The Rookery

One would think that, eventually, they would stop.  But no, here it is the few days before school and I've woken up more than once, drenched in sweat, shaking away the shreds of a dream in which I'm standing in front of the class, staring, without a clue as to what to do.  At least the dreams don't start in June the way they once did.

At workshop week, Caroline asked us to reflect on our goals for the year.  I began with a free write which read in part:

"We are entrusted with such precious beings and have so much we need to accomplish.  Math facts?  Check.  Kind to others? Check. Understanding of geologic time? Check.  Reflective learner?  Check.  Cursive? Check. Feels a connection to the Constitution and Bill of Rights and has a sense of the historical context which has formed our governmental system? Check.  Observes the natural world?  Check.  Is confident and competent while persevering in areas that are challenging?  Check.  Can sit for 10 minutes without poking neighbor?  Check.  Loves to read?  Check.  Uses paragraphs?  Check.  Can sew a button, identify common trees and make change for a dollar?  Check. check. check.  Amazed by the power of mathematics?  Check.  Can throw a ball?  Check.  Is interested in learning more, oh so much more about their world?  Check.   Sees self as an agent of change?  Check."

It can be paralyzing, of course, to think like this.  After a decade of teaching, I know enough now to know there is no magic bullet, perfect curriculum or miraculous manipulative that will make it happen.  Instead, there are constant shifts, trials, and errors.  There is endless patience and humor.  There is work and humility and honesty.

The year seems vast, empty and impossible.  But day follows day.  And as teachers, if we watch and listen, we will know how to fill them.  Slowly, together, we will build a year unlike any other.  The thing is to begin.

We often throw around the words "emergent curriculum."  It means that we design a classroom in which the curriculum emerges from the work of the students.  We watch for their interests.  We plant seeds to develop later in the year.  We follow the thread of a conversation or current event and develop curriculum around it.  We have "must dos," of course, things that we want our children to know and learn by the time they leave us.  But we watch for ways to weave this content into the interests that emerge from the students.  In this way, they assign value to what we are teaching and they actively seek out learning.

So where are we headed?  I'm not sure.  We'll have some beautiful natural objects to talk about on the first day of school.  Postcards will start arriving soon from the four corners of the world (please share our address with any traveling friends.)  We're going to explore mazes and flow charts in math and science in our first few days.  And, since every rising 5th grader I've run into this summer has brought it up, I know that there is a play in our future.

I hope you'll read these entries often and join us on the journey.