The Rookery

Today began with our annual Blue Book celebration.  We use the Blue Books to capture all of our learning – they are fat with papers and pictures and artifacts by the end of the year.  Today we simply numbered the pages and marveled at what was to come.    …

The first day of the first six weeks of school is a crazy mix of setting up routines, establishing norms, getting to know each other, having fun, and planting seeds for the weeks ahead.  The fifth graders do an amazing job of setting the tone in the classroom — when…

Recently, I took my sons and a friend up to the Science Museum for an afternoon.  We began outside in the "Big Back Yard" area, hanging out at the stream table.  And hang out we did.   We spent more than an hour diverting the water here, making giant lakes…

Today some intrepid gardeners and I finished up the test plots and put them out on the roof.  The current question is whether or not we should have Simon water them during July if it doesn't rain much.  One of our criteria is that our garden should be able to…

I hope that many of you will be able to come to Prairie Creek's first annual volunteer appreciation event this Wednesday morning.  Even if you aren't able to come, please know how grateful I am of everything volunteers have done for the Herons and the school this year. I feel…

        We have continued work on our roof garden.  I have been very excited by how the theme has taken shape.  On Tuesday, we set out to map our gardens.  We wanted to be able to see how much our plants had grown (or which plants we…

Even though I see the fifth graders practice the May Pole over and over, I'm always moved when they dance for our larger community.  There, with their parents and the rest of the school present, they re-enact their time at Prairie Creek. They begin with us in kindergarten as individuals.…

On Tuesday we got an opportunity to plant our first trial plots.  We are using some railing planters that are shaped like an inverted "v".  The hope is that we can use the lower parts as a miniature cisterns for catching rain.  We've put a wicking medium over the cisterns…

  Hens and Chicks The week or so after honoring week is traditionally a time to wrap up in the fourth and fifth grades at Prairie Creek.  We reflect on the work we did on the personal project and we honor the work of others by writing letters to each…

Reflecting on the past week, it feels more like a month.  Was it just last Monday that no one had presented their fourth or fifth grade project?  Amazingly, yes.  And that's not all the Herons were up to, either. More Questions than Answers The months of hard work paid off…