The Rookery

Michelle allowing me to try my darnedest to not only fill in for her the past two weeks, but work towards coming into my own as a teacher has been nothing but a wonderful opportunity. I however, don’t think you’re here to read my story, so let’s talk about what your…

Windbreak vers. 1.0 This past week at Forest School, things didn't go as planned.  Greg has brought an awesome camp stove that he had and his child had made together – an ingenious device made from the ends of two aluminum cans.  He'd used it before to cook lunch! The…

A field trip to Valley Grove Years ago, a Heron (well, he was an Elm, a precursor to the Herons) was considering the Habits of Mind and decided that we should have an extra one. "I think we should try to go Above and Beyond what is expected," he said. …

Naturalist John Latimer visits the Herons. There is a deep irony about writing this blog — the more excited I am about what is going on in the classroom, the more I want to share it thoughtfully and the more likely I am to put it off until I can…

As Remy and I reflected on the week, we were struck by just how busy the Herons have been.  This is one of the sweet spots of the year when students thrill to see just how much they can accomplish: Explorers Ibn Battuta's journey…in cartoon notes On Monday, we learned…

  Work by a younger student who was inspired by the Herons' ads We wrapped up our first mini unit on advertising this past week in which we had a lot of fun dissecting the ads they brought in to better understand the elements that go into creating an enticing…

The first six weeks are busy ones in the 4/5s. We jump right into our academic curriculum (we just finished our first theme!).  The teachers work hard to develop an understanding of each learners needs through a series of formative assessments.  We work to establish our routines and, most importantly,…

Over twenty admiral butterflies were on the sedum we observed during forest school! Wednesday (the second day of school!) was our first day of Forest School.  Every Wednesday, the Herons will spend a large part of the day outside.  When we plan the day, we think of three different kinds…

The Herons had a great day getting to know each other.  All summer, it's hard to imagine the class without the graduating fifth graders.  Then, suddenly, the new Herons walk through the door and it quickly becomes hard to imagine the class any other way.  I'm so excited to be…