Teaching and Learning
Is it playful inquiry?
Matt and I have been puzzling over this photo this week. Is this moment of questions posed and children deep into their research and writing…
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Giving Thanks; Pursuing Hope
This morning, Opal School gathered for its annual Gratitude Ceremony. Each class demonstrated its unique response to the invitation to contribute: one composed poems about the ways…
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Reflecting on Election Day
The results of the election were more surprising in some settings than others. In Multnomah County, where Opal School resides, Hillary Clinton earned four votes for…
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A response to the “Governing Cancer of Our Time”
Our focus for this year’s Summer Symposium is Play, the Arts, and Education for Democracy. Setting that theme guides our attention throughout the year. How…
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Being Safe to Risk
What lives between the comfort zone and the danger zone? It’s a place where you feel safe to risk. It’s the zone we work to…
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Putting Himself in the Dot
K was engaged at the light table. He seemed unaware of what was happening around him. His full attention was on his creation. He had…
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A liberal education
Upon visiting the pre-primary programs in Reggio Emilia, Jerome Bruner famously reflected that the quality of conversation was as rich as any he had encountered…
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Speaking in Tongues
Who are these children? How can we bring their voices to the world? At our staff gathering to begin the school year, we read and discussed…
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Public Gardens
As a big fan of the work of both Alison Gopnik and Peter Gray, a post written recently by the latter about a new book, The…
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