Play and passion develop purpose

In Most Likely to Succeed, Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era Harvard education expert Tony Wagner with Tony Dintersmith contend that there are seven essential skills for kids to develop for future success:

1. Formulate good questions
2. Communicate in groups and lead by influence
3. Be agile and adaptable
4. Take initiative and be entrepreneurial
5. Effective written and oral communication skills
6. Know how to access and analyze information
7. Be creative and imaginative

And I might add another. # 8. Do good in the world

These skills are another way of talking about what educators call the Four C's of 21st Century skills:  collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication.

I would add: # 5. compassion.

These are great goals to strive for in educating students in and out of the classroom.  The trick in school is designing learning activities explicitly around these goals.

Presenting scenarios for humanitarian use of fuel cells (6-7's); preparing for a Show of Work on Hinduism (2-3's); coordinating a hunger awareness event (8th grade); running a "health clinic" for parents and buddies (Pre K 3) - these are examples of activities that build the kind of skills we seek.

The unspoken message is that teachers must possess all of these skills to model and prepare a nuanced and effective program.  There is no better way to say it: When Educators Make Space for Play and Passion, Students Develop Purpose.

Advocacy on Earth Day

For Earth Day, Parker kids learned that Monarch butterfly habitat is disappearing all across the migration path.  Buddies got together to write letters to Congressman Tonko, Senator Gillibrand, President Obama, and Grandpa Herating (a farmer in Mexico) to advocate for habitat protection. They are planting a butterfly garden with milkweed and other Monarch favorites that will become a certified butterfly way station.  You can learn more at Monarch Watch.

My favorite letter started: "Dear Butterflies, We are making you a lovely garden.  We hope you like it!"

Can altruism be taught?

Parker middle schoolers sort items at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.

Making bowl selections at the Empty Bowls hunger awareness evening last week.  8th graders organized the event and raised over $1,150 for Joseph's House, a homeless shelter in Troy.

Developing empathy, sympathy, compassion, kindness and charity is a process that takes lots of practice.  Offering opportunities for children to do good, to "see themselves and frame their own behavior as generous, kind, and helpful" is critical.

For the last four weeks, the whole middle school has gone to the Regional Food Bank on Friday afternoons to do what ever needs doing there: sorting rotten from good cucumbers or organizing boxes of toiletries.  It is truly "hands-on" and it helps them understand the massive logistics of  ameliorating local hunger.  It gives them practice in what we hope will be a life-long habit of helping others. 

What is their reward? As I used to tell my own children, "Your reward is the satisfaction of a job well done."  Research shows that material reinforcement is not the most effective way to stimulate generosity - it's the "warm glow" that works.  In the New York Times article, Understanding How Children Develop Empathy, Perry Klaus, MD, tells about the brain chemistry that makes this so.

Spaghetti dinner for Troy charities

Parker 7th graders prepared and served spaghetti dinners at Christ Church Methodist on Friday night.  All the money they helped to raise goes to charities in Troy.  Here is a link to the T.U. coverage.   Carb-loading before the 5 K on Saturday!

Volunteers do their share

A Book Fair for the Library and 8th Grade's Oxfam Hunger Banquet were just part of a full week. The Oxfam event raised awareness about world hunger and over $1,024 for hungry people.  Thank you to the 8th grade and all the many guests and volunteers who made Oxfam and the Book Fair successful. 

When you come to Parker you never know what you'll see.  Yesterday as Laura took a visitor on tour, they encountered violin lessons, Band practice, a Pattern Museum in Pre K, and middle school social studies teacher, James, ironing a tablecloth for the Oxfam event!  This morning students sang "MICE, MICE, make it nice - Do your share and show you care..." as they broke into teams to clean the common areas of the school.   MICE stands for Make it Clean Everywhere.  They do!

Then Pre K Planet Parker headed into the woods for a snowy afternoon.

Tasty results of their labours

8th graders went to Hancock Shaker Village to glean vegetables on Tuesday.  Today, parent Michael Tanenblatt arrived to help them turn the assorted veggies into soup.  The delicious smells wafted through the halls - we'll freeze it  - and on Empty Bowls Night, taste the results!

River Day!

What a day on the River!!  On Hudson River Snapshot day, schools from Manhattan to Troy collect water data to share with Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.  Our students collected information on water creatures, weather, tides and current, and shipping traffic, and we sketched the testing site.  We also performed tests for:
• Dissolved oxygen and temperature
• Nitrate, pH, metals and salinity
• Turbidity, plankton and chlorophyll

This year we had the added excitement of having Commisioner Pete Grannis, of the DEC observing our site, and local news channels 9 and 10 interviewing students!

This is just one of the planned data collection days for Parker 2-3 and 6-7's.  Our Stream to River, Clean Water Stewardship project continues on other visits to the Hudson, our school creeks, and Crooked Lake.  Commissioner Grannis suggested that students present their findings to a Legislative Committee - we think we'll take him up on it!
Check out the news link on YNN

Reach Out - Speak Out

The whirlwind of end-of-the-year activities is fully under way! 

Community work day brought out the troops for log hauling, window washing, topsoil spreading, curtain cleaning, and kitchen scrubbing.

4-5's made a presentation to the trustees on the whole-school Reduce, Reuse, Recycle project - they shared posters, power points, a music video, a magazine, a video puppet show, and letters to local companies - all to educate others.

Thesis presentations were magnificent on Thursday night.  8th graders are skilled presenters - clear, concise, interesting, and funny.  The range of their topics was fascinating: the evils of mass produced foods; the truth behind Woodstock; the increase in salaries in professional baseball; the Arthurian legend; the good works of Michael Jackson, the atomic bomb...to name just a few.

On Friday morning MICE (Make it Clean Everywhere) Teams were out in full force with a new twist:  The Little Cheese commissioner as a helper to the Big Cheese.

My take-away from the week?  Parker students are skilled and practiced communicators.  And they (and their families, too) readily share their time, talents, and energy!

Earth Day celebration

The whole school participated in Earth Day activities, organized by Planet Parker Coordinator, Jamie and science teacher, Kate.

We sang some earth day songs and learned fun earth day facts.  Mixed age groups (my group was the Black Bears) weeded gardens, cleaned the greenhouse, collected creek data, performed a nature scavenger hunt, and much more. Pre K built a raised-bed for sunflowers. The day was sunny and beautiful - and full of earth keeping actions - perfect!

A busy Saturday!

Saturday morning: hands-on energy science and brainstorming about all the exciting things Planet Parker can be.

Saturday evening: seventh graders serving spaghetti to raise money for Troy charities.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Many thanks for big hearts

Parker students and parents have big hearts!

Students in the after school sewing class and the 4-5's have made heart pins and bracelets that they are selling at the front desk for $1. The proceeds will go to Save the Children for Haiti relief. Other classes are deciding on their response to the tragedy in Haiti.

Parents put on an amazing feast today for the Faculty Staff Appreciation Luncheon! They also donated funds in each teacher's name to Oxfam. The donation in my name was for a farmer's flock, consisting of two goats and a cow! What an absolutely wonderful tribute. Thank you, thank you one and all!

The food was so delicious and everyone is hoping that parents will send in the recipes to the Grandfriends Cookbook! Submit recipes to parkergf.cookbook1@verizon.net