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.

“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.

Authentic Learning: 5th Grader presents to the Board of Trustees

In January Andrew shared his story of entrepreneurship and commitment to service with the Board of Trustees at an official board meeting. Being true to his commitment he passed out Smile Train donation envelopes to the Board Members. I have also since learned that Smile Train tripled our donation through their triple match program. What a fabulous example of authentic learning for Andrew and our 5^th Grade!

As an educator, I have no greater sense of satisfaction than seeing the “stars align” through a student-led, authentic, collaborative and compassionate service project that sprang from a conversation between a grandson and his grandmother about the challenges and complexities of our world poverty, friendship, and the need to serve humanity.  Pair that with encouraging teachers who appreciated this student’s interest and were willing to support him through lunch, recess and after school work sessions.  The end result was that this authentic project, a Lower School bake sale, earned $873 to be donated to The Smile Train organization.

Fifth Grader Andrew Renz and his grandmother were having a conversation about poverty in our world – which led to a conversation about the main character, August Pullman, in the Fifth Grade Literature book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacios.  August was born with extreme facial deformities.  Because of constant surgeries, he was homeschooled for much of his life, but thereafter was fortunate enough to attend a school much like Wakefield.  Accepting him was difficult for some of his classmates.  As you might imagine, August’s story has stimulated multiple important conversations in our fifth grade about empathy, kindness and inclusion.

Andrew quickly made a text-to-world connection between children in less developed countries – born with cleft palate and unable to pay for surgery due to their impoverished background.  At that moment, he decided to put aside his upcoming Christmas money to donate to the Smile Train organization, an organization that sends trained doctors to different countries to perform this relatively simple surgery – for free.

That was not enough for Andrew, however.  He wanted to do more.  In Andrew’s words, “Sometimes, the little things we can do to show one another kindness and support are the most important. To help a young child, the same age as the kids right here in our Lower School, have a pretty smile instead of living a whole lifetime with a crooked, incomplete smile is a kindness I would like to share.”  With the support of his teachers, Mrs. Bates and Mrs. Williams, off he went to talk with his classmates to organize a two-day bake sale that was held over six lunch periods.  He divided and conquered – forming an advertising committee to make posters and announcements at our assemblies, a set-up and sales committee, a baking committee, and a committee to count the profits and announce the result - $873.25 for Smile Train. 

Andrew and the fifth grade know the true meaning of the holiday season – a time of togetherness, empathy, joy and service to others.  These are the values that we all, families and teachers in partnership, work to instill in our children.  We do this by providing students with opportunities to collaborate, problem-solve and serve the greater community – there is no greater gift than active, meaningful learning.

Student Generated School Rules

“School” belongs to the students! Therefore, shouldn’t they have a lot to say about how and what they learn? If they are going to learn effectively shouldn’t they have the opportunity to establish the expectations of the environment where they feel they can be successful?

This year, we gave that opportunity to our Lower School students. A committee of two students from each 2^nd through 4^th grade class came together for three sessions in order to determine our School Wide Rules for the Lower School. These rules, or expectations, will guide our students’ interactions throughout the school, especially in our common areas like the cafeteria, playground, and the specialist area classrooms.

Mrs. Hall, the Lower School Director and I guided the students as they collaborated during each session and took full ownership of the process. At the first session students brought their classroom rules. These classroom rules were generated at the start of the year, through the hopes and dreams process of the Responsive Classroom approach. One by one, the committee, in small groups, discussed each rule. They then looked at themes to determine the different categories represented for example, responsibility, respect for people, and for materials. In the second session they took each and every classroom rule, cut them into separate strips and posted them to the correct category. (Wow, little qualitative researches!) Finally, during the last session they looked for overlap and commonalities; little by little, they funneled out repetitive information and re-worded each statement until they agreed on a set of rules they felt the whole Lower School community could commit too. Here is the final product, which the committee presented to the Lower School students at Inspiration (a community building and sharing time in the Lower School)

                       FLINT HILL LOWER SCHOOL RULES

·           Be responsible for yourself;

·           Be respectful of others;

·           Be responsible for and respectful of your own property and the property of others. 

One fourth grade student summed it up nicely, “These aren’t strict rules; these are ‘our’ rules and they will keep us and others safe.”

As educators we must look for the many opportunities for students to take charge of their learning. The rich conversations that occurred as students analyzed each rule, what they would look like if implemented, and the importance rules have in guiding the community to care for themselves, others and the community, was transformational and hard to describe in this short blog post. Give students the opportunity to lead and they will!

  
(I don't know why it is in different colors; but I will work on that later, I am still learning :)

Inspired on "D" Days

“When is the next “D” day?” I ask myself, barely containing my excitement! At Flint Hill, we have a six-day schedule, labeled A-F, and on “D” days, we come together as a Lower School family for “Inspiration.” For 30 minutes, we all gather for this program—led by students—to learn, share, problem-solve, celebrate, and acknowledge successes and challenges that surface within our community of learners.

Each grade, from TK to 4^th, takes a turn to lead Inspiration, and, with guidance from their teachers, the students prepare for their scheduled presentation day. They first brainstorm ideas for a topic, perhaps centered on a class project they may want to share, a school event, or a holiday. From there, they create an agenda and delegate job responsibilities.

On Inspiration morning, students ensure that all technology is ready, the stage is clear and the flag is placed; they greet each class as they enter the theater, introduce speakers, read a morning message they have written for the community, facilitate an activity, and present the topic of their choice in a variety of ways—through a skit, iMovie, dialog, or poetry reading. This special period of time ends by acknowledging student and teacher birthdays and singing the school song. Adult voices are few and far between during this 30-minute gathering.

This year, so far, I have learned how to properly compost and recycle my lunch; how to be safe and respectful on Halloween eve; how other cultures celebrate unique traditions like Día de los Muertos; how to protect the Chesapeake Bay; as well as how to embrace play, and expand my own sense of humor. This is why Inspiration is my favorite part of school; for those 30 minutes I am one of 300+ learners; it is invigorating!

Inspiration has also been the perfect forum for problem solving. Is there a better way to solve some school issues than by involving students and asking for their input? Already, the students have shared a plan to improve the care and storage of our playground equipment, and generated ideas to reinforce sustainable, green practices within our school community. Presently, a group of students are working on collating and developing school-wide rules to share at an upcoming Inspiration.

What will we learn at the next Inspiration? Let the count down begin until the next D day!

Post 2: Authentic Learning Through The Day of Play

I had indicated in my first blog post of this academic year that I would reflect and blog about the authentic learning experiences I encountered in my community. I would like to start with two disclaimers. 1) Authentic learning experiences can be encountered on a daily basis and I certainly should not wait for a “special day;” in traditional school settings we seem to create days with “special schedules” for fun, engaging and educational endeavors. Yes, it is easier to write about these “special days” however, if I take authentic learning seriously, I need to do a better job at reflecting on authentic learning on any ordinary day. Simply put, authentic learning should not be extraordinary. 2) I take no credit for the organization and implementation of this Day of Play in the Flint Hill Lower School.  The day was designed by our innovation department, an enrichment specialist and our lower school librarian; it was flawlessly implemented by our teachers and students.

The objective of the day was to design a toy for a classmate taking into considerations the classmates interests. The work was done in the morning, in multiage groups and pairs, using recycled materials. Items were displayed and shared in the afternoon at an outside Toy Exhibit. This was truly an authentic learning experience for students and teachers alike.  It incorporated problem posing and problem solving; incorporated the interests and needs of the individual students; sparked collaboration; and fostered relationships among students based on empathy and compassion. What a day of play it was! Here is a synopsis in pictures and videos:

For the kick off of the day students heard from a app designer whose hobby is creating educational, engaging, fun apps for children.

Students then went off to form their groups and pairs and talked about different kinds of toys.

They interviewed a classmate to find out what toy s/he would like.

A sketch is made and a prototype is developed.

Off they went to the store to find the needed materials.

Design creation and collaboration begin.

Testing is carried out.

Oops not sure what happened - will fix ASAP

Commercials are made.

                                       Oops not sure what happened - will fix ASAP

Toys are carried to the exhibit hall.

Toys are shared.

This is the motorcycle for this super hero!

It was an exhausting fun filled day of authentic learning for everyone!

I hope you understood the process and sequence of our 2nd annual Day of Play at Flint Hill Lower School. I will soon share some reflections.