The current LREI strategic plan states a s goal the need to:
Continue reading Service Learning Lab: Creating the Roadmap for a 14-Year Plan
Category Archives: Domains
Filling-up My Skin (and My Shoes): Reconsidering Empathy so That I Can Teach It
“Taking a walk in someone else’s shoes,” is one of the more common ways of explaining what it means to show empathy. In addition to being a tired way of making sense of a concept with perhaps the most powerful consequences for humanity, my recent engagement in a yoga training has me questioning the usefulness of this expression. I’ve come to understand that the best way to cultivate empathy is to stay firmly planted, and fully present, in my own shoes. Continue reading Filling-up My Skin (and My Shoes): Reconsidering Empathy so That I Can Teach It
Math as Witness: who counts? and who doesn’t?
This post originally appeared on The Theological Engineer blog.
I ended the school year with a surprising burst of energy after the students left for the summer. I slogged my way through two straight days of comment-writing. Continue reading Math as Witness: who counts? and who doesn’t?
Really Listening
So back in January, I began to think about how best to gather information about what my math students know at any given point.
Librarian, Focus!: Organizing a Self Study
As I said in my previous post on this topic, school librarians often find themselves wearing the hats of “actor, caretaker, clerk, crafter, event planner, manners police officer, meeting goer, paper cutter, professional developer, sympathetic ear and window dresser.” Add to that list magpie, as we are always picking up and exclaiming over every shiny object we see, whether it be a new piece of hardware or a glossy coffee table art book. (Which is a myth, apparently.) We change direction constantly, depending on what the new trend, app, or gadget is.
How to Pause?
Everyone is moving so fast from task to task. Sixty minutes surely flies by and 45 minutes sometimes feels like a blink. My plan book details the activities of each math class but I’m not always sure of my students’ experiences or what they REALLY gain in the time we spend together. Many things pull at their attention: the humanities presentation they just gave, the science test next class, the basketball game at 3:30pm. Hence, I’ve initiated a self-study about examining how best I pause to gather information about what my students know at any given point (formative assessment) and how math class is really going for them.
Librarian, who art thou?: Embarking on a Self Study
I am a Middle School Librarian. I also answer to “media specialist,” “teacher librarian,” “book wrangler,” and “lion tamer.” Some days I am a stand-alone stalwart, but most days I am an embedded collaborator with my laudable and erudite colleagues. I juggle the shelving of stacks, the circulation of materials, the teaching of research, and the matching of kid to book. I look longingly at my Raspberry Pi codebook and pine for the day when I can actually use it, write book reviews and evaluate databases. I read, read, read and read some more.
Continue reading Librarian, who art thou?: Embarking on a Self Study
Community Music Making in the Classroom with Soundtrap and Noteflight
One of my main goals as a music educator is to provide authentic music-making opportunities that live in the real world for my students. I want my kids to see themselves as part of a larger community of musicians and composers, because we know that when students feel a part of something beyond the classroom walls, they are motivated to make discoveries and go deeper into the world of music. Continue reading Community Music Making in the Classroom with Soundtrap and Noteflight
Global Shift
The news ruined my curriculum planning.
My plan was to continue our medieval Humanities studies by learning more about Feudalism and Christianity in Europe for the remainder of the second quarter. Then, after Winter Break, we would dive in to the origins of Islam and study the Middle East. But the news of the bombings in France could not be ignored. Continue reading Global Shift
Why Go Out?
The middle school is out this week. Everyone. While it is eerily quiet in the building, there is a constant stream of photos posting to the middle school trips twitter page attesting to the rich experiences and full days of the students in each grade. Continue reading Why Go Out?
Exploring Our Progressive Purpose
It’s been an exciting start of the year for students, faculty and families at LREI. I’m privileged in my new role as Director of Learning & Innovation to be able to discover each day more about the rich learning experiences that weave their way through and between our lower, middle and high school and afterschool programs. Continue reading Exploring Our Progressive Purpose
Journey to Cuba
This summer I travelled to Cuba with a group of educators and fellow leaders of school groups abroad. Eight of us were Spanish teachers and we had a great time immersing ourselves in the culture.
The Joy in Terror
Opening a Pandora’s Box of Possibilities
Dear Colleagues,
Consider this as an open letter from our newest colleagues to those of us returning for the beginning of a new season of learning at LREI. In a short ideation session, new faculty identified essential elements of our progressive purpose, stated goals for “being” at LREI and uncovered some questions for which they will look to you for support and guidance.
Original Group Song Performances
I’ve recently been thinking a lot about Tom Little’s new book Loving Learning: How Progressive Education Can Save America’s Schools. In it he highlights a number of progressive school values that prepare students for success. Continue reading Original Group Song Performances