read with caution

It's been quite awhile for me and while I had great expectations of catching up with all things work related this past week off (our extended school year gives us a blessed break in Oct!), I found myself blissfully focused on all things mommy.  And it was a WONDERFUL week!

I think part of my reluctance to blog is the craziness that is happening in education right now.  And all the national lunacy, shameful politicizing, and inexcusable neglect that is all over this country is really hitting home--to all of us.  I read several teacher-authored blogs, and have teacher friends from all over the US, and no matter where the location is, the story is the same.  And the problems are systemic--starting at the very top, yet all the blame I hear is placed on the ONLY people actually taking any action--the teachers.  Bad, bad, bad things are happening and for the first time in my career, I truly feel utterly hopeless about education.

Thank goodness for the primates, who despite all this ridiculous adult crap, still enter the classroom eager and excited and willing to learn and laugh and share their lives.  And that is what I want to focus my blogging on--the good.  Last year the weaving project and the blog were a great escape for me, a chance to focus on all the GOOD that happens in my classroom vs just venting about all the crap from above that is constantly piled on top of everything I try to do as a teacher.  I need to have a place where I can reflect and focus on the real matters at hand--teaching and learning, and I'll save my venting for comments on the blogs of the other frustrated, worn down teachers who are brave enough to speak out.

But please, read with caution.  Please keep in mind that with every valuable teaching and learning moment I may write about, there is a whole other world of education outside our classroom that is crumbling and taking many good and great teachers down--not to mention the effect all of this has on our students.  It's not enough to say "we value teachers" (not that anyone is saying that these days), our society needs to take action against using the education and well-being of American students as political tools or news stories.  I'm sure every now and then my frustration will spill into a post, but my goal is to talk about the GOOD, and I hope that this focus will sustain me as a teacher this year and show an alternative, realistic view of what does happen in a classroom.

I don't want to leave this post all gloom and doom, so here's a start of concentrating on the brighter side:

blind contour drawing

Here's one of our first lessons in sketching, specifically "blind contour drawing", which requires sketching something without looking at what you are drawing.  We used "shields" to help us "not look". I heard many cries of "this is too hard!"...but no one quit.

Our subject matter was gourds to align with the current season, autumn.

Some chose to concentrate more time on one gourd and others chose to make several attempts using different gourds.

 Many primates felt frustration with this task and frustration is an unavoidable--maybe even a necessary--step in the process of learning something new.  And everyone experienced frustration with blind contour drawings.  The learners were frustrated, yet motivated, and that's a successful learning experience.  So we'll continue with this task a few more times, and it will be interesting to see how frustration/motivation unfolds in the individual primates in other areas: reading, writing, math, science, socially.

Ahhhhh, feels GOOD!

the adventure's begun

Well it's day 11 and we have officially started our curriculum project.  In the days prior, we have been getting to know each other, establishing routines, working out kinks in the schedule, endured interruptions for fire drills and bus evacuation practice, laid some groundwork for beginning our project....now we can get down to business!

The primates wrote poems about autumn today.  I've read three poems to them so far and we've read & reviewed the book: Sky Tree by Thomas Locker several times.  We've shared personal stories and observations about fall, and brainstormed a list of autumn words, which is posted in the classroom.  This is a very brief intro to poetry because I intend for these poems to  serve as a baseline assessment--what can they do with little direction?  what do they know about poetry and how are they able to translate that to performing the task of a poet?  A few days ago they drew pictures of autumn after brainstorming a list of autumn colors.  They used these pictures as a reference as they wrote today.  The class gathered on the rug and those willing shared their work.  We practiced audience etiquette and how to show support for the very brave act of sharing one's work with a group.

This is a time of major observation for me--getting a sense of my new 1st graders and recognizing growth in my 2s.  As a whole, the group seems excited about poetry and about our subject matter--fall, which is a good sign for how engaged they'll be during an extended poetry study.  Plus this is a wonderful opportunity for primates to share stories from their personal lives and make connections with each other.

We also began our first sketching session.  We discussed finding shapes in objects and explored dried gourds, chestnuts, pinecones, acorns, and seed cases.  Each primate chose one object to sketch--starting with basic shapes.  We established the routine of writing name, date, and the name of the item in the upper right corner.  This is important because we will mark our journal entries in this way.

We are also reading The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony Di Terlizzi and Holly Black.  The primates' imaginations are running wild with mysterious, trickster creatures of the natural world.

Off we go!

welcome

The new school year is underway and it has been.......interesting to say the least.

Occasionally I attend these collaborative assessment meetings at Harvard where educators from all parts of the world and all facets of the field gather to consider and discuss student work and current issues in teaching and learning.  After 9/11, the facilitator began reserving the last 15 minutes of discussion to ponder what it means to be an educator in a time of war.  This question has evolved in the years since to: "what does it mean to be an educator at this moment in time?"  A very powerful question with complex and multiple answers.

What does it mean to be a parent in this moment in time?  What does it mean to be a child at this moment in time?

Summer is such an amazing season of sunshine, warmth, and outdoor adventures.  But autumn's cool  and colorful days are my favorite, and as we all settle into a different rhythm of work and school and longer nights, I am considering these questions.

I'm also thinking about how to use the blog this year.  I'd like to include podcasts, and I hope people will respond to the surveys and posts with comments.

I'm listening to the gubernatorial debate as I write this...sigh...educating in this moment of time......

doing good

Just returned from a refreshing day of curriculum planning for our very exciting year long study this year, and my husband is home from his first day with students, so the conversation around here is quite lively tonight!  We are also preparing for our son's first day of Kindergarten next week at a Waldorf school (our daughter will be starting nursery at the new school too!).  Waldorf is a private school guided by the work of Rudolph Steiner.  It is about as opposite as you can get from public education in America, so this promises to be a very interesting school year for all of us!

Our discussion (as is usual) turned to test prep mania and the devastatingly disappointing direction "Race for the Top" is taking us, and I have a few thoughts to share.

First, there is no "race" in learning.  A race requires winners and losers.  If there are no losers, there's really no point to the "race" now, is there?  So this alleged ed reform actually demands losers, and who exactly are we willing to give up on in this country?  which children get to be the losers in this race?  On the flip side, if every teacher in the country meets or exceeds "bonus pay" requirements, is the government prepared to fund all of those bonuses?  Of course not, so again, there must be losers.

The question I think we, as parents and as teachers, need to ask is, "do we want children to be computers, or do we want children who can re-invent computers?" Computers regurgitate facts and figures, robotically decode (rather than read), and perform on demand.  Creative problem solvers and inventors solve problems and create products that matter to society.  As we look toward the future, skills for the 21st century fall into the latter category.  So it is all of those robots, who, incidentally, will most likely perform very well on standardized tests, and will, in the end, not win this race.

Just to clarify what I mean when I talk about not winning: I mean a generation that is consumed by manipulative advertising and media, a generation that can go to college but reads less and less--because a joy for reading was never developed, and a generation unable to cope with the serious environmental and societal problems that are already getting worse.

My husband works with a teacher who travels to the Dominican Republic every summer "vacation"--(a true teacher is never more than one thought away from the classroom by nature, hence the need for frequent and extended breaks), with her family to build houses, construct wells for clean water, and other  work towards bettering living conditions for poverty stricken families.  He commented on how amazing her stories are from these family experiences, and that her children authentically learn to "want to do good."  This makes me think of what "doing good" means to our students...or really what we (as a society) teach our kids "doing good" means.  Doing good on a test?  Doing good for others?  Doing good for the environment? Doing good for yourself and your family?

Personally, I'm not in a race.  And that is not an easy choice to make in public education today, but it's the only one I can live with and feel like I am "doing good".

I have so much more on my mind--still want to do a final reflection on last year & weaving!--but for now I have to figure out how to turn a holy mess of a classroom into a welcoming learning environment before next Thursday!

how do you know?

While I remain steeped in summer bliss--warm days, staying up late, letting the day unfold, the beach....every now and then September creeps into my mind.  I'm updating the look of the blog and have more plans of how to use it next year, but for now I want to reflect on a question my son asked me tonight. Over dinner, (yummy grilled pizzas--love having time to cook!), he asked, "Mama, how do you know so much about nature?"  I paused to think about this answer honestly.  I replied, "Because I ask a lot of questions about nature and I read about nature, but mostly I think because I observe and think about nature a lot."  As soon as I answered, I began thinking about implications for teaching and learning...asking questions, reading, observing, thinking...this is how I want to spend my days in the classroom this year, and I hope to create an environment which will support and encourage and facilitate this for my primates too.

I find the first part of his question--just "how do you know?" sparking ideas about assessment too.  I asked him, " How do you know I know a lot about nature?"  He answered, "Because you talk about it a lot."  Talking....

So that's my planning for the new school year so far.  I look forward to days spent asking questions, reading, observing, thinking, and talking with a new group of interesting individuals.

But for now, I'll spend a couple more weeks happily trailing behind this duo with my best friend & love of my life....

reflecting

I began writing theprimateproject as a way to get back into the habit of writing regularly, (I think originally I was trying for daily, but reality required regularly--and that has worked out perfectly!). My hope was to sharpen my writing skills as preparation for applying to doctoral programs. It's a year later, and this blog has become a powerful reflection tool for me as a teacher, and sometimes a mom too. It's also provided a new connection between myself and the parents of students I serve: a window inside our classroom and the way I see things. Teachers and parents never have these conversations--about teaching and learning in a general sense and as more process than product, and I think it has really opened new lines of understanding on both sides.

Writing is a very personal act for me, especially this type of journal writing--off the cuff, no editing, no required topic. But I ask my students to make their writing, however personal, public in our classroom daily, so this blog allows me to develop a new perspective on how I teach, motivate, and assess my writers--with their perspective in mind. Vulnerability is critical to all aspects of learning, and developing comfort with--or at the very least, willingness to be vulnerable, is challenging....and often just plain hard. A year later, I feel MUCH more comfortable.

In defiance of all psychometric testing, (and yes, I am comfortable saying that I do not see any value in standardized testing worth the price we pay to gather the flimsy data it provides), I have chosen to make my (and my students') learning visible through written documentation, reflection, photographs, and videos. Observation and analysis are the assessment tools I use, and this blog provides some evidence towards that end.

Writing the blog has helped me shape my beliefs and ideas on teaching and learning influenced by MI theory vs. "g" intelligence, and when speaking about this, I notice an increased confidence and assuredness in myself.

Finally, a word about "the primates". Most people whom I speak with about the blog ask, "why 'primates'?" Well, we are primates, defined by The Oxford American Desk Dictionary & Thesaurus, a primate is: a member of the highest order of mammals, including lemurs, apes, monkeys, and human beings.

In my research of doctoral programs, I became initially discouraged at some of the successful applicants' accomplishments prior to acceptance into a particular program, which included a guy who lived with apes for a year. I chose to consider my own "primate research project" in the jungles of American public education, hence the name of the blog and my reference to my students as my primates. I also feel confident in my ability to make correlations between what teachers face today to the wildest dangers one might encounter in any jungle!

So almost a year later, I am moving forward with doctoral plans, although my timeline is still a bit unclear, (again, reality requirements!), but I am definitely much farther along the path to a new destination than I was in '09, and I am quite happy with that progress!

School is winding down...our last day approaches in a few more weeks, which I have to admit are becoming torturous as the temps & humidity rise, and our hopes for air conditioning disappeared years ago. I hope to catch up on: *portfolio night, *the end of weaving, and *circles in learning, soon.

the rock club

First, I want to highly recommend the PBS documentary, "Where do the children play?" by Elizabeth Goodenough. It addresses the impact today's societal norms have on children, with special attention to time spent outdoors and with unstructured play. very interesting stuff--for teachers and parents. I have it and am happy to lend if you're interested, let me know.

After seeing this movie in September, I have paid more attention to the unstructured play of my primates--informally, but I have accumulated enough "mental notes" to require some written, so here it is:

Several months ago, I heard rumblings amongst the primates about a rock club game or something they were doing at recess. I don't remember exactly how I found out about it, but it seemed interesting, so I began listening more carefully. I acknowledged that I knew about it, but didn't ask too much and didn't express any real interest, as I wanted to really investigate this "undercover". I learned that two of my quietest, sweet, team player primates were the founders of the club--in their words..."they started it!" These primates were also the leaders of the club, whose membership spans other k/1/2 classrooms and includes most of mine.

They always re-enter the classroom after recess chattering about the rock club, so one day I asked a primate what exactly they did in the rock club. It was a classic reply: he looked at me wide-eyed, and in a complete "duh Mrs. G" tone of voice said, "We mine..."...like what the heck else would they do in a rock club? This got me too curious to just observe & eavesdrop any longer.

I found out that there was a huge membership, but that not everyone plays rock club every day. Also, that if you don't play for 2 consecutive days without letting either of the leaders know you'll be doing something else, you're OUT. But they are pretty flexible with letting you back in if you ask nicely, and promise to check in to avoid the 2 absence penalty.

Now when I told my husband this story, he asked, "What are they running, the mafia?!" He didn't like the idea of kids having to report to other kids. But honestly, I think it is amazing and wonderful. This is how the real world works. They have established this whole complex mini-adult society out at recess that involves leaders and workers, consequences for breaking the rules, and second (sometimes fourth and fifth chances)....and, let's not forget, they MINE!

I brought in some rocks I collected at the beach last weekend to donate to the rock club, wanting to support their mining endeavors, but they told me "thank you, but we can't take them." when I asked why not, they said the older kids would throw them and move them around. it would just be too hard to hide them all. wow. so instead they each chose a rock to keep in their bin at school. very interesting.....

There has been one primate who was getting kicked out weekly for crushing all the rocks or making it hard to dig. Sometimes, they said, he fools around too much and they can't get their work done. The first time he was kicked out, he was very upset, so I got involved. We talked it out with the leaders, and I asked them to give the ousted primate a second chance. I also validated their points and told him if he violated the expectations of the club, then he couldn't be in it. He's had a few "issues" here and there, but has remained a member.

I love that they are doing this...there's even a proposed cook out at one of the member's houses after school. I spied a guest list in the making today, and they've discussed it with me. I have noticed that when I do show interest and ask questions, they tend to seek my intervention for issues & problems--but I don't budge. This is their thing and I am staying out of it. I trust them to handle it--after all, they started it all on their own. I'm just nosey...and impressed. And not invited to the cook out!

The movie I mentioned addresses the inability of children today to do exactly what these primates have done. And I agree with the movie--whole-heartedly--kids cannot structure their own time the ways kids could 30 years ago: jump rope, kickball, boys catch the girls, or my personal favorite from 1st grade, girls catch the boys...it always ends in someone getting hurt--physically or emotionally or both, or else it gets so out of control adult intervention is needed. But this group of primates is doing it...how are they doing it? what makes them different and able to navigate these complex social systems? Of course, they still need guidance here and there, but I am learning sooooo much about who they are in their "real world", which enriches my perspective on them when I'm leading the group, where they exhibit very different roles and social structures.

I asked a few of the members once why they felt the two leaders were good leaders--words they had used to describe them in conversation. They replied, "They're really nice, and fair." If only we could say that about the leaders in our adult "real world".....