The Rookery

Herons at the end of the Silk Road

My very favorite thing about culminating events is that I'm not in charge.  About a week before the big day, something subtly shifts and the ideas start to come too fast for me to keep up with.  Students begin to make things happen all by themselves so that, by the time our first guests arrive, there are all kinds of things for me to discover as I walk around.  Today, I heard one child share a welcome speech that she had carefully written and memorized, unbidden by me.  Other students had done extra research and were teaching things I didn't know about.  When I left the gym at eleven, the Great Wall was a series of boxes in the middle of an otherwise bright and empty gym.  When I returned at 11:15, the room was illuminated by lanterns, the windows were darkened, the truly great wall stretched across the gym and pipa music filled the air.

In a conversation with a colleague, we described this part of our work as riding a wave of energy.  The students are all so focussed and driven and excited – I just get to keep up with them.  It's exciting and a little unnerving, but they're ready.  Not only have we been studying the subject for a few months, we've been building the skills that enable them to be independent learners and innovators.  They don't need me – except for finding things in the basement or figuring out how to copy four items to a page.  My job is to say, "Yes, how can I help?"  I have never once had to re-direct a Heron behaviorally during one of our culminating events – this is their time to shine.  They don't just know their stuff, they own their stuff.  I couldn't be more proud.

The Herons gave a gift to the school today.  A friend texted me that her kids were playing "Silk Road" when they got home – trading items and setting up stations around the house.  A fifth grader from another class stopped me after school to share his financial genius – he had made the trip from Antioch to Xi-an four times – quintupling his profits with each run (it will be such fun to talk with the Herons about his idea and ask them if it could have happened on the real Silk Road).  Some of the topics from today might find their way into personal projects – they'll certainly find their way into class discussions.

And of course, the Herons benefit from the work of other classes, too.  Today the Herons brought up some of the things they learned from the Robins' event on the Constitution during our morning meeting.  Tomorrow they'll learn from the Kestrels about a proposed climate action plan for the school.  We are a community of learners and culminating events enable us to weave our learning together.