A Day in the Life of Grandma: Sadie and Grandma Go Birding!

Early one morning, upon arriving for Grandma duty Sadie accompanied me to my car to get something I forgot. “Grandma, where are the binoculars?” “Oh, I’m sorry Sadie, your black binoculars are at my house.” “Let’s go find your pink ones inside.” “Let’s find them,” she agrees. Luckily, my own bino’s were in my bag as I have been keeping an eye on the birds that come to my son’s yard. With her binos in hand, I say, “What are we going to do?” “Find birds,” she responds. “Let’s get your stroller and go for a bird walk; I know exactly where to go.” There is an Audubon Wildlife, certified park in her neighborhood. Arriving at the park, we parked the stroller in a wooded area near the creak and walked around. I pointed out a bird house and then a nest. She was very intrigued. We heard birds and I asked her to listen to the different sounds. We walked by deer droppings. She wondered why we did not see deer nearby. She got back into the stroller and I rolled her into the middle of the open grass area; we sat and listened. We heard a variety of birds, but none in sight. Finally, a few flew high above in the sky; too high to identify. After 10 minutes of observation I pushed the stroller toward the road. “No Grandma, the other way.” So back I went, circling the area checking things out. I decided it was time to get home; Laila and Brittany would be waking up soon. “Well Sadie, we heard lots of birds, maybe next time we will see them.” She reminded me that we did see them flying up high and then said. “The birds are probably taking care of their babies today. Next time, they will come.” What a wonderful first birding experience we had! When we got home, we completed a bird puzzle and read some bird books to reinforce our learning adventure! 

Grandma's Garden: News from a Novice Gardener

I have been at this for two “summer”seasons. I ask myself, “when will I feel that I have moved beyond the novice stage?” Does it matter? Probably not. I am learning, reading and hearing  that no matter how experienced you are, you always: encounter diseases, fight with the pests, and have successful and unsuccessful harvests. Some veggies will be a hit one year, and a flop the next. There is no way to predict! Doubt is a constant. Did I plant it at the right time? Was it too hot or too cold? Why didn’t it germinate? Did the birds eat the seed; were the seeds old; how long do I wait before I plant more seed? What disease is this? Is this insect good or bad? Should I kill it? Why isn't my healthy squash plant producing fruit? I see all the bees on it. And the list goes on…..When will I feel confident about my garden abilities and consider myself a seasoned gardener? That day may be difficult to reach because each season I add a new complexity to the task! I have experimented with grow bags, containers, veggie specific garden plots, shade tolerance, and saving and growing my own seeds! This year I have planted my first “Fall Garden,” and will be experimenting with cold covers to extend the season. I must admit, a year ago I really did not understand the difference between cool and warm weather season crops or that there were 3 garden seasons! (technically you can garden in winter but that would be a chore!). What I will say is this; There is JOY in gardening. I wake up each morning wondering what I will discover and contemplating what will be added to our dinner plate. In fact, I can CONFIDENTLY say I doubt a day has gone by since April that something has not made its way to our plates! It could be a simple sprig of thyme in our stew, to mint in our water to a full garden meal of gazpacho with a roasted eggplant and sautéed chard! Thank you Garden! Thank you Earth!

A Day in the Life of Grandma: Anti-Racist Baby

Sadie was observant, interested, and as always, curious, during my first reading of Anti-Racist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi. This is a book that hopefully, with each read and as Sadie matures will spark more questions and observations. We looked together at the beautiful picture of a bunch of neighbors of different ages, races and ethnicities. I pointed out the different skin colors, hair color and textures as well as how unique everyone’s eyes were. We reinforced 1 Open your eyes to all skin colors. On another page there are five babies of different races and ethnicities, most likely around 8-10 months old, sitting and interacting on a blanket. Before COVID Sadie and I would go to the library once or twice a week. This is exactly what it was like! A lot of different people, caregivers of all races and ages (Hats off to the Grandmas!) together with a mix of wonderful babies and toddlers all there with a shared purpose, to expose our little ones to early literacy skills and age appropriate social experiences. “Remember when we used to go to the library Sadie? It was just like this.” “Yes, Grandma”, Sadie agreed. The library is a wonderful way to reinforce step number 5 Celebrate all our differences. About to finish the book, we landed on 8 Grow to be an antiracist where a group of young adult friends were all sitting on a couch together. Before I read the page Sadie blurts out, “Look, they all have different eyes.” Now that was a successful first reading of Antiracist Baby to my 2 1⁄2-year-old Granddaughter!

 

A Day in the Life of Grandma: Role reversal for sure!

Taking care of a grandchild is a mix of entertaining, teaching, cleaning and playing! Now that Sadie is 2 ½ there has been a definite role reversal! Sadie is now the entertainer and I am entertained! Today’s production was a hoot. She used her “phone” quite a bit. She was talking away with her phone at her ear and then all of a sudden it was sideways in front of her eyes. “What are you doing Sadie?”, “I am taking a picture,” she says. Soon after that all of her dolls and stuffed animals were on the couch as Grandma sang Five little monkey’s Jumping on the Bed. One by one, they “fell” off the bed as Sadie called the Doctor (and the Dr. said…). When lunch time came around Sadie pulled out her two picnic baskets, named all of her food items, borrowed her little sister's burp cloth to set up her picnic blanket, evenly distributed the pizza, and then sang a song to invite her mother and me to the picnic. Finally, nap time came around, but Sadie wasn’t tired. She picked out 12 books to pile in her bed and spent the next two hours reading and singing as I snuggled with her little sister. Little did Sadie know that Laila and I were treated to a full-on sing and read aloud through the baby monitor.  The ABC song, Skip to my Lou, and Ring Around the Rosie were part of the repertoire. Nap time was officially over and Sadie decided it was time to search the house for bugs. She went back and forth between her binoculars and the magnifying glass to see which one worked better. 

Official babysitting begins next week as my daughter-in-law goes back to work. This role reversal came at the perfect time! I now must entertain 3-month-old Laila as Sadie entertains me. Wow, what a wonderful show it will be!

Stepping Onto a New Path…..

We have all heard the expression, “things will fall into place”, or “It was meant to be.” When experiencing disappointment, uncertainty, and confusion, those words ring on deaf ears. The reality is the toughest times may help cleanse the soul, expand the mind, and clear the path toward a more joyful, fulfilled life. Three years ago I stepped off my invigorating and demanding career path of school leadership. I was uncertain at the time if my pause was temporary. Time to ponder, reflect and explore enabled me to discover new passions, plant new seeds, and set new priorities. Past experiences, strong values and fluttering curiosity have supported the foundation for the new steppingstones that are guiding my path. I look forward to narrating my story and describing this path one stone at a time. I have realized that one’s professional and personal journey is neither temporary nor permanent but a naturally connected mosaic with each contributing piece exactly where it is meant to be. 

The sporadic stories, musings and reflections of What Moves Margo have centered around community, culture, diversity, leadership and teaching practice. The new stones of this evolving mosaic include adventures as a Grandma, Gardener, Birder, outdoor enthusiast, traveler and explorer. I look forward to reflecting on the interconnected stories and experiences from the past, present and future

as I continue to explore What Moves Margo.

 

Día de los Muertos en mi Casa

I have permanently adopted the celebration of the Day of the Dead into my life and annual traditions. This was not an intentional decision; I just couldn’t let it go. Celebrating this holiday makes me feel good - it helps me honor the loved ones who have left us during the year. I experienced and learned about the Day of the Dead in Ecuador where I lived for almost a decade. (As noted in this previous blog). For the two decades that followed I relied on the tradition to teach and share about the Spanish language and Latin American culture to students, teachers and parents. But I have since taken a pause in teaching. Creating an Ofrenda has always moved me emotionally thus each November a small Ofrenda is maintained in my home to honor the lives of our loved ones. 

This year’s Ofrenda honors the PELLETIER FAMILY & MS. WENDY BISHOP. 

Paul and Clara Pelletier were my grandparents. They had three children, Joan, Linda and Walter. My dear mother, Joan, passed away on March 18th 2016. My uncle Walter passed in 2017, and my Aunt Linda passed on December 28, 2018. The entire Pelletier family has left us - they are now all together. My Ofrenda represents a few memories of our time together in Penacook and Lake Winnipesaukee New Hampshire where we all frequented on holidays and summers. Whenever I smell the fresh scent of pine I think of New Hampshire! Whether playing (or causing havoc) with my cousins on the lush pine needle blanket under the pine trees at my Grandparents' Penacook home, or visualizing my mom’s annual Christmas display of Lake Winnipesaukee pine cones sitting in the silver bowl on our dining room table-the smell and sights of Pine bring me closer to family. 100% pure, maple syrup was a necessity and staple of the Pelletier and Isabel home. My grandfather would purchase a few gallons of pure, dark New Hampshire syrup each year to divide and share with the family.  It is still a staple in my home! In fact, David and I recently visited a Virginia Maple farm.  The fly fishhook reminds me of my grandfather who had a passion for fishing. I loved to explore his attic and was mesmerized by all of Grampy’s fishing equipment!

Wendy Bishop left this earth much too early, on March 30th 2019-a young, talented, humble, thirty five year old. It was of great pleasure for David to have his daughter in our home for the last year of her life, a time filled with fond memories. Wendy loved hedgehogs and thus accompany her spirit on the Ofrenda. The Big Bend hat represents an incredible 10 day journey that the three of us took to West Texas in December of 2018. David shared with us his roots, his hometown, and the incredible natural beauty of the area. Memories were made and will last forever. Wednesday was Wendy’s day to make dinner. She experimented with different cuisines and mixtures. She pleased her Dad every time, but for me her chicken dumplings were the best that I have ever eaten! She was very fond of cayenne pepper which made its way into most of her dishes; thus these cayenne peppers represent Wendy’s Wednesday meals. David received the Kisses from Heaven bouquet on the 6 month anniversary of her passing. 

We miss you all and wish that you were still with us. During this month of Thanksgiving we give thanks for these and all the incredible memories that our loved ones, Grampy, Nanny, Mom, Linda, Walter and Wendy brought to our lives. These memories will be with us forever.

Full STEAM Ahead!

Three-quarters of our Lower School population attended Wakefield’s Fourth Annual Family STEAM Night! Everyone seemed to be having fun while learning together. To reflect a bit about the important skills that were practiced, here are some highlights:  

CONSTRUCT - Both the Engineering and Art stations engaged students to use their critical thinking skills to build a tower, tree, bridge, kaleidoscope and boat. Students needed to carefully consider scientific and creative elements of height, weight, dimension, form, structure, fit and design as they built their quite successful structures.

CREATE - Students experimented with color, brightness and light as they designed not only functional kaleidoscopes but ones that were pleasing to the eye! The creative process was also used when determining the structure of a bridge. Our work resulted in masterpieces that brought to mind the Golden Gate bridge, in our opinion!

CODE - Our Technology Integration and Math specialist worked together to demonstrate the important components of coding, on paper and on their devices. Students learned how to break a problem down into manageable parts and design a step-by-step solution to it. Code.org and Scratch provide ample opportunities to develop this important skill while creating, designing and having fun. A perfect winter day activity - we encourage you to continue the fun at home!

COLLABORATE - It was rewarding to see children and parents collaborate, as well as children with each other at the tables. Patience, teamwork, problem-solving, trial and error are all important components of collaboration.  

All skills were needed and practiced at all of the STEAM rotations. STEAM is meant to be an integrated experience of multiple content and skill areas.  In order for our students to be prepared to enter college and the jobs of the future, they should consistently engage in projects that practice and build comfort and competency in these areas. There are many, many research articles identifying the importance of STEAM projects and programs. P21: Partnership for 21st Century Learning is a website that I explore often. Here is a brief post that outlines the benefits of STEAM.

Full STEAM ahead!!

Summer Reading 2017!

Although I am not on track to finish this stack, so far I have learned a lot from what I have read and look forward to putting it into practice:

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman & Paul White

A healthy culture and community notices, affirms and recognizes the work, good deeds and dedication of others. All organizations can do better in this regard, and I am committed to doing so! Ideas from this book will help me launch a gratitude campaign. If as faculty and staff we model appreciation for each other it will be noticed by our students and transferred to the greater community.It is important to understand how others feel appreciated and the best ways to interact with them to support them. This is where my knowledge expanded from reading this book. I will now be more observant and conscious of what others need as far as support and recognition.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Grit is an important concept for educators and parents to understand. An elevated work ethic, an intense desire to explore one’s passion, and a thorough approach toward setting and planning the steps to achieve one’s goals are embedded elements of Grit. Aren’t these all elements and characteristics that would benefit our children and students for them to be successful? By focussing on character and curiosity as opposed to intelligence and quantitative outcomes Grit honors the whole person or child. This is more apt to lead to intrinsic motivation and authentic transfer of work and success from an academic to a real life accomplishment.

Rising Strong by Brene Brown

I have always enjoyed Brene's books for a few reasons. Her message is authentic and bold. She is a strong woman with important ideas. She recognizes that relationships, connections with others, and personal stories serve as the fuel for us to survive and thus should be explored, honored and recognized. I highly respect her research method. Rising Strong was a good follow up to Grit. Even when we see our vision in the horizon, and we are on a path to persevere and accomplish great things, we will fall, and we may fail. In Rising Strong Brene shares how to recognize and ponder upon our emotions, be in tune with our actions as we fall, and more importantly to use those emotions and self-reflection to get back on our feet and move forward.

Differences Build a Stronger Community

Let me take you on a true Wakefield Lower School multi-cultural journey. At the doorway of the third grade classroom, we see that it has been transformed into a traditional Ghanaian hut, and we are greeted with a hearty “Akwaaba!” - their word for welcome. Here, our third graders were immersed in the culture, folklore, geography and music of Ghana. As we move down the hall we pick up our second graders, and venture into First Grade where we hear a first-hand account of life in Kurdistan. Who are the Kurds, and what are their beliefs and traditions? We enjoy a traditional meal together of Dolma and baklava as we learn about them, listen to Kurdish music and celebrate their New Year together.

Venturing further down the hall, we encounter two Upper School girls in sparkling, bright dresses performing an Irish dance. My role in each of these occasions was that of quiet observer. What did I saw was lots of curious, engaged students, asking questions, trying new foods, smiling and laughing as they embraced working hard together.  

Now we wander upstairs to the library, where we engage with a group of Lower School parents who are sharing stimulating conversation about how Differences Build a Stronger Community. We start with our core similarity - how, as humans in this community, we care about one another and we have values that keep us centered. We dig a bit deeper to discover the different lenses in which we see the world. Which lens do we use to focus our perspective as we interact within and outside of our community?  Many observations were made that morning. A few said they rely on their spiritual lens - and different religious backgrounds were represented in our group. Some spoke of their position as an immigrant, and how our society has a vision of what an immigrant “looks like.” Others interact through their languages, traditions and the multiple experiences of life in the United States and throughout the world.

We walked away that morning with a clear understanding that the more information we have about the backgrounds of our students and families, the more successful we as adults will be interacting with our children and students. We acknowledged how important it is for all of our students to experience differences in a respectful, caring environment in order to be prepared for the world we live in. These conversations can be difficult; the most important thing is to get the dialog started, and we were all very happy that we did.  We look forward to future conversations with all of you!  Please check out Mrs. Hurst’s Character Counts bulletin board showing the flowers that bloomed as a result of our conversations.

Why did you go to the NAIS Annual Conference?

So Why did we all come to the NAIS 2017 Conference?

Well I am not sure, it is my first time...my Dean of Faculty said, do you want to go and I said sure! We all have different reasons of course, and I am just figuring this out. I enjoy being with my fabulous colleagues, and I have to say the Keynotes truly caught my eye. Susan Cain and Brene Brown - it does not get better than that! But as I reflect on my three sessions today this is why I came:

1. To follow my passions - “Greening your Mission,” High-Impact Environmental Strategic Planning. I am blessed to have an office that looks over the blue ridge mountains, where I I watch the perfect sunset at least a few times a week. We have an incredible Outdoor Classroom where I spend a period of time most Thursdays with our precious 4 and 5 year olds. From trash free days, to decomposing experiments, to tree identification -- fun is always to be had. But, how do we as a school tie all these adventures into a cohesive story (AND at the same time feed my own passion.) Well, Greening the Mission gave me some great ideas and joining the Environmental Leadership course for Independent School Leaders will certainly help me implement the ideas!

2. To get some tips during tough times - “Difficult Decisions” came at a perfect time. How often do we actually sit down at the end of the day or week and jot down all the key decisions we have made? Think about the process of making them, what worked, what did not, predict any possible fallout or surprising reactions? Besides being surrounded by some courageous educators who shared some valuable experiences, this session reminded me that we all care deeply about the people behind our decisions; we are all human and make both excellent decisions as well as those that can go wrong from time to time. Reassurance - we come to be reassured that we are on the right track, but look to add some tools to our tool box.

3. To look for reassurance that social emotional learning is the foundation to academic and personal growth - this I achieved in the session Develop Implement and Assess your School’s SEL Program . I have always believed that SEL is the gateway toward academic success, but there are bumps along the road when you do not get that buy in and understanding from key stakeholders. This session reminded me that I need to refer to the research that shows that schools with solid SEL programs show higher rates of academic success; it also gave me some great additional resources like http://www.casel.org/

So in reality maybe we don’t always go to conferences for one particular reason in mind. It also depends on what you need at that given moment. Sometimes I am in search of ideas and in hopes of mixing those creative juices that lead to spontaneous innovative ideas; sometimes you need reassurance that what you are doing, indeed is moving in a logical direction, and sometimes you want to sniff around in your passion areas to add some joy to a tough year and discover ways to move forward in a way that supports your own values! So far so good - #nais2017 has yet to disappoint!

And why did you come to #naisac?

“Tweet, Tweet, Hoot, Hoot, Blog, Blog”

This year in Wakefield’s Lower School we have started “Coffee & Conversations” an opportunity for parents to get together every couple of months to have a dialog around a theme. Our first coffee titled, “Tweet, Tweet, Hoot, Hoot, Blog, Blog” -  was a hit!  Here is the message in a nutshell:

Social media provides an engaging, collaborative platform for education communities. It is a way  to expand our knowledge base on the most up-to-date educational practices and programs, as well as pursue useful information on child development and the like to support your children in this ever-changing world. It is also a way to tell our Wakefield Lower School Story.

Every community and profession uses social media to meet their specific needs. As educators, we must be lifelong learners to keep up with the demands of our fast paced society for new knowledge and skills. My purpose in engaging in a Professional Learning Network is two fold: personal and community-wide professional growth, and a modern method of sharing with parents and others how our values, beliefs, practices and programs are implemented within our culture and community.  I do this by interacting with other educational leaders and teachers around the world through twitter conversations and chats through my twitter handle @drmisabel12.  We share our ideas and resources and ask each other questions that lead to continuous dialog. I share much of what I learn with the Lower School faculty.

For the parent community I am sharing through my twitter handle @WakefieldLSHead. Each week I share a blog post that I have written, an article I feel parents may enjoy and learn from, and a “snapshot” of our day to day experiences. Please collaborate and engage with our connected Lower School Community!

Our Lower School is Junior Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. If there are any teachers, classes and educational administrators who would like to collaborate with us, please drop us a line!

Dr. Margo Isabel

Lower School Head

Wakefield School

Historical Perspective, Sense of Place and Community

A sense of place and historical perspective is so important to a culture and community.  Moreover, symbols, rituals and traditions reinforce a school’s culture.  Wakefield Lower School’s Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day with its theme Home Sweet Home:  Celebrating 20 Years at Wakefield’s Archwood Campus did a remarkable job providing this historical perspective in song, prose and photos while reinforcing our strong values centered around perseverance, hard work and solid character.  We are a community of “Fighting Owls”, who since our school’s founding in 1972, has consistently and vigorously worked to provide an engaging learning environment within a caring community.

Hearing our JK-5th grade students sing about our Earth and how “lucky” we are to experience and learn through the great outdoors that our scenic campus provides, to how we climbed and claimed Archwood Hill to build our beloved school, to singing for the first time as a unified Lower School team our recently blessed proposed alma mater, “Virtus et Sapientia” - our pride was displayed brightly and loudly!  And thank you, Fighting Owls, for enriching my own knowledge about this remarkable place where I spend my time.

Creating Rules, Developing Character and Reaching our Expectations

Character education defines our Wakefield education, and we work hard to interweave it into everything we do. This week’s Lower School assembly gave us the perfect opportunity to solidify a foundation of justice, prudence, fortitude and temperance. These are big words for our Lower Schoolers, but they are learning the definitions well. As adults we model them, guide our students, and “catch” them living these values.

In order for students to live these values, we need to have high expectations of them. When students are involved in the process of creating those expectations, they take more ownership of them, and work harder to live up to them. This is why we involve our students in the process of identifying the expectations of the classroom - their classroom rules. At the start of the year, students and adults identify and articulate their classroom hopes and dreams - what they want to learn, work on and excel in throughout the year. With those complete, the classroom teacher asks: What does our classroom need to look like, sound like and feel like for all of us to accomplish our hopes and dreams? Through brainstorming and discussion, each classroom creates and commits to their classroom rules. Here is a Responsive Classroom article about rule creation.

On Wednesday at assembly, representatives from each classroom “handed over” their rules to Mrs. Hurst and me. As a Lower School community, we reflected and committed to our rules for the year. Then, fourth graders shared each of the 17 Wakefield courtesies with us in language that our youngest Owls could understand. Throughout the assembly our students showed their understanding very well!  They displayed exceptional manners, sat properly, listened attentively, and actively participated. We were very proud of them.  It was a wonderful way to end this month’s emphasis on courtesy and encourage them to practice it the rest of the year.