The Secrets of Wire: Play, Reflection and Relationships with Risk
As my colleagues and I continued to think together about our big idea of transformation and some of our research questions, we wondered what materials…
Tag: risk-taking
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…
Children will tell you what they want. If you listen, they might show you what they need
In my last blog post, I reflected on Opal’s 3’s experience of getting their writer’s notebooks, a process which I hoped would help them see themselves…
Scared and Brave at the Same Time
This year, in the Primary Group, we are thinking deeper into the idea of “self.” As stated in our Letter of Intention to parents at…
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…
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…
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…
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…
What lives inside of joy?
In the days before the children arrived at school, my colleagues and I considered how to prepare the classroom environments and we developed our intentions for…
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…