It was dark inside and full of artifacts!Our fifth grade tour guides (who in my case were dressed as an archeologist and an ancient Egyptian), explained the purpose behind each ancient game, mummy, god, belief, and tradition on display in the tomb, as they guided visitors around with a flashlight. They spoke with confidence and authority, and were so proud of the huge project they had created through collaboration.

Our fourth graders who attended are certainly looking forward to the integrated social studies that awaits them next year. In another room, visitors could try ancient crafts such as beaded jewelry which they learned was worn by both men and women; or writing their own name in hieroglyphs.

Definitely an experience! Tomorrow, Founder’s Day, will be as well.

Today I was thrilled to host award-winning Young Adult author Laurie Halse Anderson in the Sixth Avenue library. Laurie is currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of her first novel, the now classic Speak, and also promoting her new title, Wintergirls, a dark story of friendship gone wrong and eating disorders, which will be published in March. She was also recently awarded the Margaret A. Edwards award by the American Library Association for her “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” LREI was asked by Laurie’s publisher, Penguin Group, if some of our students could read Wintergirls and then participate in a filmed book discussion with Laurie for their website. Time was short, Laurie was only going to be in town for a few days, so I had to find readers, and fast! When I solicited the 8th grade during lunch last week, several students jumped at the chance to interact with one of their favorite authors, and read ARCS (Advanced Reviewer Copies) of Wintergirls over the weekend. The discussion was lively and thought provoking, touching on everything from eating disorders and depression to celebrities and popular music. Afterwards, the students had their books personalized and signed by the author. I was so proud of our students, and once Penguin Group edits the video, we hope to post it on our school website as well for all to enjoy.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian

On other fronts, students have been serious and focused during this week’s ERB administration. Truth be told, I think they like the three-day break from our regular demanding collaborative, inquiry-based and hands-on work, which was on hold while they sat quietly in rows, contemplated each question and carefully filled in the bubbles on their answer sheet. That said, we did reward ourselves on Wednesday afternoon with our annual Literary Festival during which students participated in a range of exciting workshops. This year’s menus of offerings included the following:

Booktalking (with Jennifer Hubert Swan). Want to find a more dynamic way to tell someone, “You’ve got to read this book!”?  Jen, the Queen of the Book Talk, will teach you how to help uncover the joys of reading for others.

ACTION! . . . Making a Story Into a Script (with Maureen Johnson) Ever go see a movie made from a book? Ever wonder why it’s so different?  The same but . . . not the same? Why does stuff get left out? Why do characters change? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Don’t they KNOW they left out the most important part? Or maybe you just wonder how they do it at all—how do they take hundreds of pages of story and turn it into something you can see and hear. How does that work? The answer to all of these questions is HERE! Now you can learn about the art of adaptation—taking a story in one form and changing it to another—and try your hand at it yourself!

Found Poetry (with Heather Brandstetter). Explore the streets of New York and find the poetry that is there everyday.  Heather will lead participants on a poetry-finding adventure!

Writing Music (with Matt McClean) In this workshop we will cover the process that goes into composing music. We will look at how composers go about composing melodies and harmony and the part that rhythm plays in putting it all together. In addition we will examine the process of orchestration in an attempt to answer the question: How do composers decide which instruments to write for.

Who the Heck Are You?! (with Dennis Kitchen). A perennial favorite! Ever wonder who that person is you see wandering around the building? You know they work here, but you’re not quite sure what they do. In this workshop, you’ll be outfitted with a camera and you’ll hunt these people down, snap their picture and then interview them. Dennis Kitchen will share interviewing techniques and help you create a fascinating bio on that person you think you know, but not really…. Note: If you have a digital camera, please bring it to this workshop.

Visual Autobiography and Bookmaking Workshop (with Melissa Rubin and Robin Shepard). Come prepared to create your very own hardcover autobiography. Bring in memorabilia that tells a story about you. Any flat 2-D special items can be included. Items such as: your prose and poetry, photos, maps, stamps, feathers, ticket stubs, playbill covers, movie ads, pressed flowers, etc. can be used (anything that can be glued into a book that has personal meaning).  Note: Bring special items for your book to this workshop.

Playwriting (with Raquel Cion). In this workshop, you will join in a facilitated discussion of what constitutes dramatic writing. The building blocks of playwriting (character, action, conflict, setting) will be explored using tools such as automatic writing, image, and structured writing time. You will learn about the who, where, what, and how of constructing scenes. Through this exploration each student will write their own “mini-play”. These plays will then be read aloud and the workshop will culminate in a discussion of how to continue writing and creating plays on your own.

Scrap Booking (with Margaret Andrews). Margaret will provide the materials; all you need to do is bring in photos you’d like to include in your scrapbook page. Learn how to document your photos and create a keepsake that records special moments, people and places in your life. Note: Bring photos for your scrapbook page to this workshop.

Striking Viking Story Pirates  — In this interactive workshop, you’ll work with members of the Striking Viking Story Pirates theater group. They’ll guide you through a dynamic process in which individuals and small groups will write and act out stories. After the workshop, the Story Pirates will take these ideas back to their secret headquarters/laboratory, and several weeks later, they will return for Middle School meeting with newly-built puppets, props, and a brand new sketch comedy show, including some new stories written by participants in the workshops.

Newspaper Writing (with David Lee).  Ever want to write for a newspaper? Well David has, and he’s going to show you how you can too. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to come up with a story idea, a headline, how to interview people and how to write your piece. You’ll come up with the subject and David will help guide you through it. And he should know – his recent article about surfing in NY appeared in the New York Times this January!

Picture Books and Children’s Literature (with Matthew Rosen and Michelle Boehm). In this workshop, Matthew Rosen, a former editor, will talk about writing and constructing picture books. You’ll have the opportunity to create their own picture-book. You will lay out text, add illustrations, and format you book.

Enter The Writing Ninja (with Libba Bray) The mighty writing ninja approaches the story. It will not get away this time, for the ninja is strong and creative and also, the story is due tomorrow at 8:20, and not to turn it in is unacceptable to the ninja’s code of honor and the teacher’s grade book. Suddenly, from out of the shadows come the ninja’s greatest enemies: Writer’s Block, Lack of Inspiration, Boring Characters, Even More Boring Plot, and–worst of all–the dreaded Inner Critic. It will take all the stealth warrior’s cunning and writing ninjutsu to lay waste to these enemies. But how to defeat these monsters? How? HOW? HOOOOOWWWWW? (That was for dramatic effect. Four how’s would have been overkill. This is what we’re talking about here.) Come learn tricks to get your mind into prime fighting mode, featuring the Nunchuks of Word Styling, the Legendary Pressure Point Move of Improv Story-Building, and the Final Whammy of Something-I-Have-Yet-to-Make Up. For this workshop, you will need only paper, a writing implement of some sort, a sense of humor, and a thirst for adventure which cannot be slaked through ordinary means, such as Snapple Fruit Punch. Your heart is strong, mighty warrior. Soon, your writing will make nations tremble.

Tasting And Writing About Food (with Mario Batali). In this workshop, you’ll taste foods that are examples of the 5 taste sensations:  sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (and if you don’t know what this taste sensation is, you will by the end of the workshop!) Afterwards, you’ll describe these tastes without using their 5 exact terms (such as salty or sweet). You’ll discuss the geography of the tongue with chef and cookbook author Mario Batali, and he’ll show you how you can translate sensation into words.

Not bad for an afternoon feast!

Last Wednesday at our Middle School meeting, we had the unique opportunity to screen the Sundance award winning film “Fuel” and to speak with the director Josh Tickell.

FUEL is an insightful portrait of America’s addiction to oil and an uplifting testament to the immediacy of new energy solutions. Director, Josh Tickell, a young activist, shuttles us on a whirlwind journey to track the rising domination of the petrochemical industry—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt Ford’s first ethanol cars to Vice President Cheney’s petrochemical company sponsored energy legislation — and reveals a gamut of available solutions to “repower America” —from vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers to algae facilities that turn wastewater into fuel. Tickell and a surprising array of environmentalists, policy makers, and entertainment notables take us through America’s complicated, often ignominious energy past and illuminate a hopeful, achievable future, where decentralized, sustainable living is not only possible, it’s imperative.

Josh’s story provided us with a profound example of the power of activism and made clear the powerful intersection of issues related to sustainability and social justice. While both personal narrative and persuasive essay, “Fuel” challenged each of us to wrestle with where we stand on the issues. We will continue to explore the issued raised by the film and the power of film as a communication medium in classes and in advisory. I encourage you to see the film.

At this Wednesday’s Middle School Meeting, we had our annual National Geography Bee. To kick off the Bee competitions, last week at Middle School meeting we were joined be documentary filmmaker Celine Cousteau. Celine, the daughter of ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau and granddaughter of legendary filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, spoke to us about her many projects and expeditions around the globe and her efforts to raise awareness about our relationship to the natural world and to each other. Her visit was truly inspirational.

Following Celine’s visit, students competed in their homerooms to identify our eight finalists. The first round was exciting and challenging. Students pondered a range of questions and supported each other as we worked through this preliminary competition. A number of these competitions were decided by tie breakers, which added to the excitement. So with a thank you first to all of those students who participated, the participants in the Final Round were as follows: Fifth Grade – Atticus and Ethan G., Sixth Grade – Andrew and Carlo., Seventh Grade – Julian and Logan, and Eighth Grade – Dominic and Edith. At the end of the Final Round, two students – Ethan G. and Julian – moved on to the Championship Round. The Championship Round was decided after 3 questions with Julian emerging as the champion. Next week, he will take the qualifying exam for the State Geography Bee competition. The state level competition will take place in the spring in Albany, NY. Congratulations to all of the finalists for a job well done!

In addition to the good fun that the National Geography Bee provides, it also points to the critical importance that a basic understanding of geography plays in being an informed citizen of the world. As technology makes the world smaller and increases our interconnectedness, we should not let ourselves be fooled into thinking that the boundaries, borders, and geographic features of our planet don’t matter any more. The geography of our planet provides a key to understanding important aspects of history and culture and provides a lens for focusing on issues that are “of the moment.” Knowing where something is by necessity establishes a relationship between places. With an understanding of place, we can gain a deeper insight into the people who inhabit that place while we simultaneously gain new insights about our own place in the world. It is these moments of insight that help to define us and our relationship to the larger world.

I want to acknowledge our 2008-2009 Irwin Scholars. The Irwin Scholars program is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes eighth graders for their sustained commitment to academic excellence, active participation in the life of the Middle School, service to the community, demonstrated leadership, and the potential to serve as a community leader in the High School. This year we had a most excellent cohort of applicants; this made the selection process all the more difficult because the quality of applicants was so strong. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the faculty and administration to all of the applicants for their thoughtful essays and am pleased to share with you the 2008-2009 Irwin Scholars. They are Liam C., Thomas, Dominic, Edith, Anna, Isabella and David.

Congratulations again to the members of the Middle School Robotics Teams who continued their winning ways with excellent performances at this past weekend’s FIRST Lego League Manhattan borough competition. Both teams have now qualified for the citywide competition that will take place at the Javits Center in March. The Advanced Team won 1st place in the Champion’s Award category. It “is the most prestigious award that any team can win. It celebrates the ultimate success of the FIRST mission and FLL values”. When the scores from their Project Presentation, Technical Presentation, Robot Performance and Teamwork were added they received the highest score out of the whole event. The Rookie Team won 2nd place in the Robot Design Award category where “judges look for teams whose robot stands out for innovation and dependability”. This is an incredible achievement for a group of kids in their first competition. Click here for pictures of the event.

Middle School Science Teacher Sherezada Acosta has been selected as a National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Teacher of the Future. Through this program,

NAIS has selected and support a cadre of innovative teacher leaders currently working at NAIS member schools who will help NAIS develop a new online community for independent school teachers.  This program and the development of online education communities are part of NAIS’s goals to provide valuable networking opportunities and to enhance the excellent education provided at independent schools. NAIS has selected these 24 outstanding Teachers of the Future to build, lead, and moderate this new online community.  The 24 Teachers of the Future exemplify excellence in teaching through their leadership, innovation, and commitment to environmentalism, equity and justice, globalism, technology, and other key areas of sustainability.

Beginning in January, Sherezada and the other recipients will lead online discussion forums for other NAIS teachers. Each recipient also created a video that highlights important aspects of her/his curriculum. To view Sherezada’s educational video, go to the Teachers of the Future Videos Page. The video provides some wonderful examples of our students hard at work in the science lab. It also provides an excellent overview of some of the foundational principles that guide our approach to science instruction.

Congratulations to Sherezada for this honor and thanks to all of the members of the Middle School faculty for their daily work in support of your child’s growth as a learner!

With the Thanksgiving Break receding into the past and the Winter Break just ahead of us, I thought I’d take a moment and share with you some of the highlights of our recent Thanksgiving Assembly. As one teacher commented to me after the assembly, “this year the students’ voices were so present.” And indeed they were . The assembly was a veritable feast of stories offered by each grade and as a collective group.The fifth graders shared stories of thanks written to important people in their lives. These stories focused in on the individual they were thanking and through rich description brought that person and why he or she was important to life for their listeners.

The sixth graders shared a collective poem that focused on those things for which they were most thankful. The poem touched on the personal and the global and built to heartfelt shared expression of thanks.

The middle of the ceremony was reserved for what I hope will become a new tradition for our assembly. During the weeks leading up to the assembly, Middle School music teacher Matt McLean worked with classes to create an original composition focused on the spirit of giving thanks. The sixth through eighth grade classes sang their verses and the community joined in on the choruses, which were composed by the fifth grade. Click here to read the lyrics of our “Thanksgiving Song.”

The seventh graders who earlier in the morning held their annual food festival offered  stories about food that were connected to their family, their heritage or their past. Following the assembly, the sixth graders joined them in the cafeteria to continue the communal “breaking of bread.”

As has become our tradition, the eighth graders offered their revision of  the Byrd Baylor story I’m in Charge of Celebrations. Their revision reflected the collaborative work of the entire eighth grade class. While adults provided some general context and support for the work, the process that gave rise to its writing and the final product were truly student-centered efforts and reflective of our progressive practice. I hope that the their version of “I’m in Charge of Celebrations” gives you as much pleasure as it gave us. Enjoy!

I also hope that your Thanksgiving like our assembly was filled with stories both new and old.

As Robert Frost commented, “Good fences make good neighbors;” and so it is with the fences surrounding the tree pits in Little Red Square. Born of the hard work of middle schoolers during advisory period, lower and middle school students, parents and faculty who attended “It’s My Park” Day, and a dedicated group of middle schoolers who helped to build and paint before and after their Family Conferences, these fences are truly the product of a communal effort. As the fences went  up, it was as if the community suddenly rediscovered the tress that had always been there. Neighbors and passers-by commented on the much appreciated care that students were taking of this shared community space.

While seemingly simple in their appearance, the fences tell a story of students and their advisors thinking about ways to take care of our urban garden, of thoughtful planning and preparation, of physical labor and of committed work. A number of Middle Schoolers completed some of this work in the Lower School woodshop, a place they had not been for several years. As one student commented, “the saws used to seem so big,” and as Peggy commented on her former students, “it was amazing to watch them work; they worked with such energy and a sense of purpose.”  These fences also embody a core LREI value originally stated by Elisabeth Irwin, which is “to encourage children to respect the dignity of manual labor by working with our hands as well as with our heads.” And as Agnes De Lima observes in The Little Red School House:

This labor has a value of its own. The children hammer, saw, file. They lift heavy weights; they pound into wood; they enjoy their bodies. When they put their bodies to a definite task, like planning and sawing, the medium of the tool forces them to coordinated, economical, and rhythmical movement which is excellent physical education and which the children unconsciously enjoy.

So these fences are an extension of the classroom and as such they connect the work of students, families and teachers to the broader world of lived experience. Take a moment to enjoy the fruits of this labor.