Lobster Boys

DK Holland

There used to be 3 tables on the porch outside Portside, a tiny, popular breakfast spot on this remote island off the coast of Maine. One table had broken long ago and never replaced so now there are only 2. This was frustrating, since the view from the porch of the lobster fishermen bringing in their morning traps was where I wanted to be to enjoy my eggs, home fries, toast and coffee. But I resigned myself to squeezing inside the small, full dining room on this sunny morning. And I solved the problem of seating by asking 2 young boys if I could share their table for 4. They looked almost done, just nursing their drinks. 

The boys nodded and made room for me as I introduced myself. They knew immediately I was ‘from away’ (most on this tiny island are). Cody, a freckle-faced, buzz-cut boy with an easy manner, was in 6th grade. Jim was taller, light-haired, lanky and a bit awkward. He was in 7th grade. These best friends went to the only school on the island which had 2 graduates last year. How long had they lived on the island? I could have guessed the answer just by their manner: They were not ‘from away’. They were true islanders.

What were they doing on their summer vacation from school? They were lobstering. In fact Jim and Cody had been lobstering all morning on Cody’s boat. This island, which is way off the coast, is one of the lobster capitals of Maine. It’s also one of the most populated islands in Maine. “How long have your families been on the island?” Jim, whose last name was Brown, confirmed my hunch, answering “Since the 1600s.” I asked Cody his family name and he rattled off a bunch including Brown, Hopkins, Carver, Duffy, Dyer, Drury, and, after some hesitation, “And the Smiths…and the other Smiths.” I laughed. They were both essentially related to all the year-rounders on the island. “My cousin owns this restaurant.” Jim added proudly. “What’s her last name?” He replied, “I don’t know.” 

Besides providing the world with lobsters, this island used to export granite including for the erection of major monuments and bridges. But many of the old granite quarries are now swimming holes. Many are concerned that the island is being bled dry of resources and that the waters will stop offering up her riches. The ecology of the entire coast is skewed. Cod and crab are no longer here. And there have been several dry spells for lobster including this year. What would these young islanders do then for their livelihood? What were they being taught in school?

“Would you ever move?” They were resolute. “No.” They said in unison, without giving the question a thought. I understood adding, “Why leave heaven, right?” They nodded. This island’s winter population of 1100 swells in the summer when wealthy families settle in for the season.

I told them I worked in 3rd-6th grades creating Kids’ Councils. Cody seemed interested in this. But then he added a cheeky comment. “I’m going for the record on detentions.” I said that teaching is changing and that teachers are only supposed to talk 20% of the time. “Really?” Jim said, encouraged to hear his boredom might soon be lifted. “Learning has to be relevant and active to be engaging. It’s hard to learn when you’re being lectured at right?” They both nodded vigorously. 

Winters are brutal and isolating. They said they’d lost several teachers last year. “That’s hard on us.” I asked if they frequented their terrific public library. They had rarely stepped foot inside. “Oh yeah. I used to get videos there sometimes.” Jim suddenly corrected himself. Cody added, “And we have a library at school.”

I asked what they liked studying the most. Jim said quickly, “Phys. Ed.” And he added screwing up his face. “I hate science. We studied something called…it sounded like erosion…but that’s not it.” “Evolution?”  “That’s it! I don’t believe in that kind of stuff. I’m a Christian. Adam and Eve were the first people. That’s what I believe.” He added there were 3 churches on the island and 1 was not ever used. But he added proudly, “My uncle started a church in his garage.” 

Just as I mused, “What’s left to say?” Cody jumped up and told Jim he had to leave. And Jim left shortly after. Maybe they were going back out lobstering. I wondered what would happen to these boys if the lobster trade, the only one they knew – the only one they were apt to know – dried up. They were already working, and way under age. Their range of skills and knowledge was already narrowed.

I didn’t have enough time to ask Jim and Cody if they were aware of the inevitable changes for their island. However, I would not have pursued this with them without a thoughtful plan. But I couldn't stop thinking about them and all the other kids here. I imagined a way to approach this issue at their school: A way to teach about the local ecosystem and the choices the residents and businesses must make to lead to abundance not scarcity. A fun interactive course using tools like The Cloud Institute’s fishing game in which teams come up with ways to fish less to end up with more. And I imagined asking them to each create an asset map: To go around the island and plot out the balanced and disrupted systems. To mark ‘renewables’ and ‘non renewables’ on the resources they found. The island has vast areas of pristine marshland, tide pools and primordial forest. 

The integration of math, reading, writing, and social studies would enrich this science lesson. Rachel Carson lived on an island  less than 1 hour away, as the crow flies. A lively discussion of The Silent Spring would get them thinking about our impact on the environment. The economics of cooperative fishing and the history of the lobster industry would be rich with relevant information. They could research the energy cooperative that installed giant wind turbines at the top of the hill to power the island. How do they work? Why are they important to the island. Would this new understanding motivate Jim, Cody and the rest of their classmates to talk to their parents, their peers, to the generations of lobstermen about the future of this island?

The students could make their learning visible using a Learning Wall and invite their friends and families to come to the school and add to it? They could host an event at the public library and get the whole island to witness their discoveries and start a dialog. They could make sure their findings get to their elected officials. Ultimately, these youngest lobster boys and girls could be a catalyst for positive change in this land in which they are so invested, which is so much a part of who they are.

Alone now at this table I finished breakfast. I watched out the door to the porch at Seaside and there were Jim and Cody. They seemed so far away now. In the sunlight, these 2 carefree boys kicked their heels in the air before running off to lobster again. This was just another crystal clear day in paradise for these 2. And they were loving every minute of it. 

Notes: all names have been fictionalized. This was written in 2015 and awareness of environmental issues has since increased dramatically in Maine. Much thanks to Kathleen Kmet Becker for her inspiration, wisdom and encouragement.

Maine has adopted the Common Core. The Maine Department of Education was also part of review process of the C3 Framework which calls for the integration of the disciplines of social studies: economics, history, geography and civics.

Kids call for an election in 5th grade!

Kid Reporters put together an election for the Rising Star Awards again, creating promotions, campaigns, ballots and ballot boxes after school. The Rising Star is a student (they decided) who grew during the year by working through a productive struggle.

Fairness was at the top of their concerns which meant they debated and voted on all major decisions and put aside their own desires for the sake of the group decision. And no electioneering the day of the election and no overt bribes (cupcakes given freely ok, but money to buy votes was a no no). These are all rules the kids came up with. The kids decided that 4th graders should vote as well since they would soon be 5th graders and this would be on the ballot next year. Adults were only facilitators. Kid Reporters worked for 8 weeks, peer-to-peer after school to put together this election.

Top, Melanie, middle, Isabella, Madison and Cassidii. Bottom Eric, Camya and Jayden. All were very motivated to work together for the common cause. Almost all students showed remarkable behavioral improvements in just 8 weeks.

Communication is a huge part of any election. Posters were posted in the hallways so the whole school could see the election was underway..

Kid Reporters explained the election process to all 4th and 5th grade classes.

Each student made a button. Copies were made so that each 5th grader could be handed their own button at graduation . “Every kid is a rising star.” The children didn’t want anyone to feel left out since only 3 students would win.

The results were announced to each classroom. Camya, Jaliyah and Robert had won (in that order).

Melanie announced the awards. She started out by asking “How many of you voted?” The entire 5th grade raised their hands. All of the Kid Reporters shook the hands of the 3 award winners.

The students wrote and edited this one page article which (layout by Inquiring Minds) was printed by the PTA and distributed to all 4th and 5th graders as well as adults who attended graduation.

Kids pow WOW!

DK Holland

“This meeting will come to order!” 10 year old Kids’ Council Co Captain Nyle shouts and slams the mallet on the desk with glee to signify the start of Kids’ Council. A dozen kids together sitting on stools or cross-legged on the rug in the gathering space chattering. Slowly they come to focus on the meeting. Snack Monitor Deidre has set up the snack table and filled bowls and cups which she is in the process of passing out to everyone. An adult facilitator provides a gentle sense of order. 

Nyle with her beloved mallet.

The printed agendas are handed out for approval and then Co Secretary Brad reads the minutes from the previous meeting for approval. Jewel, the Microphone monitor, hands our soft spoken Co Secretary a microphone to ensure all can hear him.

“This meeting will come to order!” Nyle, Co Captain

This is a somewhat idealized view of how each Kids’ Council meeting starts. But because the kids are in charge for these once a week 80 minute sessions they are free to go off script. It’s this ‘wiggle room’ that causes the kids to seek their own unique balance so, by and large, this new found freedom is a good thing.

The backstory

So even though Ms. Morrison had offered class time for Kids’ Council, the students all wanted time to just relax and class time would be over in a snap of the fingers anyhow. So we asked the kids if we could meet after school in the classroom. 

This meant, though, that some kids would not be able to be part of the weekly Kids’ Council meetings. But all the officers agreed they could meet after school and about dozen students were eager to attend. And they promised the class we’d figure out a way to include everyone in decision-making. Fairness is a keyword in Kids' Council.

One of the kids raised the question, “Can kids from ‘the other 5th grade class’ come in?” This was a teachable moment where the adult facilitator simply turned it back to the kids asking them "What do you think?" The kids discussed the pros and cons and voted that that would be okay as long as they were ‘good kids’ but that they could not vote. So the main prerequisite was that kids had to come in with the right attitude: They had to be cooperative and want to improve the learning experience of the classroom.

This must be fun

Kids’ Council is optional. It’s a free program at PS 20. Kids have options; they can attend the general after school program held in the cafeteria where 90 kids grab a slice of pizza, hang out, do homework, play games till their parents can come get them. Or they can come be part of something they create for themselves - Kids' Council. The newness of having their opinions sought; the excitement of forming their own deeply held opinions and articulating them in a trusted group in which they have a modicum of control seems to provide excellent motivation. And we have great snacks.

A good public education: the best defense of our democracy

DK Holland

President Trump wants to shrink federal support for our public schools by nine billion dollars to help inflate his defense budget by 15 billion dollar to protect our democracy against terrorism. But isn’t a solid public education system the first line of defense for any democracy? All that’s good follows a good education.

Calculating the financial gamble

President Trump wants to eliminate all the buttressing that supports our public education. For instance, he would eliminate after school programs in high poverty schools also known as the 21st Century Learning Grants. He would whittle away at Title I individual programs (i.e. support for kids of poverty). He would obliterate Title II programs (i.e. funds used for a variety of purposes, from recruiting and retaining teachers to reducing class size or providing professional development) also known as Impact Aid support payments. Medicaid that special education of students with special needs rely on would also be severely cut.

In addition, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos thinks the federal government should allow for vouchers or scholarships so that parents may pick and choose the school their child attends: public, private, charter, or parochial. While freedom of choice is a high ideal, this seems to be blatantly elitist. How could vouchers or tax credits possibly cover tuition in a private school? And since only public schools are required to hold to an agreed upon standard, moving kids to schools without this agreement would only weaken the national school system. The vast majority of kids in the US – 50 million of them – currently attend our public schools. Of those children 50% (or 25 million) live in poverty and are limited in the schools they can attend, economically and/or geographically. Right now, since we ensure all kids have access to a public school with relatively strong standards, all children are given a shot at reaching their true potential. Trump wants to take that away from the most vulnerable children.

What have been the benefits of our public education?

There are many amazing schools and also troubled schools – whether public or private – in our country. But one big distinction is that only public schools have to follow a state curriculum which reflects what 21st century learners must master to become successful adults. To maintain this standard many, if not most, public schools require their teachers to have a higher degree and rigorous teaching experience which ensures quality teaching. In states where unions protect teachers’ rights the integrity of the teaching profession is itself protected.

On the other hand, many independent, private charter and parochial schools may innovate quickly. But that also means loosening or reinterpreting what a good education is. For instance, some private schools don’t necessarily have to include science, math, writing, reading and/or social studies in their curriculum. A private school may only teach how to curtsy and pour tea if it wishes. Some parochial schools don’t teach English.

In addition charters and private schools have no mandate to teach children with learning challenges or disabilities whereas public schools must welcome all children even those with whom they struggle. This inclusion has proven to be, in fact, enriching: 95% of students with special needs are currently taught in a regular public school classroom. Where would these children be taught (or would they be taught at all) if we destroy our public schools?

Also some private and charter schools don’t think its necessary for teachers to have teaching degrees. Schools without unions can hire/fire staff at will and impose very long work days and low wages on teachers. There is no accountability for quality of teaching for these schools on a state or federal level.

Charters often give a promise of a turn around for a neighborhood in distress. The aftermath of Katrina in 2005 provided the opportunity to cause the strategic implosion of the New Orleans public school system: 4,500 teachers of color were fired practically over night. Without any coordination or consent from the community, all school administrations were replaced with young, unseasoned teachers and others brought in from outside the community. NOLA schools are now almost 100% charters. The data on strong improvement that is often touted seems manipulative. For instance before Katrina, the Student Performance Score threshold was 75. After 11 years of charter schools that threshold was just lowered to 50. 

Moving from a public school to a charter system in New Orleans may have seemed like a miraculous education turnaround but, at the very least, it seems like a disaster since it eliminated the cultural DNA their public schools had provided. By trying to solve a perceived problem, the authorities who orchestrated this takeover created several more.

Public ed is on the upswing

Our public schools have shown many improvements in the past decade. Test scores are up. School suspensions have plunged. The number of grads going on to college has risen significantly. The gap is narrowing between white and nonwhite youth succeeding in school. Teacher / student ratios have improved. Teen pregnancies are down. But many schools have a long ways to go. And higher risk children still tend to drop out in middle school if they don’t see the relevance to them. But we have to approve solving these big hairy problems using the critical thinking tools we wish students to have, don’t we? To do this, we need financial support from the federal government.

Getting caught in the justice system

What would a child do with less than an eighth grade education? What kind of jobs would they be able to get? Even though we've seen reductions in prison populations, the pipeline to prison is filled with kids who, having left school, turned to dubious ventures for income and got caught in the justice system; kids futures are often desperate and hopeless without a good education.

A full 70% of prisoners lack a GED. And the annual cost of keeping one inmate in prison is between $25,000 and $168,000 depending on location. Since the US currently provides $12,500 per year for a child’s education a child that doesn’t make it through school and becomes incarcerated costs us, at a minimum, twice what it costs to keep them in school for each year they are in prison. This causes a drain on our economy while keeping kids motivated to stay in school could be a boon.

And, of course, as anyone who lived though the bad old days of New York City, Los Angeles or Detroit can attest, the costs of high crime are devastating and incalculable. If we watch the public schools backslide or worse, crumble, our overall sense of insecurity and the divide between the haves and have nots will become cavernous as crime climbs back up. 

Even with the improvements I've cited in our public schools we have a long way to go before we reach stability. Kids need to see school as relevant and engaging. This means investing more, not less, in our public schools.

So the potential – to eliminate poverty and therefore strengthen America – depends on strong support for our public schools. But if, in fact, DeVos gets her way: we could see a nose dive in all the gains we’ve made and see a huge increase in economic and social costs. The fabric that is our democracy will shred.

My family’s legacy

My family rose to join the upper middle class in the 20th century. We all benefited from the entitlement of a free public education system. I’m a 70 year old white female. My two sisters and I as well as most of my cousins went to public schools in the 1950s and 60s. Our parents, uncles and aunts and grandparents before us all attended public schools. 

Along the way we got to know many families who also benefited from a public education, families that represent the cultural, racial crazy quilt that is our United States. And we are all living proof that the first line of defense in any democracy is a solid public education system. 

That all else that’s good follows.

DK Holland is a journalist, design thinker and champion of children. She is the co founder of Inquiring Minds USA which brings civics and inquiry into elementary schools. Inquiring Minds is the founding member of 1776 NYC as well as a member of Civic Hall. DK also graduated from the first class of the TED residency. 

Main source of statistics: National Center for Education Statistics 

In addition: 

NPR School Suspensions Have Plunged: We Don't Yet Know If That's Good News

New York Times: City’s Annual Cost Per Inmate Is $168,000, Study Finds 

http://www.prisoneducation.com/

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html

Can we effectively integrate our NYC public schools?

Over half of the population in the US right now is of color. This new majority minority is showing up in Pre K and Kindergarten, all around the country. And nowhere is this reflected better than in New York City public schools in which one point one million students are enrolled, 176 languages are spoken and only 15 percent of children are white.

Our public schools are a wonderful blend of America’s vast cultural tapestry, but factor in that the income levels of many families in New York are at the poverty level, and our public school system also doesn’t just represent the most racially segregated but also the most economically segregated in the country.

Kids are straight shooters

I’ve been working with dozens of 8–11 year olds for over two years in a high poverty segregated elementary school in Brooklyn. Its humbling to work with kids who are much more straightforward than adults. These generous, creative, eager children are the future. They are, like all children, pure potential. But they are segregated. Together with the school I’ve been co-creating, with two adult counselors and about 80 kids, Kids’ Councils in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades which primarily take place after school and are democratically run by the kids themselves with as little adult involvement as possible, in their own classrooms.

I’ve also immersed myself in the life of the school to understand the rules, challenges and opportunities that are typical so I can better relate to the concerns that affect the children in all public schools in New York City.

Parents of means are now able to maneuver the system to get their kids into ‘better’ public or private or charter schools whereas typical New York City families may not be able to do this, and are simply left to whatever schools may be readily available. And choice education options get harder to navigate in middle and high school. Since the promise of the public schools is to provide a good, free education for every child, under-resourced schools struggle to stack up in terms of excellence, performance.

We do better when we integrate

Research shows clearly and undisputedly that we all do better when we integrate. Corporations strive to bring in employees from different backgrounds as do institutes of higher learning. This integration is considered valuable. Yet we maintain racially and economically segregated public schools which do not always graduate students who have the experience and relationships that provide this enrichment in the workforce and society in general.

We need to raise the bar of excellence and increase resources for all. By integrating our public schools all kids will learn to work together therefore we need to get all parents interested in integrating our public schools.

New York City’s Mayor de Blasio has called for public schools to bring their enrollment up to include 40% students of high poverty. This is courageous and necessary but I am filled with trepidation. How will this be accomplished to have the best results — to nurture confident, spontaneous, savvy and innovative children ready to tackle the opportunities and challenges of a crazy quilt world?

Educator Dr. Patricia Crain de Galarce says,

“We need cultural competencies and responsiveness in our public schools if we are to create inclusive environments where all children succeed. Without understanding and valuing differences, we are setting up kids and communities to fail.”

In the over two years that I’ve been working pro bono in a public school in District 13, Brooklyn, New York. I’ve fundraised to keep Kids’ Council free to all — to not add to the financial burden of the school or the parents. Neither could afford it. As a white woman, home-owner and neighbor, I have had a stake in District 13 for 33 years. I’ve been engaged in many ways as my beloved north Brooklyn — a community historically of black families which has recently evolved to include many young white families.

Here are some of the questions that arise for me, working with educational professionals in New York City public schools, regarding challenges high poverty children face:

        What happens when a student comes into a school system where the faculty and administration doesn’t reflect them culturally?

        What about that child’s parents who work two jobs and suddenly face the call to engage in the PTA, not to mention teacher/parent meetings and all the attendant extracurricular activities of a school?

        What about the child who comes hungry to school every day? The child who sleeps on the couch, has no privacy at home?

        What about the child who has just been ‘counseled out’ of a charter school because they can’t deal with his disabilities? How is that child accepted into this new public school as a peer?

        What if that child just wants to be heard but cannot find any ‘way in’?

        What if that child has trouble at home? Or the child whose parents don’t speak English so have never been able to read to this child in the language of the land?

We must integrate our schools but in the process we cannot shove fragile round pegs into rigid square holes. We need to nurture what we love about each and every one of these kids; that they are unique, valuable and capable human beings, each in their own way. Each child, ultimately finds his/her own way. Each child (of poverty or means) comes with a back story and that child will either thrive or whither in the public school environment. We need all to thrive.

Yet largely due to safety concerns, many public elementary schools can feel like prisons into which children must enter and leave every week day. School administrators may be unable to make changes — because, let’s face it, bureaucracy is necessary in a school system the size of New York City’s. But there are solutions, even within this rigidity.

Allow kids agency in their classroom

I’ve found giving the children some say in their learning in elementary school clearly makes a huge difference in their attitude and perspective. Schools in which educators listen to the kids about how to improve their environment are poised to evolve.

This is exactly what I’ve been doing in Kids’ Councils for two years: The kids hold elections in their classroom, set agendas, take minutes and run meetings. They call for votes. Take action. And, of course, they have fun. They enrich their entire cohort by relating empathetically peer-to-peer and, in the process, they are motivated to mature. Overall, they improve their classroom (and help take the pressure off their teachers) by adopting a learner-centered attitude. They talk in a new way to the educators in their school. And to do this in a school population of students that reflects the real, diverse world is ideal.

The delight is the kids

The biggest delight for me (and I think all the smart, passionate educators I’ve been honored to work with these last two years) has been each and every individual child: they are natural egalitarians. They can be solutions-oriented — even in third grade — just with an exaggerated sense of fairness and equity. So if you put them in a situation, even in the early grades, where they have to make and articulate their own decisions, you see them rapidly develop confident, independent and nuanced thinking processes.

Ages 8 and up are the ages when children start to understand the concept of ‘future’ and start to imagine themselves in it. I’ve found even the most challenged child may have big dreams. If they change their trajectory by even a few degrees, this is a huge advance for them longterm.

Kids and parents have much to gain from being in a racially and economically diverse school — one that reflects the real world. We need to look for commonalities — ways for kids to imagine making these shared dreams come true.

Kids can come together face-to-face on their own terms — kids who are different from themselves economically and/or racially – to develop a sense of inclusion — a community in which they each have a self-defined place. Done well, in Kids’ Councils, the children will create dynamic dialogues that bode well for all their futures. Our future. The world’s future.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/american-babies-are-no-longer-mostly-non-hispanic-white

http://www.cccnewyork.org/blog/understanding-diversity-in-nycs-public-schools/

Taking It to the next level

Kids' Council Plans for 2015-16 at PS 20

We met with all the teachers at PS 20 and went over the plan for expanding Kids' Council into 3 classrooms - 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. Read all about it!

Building a Learning Wall in 5th grade

DK Holland and Dr. Patricia Crain de Galarce

In order to understand from kids how their learning may be improved, Inquiring Minds spent a year embedded in a 5th grade classroom, in PS 20, a title 1 school in Brooklyn. It struck us immediately that many of the students were aching for responsibility, curious about the world around them, and full of ideas of how they might learn best. And, when the students were asked to sit and listen they became increasingly placid and disengaged. 

Teachers often feel a great urgency to create learning environments where all students can find success. They struggle to shift to a more constructivist approach, integrating curriculum and inquiry. The pressures of testing often cause panic and teachers revert to a lecture style in attempts to pour in the information and cover standards. This can be, of course, a placebo: It may create the illusion of learning while deep understanding may not be happening at all. 

Together we wanted to reverse the downward trend in this classroom so that students would be actively engaging in accountable talk 80% of the learning time rather than passive listening. Using design thinking, we came up with an interactive Learning Wall.

We asked the students in Kids’ Council* if they wanted to come to school on a Saturday to help create the wall. Pizza was the enticement (irresistible to 10 year olds). Several Kids’ Council members were eager to help. The design team also included adults: Inquiring Minds (Monica Snellings, Patricia Crain de Galarce and DK Holland); the Principal (Ms Lena. Barbera); the teacher (Ms. Opal Morrison) and custodian (Nate) and a parent (Frank’s mom). The students were Jade, Jasmine, Frank, and Viva. It was this team that got our first interactive Learning Wall up – so we could start a new way to document and guide dynamic learning. 

The whole back wall was covered with foam core and topped with black Rubber Tak. This new surface absorbed sound (a big complaint of the kids was that the room was too noisy) as it helped frame the students’ work. We hung a banner high on the wall that included the 5 disciplines - Social Studies, Reading, Writing, Math and Science as well as a bold statement declaring that all the students were ‘awesome and effective.' We explored ways to interconnect the current disciplinary learning (based on the Common Core) and to tie together the learning through asking an integrated essential question. 

“How do we relate to our neighbors?”

The Fifth grade teacher Ms. Morrison explained that the next unit this 5th grade class would tackle was the Western Hemisphere - specifically Mexico, the USA and Canada. We needed a focus that engaged 10 year olds and provided opportunities for deep learning, academic skill building, and that met the Common Core standards so we developed the essential provocative question, “How do we relate to our neighbors?” 

Frank traces 3 interlocking circles to make an illustration for the Learning Wall that shows interdependence.

The Learning Wall centered around this question which we made big and bold. We used the student chosen typeface and printed out “How do we relate to our neighbors?” in giant black outlined letters on white paper. The kids cut out each of the letters right on the black outline. Jade asked "Can we could color them." We said, “Only if it has a purpose.” My favorite moment of the day was when she declared, “We’ll use the colors of each of the 5 subjects to show integrated learning.” Yes, she really said this.

"We’ll use the colors of each of the 5 subjects to show integrated learning.” Jade declared.

The Learning Wall is much richer because of its hands on, handmade quality. The kids take pride in the researching, and developing of the wall. We wanted to engage the kids in getting images and ephemera onto the wall in every way we could that best reflected their learning. Principal Barbera suggested that we use a document camera which each classroom has. Students selected a map of the Western Hemisphere from the Internet and Ms. Morrison projected it onto a 4 foot long sheet of white paper and the kids traced it with gusto. Then they decided to color in each country intentionally selecting colors that added meaning. When they went to put in the names of all the countries they surprised each other at their geographical knowledge. “This is Bolivia!” Frank said with astonishment, “How did I know that?” Jasmine and Viva will never forget the length and placement of Argentina as they almost accidentally cut it off near Antarctica. 

Dr. Galarce puts up a question card under the Reading section of the wall. Students were encouraged to write questions that related to the 3 countries of the USA, Mexico and Canada.

The trick of the Learning Wall is to start with a huge blank canvas and a question that inspires more questions and can be built upon as the students increase their knowledge resulting in a giant assemblage. The wall not only captures students’ learning but evolves and inspires more exploration. We posted the Common Core standards on index cards to display learning goals. And we used “I can” speech bubbles to support student metacognition. Students in this 5th grade dove into an exploration of how we relate to our neighbors through geology, climate, culture and the resulting international trade that our interdependent continent depends on. 

Monica Snellings and Nate the custodian completed the installation of the banner. This was no mean feat.

We thought about how to tie the disciplines together. How could we give this essential question  some tension, relevance. How could we make it come alive?

It's alive!

Equal Exchange, a cooperative dedicated to promoting commerce based on fair trade, was eager to connect and shipped us many copies of a graphic novel they had published that explains how small farmers are often unjustly compensated for their hard work - and the remedy - was to create a fair trade system. The book’s content inspired mathematic thinking around meaningful questions like the difference in the payment a small farmer might get for a crop vs what it sells for at market. “What’s the ratio?” asked Ms. Roberts, the math teacher. The science of the landscape for growing coffee beans led to rich discussions about how much we count on natural resources in our neighbors’ countries as well as the social justice issues of children working the fields. The students grappled with the startling reality for our neighbors to the south and went home asking their moms and dads about their favorite coffee. “where does it come from?”,  “How much did it cost?” “How much did the coffee grower make?”

The beauty of the topic “How do we relate to our neighbors?” is that it capitalizes on the passionate (and often exaggerated) sense of fairness 10 year olds often have. And we are all neighbors: the people sitting next to you are your neighbors. The people who live down the street are too. So are the businesses that you frequent. And so is Mexico. Ms. Nixon, the science teacher made this point quite eloquently. The more the students researched, the more questions they had. This encouraged them to investigate further and develop a sense of nuance. 

Each of the 5 disciplines of Social Studies, Reading, Writing, Math, and Science became more meaningful through integrated learning. The outcomes not only filled their Learning Wall but engaged the students to inquire and tease through discussions rich with inherent contradictions and conundrums. Students were drawn to the wall, at times adding more color, placing additional pins, yarn and labels to the map, and displaying new findings. The wall was theirs to learn from and to change because they knew it was their very own creation. It was the roadmap they had made on their way to new knowledge.

the Learning Wall is up and being added to.

*You may find articles about Kids’ Council – its purpose, development and results when you search the key words Kids' Council. Also look for additional posts in the future on the Learning Wall.

LREI Innovation Institute 2015 begins

Connections is the theme for LREI Innovation Institute Summer 2015 exploration.

Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School (LREI) teachers are coming together to create a set of awesome new innovations. They will be designed, prototyped, mapped out, and T'd up ready to launch or test in the fall.

Over four days Inquiring Minds will run faculty though a custom designed workshop. We will be ably assisted again by the fellows at Playlab, Archie Lee Coats IV and Jeffery Franklin! Representatives from the lower school, middle school, high school plus one dedicated science team will participate. 

Mindsets will be shook up, possibilities will open and connections will be made!

Getting connected on the terrace

Inquiring Minds kicked of the Preview event with an overview and some connecting activities. Participants were asked to discuss and share a time when a chance connection changed their life. 

And in response to last summer's number one feedback comment.

The Innovation Institute was great but boy was it cold!

Connections hoodies were handed out to all our participating teachers! Cool.