Developing a reflective practice
Story Workshop began at Opal School many years ago with teachers and children working together to research the question, What is the relationship between literacy…
Tag: values
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 Space Between Us
I couldn’t sleep Tuesday night, and when I compared notes the next morning with my colleague Mary Gage, she said she couldn’t sleep either. We…
Courageous and Collaborative Communities: A report from the workshop
Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness. Brené Brown Last week, we hosted the…
What is a Teacher-Researcher, Anyway?
The teacher is the chief learner in the classroom. Donald Graves (quoted in Nonfiction Matters) When I was in my first (and second,…
Partner Explore
“A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love,…
Intentions: Transformation
Dear Families, In this complicated and uncertain world, we believe school is where we learn to be human. And right now, more than ever, we…
On the edge of Symposium, thinking without bannisters
Opal School’s Summer Symposium begins Wednesday. It’s a frenetic time around the building: having said goodbye to students last week, teachers are setting up their…
What kind of community do you want to be in?
Many schools spend the first six weeks of school building community in order to establish a foundation that will support learning through the rest of…
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!…