Category Archives: Uncategorized

We’re back on another Tuesday with another podcast drop: this week featuring Julie Mountcastle, simultaneously Head of School and Grade 2 / 3 Teacher at Slate School, a K-12 independent school located in North Haven, Connecticut.  Slate School happens to be near and dear to our hearts, as one of the co-founders, Alexander Clark, isContinue reading ““Centering Curiosity” with Julie Mountcastle”

Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators is excited to release our second set of episodes about this unique moment in the education landscape featuring the ideas and expertise of consultant, author, and ed-activist, Ian Symmonds. Ian’s experience in senior positions such as executive director and dean spans over 30 years, and he has workedContinue reading “Podcast Drop: “Centering Relationships,” Featuring Ian Symmonds”

The i2 (Inspire & Innovate) blog has highlighted the ideas and experiences of faculty at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School ideas since August 2019.  Today we are excited to launch Inspire & Innovate: A Podcast for Educators.  In our first twelve episode series, we explore the nuances of teaching and learning during this challenging past yearContinue reading “Launching Season 1 of “Innovate & Inspire: A Podcast for Educators””

I’ll never forget a moment when I was seven or eight riding in the gray Plymouth Voyager minivan and my mom, for the millionth time, explained the meaning of a word I’d encountered in my (fifth) re-read of a Babysitter’s Club book. “I don’t get it, Mom,” I said, “it seems like you and DadContinue reading “Words to the Wise: Inspiration from Veteran Teachers”

Blog Contributed by Rev. Annie Elliott Over the past year, I’ve learned that creating concise, informative, and engaging content requires a variety of skills and a tremendous amount of planning.  This summer, as I wrote the syllabus for my World Religions class, I reflected on both the knowledge and the abilities that I wanted myContinue reading “From Page to Screen: Exploring Faiths through Video Production”

Ray McFarland is many things.  He is an award-winning, beloved faculty member.  He is an accomplished actor and singer.  He is keeper of our beautiful Center for Performing Arts. He is the first to remind colleagues that “our St. Andrew’s community is a family.”   But one thing he would be the first to pointContinue reading “On Movie Soundscapes & Growing to Trust Ourselves: A Conversation with Ray McFarland”

Written by Jessica Farris We all probably know that the elements of art are what artists use to create a work of art. They’re often referred to as our building blocks, or, as I like to tell my students, they’re our Legos! To keep things interesting, each year students explore the elements from a newContinue reading “In the Studio: The Relativity of Color”

“The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams.” W. Arthur Porter Krisha Patel and Asha Malhotra, two talented 4th grade students, were motivated by their experience with distance learning to act on a creative idea that has grown into a newContinue reading “Pace’s Pack News: Two Students’ Innovative Approach to News Broadcasting”

If you travel the hallways of the lower school immediately after carpool, you will observe in each classroom a beautiful practice of community building through daily Responsive Classroom Morning Meetings.  During these challenging times filled with COVID-19 mitigation strategies and remote learning, teachers have utilized a variety of creative approaches to hold these important classContinue reading “Cultivating Classroom Community: A Teacher’s Approach to Maintaining Morning Meetings”

Like it or not, memes are a firm part of our culture. They can be offensive, problematic, overly-simplistic, derivative, and we could all go on with some not-so-nice adjectives. But they can also be incredibly witty, weirdly compelling and sometimes poignant, and they are most certainly quickly digestible and easy to share/adapt for other purposes.Continue reading “Dante’s Inferno Meets Meme Culture”

I don’t know about you all, but the theme of 2020-2021 has felt a lot like survival.  As if global pandemics weren’t enough to reckon with, we are all just now thawing out from a freak February ice storm.  So in more ways than one, it seems completely apropos that eighth graders are currently steepedContinue reading “On Teamwork, Survival, & Homework that Energizes”

Blog authored by Emily Jones Even though I teach world history, my course, like many other “world history” classes, still favors Western history more heavily than any other area. I would blame that on my backgrounds in both Classics and medieval European history (it is true that I can provide a depth of knowledge inContinue reading “Textbook Transformation: Ninth Graders Address Bias in World History”

I first learned about Darin Maier’s City Video project the way I learn about most everything of worth on campus . . . in a google chat message from the fabulous Hollie Marjanovic: “You need to showcase Darin Maier’s city video project from his US History class!  I just watched one and it was awesome!!!!!!!! Continue reading “Darin Maier’s City Video Project: Teaching as Indigenous Creation”

One of our 2021 i2 New Year’s Resolutions is to get this blog active again, reinvigorated with regular bursts of faculty voices and ideas. But make no mistake.  The low quantity of verbiage in the Fall 2020 i2 blog in no way correlates with the quantity and quality of innovation that has been going on inContinue reading “Spreading the Love as We Wave Goodbye to 2020”

TL;DR: The Lower School Library has put together a three-part program to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Fourth grade students created an interactive timeline exhibit that shares the history of the 19th Amendment, including prominent suffragists, allies, organizations, and events that led to the historic amendment 100 years ago, as well asContinue reading “Library Programming When We Can’t Get Together”

I swear, every single day of anything virtual seems to fall under epic fail in my classroom: Trip over a cord while in front of virtual and in-person kiddos? Check. Look into the wrong camera while asking students a question and they only see the back of my head? Check. Pencil sharpener going strong whileContinue reading “2020 Epic Fails”

Idea 1: Take some time to reflect on your role in helping students navigate these times. PD Café: Reflect on your role as a faculty member in challenging class conversations with these professional development questions/activities from the Fall 2016 issue of Teaching Tolerance . Teach 2016: This feature from the Fall 2016 issue of TeachingContinue reading “5 Big Ideas for Teaching & Learning During this Election Season”

We are a month in the 2020-2021 school year. It is almost impossible that we are truly one month in.  One year and one month ago we threw t-shirts out into a crowd of laughing faculty. “You get a t-shirt” we shouted. “Failure IS an option!” we shouted. “I2! INNOVATE. INSPIRE.” We sat next toContinue reading “i2: A Year in Review”

“We are rescued by love when someone bequeaths dignity, worth, recognition, gratitude upon us, encouragement for us because of who we are and what we do. We simply cannot grasp this alone: that we are precious, and amazing, and of inestimable value, unless this truth is mirrored into our being by another person. We needContinue reading “i2 Resources for You: Wellness Edition”

This year is going to be interesting. After looking at all the possibilities and combinations of plans, I built a mission statement. Resources are not unlimited. Time is in short supply. Making decisions requires clear and understandable guidelines. This year to be ready for what could happen the mission is for every workflow, resource, andContinue reading “i2 Resources for You: Innovation Edition”