Sometimes the best way to start a story is at the end. While yesterday’s Middle School Social Justice Teach-In was a celebration and affirmation of the committed work that has engaged our eighth graders for the past six months, our closing assembly provided us with an opportunity to reconnect with former eighth graders who continue to be deeply engaged in social justice work in the high school. Continue reading Be the Change
Category Archives: Learners
The “discovery of the connection of things”
As the philosopher and LREI supporter John Dewey wrote in Democracy and Education in 1916:
To “learn from experience” is to make a backward and forward connection between what we do to things and what we enjoy or suffer from things in consequence. Under such conditions, doing becomes a trying; an experiment with the world to find out what it is like; the undergoing becomes instruction, [a] discovery of the connection of things.
This “discovery of the connection of things” was at the center of an experience shared directly by a group of our eighth grade class and indirectly by the grade as a whole. Continue reading The “discovery of the connection of things”
How to Talk With Children About Their Art
When your child brings home an artwork and says, “Look what I made today.”, what might you say? It is helpful to the growth of your child to validate and appreciate their artwork without using value judgments. By describing the elements of the work and listening to what your child is saying, you are supporting their unique expression and helping your child grow in self-confidence in his/her visual response to the world. Continue reading How to Talk With Children About Their Art
Our Learning Community
To be an LREI teacher is to be immersed in the planning for, thinking about, and reflecting on one’s own teaching practice. This happens individually and in collaboration with colleagues. It happens within the LREI community and beyond at conferences, workshops and school visits and through each teacher’s professional learning network. Continue reading Our Learning Community
What happens when you don’t call a snow day
“Phil, when do you think it will melt?”
“How long do you think it will take?”
“We are going to protect the ice from the light!”
“We are going to get some new ice and try again!”
These were questions and ideas that I heard from one Fours class when I visited their room over the span of a couple of days as they experimented with large chunks of ice found on the roof during their daily visits outside during this cold, cold winter. Continue reading What happens when you don’t call a snow day
Happiness Education
With all of the activity underway in the Middle School, the winter break seems a distant memory. This week, we were host to a contingent of educators from South Korea who were interested in learning more about our approach to science education and progressive pedagogy. Continue reading Happiness Education
Spatial Thinking and Imagination
Albert Einstein imagined himself chasing a beam of light and that helped him develop the theory of relativity. Nikola Tesla imagined his inventions in his mind’s eye and problem-solved some of the steps before he even began building. The two great inventors made singular use of their imaginations coupled with a talent for spatial thinking. I thought of that this week while watching kindergartners joyfully and imaginatively building with blocks. Continue reading Spatial Thinking and Imagination
Meet the d.lab (not) the same as the old tech lab
For a number of years, we’ve been working hard to more thoughtfully embed our use of technology in the context of meaningful grade level and subject area projects. Continue reading Meet the d.lab (not) the same as the old tech lab
Focusing on the Math Big Picture
While Curriculum Night is an opportunity to look at the big picture, it is also an opportunity to balance these ideas and the school’s approach to learning against ones own educational experience. This can often be complicated work as the memories and habits connected with how you experienced school may have been very different. One area in which this tension often occurs is with our approach to mathematics and the development of mathematical thinkers. I include below some “big picture” thoughts on math instruction at LREI and its connection to each student’s development as a learner. Continue reading Focusing on the Math Big Picture
Tools of the Trade
At the start of the school year, each seventh grader received an iPad 2 to use over the course of the year. Students are using the iPads throughout the day in their classes and are bringing them home to continue and extend their work. We believe that the small scale tablet form of the iPad offers a wealth of ways for us to enrich the already exciting and demanding seventh grade program. Continue reading Tools of the Trade
The Silence and Solitude of Community
I cannot think of a time in recent middle school history when I have been more impressed with our students. It is no small request to ask 160+ middle schoolers to sit on the floor in silence. They did this with commitment and an understanding of the significance of the moment. Students and teachers who were moved to speak did so in ways that told stories of personal experiences, raised questions about the nature of human understanding and action, and communicated simple and complex fears, hopes and dreams. These moments together confirmed the importance of our human community. Continue reading The Silence and Solitude of Community