Grand Day is one of my favorite events at school for so many reasons, not the least of which is seeing the pride of students, teachers, and grands over the accomplishments of learning and friendships.  Beyond that, listening to grandparents talk to each other about what they perceive as happening with and for their grandchildren allows me to see what we do with fresh eyes.  I don’t know if it is the wisdom grandparents have earned over time or an appreciation for fundamentals now overlooked, but grandparents seem to recognize the implicit learning objectives built into our teaching as readily as they see the obvious, stated objectives.  One grandparent stopped me to ask if we have always given the students “jobs” in the classroom.  I thought, “Yes! We vertically align learning objectives and facilitate interdisciplinary experiences to deepen student understanding while empowering them with skills and strategies all of the time.  Thank you for noticing.”  I did not say that.  After I explained the jobs chart, he was so impressed with the idea of developing academic skills while promoting a sense of personal responsibility and community.  But, I wonder if we think about the depth of learning that will occur each year when those charts are set up.  Or, have we done it so long that we just know “jobs” are what we do?

I have enjoyed the work we do as a professional learning community analyzing our curriculum and teaching practices to consider how we can get better.  One of the things I have tried to do is bridge the perceived gap between early learning objectives and those of more advanced grade levels.  On the surface, there may seem to be little connection between the tactile table and essay writing or color sorting and algebra, but foundational knowledge and skills are critical for future academic success.  Is the connection difficult to see because we focus on the activity/lesson and not the why behind it?  In his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek says, “It is not just WHAT or HOW you do things that matters; what matters more is that WHAT and HOW you do things is consistent with your WHY.  Only then will your practices indeed be best.”  Are we starting with WHY when we plan our lessons?  How might that look?

1. Why:  We believe students need a firm foundation of early literacy and math skills and habits that include conceptual understanding as well as procedural knowledge.
2. What:  We build number sense and phonological awareness while emphasizing strategies, communication, and flexible thinking.
3. How:  Daily lessons include number talks with subitizing activities and differentiated small groups during literacy block.

One might argue that it doesn’t make a difference where you begin if you end up in the same place.  Only, I don’t think we always end up in the same place when we begin with the activity or lesson rather than with the WHY.  So, I will continue to bridge the gap by pointing out the connections between early learning and upper grades, and highlighting how our WHY is the building of foundational skills/strategies for later success.   I will always work to see what we do with fresh eyes.

(cross-posted on The Possibilities in Understanding)

Sinek, Simon. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action. New York: Portfolio, 2009. Print.

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Rhonda Mitchell serves the Trinity School community as the Early Elementary Division Head.

I deeply appreciate working in an environment that models and fosters growth and learning. As a summer reading assignment, I experimented with the Word, Phrase, Sentence reflection strategy as I read Doodle Revolution. A new believer in WPS and doodling, I decided to share these methods with my students. What a response I got! They love collaborating around post-its while talking though their thoughts on the book Three Wishes. When they see flair pens out, I hear, “Yes! We get to take notes!” Their notes are beautiful!

How fun it has been to learn along side children. As part of the Sixth Grade experience, students take an Explorations class. The contagious excitement for doodling (and flair pens) made the Sketch Noting Explorations class one of the popular options. In the first class, we used BrainDoodles to aid in our visual literacy. As she enjoyed practicing the visual alphabet, one Sixth Grader said, “Goodbye gel pens, hello flairs!”

Doodling and post-its are just a medium used for students to engage. But to me, they represent the power of modeling. These methods were modeled by (and passed from) administration to teachers to students. That’s what it’s all about.   My professional development and growth should inform my teaching practices. It’s refreshing and necessary to work in a place that the growth mindset is alive and well!

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Julia Kuipers (@jkuipers_3) serves the Trinity School community as a Sixth Grade Associate Teacher

I recently had the honor of coaching my son’s U9 lacrosse team.  As a culminating event, we participated in a 2-day tournament along with several other Metro Atlanta teams.  The weather was beautiful and the competition was great!  However, as I coached our games and watched several others, I began to notice a pattern develop.  When teams began to face adversity and ultimately lose a game, storm clouds would roll in despite the cloudless skies.  Parents would inevitably begin screaming at the other team, blaming the referees, and demanding retribution.   Instead of greeting their children with smiles following the game, they would instead seek out a coach, referee, or another parent to demonstrate their disgust, all in plain view of their sons.  What message is this sending their child?  Frustrated and disgusted, I was inspired to send the following message to the parents of my team.

It’s always tough to end the season with a loss.  However, losing can be such a positive learning experience for all of us.  It’s easy to make excuses and justify each loss by blaming the referees or the other team’s aggressive style of play, the weather, or the bumpy uneven playing field.  What does this actually accomplish?  Sometimes we just need to accept that we simply scored less points than the other team.  Losing is becoming a lost art form.  It’s our job to teach our gang that it’s okay to come out on the short end, even if as parents, we feel there was an unfair advantage.  Let’s use it as motivation and reflect on what we can do as an individual or team to better our chances next time. Let our children develop their own mechanism to handle defeat. Allow our players to be kids and have fun.  Let’s model gracious behavior both in victory and defeat.  Following a tough loss, the last thing our guys want to do is dwell on it.  Losing is not the end of the world.  A positive character is what will make our budding sons into great men.  That is priceless.  

The way a child handles failure can help them to face the certain failures life will throw them in the future.  The worst thing for us to do as parents is give negative advice and justify every loss with excuses immediately after a disappointment.  We need to let our children cope in their own way.  In my experience as a teacher and coach, a child generally takes about 1-2 minutes to recover from a loss.  Then they just want to play, have fun, or take a trip to Dairy Queen.  Together, let’s win back the art of losing!

I just read a fabulous article from Education Week called Four Steps to Jumpstarting Global Collaboration Projects by Ben Curran.   This is part of a larger “Spotlight” about Global Learning and Language.

The author outlines these four steps:

Step One: Develop Habits of Collaboration

Step Two: Before You Go Global, Go Local

Step Three: Join Existing Global Projects

Step Four: Use Social Networks to Create Your Own Projects

The author of this article talked about how our students need to be proficient at collaboration.  I pondered  the importance we place on cooperative learning and extending it beyond our classroom at Trinity.  Ben Curran says, “Before connecting with another classroom, take time to develop these skills so that students become adept at collaboration. These skills will serve them not only in their schoolwork, but in the 21st-century workforce as well.”

As I continued reading, my mind shifted from conversations on cooperative learning to practice with the art of questioning.  In his explanation of “go local,” the author suggests to ask an open ended question, pose a challenge, and use digital collaboration tools (such as google drive or wikis) to start practicing collaborative effort.  I love the idea of partnering with other classes (possibly across grades) to practice the skill of collaboration before reaching across the globe to do so.  And the good news is, I think a lot of classes are already doing this!

These ideas lead up to a class joining a global collaboration project that is already in motion, such as Challenge 20/20, The Global Read Aloud, The Global Virtual Classroom, and iEARN.

What would it look like for an elementary classroom to engage globally?

Maybe Trinity School classrooms have already started this work.

Either way, I would be excited for a World Languages class (or any class) to expose children to global collaboration now and see where it takes them in the future.

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Julia Kuipers serves the Trinity School community as a World Languages Teacher.

I have been going to church on Sundays since I can remember.  My grandmother was one of the first female deacons of Corinth Baptist Church in New York and my mother and her sisters sang in a gospel group that often traveled to churches around the south.  For me, going to church is an engrained tradition that speaks to who I am, how I live, and how I raise my boys.

Going to church also brings back fond memories of tasty Sunday dinners, soulful singing, Easter parts, and colorful hats.  Yes – colorful hats! As I sat in church this Sunday, an usher walked two elderly ladies down the aisle to their seats.  I noticed the elegance of both women, the way in which they walked gracefully down the aisle, the “sharp” way in which they were dressed, and the confidence they exuded.  Each woman wore a brightly colored hat (pink and blue) with a wide-brim that twisted festively to the side. I thought, “What a beautiful sight!” I also noticed how they were the only two women with hats.  See, “back in the day,” African American women always wore hats to church, a tradition that has been relegated to “hat-themed” bridal showers and women’s clubs.

It forced me think about the importance of tradition in a world that is rapidly changing.  Can we, as a society, balance both? I’m thinking that I can as I look forward to my 4 year old acting in his first Easter play and reciting his very first Easter part.  I think I might wear a “brightly colored hat with a wide-brim, festively twisted to the side”. My grandmother would be extremely proud J.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. ~Nelson Mandela

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, along with Libia Gil, wrote a piece that highlights our obligation as educators in our endeavor to grow future leaders.  The authors remark, “We challenge our schools and communities to invest in our future leaders with biliteracy and multiliteracy skills.”  While much of the writing talks about ESL learners as an “asset,” the article also describes multilingualism as a tool of significant importance for both the global economy and national security (and I would add to that- cognitive development and cultural competency).

When reflecting on the importance of international events, such as the winter Olympics in Sochi, reading this article gave me pause.  I love that the authors quoted one of the most inspiring people to live, Nelson Mandela, who said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”  This speaks to the need for our educational system to both embrace heritage language learners while encouraging multilingualism, and I am encouraged by the recognition language is getting in our predominantly monolingual nation.

Follow the link for the complete article from the Redlands Daily Facts.

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Julia Kuipers serves the Trinity School community as a World Languages Teacher.

Bonjour mis amis,

The reasons for learning any second language are many (helps your brain function at a higher level, allows you to communicate with a whole new group of people, makes it a lots easier to travel around the world, etc…), but why should French be the language you choose to study? Here are just of few of the many reason French should be your choice:

• 200 million people in the world understand, speak, read, or write French.
• French is the official language of 33 countries.
• French is the most widely taught 2nd language in the world.
• French is the official language of the international postal service and the Red Cross.
• French is one of the two official languages of the Olympic games and the United Nations.
• Roughly half of the words in the modern English language are borrowed from French.
• French is lexically more like English than any other romance language.
• French is the second most commonly used language on the internet.
• French is the only other language, other than English, that is taught in every single country around the world.
• There are over 525 French language universities in the world.
• French is the language of love!

Learning any second language will be beneficial to you no matter what language you choose!

Merci! Au revoir!

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Meggan Stacey serves the Trinity School community as a World Languages Teacher.