STEM week

STEM Week!  6-7's are on track to design and build a bridge over the creek in time for a buddy hike on Friday afternoon.  Their tasks have included mapping the proposed site, role-play of group dynamics, working with structural engineers from international firm CHA, designing on Google sketch-up, measuring and sawing lumber, and documenting their work. The weather has been perfect.  I can't wait to see the next steps!

The task is the test

What does cheating mean to kids whose understanding of learning is that it is a cooperative endeavor? This year during STEM week, 6-7's at Parker will design and build a bridge over a creek on our school property.  Their multi-layered task is not unlike the type of problem-solving that UCLA students did when their professor challenged them to think differently about taking a test.  In Cheating to Learn, a fascinating article about the typical competitive, grade-based culture of many schools - where cooperation equals cheating - professor Peter Nonacs says, "The test itself becomes a learning experience – where the very act of taking it leads to a deeper understanding of the subject."  With project-based learning, the task is the test. 

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!"

Hark, it's Shakespeare!

Shakespeare at Parker means nine action-packed days.  Students tap their creative juices, brainstorm ideas, memorize Shakespearean lines, learn to move on-stage (sometimes with swords), and practice the give-and-take of listening and responding to fellow actors.  It takes self-discipline.  It takes bravery and empathy.  Ultimately Shakespeare builds students' self-confidence, literacy and communication skills.  And many of the kids (and adults!) will tell you, "Shakespeare Night is my favorite night of the year!"

 

The theme this year involved going to Hollywood and videos of the actors were interspersed with the live action in the performance.  Class scenes developed by Sean Fagan with the students' input included the legend of rainbows, a cross-country bus trip, a pie throwing documentary, a Shakespearean game show, Zombies in the Globe Theater, and Othello: a Melodrama on Film and Stage.

Food for thought

Preschoolers make and eat their own "teddy-bear" pancakes.

Could you eat on $4 a day?  For the 16 million American children who live in poverty, getting healthy food is a daily issue.  The Spectrum Theater is showing A Place at the Table tomorrow night at 6:30.  It's a film about three different families in America who are struggling with issues around hunger.

This blog entry from Good Food Matters explores the challenges of eating well on a limited budget in areas where access to healthy food is difficult.  The author suggests several paths of advocacy. 

Here is what we are doing this Spring at school to focus on local hunger/local food and teach our students about plants, food and nutrition:

• Seventh grade will be serving a spaghetti dinner at  Christ Church Troy United Methodist on Friday, April 26 from 5 - 8 PM to help raise funds for Troy hunger and homeless charities.  

• The K-1 class has brainstormed a list of non-sugary snacks for classroom celebrations.  

• On Earth Day we will plant a butterfly way-station to help ameliorate the national problem of disappearing Monarch habitat.

• All classes will be planting herbs in the next few weeks in science class.

• The Bee Club has been selling honey from our hives to raise funds for bee keeping costs.

It's all food for thought.

Learning through making

Experimenting with light and wind forces in Pre K; writing a collaborative book about a cat named Muff and her encounter with a bobcat in K-1; demonstrating transfer of energy (6-7's) and measuring the relationship of ramp height to time and distance (4-5's)...

As science teacher Kate Perry said, "They don't actually realize just how much they are learning!" But learning, they are!  Topics and skills in physical science and writing, cooperation, and the habits of mind to explore and persevere.  Each instance of "making" creates opportunities for learning that are both specific and expansive.

The end result?  Inquisitiveness, motivation and understanding.  Lifelong learners in the "making"!

Connection and friendship

St. Peter's students and their Parker hosts were sad to part on Sunday!

Our recent week-long cultural interchange with ten students and two teachers from St. Peter's School in Barcelona gave us all new friendships and perspectives, and a very warm, good feeling.  There was hardly a dry eye (students and parents alike!) when they had to leave on Sunday. 

In Barbara Fredrickson's NY Times article Your Phone vs. Your Heart, she describes the connection between head and heart, reminding us that social interaction with others increases our capacity for connection, friendship and empathy.

"When you share a smile or laugh with someone face to face, a discernible synchrony emerges between you, as your gestures and biochemistries, even your respective neural firings, come to mirror each other," she says.

That's what the week was really about - the connections we made.  Everyone remarked about it all week as we smiled and felt happy with refreshed empathy and understanding.  Our hearts were full.  Lucky for us, connecting with others does good and feels good, as the article says.

Thank you to all the teachers, parents and students from both sides of the Atlantic who made this wonderful week a reality!

What are apps doing to children's brains?

Sixth graders construct a Rube Goldberg machine, using hands-on problem-solving skills to explore forces of motion and make a simple task complicated.

The Touch Screen Generation by Hanna Rosen in the latest Atlantic gives a Mom's eye view of the controversies around kids and apps.  How much screen-time is OK?  How do you weigh educational apps vs games?  But the viewpoint the author leaves out is the one brought to us by JoAnn Deak: what does neuroscience show us about how the brain develops?  Dr. Deak shared the research showing that the brain's windows of opportunity for growth, once closed are pretty much closed forever.  She recommended little to no screen time for kids younger than 5.  (She does give a break to parents of a screeming toddler on the plane - just hand them the i-pad for heavens sake! - but she urged caution.)

Dr. Deak told us that the use of technology has allowed the visual part of children's brains to be as well developed as a muscle-builder's biceps, allowing other areas of perception to wither, like  listening and imagining.  We can counteract some of this effect at school, by building in time for the natural pursuits of childhood: lots of physical activity, discovery and plenty of human interaction.  Read stories without showing the pictures at first, so the visual part of the brain doesn't take over and audio comprehension is strengthened, she advised.

It is actually a comfort to know that with the latest neuroscience research we can actually find out what happens to a brain saturated with apps - and not just guess.  As educators and parents who want the best for our kids, we can continue to investigate this together!  I'm pretty sure we haven't heard the last word...

Days 2 and 3

On days two and three we had  a typical Albany March swing in the weather.  It snowed all day on Tuesday and into Tuesday night.  Perfect for sledding!  St. Peter's students shared songs in a variety of languages with the Pre K.  They joined a practice for Spring Sing and attended art classes - some even having their faces plastered!  Teacher Miss Katie shared a presentation about the habitat in Barcelona.  Both she and Caroline visited in classes and observed Parker teachers.  We wrapped up the day with a wild time in the gym playing games and enjoying delicious dishes brought by 4th - 8th grade families for a potluck supper.  Kids from St. Peter's seemed to like mac n' cheese just like Parker kids.

On Wednesday the whole middle school trooped off to the Capitol and the State Museum.  Upon arriving back at Parker, they headed out to observe the creek - muddy boots and all.  I think it will be an early-to-bed night for everyone.

The visit begins!

Students from St. Peter's School in Barcelona arrived at the train station in Albany last night, greeted by their new Parker friends.

Parker students performed an Assembly to welcome the visiting students to the school.

St. Peter's students presented a beautiful book to Parker.

Our first day has begun - there were big smiles all over the school as our visitors from St. Peter's arrived this morning with their host families.  There have been "getting-to-know-you" games and a slide show about life in Barcelona.  Tonight is threatening to bring up to a foot of snow - so we are all waiting to see if it will be a "Snow Day!"

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