Listening With Intention to Go Big
The weeks leading up to Winter Break provide teachers with a unique opportunity to pause and reflect on the work that our learning communities have…
Tag: perspective
Fear can’t survive proximity
What happens when fear drives our actions – and how can we interrupt it? This is a story about four-year old Mason. He is a…
Practicing strength by being vulnerable
Maintaining connection while feeling big emotions is something that we work hard on and practice a lot at this school. We want children to experience…
The Importance of Documentation and Reflection in Building Community
In the Cottonwood community, one of our main focuses in the beginning of the school year is community building – which is foundational to all…
Intentions: Interdependence and perspective taking
Dear Intermediate Community families, At Opal School, we see all children as competent citizens with rights. We see them driven to connect, eager to empathize…
How do conflicts, oopsies, and the strategies we use to work through them help support a community over time?
“It is important to practice problem solving strategies so we can use them solving our problems. We get better and better the more we practice!…
Finding a Path to Productive Disagreement: Reflecting on our Response to Uncertainty and Confusion
When I think about the Opal 3 community, I find and feel evidence of tremendous growth as a community: we are more cohesive and…
Surprises
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. ― Albert Szent-Gyorgyi As the children shared images and reflections of…
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…
Tough Guy
Every word and action can send a message. It tells children — or students or athletes — how to think about themselves. It can be…