Spring is here

Spring has sprung!  Recess activities: smelling the flowers, finding worms, measuring the world's longest crocheted yarn rope, convening the Bug Town Council...All those sleds left over from the snow?  Fill them with feathers or mud!

Smarter brains

Your Brain on Fiction  and  Why Bilinguals Are Smarter
from this weeks NY Times magazine are both interesting reads.  Neuroscience has added so much to our understanding of learning  - and has reinforced for us just why we teach in certain ways. 

Taking the lead

Students take the lead in the spring conferences with their parents.  They choose a portfolio of their work to share and reflect on their progress and goals.  This time with parents one-on-one is very special. It fosters important skills: accountability and self-knowledge.

STEM skills

Science, technology, engineering, math - or STEM  - is the hottest trend in education today.  We are already on this band wagon - for solid reasons.  Our Pre K kids build with blocks and do puzzles for greater spatial understanding and problem solving.  Our students have math in small groups for an hour every day starting in kindergarten and meet twice weekly for science with a specialist - and it's a core subject with labs in middle school.  In K through 5, kids continue to build with blocks, Knex, and the like.

Giving students experiences in STEM skills through LEGO Robotics, STEM Week in middle school, Pi Day, and even Doctor week in Pre K are Parker priorities.

Ten skills gained from STEM activities:

o   Accuracy in record-keeping and communicating findings.

o   Researching topics and determining good, reliable sources of information.

o   Analyzing small parts of systems and seeing relationships; noticing details in content and process.

o   Recognizing cause and effect relationships and distinguishing fact and opinion.

o   Using mathematical skills for calculations and measurements.

o   Predicting and drawing conclusions using data.

o   Reading and understanding technical materials.

o   Repairing equipment and using software.

o   Communicating with others and listening.

o   Thinking creatively, solving problems and experimenting.

Plus, there is the sheer joy and excitement about science, technology, engineering and math!

What is big? What is small?

Check out this interactive Scale of the Universe 2 by Cary Huang.

Awesome!

Imagine

Imagination takes so many forms.  This beautiful letter written by Helen Keller describing the view from the top of the Empire State Building shows the unlimited potential of the human mind to imagine. http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/03/empire-state-building.html

Global perspective

Visitors to Parker this week: Jordi Ginjaume, General Manager and son of the founder of St. Peter's School in Barcelona, Spain, and Mark, head of the middle school.  This is the second part of an international exchange that began when Susie Merrett and Sarah Biondello visited St. Peter's earlier this year.  Former Parker teacher Teresa Ferrer-Mico has fostered the relationship between the two schools.

Jordi and Mark were delightful visitors.  We put on a special assembly for them with songs and dances in Spanish.  They observed in science, math and Spanish classes - and in archery, too.  They loved our buddy program and were impressed with the independent work ethic of our students.  Mark taught a class to middle schoolers contrasting Barcelona and St. Peter's School with Parker and Albany.  Parker's natural property was a contrast to a city school in Barcelona: we have acreage, but St. Peter's looks out over Barcelona and the Mediterranean.  

St. Peter's has over 620 students from 18 mos. to 12th grade.  They have a rigorous Spanish academic program  - and all students learn 5 languages.

Exciting news: 4 or 5 St.Peter's 8th graders will visit Parker in the fall and we will be arranging a teacher exchange, too!  This opportunity for our teachers and students to gain a global perspective through a cross-cultural exchange is very exciting, building ties, friendships, and understanding at an international level.

Dr. Suess we love you

A Snow Day could not dampen the enthusiasm of Parker kids for dressing as their favorite characters!  We enjoyed story-teller Kent Busman, writer/illustrator Sylvie Kantorovitz, and inventive puppeteer Grein.  Our librarian, Carol Kanalley is working hard to re-schedule the other writers.  Kids stayed in costume all day - in Earth Science class, I loved watching Cinderella give a talk about bacillus, taking a question from the Lorax.  Read Across America Day is a favorite for the whole school!

At last!

Snow!

Living a mission

Robert C. Parker School engages each student in a thoughtful and challenging learning process that inspires curiosity and a passion to achieve, nurtures confidence and community, and cultivates purposeful action.

Core Values: Emotional security, intellectual vibrancy, ethical awareness, social responsibility

Our new mission statement feels just right for Parker.  At our faculty meeting yesterday the teachers gave examples of how we live our mission. Here are a few of their ideas:

• We teach students to think and observe.  They question and make their own conclusions at a very young age.
• Children are supported and praised for their strengths and challenged at the same time: it's a balance.
• Kids know that the adults are here to help them - there is a very special relationship.
• We take the time children need for real learning to emerge.
• Parker kids love math!
• Because they get lots of choice, students are really motivated.
• Students spontaneously collaborate and write; they accept and encourage each other.

On our upcoming professional development day we will meet with a psychologist to talk about stress and anxiety in children.  We will also take time to further develop the idea of having "signature" experiences at each grade level that give children skills in leadership and communication and that demonstrate authentic assessment and outreach.

Have a great February Break!