The Rookery

The post-it note on which I keep topics I want to mention in a blog has gotten embarrassingly full.  Our days are very busy right now and there are so many moments in the day I think, "Oh!  I want to share this!"  The moments pile up quickly and the…

The few days before spring break, I asked the Herons to practice the dances they had learned with the Flying Foot Forum.  I will be honest — my expectations were not high.  I had video taped our last practice with Joe so we would be able to review things later…

Data analysis and understanding is a crucial skill for being a modern citizen.  People misuse statistics all of the time, and without a fluent and deep understanding of data collection, design and analysis, it can be easy to be deceived.  Being able to read graphs and understand the data they…

We have gotten to the sweet spot in the year when getting the skis on and hitting the slopes (well…slope) can happen during our regular PE time.  The Herons are experts at getting into their skis by themselves and they are capable enough to get a fair amount of skiing…

I know that you've been hearing a lot about the auction.  Deadlines for this, envelopes for that…it's easy to get bogged down and fatigued by the details.  (Donations are due now and RSVPs are due by the 14th) But I wanted to take a moment to take a broader view…

  image from radioadelaidebreakfast This past week, in conjunction with the work of the Flying Foot Forum, we did a mini-theme on the puzzles and mathematics of Lewis Carroll.  Carroll was a mathematician at Oxford and loved puzzles.  He had insomnia and would often spend his sleepless nights thinking about…

Sometimes, when people find out I teach in a school without grades, they wonder aloud how students know how they're doing.  It's a fair question.  Most of us had school experiences in which grades were used to rate our performance.  Even in elementary school, I was given a star or…

Silk cocoons ready to go. Add soap. And washing soda. Simmer for 20 minutes (or less!) Make mawata frames while you wait. And wait.                          Remove giant glob that was supposed to be separate cocoons. Stretch on a frame…

All of the 4/5s are embarking on a new math unit. We are a few days in to examining the concepts of area, perimeter and volume. Below are some of the concepts that we will be covering. Each child will begin exploring the concepts in lessons adapted to their current level…

Many of the Herons have really been enjoying our recent foray into geography.  Every week, we are memorizing 9-12 countries on one of the continents (we began by learning the continents and oceans).  The work is important for several reasons. First, knowing how to memorize information is a helpful skill.…