Art Up Close

The 2-3s' visit to the Albany Institute of History and Art was a great success. The group dug in and looked deeply at Hudson River School paintings (both from the original movement in the mid-19th century and contemporary large-scale works), asked and answered questions, did a little writing and made art in the museum's art room. The children did a great job representing themselves, your family and Parker. The trip celebrated all the learning this group has done about the Hudson River this year.

Making observations about color, shadow and light. 

 

Using our imaginations to think about how artists create their work.

Noticing details in a painting and speculating about what is happening in the scene.

 Discussing a Hudson River School masterpiece. 

 Gazing INTENTLY and noticing the artist's brushstrokes.

 Appreciating the fine detail in Hudson River School paintings.

 Working in pairs, the children chose a work of art and imagined themselves inside the painting. They sat near their chosen pieces to record details. Their task: write an imaginary post card to family/friends describing the environment in their painting.

 Brainstorming nouns and adjectives to help prepare sentences for their postcards.

 

Interacting with a light installation.

 In the art room for torn collage landscapes.

 Enjoying the comforts of a Dutch wooden clog. 

Smile.

Back in the Swing

Happy New Year! January always has us looking forward to the year ahead. I want to take a moment to reflect back on December. What incredible work the children achieved for our Show of Work!! It was a joy for me to kick off my holiday season with the children and families all gathered together. Thank you.

Here’s a candid image of some of the children working to set up our Hudson Riverscape before the big event:

 And a couple of fun shots from the days when we had snow on the ground: 

Last Monday, the children flew into the room and we were back in the swing IMMEDIATELY! Two weeks away from the children was enough for me.  :)

BACK TOGETHER WITH SMILES AND SILLY FACES

We began focusing on the Language Arts right away.

How lucky I am to have Jennifer Gresens not only teaching 2nd grade math, but working alongside me in the classroom on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Sharon Santacroce pushes in to the classroom at the same time as Jennifer. Sharon, Jennifer and I have come together to collaborate on a Language Arts routine for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Each of us will run three Language Arts rotations for small groups. We are tailoring lessons to the needs of each group we see. We'll prepare work on phonics development, decoding practice and spelling, reading fluency and comprehension, as well as short writing tasks. Jennifer and I will continue individualized and small group work on Friday afternoons. We just launched on Tuesday and we are off to a great start. 

On Mondays & Wednesdays, we have a rotation with art, so I have the class in halves for 45 minutes each. The children have been devoted to Drop Everything and Read time since the very start of the year. As a group, the children can now maintain 30-40 minutes of sustained independent reading. It’s amazing!

We are now ready to move from individualized and independent reading work to our Literature Circles. Our circles pull together small groups of similar readers to share instruction with me and a literary journey. The children will be matched with trade books at their instructional level and every child will independently read his or her own copy of the text. I will gather the groups around particular teaching points (plot, sequencing, vocabulary, character development, themes, etc.). I strive to create an atmosphere that allows for wide-ranging conversations and builds excitement about books. 

Literature Circles will meet one to two times a week. In between, the groups will negotiate the pace of their reading to prepare for the next meeting. These small groups allow me to support, assess, and individualize the development of reading skills on an ongoing basis.  

So much ahead. I’ll keep you posted.

LISTENING TO A READ ALOUD

POND DIGGING...BIG MACHINE...OOOOOOOH!

Joy

As we wind down our semester, the children's working days are full. Everyone has been stretching academic muscles as essays are organized and composed on Hudson River topics.

Confidence is tested as the children move from their research articles into organizing and synthesizing those ideas in their own words--as best as each child can. Patience and focus have been tested as this work stretched over many days. As essays are finished, each child is struck with relief, then pride and, finally, joy.

My tradition is to do a little dance with each child as he or she writes that last word in the conclusion. Some kids love the jig. Some kids take off and run away giggling. Jennifer and I always make sure that their hard work is marked with a good mix of joy, humor and celebration.

The children can't wait to show you the writing moves they have made. We are all looking forward to celebrating with you this Friday!!

Equally important is to ensure that each day we get outside to blow off steam and just feel the joy in nature and good friends.

Getting the taste of our first real snow on our tongues!

Aaaah, to be with a group of smart, talented, funny and rambunctious kids each day: 

that's one of my life's greatest joys.  

Being Learner-Centered

A hallmark of a Parker education is that students have greater autonomy than in a typical classroom.

While searching for links to “student centered classrooms,” I saw lots of articles arguing passionately for a shift in focus RIGHT NOW away from top-down/teacher-centered learning environments. Our quickly changing world is pushing education at all levels to rethink traditions.

We are lucky at Parker. It has always been our view that putting the children at the center of the learning environment promotes their full engagement and passions.

Teachers do have the expertise to plan curriculum and design learning opportunities that develop the skills our students need. We have a voice in the classroom but we are not the sole voice--our students help to shape their educational journey. So, a Parker teacher acts as a facilitator of learning.

With greater autonomy, a Parker student has greater responsibility. The children are constantly working to hone their independent thinking and problem solving skills. Learning how to most effectively and respectfully communicate—both student-to-student and student-to-teacher—is a huge part of each day’s work. And assessing how to set the bar higher for the work they produce is their daily challenge.

Teaching really is different in a learner-centered environment. There are five characteristics of learner-centered teaching, according to a blog aimed at college professors (http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/five-characteristics-of-learner-centered-teaching/):

1. Learner-centered teaching engages students in the hard, messy work of learning. 

2. Learner-centered teaching includes explicit skill instruction.

3. Learner-centered teaching encourages students to reflect on what they are learning and how they are learning it.

4. Learner-centered teaching motivates students by giving them some control over learning processes. 

5. Learner-centered teaching encourages collaboration. 

As the 2-3s move into their independent research topics on the Hudson River, I can’t wait to see the multiple ways they’ll dig in and get down to writing and creating. They’ll have to organize their essays and find their voice, use their hands to build models and food webs, work through frustration and find their focus, mentor and help each other out, and assess and improve their own work. Finally, together they will create a multi-faceted presentation of their learning for you and the larger Parker community at our Show of Work.

It'll be hard work--the best kind of work. It'll be messy--that's because the deepest learning rarely follows a safe and steady course. These are my favorite times in the room so I, for one, can't wait. :)

The pictures below are from the last few weeks.

Drop Everything and Read

The 2-3s are typically reading for about 30 minutes straight. This learner-centered activity provides students with a chance to stretch those reading muscles in books that are a good fit for their reading skills.

Stamina and focus are building!!!

 Collaborating with Cornell Cooperative Extension gardeners and our buddies

to plant trees on our beautiful property.

Muddy Boots

in the woods together

Connecting

with our buddies