Learning is a risky business

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!

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.

One of our faculty activities was to answer two questions and share answers with several partners in quick succession: Why do you care enough to work at Parker?  and What moves you about Parker and its work?  The answers touched on common themes and we all felt inspired.

• We believe passionately in the school's mission.  
• We love the commitment to a fun, meaningful education that creates empathy and a close community.  
• The school values the child and the process of learning  - and that is marvelous and uncommon. 
• We embrace the natural world every day.  

What moves us?

• We have seen how the school changes kids' lives
• The school builds students' confidence and inspires them.
• Students like themselves and know that they are valued for who they are.
• Students and adults together have autonomy and are happy.
• By being intentional about it, the school builds children's belief and understanding that they can make a difference for others and the world.

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.  

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.

(I'm in the skirt...)

Building character starts with heart

In a recent NY Times Op-Ed, The Building Blocks of Learning, David Brooks says, "Education is one of those spheres where the heart is inseparable from the head."

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.

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?

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.

One of our administrative goals this year is to examine our culture of compassion. What does it mean?  Are we modelling it?

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."

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.

Teaching for Character

How do we teach character traits?  This is an interesting question. I see it play out so well in our independent schools and not necessarily so well in public schools - and why is that?

This article in Atlantic, How Kids Learn Resilience,  really tries to get at why it's so hard to teach character in public schools.  Part of the problem, the author says, lies in the things that children have learned from a young age at home - that set them up for success or failure early on, and part lies in the way our public schools typically reward and punish children and how ineffective that method is.

It is true that we are a self-selecting group in many ways in independent schools, with children who are already skewed to success - with the right kind of support at home to give them the tools for their future success.  But I believe that at Parker, it is how we teach - and how we create a school culture - that is the difference maker when our results are compared with public schools - and even with other, less effective independent schools.

Last night was Project Night at Parker.  In Pre K, children's sculpture, painting, narrated books and treasured art, were on display along with a slide show of their year of exploration and discovery.  Jump down the hall to the gym, where our 8th grade students were giving their thesis presentations.  This is a clear illustration of the "bookends" of a Parker education.

The autonomy, the fun and the exploratory nature of the Pre K leads directly to the ability of 13-year-olds to stand in front of an audience and succinctly and with passion, defend their reasoning about complex social justice issues that they chose to delve into - Gun Control, Racial Profiling, the Death Penalty, to name a few.  The poise and confidence, the underlying resilience and perseverance to research and write a 15 - 20 page paper, and the intellectual and public-speaking chops that it took to accomplish the presentations is a testament to effective school culture.  It is not an accident that Parker students can do this.

It is the result of giving students autonomy, support, and space to explore (and "fail").  It is the product of critique, self-evaluation and real responsibility.  Students will be more likely to display positive academic habits when they are in an environment where they feel a sense of belonging, independence and growth is how Paul Tough puts it in the Atlantic article.  It is the antithesis of traditional reward and punishment systems.  It is beautiful to see.

What's inside a middle school brain?

6th graders are designing a recreational center for the school
using Google Sketch Up. 

It is amazing how much the brain changes from baby to kindergartner - parents are constantly awed by it. In this article by Katarina Schwartz, Harnessing the Incredible Learning Potential of the Adolescent Brain, she says that the teen years are akin to the years from birth to 5 for the ability of the brain to grow and develop.

I believe it!  In my experience, middle school kids are some of the most passionate learners there are. They need novelty and stimulation, for sure, and when their learning environment also gives them some autonomy, the magic combination spurs them on to amazing feats.

Witness the intensity of learning that happens in 6-7 STEAM Week - the joy kids show when designing and building bridges or launching rockets.  Or the concentration and grit it takes for 8th graders to complete a 20 page thesis and prepare and give oral presentations.  From thesis topics like Sugar, America's Favorite Drug, or State of Dreams, Panama's Role in the Power of the United States, you can just hear the passion.

Temple University neuroscientist Laurence Steinberg says that without novelty and intellectual challenge in school, teens are bored and they underachieve.

This past Friday, three eighth grade girls asked me if they could organize the whole school in a drive to collect clothing for a local homeless shelter.  Because they know they are supported in taking initiative, they have the courage to challenge themselves and to do good for others.

The developing brain of an adolescent is a wondrous thing!  Giving it a place and a chance to grow is a no-brainer.

Can we innovate in reading and writing?

Let's take "innovation" out of science class and apply it to reading and writing.

In this great article by Nancie Atwell, winner of the $1 million Global Teacher Prize, Atwell says that the most powerful innovation in her 40 years as a middle school English teacher was giving her students time and choice as readers and writers.

That's a powerful idea in an era of textbook and test-driven solutions for education's failures, and of course it is the same philosophy we adhere to at Parker.  Read Atwell's article!  It is filled with great examples of students who tune in to their intellectual lives through developing a passion for reading and writing.

Our eighth graders are preparing the oral part of their thesis projects now, looking for ways to make a compelling presentation about an idea for which they have developed expertise.  6-7's will be preparing persuasive speeches about third world uses for hydrogen fuel cell engines after a week of building such engines.  They will deliver their impassioned talks to executives at local company Plug Power.

Reading, writing and speaking that is attached to themes, big ideas, and high-interest topics is a huge motivator for kids.  Their hunger for more drives the practice that is needed to become more skilled. Teachers don't need to wheedle, push or pull the kids along.  They can set the stage for discussion and intellectual curiosity to blossom, make DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time a daily ritual, and stand back.  A great librarian helps, too.

Read more in 2-3 teacher Lynn Schuster's blog Here in the 2-3's or in K-1 teacher Jennifer Gresens blog posts about writing and reading.

The new pond

Everyone is loving the new pond.  It has been an exciting setting for science classes in almost every grade.  Students are observing how it is evolving, what creatures it is holding, the nearby insects and plants, animal tracks...

Today a group of 2-3's led me urgently (yet quietly!) to see a brilliant green frog peering out near the shore.  What a way to hook children's interest in science and the natural world.  And to think it's all right in our back yard! 

The magic learning zone

Second and third graders, a typically wiggly and talkative lot, scattered themselves across the field and crouched in quiet concentration.  Clipboard and pencil in hand, each observed and drew what was before them - goldenrod at the edge of the meadow, the fence line by the pond, the edge of the school building silhouetted against the play yard.
  
Annie Murphy Paul in this terrific article, How the Power of Interest Drives Learning analyzes what factors spark students' deep absorption in study, and how to generate and extend it.  "The feelings that characterize interest are overwhelmingly positive: a sense of being energized and invigorated, captivated and enthralled," she writes.

Interest in the topic or task puts kids into a prime learning zone.  Watch the intense concentration when they try to program a LEGO robot to pick up a ball.  They'll beg to keep going, forget lunch, and keep on trying until they've got it.

I've watched Parker students in the zone: in third grade when a student wrote his fifth essay about the industrial era in Troy, and in middle school when a group used every extra minute to perfect a Rube Goldberg contraption to pour cat food into a bowl.  I see it in their absolute fascination at the pond exclaiming over frogs and wondering about new water creatures.  Or in the preparations for a Shakespeare performance.

Designing a curriculum that sparks interest and connects learning to what's meaningful is every Parker teacher's goal. When children are interested in the task, their motivation is sky high and there is no limit to what they can accomplish.