The Rookery

"Base times height" "One half base times height" These are the formulas for the area of a parallelogram and the area of a triangle respectively.  Even if you haven't bought carpet for a triangular room recently, they're probably rattling around in your brain somewhere.  What might not still be rattling…

"What do you mean we're done with Greece?!" This was the outcry when I congratulated the Herons on a job well done and began to talk about how we were going to reflect on our work.  Many students wanted to dig more deeply still and felt they still had a…

After a quick pep talk at Prairie Creek, the Heron's decided to enjoy their campout to its fullest even though it didn't include an overnight.  We had a very full day which included getting on the cross country skis for the first time, studying the effects of friction and gravity…

To say that there was a palpable sense of excitement in the Herons today would be a gross understatement.  This was a very big day — our trip to the Guthrie.  We had prepared by reading several versions of "A Christmas Carol," We compared them and talked about the decisions…

The very first thing the Herons did upon entering the room today was to look at the schedule and berate me, "Where is the play?"  "When are we doing the play?"   "Tomorrow?" I answered, meekly. That was not an acceptable answer for many and they asked permission to read…

Greece is hurtling forward at a pace that makes it difficult to stop and share what's been going on.  I apologize. First:  How have we been spending our days?  We began a month ago by receiving characters through whom we would experience the events between 520 and 320 BCE.  Students…

          On Friday the Big Birds had a very special opportunity — we got to move mulch.  Our playground had been shut down because the wood chip cushion had gotten too thin to be safe and so we were eagerly awaiting the new wood chips.  The…

On Friday, our Socrates led the class in a discussion about "Why Are We Here?"  Using a model from Christopher Phillips, we asked what at first appeared to be a simple question.  But, as students began to try and answer, they realized how hard it is to define many common…

As many of you know, this year the teachers are devoting a portion of their professional development to the theory and science of play.  We are reading numerous books on play and brain development as well as taking a look at woods play specifically.  Our work includes a lot of…

              Our trip to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was a huge success.  We began at the twig structure by Patrick Dougherty (you may remember his "Twigonometry" at Carleton.  Although it was cold, students eagerly took pencils in hand to sketch.  The sketch…