Dear Future School
It’s that time of year when our oldest students start seriously thinking about the schools they’ll go to next. These transitions are always bittersweet. It’s so…
Tag: Opal 4
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…
What brine do you soak in?
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…
Early Fraction Math Work: Math Congress
To launch our work with fractions, students were told a story about another class of fourth graders who were going on a small group field…
Exploring Opal School’s Goals and Expectations for Students: Part 1
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…
Supporting each other to make faux leather historical journals
What happens when the children become the experts and they support each other in the creation of a special aritifact? And 28 children can work…
Negotiating Treaties, Negotiating Curriculum
The Separatists from England, via Leiden, Holland, finally took their very well known journey on the Mayflower, which, by the way, was exactly this long (see…
The Culture of the Atelier – Connecting minds, hands, rationality and emotions
In my last blog post, I talked about the Hundred Languages, the many ways of knowing and expressing that belong to children. The schools of…
Synthesis Thinking, Materials Work, and the penultimate week of school!
This was a four day week, but so much is happening in Opal 4, I had to share. Practicing our songs for graduation with Carrington…
Friday Update – May 17, 2013
Sometimes “Highlights” and “Ask Me About” just can’t capture the week. We need pictures! Historically Accurate Play in Opal 4 has moved – geographically and…