Teaching and Learning
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Participating Together
One of Opal School’s Values guiding all of our decisions is, A belief in the rights of children, families and educators to participate together in…
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Finding stories; finding each other
About once a week in the Alder community of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds, we split the group in two, carefully considering friendships we want to…
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A call for truth and reconciliation
Yesterday, we held one of our monthly Online Subscriber meet-ups. Susan and I were joined by Monica Martens, a teacher from Manitoba. She described how she…
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The Space Between Us
I couldn’t sleep Tuesday night, and when I compared notes the next morning with my colleague Mary Gage, she said she couldn’t sleep either. We…
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Finding our focus
We are eager to discover capabilities in ourselves and in children that we have not yet imagined. We accept the challenge to shape a new…
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Why “Story Workshop” is not “Retelling-Someone-Else’s-Story Workshop”
A lot of things happen during Story Workshop at Opal School: Finding stories which may develop into writing pieces in many different genres Writing stories,…
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The Courage to Show Up and Be Seen
Connection is the energy that is created between people when they are seen, heard, and valued — when they can give and receive without judgement.…
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A Place for Practice
The beginning of a new school year is an exciting time. The newness, the fresh start, and the anticipation are always with me as I…
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What do you rely on?
In her last post, Susan shared stories about getting started with Story Workshop. She wrote that educators interested in Story Workshop often ask us, How do…
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Getting Started with Story Workshop
Story Workshop is an approach supporting young children’s literacy built upon on four pillars: the sharing of stories; immersion in the arts; time for play;…
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