Welcome to the 2013-2014 school year!
We've really hit the ground running this year, which has been tremendously exciting and gratifying. Unfortunately, it also means that the blog has gotten off to a slow start, even as things in the classroom have taken off.
Expect more regular updates as we get up to speed (and sign up to have new posts sent to you via email on the right side of this page!).
For now, here are a few snapshots of what we've been up to over the last two weeks.
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| Each week begins with an all-school assembly. Our community continues to grow, and these weekly gatherings keep us connected. |
Our first theme of the year is Explorers of the World. In Science, we've gone back to some of the earliest recorded scientific thought. How can we learn about the nature of the world around us using only our senses and our intellect?
We had some lovely, sunny days our first week back, and we took advantage of them to do a very old fashioned project. Sam Hirschman introduced us to one of the feats of the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales: While visiting the Great Pyramids in Egypt, Thales was able to accurately calculate their heights by measuring their shadows, then comparing them to the shadows of smaller objects whose heights were more easily measurable.
We tasked the kids with determining the height of one of the light poles in the S-K parking lot by using the same trick.
They set about their task by each selecting an object from school to measure, then measuring its height, and its shadow in the afternoon sun:
We discovered that there is a linear relationship between our data points, which allows us to calculate the heights of large objects based on the measurements of their shadows.
It's an activity that has spilled over from Science class into Math, and even a bit into Writing, as we stress the importance of keen observation of details and relationships.
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| Rachel discusses digital citizenship with our class |
We also spent time last week discussing digital citizenship and responsibility. As you may know, Summers-Knoll has a 1-to-1 laptop program at the middle school level, meaning that each student is assigned their own computer for school use. However, before issuing them, we are working to establish institutional guidelines for their safe and appropriate use. Our students have an active role in the creation of these guidelines, and we've spent time working as a class and in small groups to create a code of conduct. When is Youtube okay to use? Is Minecraft an appropriate use of school time? How private is a school email account? Should other people be able to use your passwords? These are some of the many questions we're navigating as a community entering the online sphere. It's an interesting discussion, and a necessary one.
We even had our first field trip of the year last week, following the untimely malfunction of the middle school air conditioner on an abnormally hot day. Rather than swelter, we adjourned to the Kelsey Museum of Archeology and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.
At the Kelsey, each student selected three artifacts that captured their interest, then wrote a little about each of them. They then placed each item on world history timeline, as well as on a map.
At the UMMA, S-K Art instructor Monica took us to observe some of the pottery on display, tying in some of the work that has been done in class.
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| The first of many class portraits! |
We are profoundly lucky to have County Farm Park right across the street from our school. It's a wonderful place to play, study, observe, and contemplate.
We took an early morning walk last week to discuss a few of its key features: woods, prairie, ponds, and the community farm. Karl also had them playing soccer in the park for PE. It's a fabulous resource and I suspect that we will be regular and frequent visitors!
Finally, we've already had some class birthdays! It's a bit of a class birthday tradition that the birthday boy or girl gets to choose an activity for the class from a list made by me. It's usually a sizable list of options that includes things like, "Listen to Jason tell stories about the 80s," or "Handwriting Jamboree," but kids always seem to choose the "Recess" option.
This week, however, we had two birthdays! One student chose recess, while the second chose "watch an episode of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'." As it turns out, there was a specific episode that I had been planning on screening as a tie-in to our study of the Scientific Revolution. We've been discussing rational thought versus empirical data, so this episode was actually the perfect way to close out a busy Friday afternoon.
Here's a scene in which an amnesiac Data is skeptical of some pre-industrial age science:
The kids loved it, and we paused frequently to discuss deduction, logical fallacies, and the fits and starts of developing scientific thought. It even allowed a little discussion about the power of using genre to convey ideas in interesting formats.
This has only been a taste of what we've been up to! As you can see, we've been busy! I look forward to chatting with you all about the work we've been doing on Curriculum Night! We're off to a great new year!
