Opal School Blog
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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Learning to Walk and Talk (and Write)
When I first began as an assistant teacher long ago, I attended a parent meeting at the school on the topic of young children and…
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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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Riding the Chocolate Train
Within a social-constructivist context, shared experiences offer children a chance to build their understandings of themselves, each other, and the world. Earlier this week, the Cedar…
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Pressing the Reset Button
As teachers we are continuously reflecting upon promoting healthy and productive classroom cultures. In designing experiences for children, we consider what we know about optimal…
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In Collaboration with the Natural World
“The wind comes creeping, it calls to me to come go exploring. It sings of the things that are to be found under the leaves.…
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Partner Explore: Connecting with Materials, Ideas and Each Other
Recently, as the children have been getting more familiar with the routines and setting of school, they are becoming more comfortable with one another, too. As a…
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Imagine All of Us Coming Together to Wonder
The beginning of the school year marks a time of wonder: What will this class of children be like? Where will our studies, interests, and…
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