Lexi performing for the crowd

Second-grade skaters at the Sunday
Parents' Association Skate Event

Back-to-School Night - Part 2

Second-grade parents doing their classwork

Last Thursday night 120 second through fifth-grade parents experienced what it was like in the classroom from their children's point of view. In addition to universally positive reactions from parents, common comments were:

• How their children's learning is vastly different from their own school experience.
• How much more fun and engaging it was than they remembered.
• How much they were asked to think.


 

Parents of 4th graders working on a
math problem

• How much discussion there was and how important it was to listen to what other "students" had to say.

The teachers, for whom this was the first time that they had done this, were surprised that they had fun doing it. Of course, just like their children, some of the parents had to be reminded not to be to chatty during the lesson. 


I want to say a big thank you to the teachers and to the parents who attended, some both nights.

First Graders Finding Their Voices

In first-grade science class last week, a discussion about our unusual winter turned toward the upcoming Ground Hog Day. (In September we had to respectfully relocate a ground hog so that it would not thwart all of our attempts to raise vegetables in our garden, so there is a certain sensitivity toward the needs of ground hogs among our students.) From there, the discussion turned to questioning why should we wake ground hogs up before the end of their hibernation to predict how much longer winter was going to last. From there sprang the idea to gather names for a petition that would ban disturbing ground hogs before they are ready to wake up for the spring. Signs were made and a trip to the upper campus was planned to gather signatures on Ground Hog Day. The video below is witness to first graders, supported by their classroom teachers and science teacher, exercising their voices in the name of making a difference important to them.
 

Are Smartphones Smart for Lower School Children? 

I would venture to guess that somewhere between a third and half of fourth and fifth graders bring smartphones to school each day. I have seen students as young as second graders with phones, mostly those who travel by bus. Our current policy is that these phones are only to be used in emergencies when school phones are unavailable, that they should be kept in backpacks in school lockers during the school day, and that they may only be used with the permission of an adult. My assumption and hope is that these devices are given to children by parents primarily to respond to emergency situations. The reality is that it is hard to get just a regular old cell phone these days, as everything is “smart”, which means that the phone can access just about anything on the internet and do most things a computer can do. Even if it were easy to get just a phone with the ability to only dial pre-programmed numbers, children would lobby mightily to have the latest smartphone.

The real question is do young children really need smartphones? If they travel by bus, perhaps the answer is yes, otherwise I venture to suggest that for Lower School-aged students, the answer should be no. If phones are necessary, then they should be programmed to allow only the access that is necessary and/or age-appropriate. Below is an excerpt from an article from Today Tech on MSN.com that explores this issue and has specific suggestions on how parents can limit access from the most popular smartphones.

Of course, the best deterrents to problems are conversations between parent and child about the limit of use, boundaries and parental expectations when using such powerful tools. Restricting and monitoring are also essential. Simply handing over a smartphone or computer to a fourth or fifth grader without appropriate conversations or parental controls is asking for problems.

Already this year we have had to spend quite a bit of time and emotional energy dealing with several incidents of cyberbullying that occurred by phone and computer outside of school. We have also had students attempting to use smartphones during school hours.

Today Tech on MSN.com

Managing smart phonefeatures  (click for full article)

With all of the functionality a smart phone has to offer comes the need to use it responsibly. For some kids, this won't be a problem, but others might benefit from the boundaries you can set with parental controls.

For things like managing talk time, text messaging and call blocking, the carriers all have parental controls. For everything else, you'll have to rely on settings you choose on the phone.

The best parental controls are found on the iPhone. That's because they're baked into the operating system. You can turn off access to Safari, YouTube, the camera, iTunes, installing and deleting apps, making in-app purchases, playing multi-player games and adding friends in Game Center. You can also restrict access to music, TV shows, movies and apps based on ratings. Plus you can add an app like Safe Browser to filter content on the Web if you don't want to shut it off entirely.

Android phones don't have any parental controls built into the operating system. There are apps out there though that do that, and they cover some areas that the iPhone doesn't. There's Android Parental Control (free), which restricts access to apps. AppNotifier (free) will let you know when your child loads apps onto the phone. SMS Filter ($1.35) looks for keywords in messages and blocks inappropriate content. And Picture Alert ($9.99) will send copies of any videos and pictures taken by the phone's camera.

BlackBerry 6 and Windows Phone 7 operating systems are also devoid of parental controls, and there's nothing out there except call- and text- blocking apps.

Modeling Lifelong Learning

Kindergartners leading cheers at their
Super Bowl party

One of the most significant lessons that I have learned over the years, mostly as a parent but also as an educator, is how important a child’s earliest experiences are in shaping who they become and how they approach their world  throughout their lives. The interplay between a child’s individuality, as defined by their personality, their strengths, weaknesses and their affinities, and their environment begins as soon as they are born.

Whether it is in the area of social and emotional development, or attitudes toward learning, parents, as the primary role-models, are the most important constants in their environment. How they see you form and nurture friendships and respond to challenges are arguably the most important determinants of how they will come to respond to their world as they mature.

Members of the Upper School Robotic
presenting to fifth graders

Anyone who has more than one child has been surprised at how it is possible to have such different human beings emerge from the same mother and father. There are different energy levels, interests and personalities that become apparent almost immediately at birth, and they definitely do not always cleave across gender lines.

As parents of four (two boys and two girls), Melissa and I just shook our heads at how different they were, each having their own set of strengths and weakness that needed to be recognized and responded to. However, as they moved into their teens and twenties, it was interesting and sometimes unnerving to recognize in them different aspects of ourselves. Beyond physical appearance, one can catch glimpses of shared interests, personality traits, affinities, and yes, even weaknesses. Yet there are important similarities that we see in them as they have grown into adults.

It is hard to generalize only from personal experiences, but adding almost 40 years of teaching, I venture to say that attitudes toward learning is an area that reflects parental modeling more than the individual differences in children. We have seen in our own children very similar positive, adventurous, problem solving approaches toward learning and life, expressed, of course, in ways that reflect their own individuality.

The times when learning was frontloaded into the first quarter century of life are long gone. The ability to be a lifelong learner is now an essential requirement. I encourage you to generously share with your children how you work through new situations that require learning and problem-solving. Take the time to age appropriately describe and unfold the process for them as you make choices in planting a garden, decide between a gas or hybrid vehicle purchase and respond to new opportunities as well as setbacks. Even the youngest children can absorb your attitudes toward meeting challenges. It is most important for them to see you react to change as something normal, expected and positive, full of exciting opportunities. Problem solving requires research and research requires learning and decision making. As often as possible, involve your children in your own lifelong learning. This gift will most definitely last their lifetime. Who knows, one day you may even recognize your approach to learning and life in your grandchildren. 

Opera Update

Sophia, Luke, Parth and Mateo

Hi, I'm Kyle, a public relations officer. This week I will be writing about the carpenters. Their names are Sophia, Mateo, Parth, and Luke.
I interviewed them and this is what they said:

Kyle asked: “What have you guys been doing?”
Mateo replied: “We’re making a model stage on paper.”
Sophia said : “We also get to cut wood.”
Then I asked: “What do you like about your job?”
Mateo said : “I have lots of fun!”
Sophia said : “I like being creative.”
Finally I asked : “What are you looking forward to?”
Parth said : “We will be able to cut with a saw, build a stage, and paint with a brush.”

It sounds like they love their job. Some requirements are to be able to lift and move heavy objects and to be creative.  

***

Gregory, Daniel and Ross

Hi, I’m Ryan, and I’m a Public Relation officer for the fifth grade opera company. I’m going to be telling you about the Electricians. The Electricians are Daniel, Gregory, and Ross. The Electricians have been building the foot lights. They are going to paint them black so the audience can’t see them. I got a chance to talk to all the electricians, and here is what they had to say.


I asked Daniel what he is looking forward to doing, and he said: To go in the dimmer booth and shinning the light and learning about electricity.
I asked Gregory what his favorite part was, and he said: Making the foot lights. Like cutting them painting them, etc.
I asked Ross what the Electricians have been doing, and he said: We have been learning about electricity and making the lights for the show.
I asked what do you think is going to be the hardest for the electricians Mr. Swanson, and he said: Making a detailed diagram of the performance and also wiring the lights.

***

Fifth-grader Myriam performed at the UN on January 20th singing It's a Small World in 4 languages, Arabic, French, Spanish and English, for a "Cultural Evening" showcasing several cultures.