Last March, Cedar Teacher Caroline Wolfe wrote a blog post about some of the resources that we use at Opal School when thinking about goals and expectations for children, which includes a body of work by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick identifying 16 habits of mind to use when you are confronted with a …
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 in graduate school seminars. Over the years, it’s a response to observations I’ve frequently encountered from visitors to Opal School. Because my daughter (an Opal School alumna) is off for her …
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 Gardener and the Carpenter, by the former, got me thinking. In summarizing some of Gopnik’s main points Gray writes: We adults can help them best not by teaching, but by …
Don’t for heaven’s sake, be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention to your nonsense. -Ludwig Wittgenstein As Opal School staff reconvened last week to launch the new school year, we were inspired by and found connections in two essays. In Zadie Smith’s Speaking in Tongues, we saw our drive to support children …
Students in Opal 4 have been working to seek connections between some of their experiences in Opal 4 this year, the questions we’ve been exploring around perspective taking, and Opal School’s goals and expectations (which we first wrote about here). Because we know that the use of materials supports students to seek these connections and …
What is possible when we invite parents and teachers together to create shared meaning of our goals and expectations for children? What connections, stories and perspectives will emerge through this shared process? What might happen if we offer parents the assessment tools and resources used by the teachers when paying attention to children? How …
Read more “Partnering with Families – Sharing resources for shared meaning-making”
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 one another, seeking understanding and connection, and further developing empathy. How might we, through playful inquiry, consider the stories that nature has to tell? What stories might we uncover within …
“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 tangle my curls so I would have seeing of that cradle. It was cream, with a hazel leaf halfway round it. I put it to my ear, and I did …
One important document that lives inside the family handbook that goes home at the beginning of each year is Opal School’s goals and expectations for students. As teachers, this document is a critical piece of our work. We use it as a resource for planning, reflecting and assessing. It serves as a guiding document that …
Read more “Exploring Opal School’s Goals and Expectations for Students: Part 1”
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 themselves as researchers alongside the children with much to learn from them. As Loris Malaguzzi, founder of Reggio Schools, states, “The things for children and about children are best learned …