One of my six professional and personal goals this school
year stems from a school wide goal centered around interconnectedness – how are
the people, places, and programs at our school interconnected? By
understanding, appreciating and seeking interconnectedness we can support a unified
community.
Many paths can be followed to understand and support the
connections throughout a community. I have chosen to follow a path that will
help me to better understand how and if the connections between the schedule,
specific curricular programs, and daily interactions with numerous faculty help
support the developmental needs of students in the Lower School.
This is my approach and these are some of the questions I am
pondering:
·
I will be attending a full day of school in each
grade level (JK-4) in our Lower School. My ultimate goal is to reach all 16
classes! This will enable me to experience and “feel” a day in the life of each
age group.
·
Prior to each visit I will read Chip Wood’s Yardsticks, a Responsive Classroom
classic that reviews the developmental milestones of children ages 4-14.
·
Some of the questions I will ponder on as I
observe: do the social, academic and emotional expectations embedded in our
programs match the developmental stages for each age group? What does it feel
like to transition from class to class, teacher to teacher, subject to subject,
place to place – throughout the day?
·
My reflections will take many forms, from
narratives, direct answers to questions, dialog and much more…as I too will be
learning in this journey, and experimenting with different reflection
techniques.
This week I had the opportunity to start this journey in a
fourth grade classroom. I have already had many exciting interactions with 4th
grade so far this year: First, observing them brainstorm, create, advertise and
play “foosball” for our day of play; second, a wonderful day long adventure to
the Chesapeake Bay to learn about, as well as how to protect this important ecosystem.
Third, just a regular day in 4A! This is
the letter I wrote to the students and teachers:
Dear 4A Students and Teachers,
Thank you so much for welcoming me into your
class today. I had a blast and learned so much! Some people know that Latin
American folk art is a passion of mine so what a pleasure art class was, and I
learned a new word, "stylized" using things as symbols in your art.
In math I was so impressed with how Mr. Taylor stretched your minds pushing you
to explain the process you used to solve your problems, "talk me through
that," "What did you DO to get the answer." And how cool were
some of the problems you wrote that others will be able to solve via email. I can't
wait to read your Spells, and will
see if Arsenal does beat Manchester United or one of you makes the Olympics or
becomes the greatest athlete in the world. I am sorry I missed the "recipe"
as I too wanted to write a Spell on
how to become fluent in Italian, which is a goal of mine. I was very proud of
my assist on the soccer field, but I am glad you made the goal Emmy. But most
of all I was so impressed with your incredible husky behavior. You were all
kind and respectful every single moment I was with you.
Thank you – I had a fabulous day, please keep up
your hard work!
Dr. Isabel
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