A Sneak-Peek Into Our Intentions
The Beginning School Team sent this letter to parents before the first day of the 2016-2017 school year. We’d love to hear the reflections of Opal School…
Tag: documentation
Sharing Strawberries
In the spring, because our third graders had become so engaged with statistics of our global population, we decided to share some of the Material World…
Living in Questions
Visitors to Opal School are oftentimes struck by the quantity and quality of the questions they encounter here. At Opal School, we aim to live…
Constructing new ideas through dialog and the arts
During a recent Opal School Mentorship Program gathering, a group was discussing the quality of conversation they hear in Opal School classrooms. They were intrigued by the…
Expanding empathy; making change
Last week, I represented Opal School at Ashoka Changemaker Schools Network Summit in Oracle, Arizona. The Changemaker Schools Network is a global community of elementary,…
It Starts with a Seed
As teacher-researchers, we feel strongly about nurturing children’s connection to nature through playing, making, and sharing. Stories are one way we play and share with…
Seeing By Feels
“When I did turn to untangle my curls, I saw a silken cradle in a hazel branch. I have thinks that the wind did just…
Schooling for a better world
My heart is heavy looking back on a violent year. In the past year, we’ve watched so many individuals gunned down, white supremacy viscerally stamped…
Children and Teachers as Researchers
Researchers pay attention to their questions, theories and ideas by listening for what provokes, inspires, challenges and engages them. At Opal School, the teachers see…
Guest Post: Becoming a Teacher-Researcher
Today’s guest post comes from Sandra Patton, a teacher at Maple Ridge School in Alberta and member of last year’s Opal School Mentorship Program. A year…