tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79796694843941072602024-03-13T14:30:40.870-04:00perspective on parkerI find delight each day in the things that happen at Robert C. Parker School. I hope to share a little of the fun!Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.comBlogger605125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-64145597475197452012017-05-22T16:00:00.001-04:002017-05-22T16:00:05.662-04:00Educating for Innovation: the essential elements<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The panel of experts we assembled in April from RPI, SUNY College of Engineering, Regeneron, Ohio State and Tech Valley High agreed on certain elements of education that promote innovation. See what you think! <a href="https://haikudeck.com/p/cQ6T0IwPud">https://haikudeck.com/p/cQ6T0IwPud</a>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-41867683898143063272017-04-28T15:42:00.000-04:002017-04-28T15:42:05.924-04:00International friendships<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Having friends visit from across the world is an incredibly exciting thing. Kids from Spain might never have tried peanut better or bagels - but it turns out they love them! They speak five languages - fluently! Different and the same - middle school kids are middle school kids.<br />
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We are so fortunate to have a partnership with St. Peter's School in Barcelona. One year they send a dozen students to us to stay with our families and the next year we send students to them. We get to exchange teachers, too.<br />
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Our students revel in visiting a school with a beautiful dining hall and scrumptious prepared food. They walk everywhere in Barcelona - to La Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi sites and they buy fruit and churros at the outdoor market. They can't believe that dinner starts after 9 PM!<br />
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St. Peter's students are amazed at sledding in the snow at Parker, our iconic yellow school buses, and dressing up on Halloween. Being at a school with woodsy trails and a pond is incredible. A campfire with roasted marshmallows on a stick and s'mores - Wow!<br />
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Together they go to classes and museums, they sing, create poems and art works - go bowling - and revel in being kids. <br />
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From the first year we made new friends from Spain, the entire student body at Parker became more motivated to master the Spanish language. We ended up extending Spanish to our Preschool and added another session of Spanish to the 4-5 weekly schedule. For one week a year, everyone plays and works together, getting to know new families and customs and practicing another language. Then it's time to leave.<br />
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This week went by so fast - and next year, our turn to visit in Spain, will be here before we know it.<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-62540669975646182572017-04-05T11:40:00.000-04:002017-04-05T11:40:40.209-04:00Why should kids think like a computer?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today in the NY Times, Laura Pappano, an education journalist writes about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/education/edlife/teaching-students-computer-code.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_cldee=bXRheWxvckBwYXJrZXJzY2hvb2wub3Jn&recipientid=contact-b5fe682237f9e111892400505683000d-616f9a0a02ed4d158bfd50778aa78fd8&esid=d76cf6a3-6419-e711-b7c2-005056bf0011&_r=0">Learning to Think Like a Computer</a>. It has become super popular lately to learn computer programming in college - and we see the excitement in elementary and middle school with robotics, Scratch and other programming activities. <br />
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Programming demystifies computing in many ways and gives kids practice in sequencing - the step by step brain work that is required to program successfully. "It's the idea of abstraction," Pappano quotes in her article. "It requires recognizing patterns and distilling complexity into a precise, clear summary,"<br />
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I see it in action in school through the intensity that kids bring to robotics - the perseverance they develop and the whoop of joy when they get the result they are looking for. They often work together, too and get a lot of practice collaborating when they are designing a 3D prosthetic limb for an amputee or adding voices to a life-story animation. <br />
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On days that we have after school robotics club, kids often come to show me what they've accomplished: in the photo above, a second and a third grader got their robot to stop at each color line and say "red", "blue"or "yellow". But it skipped saying "green"! Oh well - they weren't deterred - they went running back to the drawing board to try again.<br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-58265970060050332822017-04-04T16:02:00.000-04:002017-04-04T16:10:15.779-04:00Educating for Innovation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">I am so excited for our panel discussion tomorrow night - innovators from UAlbany, RPI, Regeneron, Ohio State and Tech Valley High will be here to trade ideas about the hottest trend in education today. </span></div>
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From a Nobel prize winning astronomer who researches the Milky Way Galaxy to a Director of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, named by Forbes as one of the most innovative companies in the US, we have assembled an impressive and highly interesting group. It should be a lively event! </div>
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-47097923276080394742017-03-02T15:54:00.000-05:002017-03-02T15:54:28.841-05:00View from the Head's chair<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Visits to my office by 3 and 4-year-olds is always a highlight. My Pre K friends came by yesterday on a pizza parade. It was an adorable invasion! <br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-17335833164840755012017-02-28T10:08:00.000-05:002017-02-28T10:08:34.859-05:00Helping teens cope with emotions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Teens and emotions - almost everyone says that middle school years are the hardest. Emotions during the early teens can be strong and confusing. And they can change on a dime. And the crazy thing is...that's normal!<br />
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<a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/02/28/emotional-agility-as-a-tool-to-help-teens-manage-their-feelings/">Here is a great article</a> from MindShift about teens and emotions - and how to help them cope. For teachers and parents both, talking with kids about the emotions and normalizing them is key.<br />
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For kids, knowing that they are not alone or strange really helps them deal with their changing and strong feelings. Some key things to remember, says Susan David, Harvard educator and author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Agility-Unstuck-Embrace-Change/dp/1592409490">Emotional Agility</a>, are:<br />
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Emotions pass<br />
Emotions are teachers<br />
Courage is "fear walking"<br />
Articulating values helps set an inner compass<br />
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Just having a caring adult to listen can help calm the strong emotions our teens are feeling. We can all do that!<br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-51427848512510086922017-02-07T18:16:00.000-05:002017-02-08T11:39:54.437-05:00Addicted to questioning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a study of owls in K-1 the curiosity is palpable. Is this owl alive? How did it die? Why are the feathers so soft? Why is it called a barred owl, or a horned owl? How do the wings work? Can I touch it? The questions rule the day. Observational drawings come next. Students are developing the skill of noticing details. And asking even more questions. And then the teacher brings out...the owl pellets...!</div>
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In this article in MindShift, <a href="https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/02/09/how-to-bring-more-beautiful-questions-back-to-school/">How to Bring More Beautiful Questions Back to School</a>, Katerina Schwartz contends that after about age 5 or 6, questioning falls off. Yet a questioning mind is a highly desired skill in any modern work place - it's the value added in the technology age.</div>
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For questioning minds to thrive, children need lots of time - not a curriculum that "covers" material. They need a culture that rewards intellectual risk-taking - not one that penalizes wrong answers. </div>
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Schwatrz says, "Kids are lighting up their pleasure zones and getting dopamine hits every time they learn something that solves something they were curious about." Sounds addictive!<br />
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Effective teachers set up a topic and trigger questioning - then find ways to follow where kids' curiosity takes them. They allow for a deep dive into a juicy problem or topic. What's the result? A classroom filled with knowledge addicts - confident kids who crave to question and to learn more. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vera's drawing of the barred owl's wing</td></tr>
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-34210192725357742592017-01-18T11:30:00.000-05:002017-01-18T11:36:34.135-05:00Teaching for creativity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wharton professor Adam Grant talks and writes about creativity and how to nurture it. In the short video at the end of this post he talks specifically about how to nurture creativity in students.<br />
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His three main points are that values should take president over rules; that character is more important than behavior; and that giving kids examples from the books they read - of kids doing creative things that haven't been done before, are ways to develop creativity.<br />
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This is interesting to me. It speaks to the way we construct the school experience for our students and what we intend for them to gain from it. It is a question the Parker faculty is always trying to get to the root of - How do we develop creativity, empathy, and purpose in our students - skills that will serve them well for their entire lives?<br />
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We strive to inspire curiosity by posing interesting questions and by giving students the ways and means to explore the world around them and topics they become interested in. We set high expectations and let the children help develop rules, giving them the real responsibility (with adult support) to construct a kind and supportive community. We set up many experiences where learning has a purpose beyond the immediate classroom, by doing projects that have an impact on others: citizen science, teaching others, coming up with solutions to real world problems, community service. And everyone is immersed in the arts - music, dance, instruments, painting, dramatics, public speaking, design and many, many other creative practices.<br />
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We also give them time to play and to contemplate. <br />
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I like Grant's ideas and hope to expand even further on the question of developing creativity and innovators. On the evening of April 5 we are having a panel discussion, open to the public, about just this topic. We have some amazing thinkers lined up - Stay tuned - more information is coming!<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.theatlantic.com/video/iframe/502958/?auto=1&player=default" width="640"></p>
</iframe>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-26654773253961404102017-01-06T16:21:00.000-05:002017-01-18T10:14:45.972-05:00Developing STEMpathy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Disruptive technology surrounds us: self-driving cars, software that writes poetry, drones delivering packages...When machines are competing with people for thinking, what's a human to do?!<br />
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Thomas Freidman has been thinking about this, and in his recent article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/opinion/from-hands-to-heads-to-hearts.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fthomas-l-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection">From hands to heads to the hearts</a> he answers that humans have what computers don't - a heart. He writes that everyone needs STEMpathy to succeed in this new age. <br />
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The attributes that can't be programmed are the ones we must develop in school, like passion, character and a collaborative spirit. It is crucial to combine knowledge with heart to if we want students to thrive in the technical age we live in.<br />
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It's a reminder of the importance of Parker's core values and mission, the right ones for our age, or any age. <br />
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This morning five alumni from 2008 and 2013 visited for a panel discussion. Represented were an art teacher and a novelist, a future biochemist, a future biomedical engineer, and a budding labor relations specialist. Their empathy was evident and the values and advice they espoused were about the importance of being friends with people who want to make you better, building relationships with teachers, and finding activities, clubs and subjects that you feel passionate about. They are all serious about ideas and value learning over grades. <br />
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They loved the fun they had at Parker - playing in the stream and being outdoors. They valued the friends and teachers. The thesis project was defining and prepared them for writing everywhere, even in college. They learned to learn for learning's sake, and felt proud of it. These young adults were definitely skilled in STEMpathy.<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-8698043114489076362017-01-03T12:47:00.000-05:002017-01-03T12:47:01.995-05:00A reading/running connection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There is lots of evidence that an active learning environment with time for physical activity, running and play helps children learn better. The mind-body-learning connection is powerful stuff! A new study from Finland shows that first grade children, especially boys, need time running around in order to learn to read. Sitting for longer periods doesn't help - it actually hinders reading and math development! Here is the article in Time.com : <a href="http://time.com/4588035/sitting-exercise-reading/">Boys Who Sit Still Have Harder Time Learning to Read.</a><br />
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<i>Boys whose days were more sedentary when they were in first grade (a crucial year for learning to read) made fewer gains in reading in second and third grade.</i><div>
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I'm happy to note that Parker kids in the lower grades get a minimum of 60 to 75 minutes a day for actual recess, and there is also phys ed, Muddy Boots Club, time spent outdoors just for fun, movement in music and Spanish and not a lot of "seat time". It is a great argument for the adventure we are about to embark on -Winter Fridays - when everyone gets a change of pace for swimming, skiing, XC skiing, snow boarding, and movement. Active body - active mind!<br /><div>
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-37785666629309888362016-12-21T14:07:00.001-05:002016-12-21T14:07:40.940-05:00Peace Assembly performanceAs promised, the finished product - a lovely performance!<br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/196606987">6-7's perform</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user5150213">Meg Taylor</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-9648956797014877822016-12-13T12:30:00.000-05:002017-01-03T12:48:33.837-05:00A little music brightens the day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/195486372">The 6-7's Practice for the Peace Assembly</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user5150213">Meg Taylor</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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The music room is on the other side of my office wall. The intriguing sounds often compel me to walk over to see what they are up to. Here is a recent 6-7 class practice session for the Peace Assembly (believe it or not!) Music teacher Sara says it's Riding on the Wind, Gamelan music from Southeast Asia. I can't wait to hear the complete version at the performance on December 21.<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-56342376284992644892016-12-06T15:12:00.000-05:002016-12-06T15:12:41.768-05:00The joy of play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As an administrator, my time with kids seems to be most concentrated during recess. I do get out and about around the school and I read to the 2-3's during lunch on Thursdays. But recess is where I really get to see the social dynamic.<br />
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I love it. Watching what kids choose to do with their time and how they interact is fascinating. For the K through 5th graders, we are now playing exclusively in the woods and on the soccer field because of the Discovery Center construction. I take to the woods with them - my favorite place. <br />
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Some kids have become expert at finding salamanders - they turn over every rock and know just where to look. Some have become expert shelter builders - and dam builders as the recent rain has filled the creek. There are chase games, climbing games, and some children who wander - sometimes speaking to themselves - quite engaged inside their own imaginations. Five first grade girls practiced on Monday to put on a show - choreographed by the pavilion hill. They ran down to stand on a picnic table bench and dance and sing Bad Blood.<br />
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The other day it snowed, and that brought a whole different way to play. It mainly seemed to be all about eating the snow. <br />
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Children desperately need the time to create imaginative play scenarios, to run and to build things, and to negotiate conflict and rules - learning the fine points of the give and take of their social lives. Sometimes there are tears. Mostly it's pure joy!<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-13142907047516892492016-10-31T14:57:00.000-04:002016-10-31T14:57:02.734-04:00Peaceful forts is the rule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've had a beautiful fall. The colors, the warm days, the light filtering through the red and orange leaves...<br />
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This morning I wished a sunny day to one of our parents and he said that since his job is in a basement, he can't see the sun. I feel so sad for him! It is so wonderful to work in a light-filled space with the sun streaming in my windows.<br />
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Being outside in the light is a freedom and privilege that we try to maximize at school - especially since we are the beneficiaries of a 77 acre outdoor classroom. We recognize that kids' day is ruled by adults so much of the time, so committing to get them outdoors for an hour or two a day is a priority.<br />
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We are doing a construction project right now that has put the play structure for grades K - 8 off limits and we have moved recess to the field and woods. It is definitely fun - but as in many ventures with children, needs regular adjustments.<br />
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Here is part of an email that one teacher sent around over the weekend asking others to join in a meeting with the K - 5 children. (When you read this, you will see why I truly love my job!)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">With forts, there are lots of concerns about exclusion (kids telling others they aren't allowed in their fort, cloaked in "there's no room"), kids "stealing" things or "destroying" the forts of others when unoccupied, which has led to guards, and plots to attack. My guys also complained that there were secret passwords and security guards who kept people out. I wouldn't say my kids are up in arms, but there's a lot of uncertainty and hard feelings in the works. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">As for sticks, I heard they are still being used as weapons and a bunch of my kids said that sword fighting is happening when the adults aren't looking. I did feel the other day that the consent given to use sticks for digging has become a definite loop hole. </span><br />
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So, there was a meeting this morning at 9:00 and the kids and teachers came up with some new guidelines:<br />
Peaceful forts is the rule...sticks can only be used to build forts, not to dig or for weapons...forts can only be destroyed with the consent of all builders...<br />
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It was definitely more peaceful today. At recess, I was reminded that kids' natural proclivity is to be very industrious. They were working very hard on forts, a new bridge, a see-saw - and I heard a lot of negotiation and talk to remind each other and themselves about the rules. Sitting down together this morning to work it all out was a crucial process for the peaceful day we had. <br />
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I am tempted to take this lesson and apply it to our country's political process, and my optimistic view is that elections, debating among ourselves and voting are the ways we set and reset our rules in pursuit of industriousness and fairness. I think "peaceful forts" is a pretty good rule.<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-46672737428294810262016-09-28T15:03:00.000-04:002016-09-28T15:06:12.974-04:00Where the outdoors is both classroom and teacher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kids are wired from birth to be scientists - to explore and discover things and use their senses. <br />
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Fourth and fifth graders today were begging to stay in the woods to continue their New York forest study. They have each adopted a tree for a year-long project. Tasks include describing the tree, drawing the tree from different perspectives like lying down or from above, writing a poem about the tree, and scientific investigation.<br />
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K-1's are studying salamanders and 2-3's are starting the year with their annual water study and participation in the DEC's Day in the Life of the Hudson River. Middle schoolers have started something new - The Nature Patchwork Project, observing an area of the school's property for a year, and creating detailed nature observation journals that they will publish to Pinterest as a way to share their findings publicly.<br />
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Thomas Friedman in a September Op-ed <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/opinion/we-are-all-noah-now.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fthomas-l-friedman&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=collection">We Are All Noah Now</a> urges our generation - and our children's - to be the "Noah generation" - charged with saving the earth and its species from extinction. To care about nature, children need to be immersed in nature and be environmentally literate. In today's tech-focused world, that's not so easy.<br />
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How lucky are we that Parker is at the cutting edge of pedagogy in a unique learning environment, where the outdoors is a classroom and a teacher both?!<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-90263163236996006662016-09-22T11:59:00.000-04:002016-10-15T11:46:20.820-04:00Community, passion, involvement: Preparing kids for Yale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li>What is a community to which you belong? Reflect on the footprint that you have left.</li>
<li>Reflect on a time in the last few years when you felt genuine excitement learning about something.</li>
<li>Write about something that you love to do.</li>
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These are essay questions on Yale University's freshman admission application. According to author <a href="http://qz.com/785030/how-to-get-into-an-ivy-league-yales-new-application-questions-show-the-key-things-elite-colleges-want-from-students/">Amy Wang in Quartz</a>, more than anything else, colleges are looking for passion and civic engagement. </div>
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When developing these traits, it pays to start early - and Pre K isn't too early! The habits of engagement and community that lead to passion can't really be authentic if they don't start until a student's junior year in high school. </div>
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Exploring the world in ways that lead to purposeful action is something that teachers intentionally build into the curriculum at Parker. When our kids are filling out their Yale applications, they won't have to stretch to answer these questions or come up with a canned response. They will have plenty of material to draw upon because they will have been living it and feeling it for years.</div>
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-59170760769508434692016-09-21T18:23:00.001-04:002016-09-21T18:24:44.509-04:00What a K - 8 school does for a sixth grader<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here is a terrific article from NPR Ed, <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/09/19/494232646/sixth-grade-is-tough-it-helps-to-be-top-dog">Sixth Grade is Tough; It Helps to be Top Dog,</a> about the unique benefits of K - 8 schools. The article tells of a study of 90,000 students over time. It examined how sixth graders did in Grade 6 - 8 schools, vs 6 - 12 or K - 8 schools. It turns out K - 8 schools were the difference makers and here is why.<br />
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Sixth graders are particularly vulnerable as social beings and being at the "bottom" of the pack as a 6th grader is really tough for them. Bullying, social media meanness, and lagging academic performance is the rule when they are the "bottom dog". But in a K - 8 environment, even if they are new in sixth grade, these students are right in the middle. They feel connected and safer. They can be leaders and role models for younger children and will take on intellectual challenges. <br />
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Our middle school kids (and alumni) tell it best: "I can be myself." "I have confidence." "I have a lot of say about what happens." These are such important factors in the lives of our 12, 13 and 14 year-olds. Coming out of middle school as a confident, passionate learner and a nice person seems like an impossible goal to reach if you look at the way many schools are organized today. In a Pre K - 8 like Parker, it is not only possible, it's the norm.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-7176809594253985572016-09-01T14:43:00.003-04:002016-09-01T14:50:56.943-04:00Learning is a risky business<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We all have a particular level of willingness to be pushed beyond our comfort zone. I know that for me, after a lifetime of being pushed by others, I have developed a tolerance - even relish - for diving into (some) unfamiliar things, despite knowing that I will feel uncomfortable. The job of Head of School encompasses many of those every day!<br />
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We have just concluded two days together as a faculty, hiking in the woods and talking about the curriculum for the coming year and all the connections we will be making. It is clear that students will be challenged every day to think in new ways and take intellectual, social and physical risks. The idea is that when students try something they are perhaps uncertain about, they find they can do it, and they build increased confidence to try the next new thing. <br />
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One of our faculty activities was to answer two questions and share answers with several partners in quick succession: <i>Why do you care enough to work at Parker? </i> and <i>What moves you about Parker and its work? </i>The answers touched on common themes and we all felt inspired. <br />
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<li>We believe passionately in the school's mission. </li>
<li>We love the commitment to a fun, meaningful education that creates empathy and a close community. </li>
<li>The school values the child and the process of learning - and that is marvelous and uncommon. </li>
<li>We embrace the natural world every day. </li>
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What moves us?</div>
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<ul>
<li>We have seen how the school changes kids' lives</li>
<li>The school builds students' confidence and inspires them.</li>
<li>Students like themselves and know that they are valued for who they are.</li>
<li>Students and adults together have autonomy and are happy.</li>
<li>By being intentional about it, the school builds children's belief and understanding that they can make a difference for others and the world.</li>
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Everyone at Parker tries the low ropes elements at some point. This year, teachers tried negotiating the tires. For me, it looked like fun, and I jumped right up. For a few others, it looked scary, and they jumped in anyway. A few decided to sit it out - maybe next time. </div>
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I was reminded that each year, students have the same varied levels of tolerance that we did for trying out the tires. The confidence that we witness as it develops in students, and that we see in every graduate, comes from the daily practice of trying new things in an atmosphere of support. It is one of the ways that Parker moves all of us.</div>
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(I'm in the skirt...)</div>
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-70842199885887924202016-08-30T16:58:00.000-04:002016-08-30T16:58:55.587-04:00Asking the right questions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Three great dinner table questions for kids of any age come from writer <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meg-conley/we-ask-our-kids-the-same-3-questions-every-night_b_11665530.html">Meg Conley in Huff Post</a> -<br />
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How were you brave today?<br />
How were you kind today?<br />
How did you fail today?<br />
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The fall back parent question, "What did you do in school today?" often elicits the fallback kid response, "Nothing." or "Stuff." I can only imagine what kind of discussions and conversation could come from these far more revealing questions, and also the opportunity to talk about failure as a positive consequence of trying something new or taking a risk.<br />
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I'm going to give it a try when school starts, and see what responses I get from Parker kids. I think I'll also try answering these for myself!<br /><br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-73366355621500574022016-08-26T18:41:00.002-04:002016-08-26T18:41:48.420-04:00The glow of learning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have we forgotten how children learn? Valerie Strauss in the Washington Post thinks so. Her article, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/08/19/what-the-modern-world-has-forgotten-about-children-and-learning/">What the modern world has forgotten about children and learning </a> has much terrific food for thought and discussion. <br />
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She says, <i>Watch your child's eyes, what makes them go dull and dead, what makes them brighten, quicken, glow with light. That is where learning lies.</i> That can be our guide for every day at school - the glow in children's eyes tells us how we are doing as educators. <br />
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<i>Talk to gifted scientists, writers, artists, entrepreneurs. You will find they learned through keen observation, experimentation, immersion, freedom, participation, through real play and real work, through the kind of free activity where the distinction between work and play disappears.</i><br />
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When I watch children at Parker, I see the brightness of excitement and I hear and feel the energy and passion. It is the secret of an effective school - one where people say "your graduates are the best, brightest and most interesting people!"<br />
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Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-45110580859890678082016-08-16T14:42:00.000-04:002016-08-16T16:03:43.649-04:00Social pain/social gain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What's harder? A math problem or a social problem? This blog post in <a href="http://geniusinchildren.org/2016/08/13/social-anxiety-get-smart-not-mad/">The Genius in Children</a> answers that social learning is actually the reason for school. Learning to solve social dilemmas is so important for kids, because in every child's life, friends can be enemies and enemies can be friends, right? <br />
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The social waters that children navigate are tricky and the modelling and practice that happen in the immersed social world of school (and camp!) is crucial. Social pain makes us stronger and fuller people when social skills are part of the curriculum. <br />
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I love what author Rick Ackerly suggests: instead of parents asking "How was school today?" they can ask "Solve any social problems today?" Try this with any age group and you are sure to get into some interesting discussions!<br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-34581151254144923802016-07-08T16:03:00.002-04:002016-07-08T16:03:52.243-04:00Finding voices of compassion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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These fine young people graduated from Robert C. Parker School in June. We sent them into the world beyond middle school carrying with them, among other wonderful traits, compassion, perspective, a quest for social justice, caring and respect for others and themselves. <br />
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As a school leader, I feel anguished by local and global acts of terror, violence and murder, and ugly public expressions characterizing "the other", in a way that goes beyond my personal outrage and sadness. I wonder if the voices of sanity, of inclusion and compassion, of justice and understanding can become louder? I wonder if what seems like an escalation of violence can fuel an equally strong rejection of violence?<br />
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Our school is a privileged place where every student is loved and has the opportunity to grow. So many children do not have these advantages - and because the world is such a complex place, we feel helpless to make it different. How can we help to create a world where there is kindness, justice and peace? What else can we do but give our best in our quiet corner?<br />
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As we engage in conversations around the dinner table, in the car, at our places of work, on social media, we can express the complexities of our emotions, our fears and our hopes. We can together try to unravel the motives, the problems and the injustices and imagine solace and solutions. We can help each other find a voice and help our children find theirs. Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-63922012571673095012016-07-07T13:43:00.001-04:002016-07-07T13:47:46.781-04:00Building character starts with heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In a recent NY Times Op-Ed, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/14/opinion/the-building-blocks-of-learning.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fdavid-brooks&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection&_r=0">The Building Blocks of Learning</a>, David Brooks says, "Education is one of those spheres where the heart is inseparable from the head."<br />
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Good educators know this and it is an unspoken rule in a successful classroom - the teacher pours time, love and attention into the child and the child deeply desires to be worthy of that caring and attention. This bond is what develops character in a child.<br />
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As independent school educators, we secretly scoff at the public discussion about character in schools. You've seen the programs - the "Character Trait of the Week". Does that actually build character?<br />
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What does build character are qualities that are inherent in the culture of the school - the very essence of the daily experience. It should be intentional - as much as we can make it so. At our school it comes in the form of a commitment to intrinsic goals and to a balanced set of values. It is stated in our motto, our mission, our values and our statement of diversity. It is practiced through many interactions between teachers and students, discussions among faculty and administrators, and much self-evaluation.<br />
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One of our administrative goals this year is to examine our culture of compassion. What does it mean? Are we modelling it?<br />
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Checking in with students is one way to assess whether they are absorbing the character traits we strive to build in them. In a recent conversation about how kids prepare to succeed in high school, a seventh grader told me, "Here, learning is fun. When we get to high school we don't have to learn how to be motivated and work hard, because we already know that. We have some freedom here and so we know how to handle ourselves."<br />
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I think she nailed it pretty well. Intrinsic motivation, taking responsibility, confidence, loving to learn - these are many of the most important things we can teach. They don't come from the character trait of the week - they are addressed through the heart, and are woven throughout the life of the school.<br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-60674653484675386582016-06-30T13:41:00.000-04:002016-06-30T13:41:53.652-04:00Promoting adventure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We have worked in the past with an amazing educator, Ron Berger, and his ideas permeate our school. He was a teacher for many years in Massachusetts and is now chief education director at <a href="http://eleducation.org/">Expeditionary Learning</a> (EL Education). He taught us about the process of critique, of beautiful display of children's work, and of linking classroom learning to real problems and solutions outside of school - the purposeful action we talk about in our mission statement.<br />
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The roots of EL Education come from Outward Bound and one of the tenets is "Promoting Adventure" - the kind that encompasses physical activities in the outdoors, and also the intellectual kind that can involve risk, challenge, and discovery.<br />
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<i>EL promotes the kind of adventures that create opportunities for leadership and collaboration as groups of students and teachers face challenges together. Together, students and adults discover they can do more that they thought was possible, and find aspects of themselves that they didn't know were there. ~ </i>EL Education Core Practice 30<br />
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I love the idea that Adventure is a school goal. Here is a Parker example: our STEM Week, where students must work as teams of engineers in a Space Tourism company, to research, design, and build rockets, while making promotional videos for their companies. Students function like scientists and engineers do, and also entrepreneurs. They have group goals and individual goals. They tackle something that is relevant to their lives and is actually happening in the world outside of school. They reflect on their work afterwards. <br />
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Their learning is an adventure. It elicits students' enthusiasm, excitement, and motivation. All the goals we have for learning: cooperation, research, critical thinking, creative thinking, and so many others are embodied in activities like this.<br />
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Adventure is what keeps kids craving more and is probably why Parker children love to come to school. Here is a photo of some kind of summer adventure - a kind that can be categorized simply as "fun"!<br />
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<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979669484394107260.post-75387233891834952622016-06-23T13:31:00.000-04:002016-06-23T13:43:04.995-04:00Time to catch a frog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's a whirlwind at the end of the school year. Now as the perfect blue of the June sky beckons, it's time to go out and catch a frog.<br />
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There is something about the rhythm and pattern of our school lives that leads to a winding up at the end of the year - and then an inevitable winding down. Could it be that Shows of Work, field trips, launching a student-made boat on the pond, graduation speeches, our 25th Anniversary Celebration, a ground-breaking ceremony, the Board of Trustees annual retreat...et al...leave us craving the relative simplicity of summer? Would we feel such a sense of accomplishment and the sweet pleasure of an iced tea on the patio if the ending of the year were not so frenetic?!<br />
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On the radio the other day, I heard a song I fondly remember from childhood and our family's seemingly endless seven-hour drive to the beach every summer. Now I'm dating myself - it was Nat King Cole's <i>Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer</i>. That song just sounds like summer to me. <br />
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I think that "lazy" is the key word. It is great to be lazy in the summer - and it can be the impetus for flights of crazy imagination. Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Broadway's <b>Hamilton</b> expresses it beautifully in this <a href="http://www.gq.com/story/unexpected-lin-manuel-miranda">interview in GQ</a> about how the key to parenting might be less parenting. He recalls a car ride as a kid where a friend entertained himself with a stick - just a stick - for three hours.<br />
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At Planet Parker camp, kids are often down at the pond catching frogs - and they develop a whole fantasy about even that. "This frog can't afford us," I heard one girl say. What funny story about frogs lead to that idea?!<br />
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So, it's officially summer - grab a soda, some pretzels and a beer - or a frog - and enjoy some lazy days. You've earned it!Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07048596067836568126noreply@blogger.com0