The Rookery

Many years ago now, one of the Elms came up with a Habit of Mind he felt was missing from the official list, "Going Above and Beyond."  We had some great discussions trying to determine if this idea fit in some of the others or if it indeed should be added.  We all felt strongly that it was a very important part of being a Prairie Creek learner and, in the end, we made it a new Habit of Mind.  We still use the reflection sheet the students designed that year as we prepare for conferences.

We don't have extra credit at Prairie Creek.  I have no means to "make" children learn more other than the culture of the classroom and the compelling nature of their work.  The fact that students are so eager to challenge themselves and go beyond expectations amazes people who don't know the school well.  But it is what we do as Prairie Creekers — we are interested in the world around us and committed to delving into it deeply.

When you come to the New Worlds' Fair on Friday, you'll see evidence of this.  All students needed to do was display their understanding of some basic geography concepts by creating a large and small scale map as well as share information about their imagined land in four paragraphs.  But as student after student began sharing the other things they were planning the "To Do" lists of everyone else got longer.  Calendars, native clothing, flags, games, folk arts, atlas covers, souvenirs, money, alphabets…  Several years ago, the kids started calling such additions to our culminating events "sparkle" and they'll talk about wanting to save time for it as they work on a project.

I've written a little about this in the course of this theme but I feel it bears repeating.  It's something that truly differentiates us from other schools.  Prairie Creek kids learn to set their own goals and chart their own course.  They do not depend on an authority to show them the way from A to B.  I don't set boundaries to the learning the class does — they are free (and expected) to go above and beyond.