The Rookery

Today the Herons had a very serious conversation about being a citizen.  We needed to talk because this year's presidential election had become a topic of discussion – but not in a productive way.  Students were declaring sides and they were belittling others' views.  It wasn't happening during class time but…

The Herons around our sun marker. On Tuesday, we tracked the sun a day ahead of the autumnal equinox (which was cloudy).  Having tangible experience with the sun's movement helps students begin to comprehend the reason for our seasonal changes.  We'll get out again close to the winter solstice and…

These first weeks are always hard to write about – there's so much I want to share about just the doings in the classroom.  But all the doings have background information and whys that I also want to share.  I want you to feel as though you are a partner in your child's work…

Heron Dichotomous Tree Yes or no… that was the question of the afternoon.  We set up a dichotomous key to identify any Heron by asking them a series of yes/no questions.  The first question was "Is the person a 4th grader?"  This helped us eliminate half the class.  We continued…

Sometimes, you just have to take a deep breath and dive in.  As I'd planned for Forest School this summer, I'd imagined our first crystalline day outside together — the blue sky would beckon, bird song would fill the air and a gentle breeze would stir our hair.  Instead, we…

I don't know if I'll ever feel calm the night (or weeks) before school starts — but there is no better feeling than taking off on the first day of school.  The questions, the excitement, the jokes, the ideas…everything falls into place and the cogs of the classroom machine start…

This summer, my daughter Hazel and I went on a hike together to Devil's Kettle.  We were on what I call "Hazel Time."  I had snacks in our backpack and no deadline or time we had to be anywhere (which is good because Hazel likes to take a lot of breaks…

There are many steps to saying goodbye to our fifth graders.  It's no easy task, for them or for us… The transition begins in the first days of school when the fifth graders shepherd the fourth graders into their new communities and teach them about being a "big bird."  One of the…

For many years, the Herons (and before them, the Elms) thanked people who had helped us with a simple "Thank you song."  The song is so simple it can sometimes seem a little silly (its only words are "la" and "thanks") and yet every person we've sung it to has smiled…

The Herons said goodbye today to Alex Pepel who has been learning with us since January.  She was taking a class on progressive education and was working and observing in our classroom for the semester.  Her warm humor quickly endeared her to the Herons and we will miss her a lot.  …