Selkirk-Castleton Scenic Bridges under construction

How will kids know?

Getting started with West Point Bridge Design

It's STEM week for 6-7's.  That's science, technology, engineering and math. Teachers and students have embraced working in small "companies" each submitting an RFP for a bridge project.  Their challenge is:  Design and build a bridge from spaghetti that is a scale model of a 1,200 foot span to go from Selkirk to Castleton.  Materials have an assigned value ($1,500,000 per pound of spaghetti; $5,000,000 for hot glue gun rental per day)  Teams consist of a civil engineer, an environmental engineer and a project manager.

This article from The Innovative Educator about whether kids learn without testing is right on target.  The author holds a conversation with a test believer:

I say, “Do you take tests?”

They say, “Not anymore,” and smile like, “You’ve got to be kidding…”

I say, “Are you great at everything you do?”

They say, “Um…No. Obviously.” And laugh uncomfortably.

I say, “How do you know?”


Well - people just know!  And in the instance of the bridge project the kids can document what they learned by reflecting and referring to a rubric (Did our team present lots of content that was learned in the project, informative, and held the audience's attention? Did the bridge construction demonstrate all facets of the engineering roles and is load bearing?)


Is the project rigorous?  Memorable?  Highly worthwhile and relevant to future learning?  Can you answer that without a test?

Marshmallow Challenge

The challenge: In small groups, in 18 minutes, with 20 strands of spaghetti, 1 yard of tape, and 1 yard of string, build the highest tower you can that will support one marshmallow.

The result: Cooperation, experimentation, and fun.  The highest tower was 22 1/2 inches.  Everyone wants to try again!

For more information: http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html

The evolution of a writer

If you are like me, when you were in first grade, you learned to write letters and short words.  To write a story, you could only write words you knew how to spell.  We wrote things like "The dog is brown." 

Now we urge children to use the sounds they hear in words and put them on paper as "sound spelling."  This gives them the freedom to write anything they can imagine.

Here is how our Pre K 4 teacher Michele describes what happens.

"We have begun 'writing workshop Wednesdays' which elicited a 'yay!' from the children this week. We provide 'books' of 4 pages stapled together, and writing implements of choice, and ask the children to write, and then share their stories with us.

Everyone participates! The stories that they write and tell are sometimes funny (a story completely of sounds), sometimes very timely (we heard a story about an earthquake and ironman pushing it back) sometimes very personal. And always very interesting. 

We do not write words on the children's pages, and we have noticed many "sound spellers' already! The children will consistently tell their story, word for word, as they turn the pages of their book.  This activity usually requires 30 minutes of focused attention, and time goes by very quickly! The children usually can't wait to read their stories to us. We will be celebrating these stories at the end of the year celebration."

Here is one of our K-1 students reading a book he wrote about an African animal he is researching. 

Albie's Book from Meg Taylor on Vimeo.

After April showers

It's nice enough to have class outside!

 Prospective student takes a tour.

What do daffodils smell like?

Two full days!

Shakespeare Night performance, Earth Day tree planting - Have a wonderful Spring Break, everyone!

Is it Spring yet?

Spring signs: new buds, sketching emerging greens, and lunch outside.  Jack, 6th grade, got a check from Dreyers Ice Cream for $900 to support bee keeping efforts at Parker! 

What a journey!

Our little band has come a long way! 

The beginning group in October:

The Three Note Song from Meg Taylor on Vimeo.

Spring Concert in April:


The Band at the Spring Concert from Meg Taylor on Vimeo.

When kids' interests drive learning

Sixth graders approached me with excitement. They had discovered some really cool stuff  - old stuff - on the school grounds.  They could hardly contain themselves as they showed me pottery shards, glass bottle necks, rusted implements, a button, and more.  They wanted to start a museum, find out who had lived here before, and had a million questions.  We decided to call Aaron Gore, father of Alex, and an archeologist at the State Museum, to get some advice. 

Aaron identified that their artifacts spanned about 150 years.  We trekked out to the site, that Aaron described as a midden - an old refuse heap.  He explained good practices that archeologists would use and by recess the kids had marked the site with orange flags.

Another budding enthusiast, sixth grader Jack, is bringing bees to Parker.  He has researched bee keeping, attended a bee keepers meeting, and written to several companies for support.  An amazing array of things have started to arrive: seed packets, checks, bee paraphernalia...  A local philanthropist is helping Jack and some friends build bee boxes and import a colony!  I see honey in our future.

As learning specialist, Sally Goldberg, told me, "At Parker no one tells kids 'This is too hard for you.'  And really, nothing is too hard for them!  They take on these high level books or projects, and they get so much out of it!  They are SO motivated!" 

When we support kids' interests, they gain resilience, resourcefulness, and confidence.  Future leaders are born!

First Annual 5 K Trail Run at Parker!

121 runners, bright sunshine, a fantastic time had by all! Thank you everyone for making our first 5 K a big success!