty things that I wanted to write about.  So I'm going to start fresh today and share the three moments when I thought, "I should put this in a blog."

Uncanny Triangles

The best math lessons are those in which we are using new skills and ideas to solve a puzzle together.  Today, the Herons looked for Uncanny Triangles.  In the problem, "uncanny" triangles are right triangles whose area is equal to the sum of their two shortest legs.  How many uncanny triangles were there (if we limited it to sides whose sums were equal or less than 15).  We made sure everyone understood the task at hand and went at it.

I worked with a group at the carpet that wanted to explore the challenge in a more supported way.  We reviewed how to find the area of a triangle and went over "sum" again.  Then we started to draw triangles and test them out together.  Another group wanted to work more independently and headed off to the tables.

Soon someone exclaimed, "The bigger the numbers, the less likely that they'll work."  I stopped the class for a moment and shared that conjecture, labeling it the T Conjecture for the child whose idea it was.  A conjecture in math is like a hypothesis in science.  It's an idea that you look for evidence to prove or disprove it.  A lot of heads nodded and someone shared, "Well, the products get a lot bigger than the sum when you are multiplying big numbers so that makes sense.

The hunt continued and soon both groups had discovered the same uncanny triangle.  Were there more?

One student explained she didn't have a proof, she had something that was just true, "You have to have at least one even side because two odd numbers multiplied together always equal an odd number."

The rest of us took a second to catch up to her thinking and try a few out.  I considered going off on the tangent of how we can know this is true but decided not to (can you explain why?).  We wrote it down in our list of conjectures (and now proofs).

Another conjecture - "You can't have one as one of the sides."

Then some questions.  Can you have negative sides?  I was skeptical...how would you draw it?  They explained that if something went to the right and was 4 long then if you flipped it wouldn't it go to the left -4?  I asked them if they could use a ruler to measure it and what it would say.  "4 both ways."  We decided a triangle couldn't have a negative side.

Can you have a triangle with a zero side?  One of the students had drawn a line segment and labeled its lengths as 8 and 0.  "What makes a triangle a triangle?"  The class agreed that three sides were needed.  The triangle with a 0 side did not have three sides so didn't count.

I set up a table because I was running out of room to draw triangles.  For some students, that made sense; others preferred to stick with trying different triangles by chance.

We found a second uncanny triangle.  A new conjecture was made - since the sum/Area of one that we found was 9 and the sum/area of the other was 8, perhaps we should look at 10 and 7.  We wrote up a list of "tens buddies" from way back in kindergarten - the numbers that add to 10 and tried them out as triangles.  No luck.  We tried the "sevens buddies" still no luck.  We tried sums of 4, 5, 6, 8, 11.  No luck

Our time had elapsed but now we had a way to know for sure if we had all of the answers - we just had to try out the other sums.  (Editors note:  when linking the problem in the first sentence, I noticed that a single side was allowed to be 15 - not just the sum.  does this make a difference?)

Spoiler alert - the picture below shows both of our solutions...so far.  Can you keep another secret?  We did a lot of practice with the area of a triangle!

But Wait...There's More

The metric system was a topic of hot debate in our foundation math group this morning.  It wasn't supposed to be.  I made an off hand comment about how Newfoundland had gotten 75 cm of snow on Friday.  I through out the question, "How many meters is that?"  Crickets.  "How many centimeters in a meter?"  A few hesitant guesses.

Oops.  Mind the gap - time for a mini lesson.  The kids knew about meters (and centimeters) but didn't know how they were connected or why they make so much more sense than inches and yards.  We had 15 minutes.

I explained a (very brief) explanation of the adoption of the metric system - including its unfortunate timing with the english and french conflicts.  We ended up with the vastly inferior "customary" system.  Once students were aware of how our base 10 number system was the basis of the metric system (and we had done a few blissfully easy conversions between meters and centimeters and a few brutal conversions between fractions of yards and inches) they were up in arms.

As they left, they were planning for the student council to make a policy proposal to make metric the official measuring system of Prairie Creek.  Onward.

Many Returns - A Conversation to Honor Martin Luther King

The notion of having "The Talk" with your kids about "the birds and the bees" is outdated of course.  Ideally, we have many, many conversations about development and puberty and relationships.  The same is true for conversations about race.  A single conversation will never be enough to help our children construct an understanding of the history that has led to this point and the actions that are needed to begin to make the world a better place.  And so we return to conversations about race often, weaving in new information and broadening our understanding.

Today was another conversation in that work.  I had students read excerpts of "Oh Freedom!"  It's a book of interviews of people who experienced segregation and participated in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.  The interviews are done by 4th graders who interviewed people in their community.  The students could name Martin Luther King Jr., Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks but most are still building their understanding of the role of every day people in the movement and these interviews shared those stories in simple, approachable ways.  The students read and discussed in small groups the came back to the large group to share questions and thoughts that they had.

These conversations are necessary, but sometimes difficult and often unpredictable. I recently found a wonderful resource, Not Light, but Fire by Matthew Kay  (Download Author Interview With Matthew Kay), that emphasized the importance of teaching listening in conversations.  I prefaced our discussion today with those reminders.

The conversation was rich and, indeed, did go in directions I had not anticipated.  Kay talks about the necessity of taking these risks - the conversation must be genuine if it's going to shift students' understanding.  At one point, we talked about how people came to accept segregation (one of the interviews was with a white woman who remembers being a little girl first noticing segregation).  The Herons remembered a conversation we had earlier this year about fish and water - we don't always question what's around us.  Dr. King and the many people who marched along side him, had the ability to see what was wrong with the "normal" and speak up against it.  We talked about situations on the bus when we knew something wasn't O.K. but went along with it because everyone was doing it.  A child asked about George Washington...how could someone who was "nice" (his word) own slaves?  Another child pointed out that "the victors write the stories."  That took some unpacking but the students knew from our Silk Road theme and other conversations that there are a lot of stories missing from our history and that it's the job of historians to find them and tell them. 

Propaganda was brought up in the context of how the Nazis convinced people to follow them.  That led to talking about the "scientific" rationales (head size measurement) that people used to justify being against women from voting and the religious rationales that people used to justify enslavement.  One student shared that there were studies that showed that women were smarter than men.  That provided some more great conversation - how was the study done?  How do you define "smart"?  What tools did they use to test people?  Were the tests biased?  What IS bias? I interjected at this point and shared that I had never seen a valid study that indicated an intelligence difference between sexes and that even deciding how "intelligence" is defined and measured was controversial.

Eventually the conversation circled back to the interviews.  The students were interested in what happened when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.  We talked briefly about Reconstruction and the Jim Crow laws that were a response to formerly enslaved people being given rights and property.  That cycle of freedom and unjust laws has continued and we talked (very) briefly about Black Lives Matter.

Whew.  Like any conversation of this type, there were a lot of loose ends.  Students come into the conversation with a lot of different experiences and a lot of different levels of historical understanding (one student shared a lot of detailed information about why southerners were against a central U.S. bank...) . But by starting the conversation, they know that this is something that we need to talk about and know about. 

Oh yeah - and we went skiing and worked on our opera!

Wrapping It All Up

Herons at the end of the Silk Road

My very favorite thing about culminating events is that I'm not in charge.  About a week before the big day, something subtly shifts and the ideas start to come too fast for me to keep up with.  Students begin to make things happen all by themselves so that, by the time our first guests arrive, there are all kinds of things for me to discover as I walk around.  Today, I heard one child share a welcome speech that she had carefully written and memorized, unbidden by me.  Other students had done extra research and were teaching things I didn't know about.  When I left the gym at eleven, the Great Wall was a series of boxes in the middle of an otherwise bright and empty gym.  When I returned at 11:15, the room was illuminated by lanterns, the windows were darkened, the truly great wall stretched across the gym and pipa music filled the air.

In a conversation with a colleague, we described this part of our work as riding a wave of energy.  The students are all so focussed and driven and excited - I just get to keep up with them.  It's exciting and a little unnerving, but they're ready.  Not only have we been studying the subject for a few months, we've been building the skills that enable them to be independent learners and innovators.  They don't need me - except for finding things in the basement or figuring out how to copy four items to a page.  My job is to say, "Yes, how can I help?"  I have never once had to re-direct a Heron behaviorally during one of our culminating events - this is their time to shine.  They don't just know their stuff, they own their stuff.  I couldn't be more proud.

The Herons gave a gift to the school today.  A friend texted me that her kids were playing "Silk Road" when they got home - trading items and setting up stations around the house.  A fifth grader from another class stopped me after school to share his financial genius - he had made the trip from Antioch to Xi-an four times - quintupling his profits with each run (it will be such fun to talk with the Herons about his idea and ask them if it could have happened on the real Silk Road).  Some of the topics from today might find their way into personal projects - they'll certainly find their way into class discussions.

And of course, the Herons benefit from the work of other classes, too.  Today the Herons brought up some of the things they learned from the Robins' event on the Constitution during our morning meeting.  Tomorrow they'll learn from the Kestrels about a proposed climate action plan for the school.  We are a community of learners and culminating events enable us to weave our learning together.

Learning to Remember

What makes learning truly memorable?  What will students take away from our work that will still be with them a year from now?  When they graduate?  When they have kids in school themselves?

I was struck by a conversation last Friday at Special Persons' Day.  The Herons were interviewing our visitors about memories they had of school and one grandfather came up to me to share his memory.  His fourth grade teacher - he still remembered her name - had allowed her students to put their desks wherever they wanted in the room for the last month of school.  The rest of the year, they were in rows but that final special month, they could gather in groups to work in projects (or separate off to work by themselves.)  And he still remembered that  - all these years later.  His eyes were alight and he smiled fondly as he told me about that special month (and special teacher.)

I think his story was about much more than a seating assignment.  He was trusted by his teacher to make good decisions about his learning.  She treated him as an active participant - not a passive receptacle.  For that month, he had an agency that he was often denied.  Perhaps, most importantly, he was respected by his teacher and trusted.

Student agency and respect are central to progressive education.  In the Herons, we make decisions about learning together.  This doesn't mean that "anything goes." Students are expected to take responsibility for their learning since they are given the freedom to make decisions about their learning.  As the students will tell you - with freedom comes responsibility. 

 •  During independent reading, students read "just right books" and, if they are having difficulty doing that independently, I can include them in a book club, include them in article readings or set goals with them using a tool like "genre bingo."

•  In math, students are often asked to do formative assessments.  Often, when they don't understand something, they'll mark that item with a "TM" or "Teach Me."  They understand that the onus is on them to identify what they need to learn next.

• During number talks, students listen to each others' ideas and consider them carefully.  Does it work?  Is the math solid?  Do they have questions?  Students are responsible for critiquing each others' explanations...and I guide the conversation with my own questions.

• In writing circles, students are able to choose the theme that they are writing about - and then they are responsible to their peers to create a written piece to share in the time allowed.

• In theme, students frame questions to extend and propel our learning.  While I know the outline of what we will learn, the students provide the energy and the curiosity that define it.  As the theme progresses, they take more and more ownership of their learning until I get to sit back and watch them teach you at our culminating event.

There are many more examples of ways our students learn to take responsibility for their learning.  And, like moving those desks out of the rows...we hope it's learning they'll remember when they come back as a special person at their grandchildren's schools.

 

 

 

Making Space for the Necessary Conversations

The Herons are reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 for our read aloud right now.  The author, Christopher Paul Curtis, creates utterly believable characters who are part of a warm, loving family.  Parts of the story are roll on the floor, crying funny.  But other parts are hard...really hard.

The Watsons live in Flint, Michigan and are black.  The story begins in Flint but, when big brother Byron crosses one line too many, the Watsons head south for a stay with Grandma Sands, a no-nonsense disciplinarian who promises a quieter summer of wholesome activity.  The year is 1963 and Grandma lives in Birmingham.

Kenny, the ten year old narrator, has had to endure some racism in his life - teachers who hold him up as a "credit to his race" because of his reading ability; his sister Joeta is given a white angel doll. But, as the Watsons head south he encounters Jim Crow for the first time and his confusion and disbelief and fear mirror the reaction of many of the Herons.

It's a book that I have read before because I know it affords rich opportunities for the discussions we need to have about racism, poverty, colorism, segregation, racist systems and the legacy of slavery in America.  There is never a comfortable time for these conversations - but it is crucially important that we make the time and space to talk -- right now while our kids are still listening.  I've heard too many stories of older white kids claiming after being caught Tweeting something racist, using a slur or sharing a meme, "I didn't realize it was offensive..." or "I didn't know..." or "it was a joke..."  I want to make sure that our kids who are in the dominant culture will know better and I want to make sure that our kids of color know that school is a place where we are talking about the issues they have to think about every day.

So today, the Watsons stopped at a rest area at night in Appalachia and Byron peers into the dark woods and tells Kenny there might be "rednecks or crackers" out there who would hang them.  I stopped to explain the terms "redneck" and "cracker" - Byron is using derogatory words for southern whites - words rooted in slavery ("cracking the whip") and Byron is worried about racists finding them and attacking them at the rest stop (sadly, a valid fear). We pivoted to a conversation about hurtful words that groups sometimes take back; they use the word themselves in order to neutralize the power of the people who were using the word against them.  I explained that the n-word was one example.  Sometimes white teens express confusion, "Why can't I use a word that I hear in music or I hear black kids using?"  And the answer is, of course, it's not a white kid's word to use.  Ever. Because they are not the ones who need to take something back. By stating that explicitly and clearly, and providing some context for the discussion, I hope that the lesson will stick and these white kids will be in a position to know how to stand up when they see racism and explain things to their peers.

I am not an expert.  There are always parts of these conversations that I play over in my head and wish I'd found different words for.  But these are conversations which must be had as we work to make this world better.  As you continue the conversations at home, this reference from the New York Times might be useful.  Thank you for your trust and the opportunity to grow and learn with your children.

 

Teaching to Learn - the Secret of Culminating Events

Last week, the Herons entered Xi'an and the long awaited secret of silk was finally theirs.  They received silk cocoons and the tools they needed to process the

Filling the white board with what we've learned

cocoons and get them ready to spin into thread.  It was the end of a long journey - across seas and rivers, through mountains, desert and steppes.  Before we reached Xi'an, a spy from Emperor Dezong's court offered to share the secret of silk in return for learning some of the the things the caravans had learned along the Silk Road.  The Herons obliged and filled the white board with information (which the spy was very happy to receive.)

 

The letter from the Emperor's Spy

Today a student asked, "Now that we've reached the end of the Silk Road...are we done?" Several students answered the question before I could, "No!  We have the culminating event!"

 

At this point in a theme all of the information that we've learned is adrift in students' minds.  They remember bits and pieces but it hasn't become cohesive yet.  The culminating event is key to the learning we do; it ties things together and cements them. For many if not most themes, a culminating event gives the learning the shape it needs to become truly meaningful.  Things come into focus.  Details are fleshed out.

The process is three fold: 

• First we review as a group - what all did we learn?  We fill the board with ideas and information. 
• Then we prioritize - what was most important?  why? what should people really understand about the Silk Road when they leave our culminating event?
• Finally, we deepen our understanding by preparing materials to teach our visitors.  Inevitably, this preparation leads to more questions and more research.

Beyond the research and content of the theme, preparing for and hosting the culminating event develops students' "soft" skills (a term I've not yet come to terms with).  Students must plan, create, problem solve, negotiate, engage, present, answer questions, and work independently.  My role fades and I become a glorified gofer, supporting students' work.  And by the time the culminating day arrives (December 19, 12:45-2:00) the students have so much ownership that I am no longer needed.  The learning has become completely theirs.

We are so excited to bring you on our journey.

The Herons celebrate the secret of silk (and Pajama Day)