DEMOCRACY AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING by Beth Mosher and Willie Herndon
Imagine a school that decided to teach a unit on winter sports. A conventional approach might include memorization of facts about how to lace skates, how to locate good sledding spots, and essays on the joy of skiing. Suppose further that the school never actually took the students skiing or ice skating or sledding - they would be understandably bored with the winter sports unit and unlikely to retain what they studied. If they actually got to go skiing they would love it, learn how to do it, and never forget the experience. The same is true for participatory democracy.
The students at The St. Michael School in Clayton aren’t just learning about participatory democracy, they are doing it. Many
schools study the government and how elections work but few, if any school districts in the country have made learning how to participate in a democracy a curriculum standard. Mock elections are held sometimes, but they are seldom part of an ongoing process.
This is a preview of
Message from Beth 1/31/08
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If there IS school tomorrow, bring sleds, boots, gloves, hats, and other snow gear because you will need them.
Math: none
L.A.:
1. biography book report (due Tuesday)
a. timeline (final copy, with personal timeline, 1st draft, and 2nd draft attached). Six-foot readability requirement is kaput. Just readable at two feet.
b. “Walk in the shoes” journal notes and/or sketches
c. preparation for oral presentation
2. Newspaper article for The Scoop: look over comments and revise (again) and send to Audrey. Due Friday or Monday.
3. Elections 2008: (for orange group only) read and digest your notes on where your candidate (McCain) stands on the issue you chose to study. a. Make it understandable to the level of a second grader, as you will explain it to a second grader. b. Summarize the position in a few words so those words can be put on a poster. Due Friday or Monday.
Dear Parents,
Several of our older ones are BIG sports fans. So, the Stupor Bowl, I mean, Super Bowl looms large for them now; so large that it figures in their thoughts/prayers of thanksgiving and concern in chapel.
Remember, the first question I ask every morning in chapel is: Is there anyone you are thankful for or concerned about?
On Tuesday one boy offered, I pray that the Giants win the Super Bowl.
I replied, Hmmm, is that a prayer that fits our pattern here.
He thought, then said, No… I hope the Giants play really well on Sunday.
We both smiled, as did lots of his friends.
This morning I told them about a story I read in the NYT on Tuesday. Apparently after their first Super Bowl win in 2001 the Patriots coach, Bill Belichick, invited the great Bill Russell, the 11 time NBA basketball champion with the Boston Celtics, to speak to his team.
This is a preview of
From the Great Bill Russell, “Be Kind to Each Other,” Jan. 31, ‘08
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Dear Parents,
I apologize for dropping out of the “letter loop” for a while. We’ve had a busy two weeks, and now things are hopping with our “elections”. More on that later…suffice to say now, it’s typical authentic engagement.
I want to extend a HUGE thank you to you all for our Professional Development Day on Friday (and specifically for being understanding that with 150 educators in the building all day, that we could not open Adventure Club). Thank you.
It was the best Institute/Conference we’ve hosted in our 13 years of doing this. We were able to give a lot and receive a great deal as well. In faculty meeting yesterday morning our list of positives was long, including:
- our WATER documentation stimulated much exploration by all the educators;
- that all of our faculty was available to the visitors in their classrooms in front of their documentation proved to be a great opportunity for meaningful exchange of ideas;
This is a preview of
A Note on Our “Institute” and an Invite to Family Night on Feb 8
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We look forward to seeing you at one of our re-enrollment meetings this week. All parents are encouraged to attend.
The re-enrollment meetings will focus on a review of the re-enrollment process, solicit what is going well this year, address concerns and answer questions. Times offered are listed below.
Tuesday, January 29 - 5:00-6:00 p.m. Taylor Room
Wednesday, January 30 -5:00-6:00 p.m. Taylor Room
Thursday, January 31 - 7:45 - 8:30 a.m. 4/5’s room (This meeting is primarily for preprimary families transitioning to elementary)
Please RSVP to Jeff Brawn at 721-4422 or jbrawn@stmichaelschool.org
As many of you alredy know by looking at our classroom Snack Calendar, this week will be a birthday bonanza! Birthdays are special times to all of us - we celebrate each other, we give gifts and thanks to each other, and we think about all the other birthdays we’ve had in our lives. Three-year-olds turning four are easily excitable but they are also generous and grateful and - surprisingly to all those jaded by too many years on this earth - quite reflective about what completing four years here means to them!
While our birthday sculptures will increase by more than 66% this week, the number of four-year-olds in our class will only increase by 20%. How about that for a statistical analysis? Easy to explain - lots of sunny summer births need to be celebrated half-way through the schoolyear in icy January! Half-birthdays can sometimes be a little confusing, but it’s a good way for children to begin to think about time passing, seasons, and relative age. Take some time to explore the birthday sculptures in our room with your child - s/he will be glad to point out the contributions s/he made to each one.
We look forward to seeing you at one of our re-enrollment meetings this week. All parents are encouraged to attend.
The re-enrollment meetings will focus on a review of the re-enrollment process, solicit what is going well this year, address concerns and answer questions. Times offered are listed below.
Tuesday, January 29 - 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Taylor Room
Wednesday, January 30 -5:00-6:00 p.m.
Taylor Room
Thursday, January 31 - 7:45 - 8:30 a.m.
4/5’s room
(This meeting is primarily for preprimary families transitioning to elementary)
Please RSVP to Jeff Brawn at 721-4422 or jbrawn@stmichaelschool.org
The St. Michael School 2008-2009 Re -enrollment Contracts
The St. Michael School is currently accepting re-enrollment contracts. Contracts were mailed last week. We have had many interested families apply to SMS but are not accepting new students until the close of re-enrollment for our current students, Friday, February 8.
We are fortunate at The St. Michael School because we have involved parents and wonderful families attending our school. We want to remain small in order to keep our student/teacher ratio low. We ask that you re-enroll quickly so we have a firm number before accepting students from our current wait list. It is important to know the number in each class in order to hire the appropriate number of teachers for our student body for the 08/09 school year.
You are invited to attend one of our Re-enrollment meetings
Re-enrollment meetings
This is a preview of
Message from Beth 1/21/08
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Last week we mixed tempera paint each day in our Mini-Studio Small Group. The resulting colors and the paintings the children made were so beautiful that we hung them as an extemporaneous documentation of everyday life in our classroom. I don’t know about all the delegates, but I sure thought it was impressive! The children were so engaged in the process and had such delight in watching their colors emerge - it was a wonderful week in the Mini-Studio!
When the children were satisfied with the colors they had mixed, it was time to start painting. Two at the easel, two at the table and Kathie in between - the paper was flying off the shelf, the drying rack was overflowing and paint was zinging through the air.
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