Hannah Chandler
Reflecting on Leaning In With Curiosity (Part Two)
In my last post, I told the first part of our story of using Playful Inquiry to create conditions for children to lean into making sense…
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Reflecting on Leaning In With Curiosity (Part One)
In the beginning of the year, Opal School teachers wrote letters of intention. As Matt wrote here, these letters are our North Star – our…
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Leaning in, Plunging Deeper: Going beyond Reading
I recently came across the following passage in The Sun: The less you are caught up in your own hopes and fears, the more you…
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Going to Materials
One day recently, 4-year old Eliza was busy with an array of materials. Her teacher paused to observe her just in time to catch her…
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Finding a Community to Turn To: Community-building, Revision, and Feedback
In the beginning of October, the Willow community embarked on a field trip. We headed to the Bybee-Howell Preserve on Sauvie Island, a beautiful refuge…
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What is a Teacher-Researcher, Anyway?
The teacher is the chief learner in the classroom. Donald Graves (quoted in Nonfiction Matters) When I was in my first (and second,…
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Intentions: Interdependence and perspective taking
Dear Intermediate Community families, At Opal School, we see all children as competent citizens with rights. We see them driven to connect, eager to empathize…
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What kind of community do you want to be in?
Many schools spend the first six weeks of school building community in order to establish a foundation that will support learning through the rest of…
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It’s not about the spelling…
Recently in Opal 3, we were sitting together in a circle with our writing notebooks, a not uncommon scene for our third grade community.…
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Finding a Path to Productive Disagreement: Reflecting on our Response to Uncertainty and Confusion
When I think about the Opal 3 community, I find and feel evidence of tremendous growth as a community: we are more cohesive and…
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