As we discovered in the first three episodes of this series, the world of motion pictures depicting educational realities isn’t all bad. In fact, Mr Rogers,8th Grade, and Abbott Elementary are so well-done, they strike more chords that resonate than outright clash with our realities. But we are going to end our season with two episodes that take a very different approach. Hyperbole, absurdity, and “THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN” come to mind. But even in these films that show less restraint and more –ahem– “artistic license,” we found much to discuss, dare I say even learn? This week, the at-times problematic but wildly entertaining, School of Rock.Rachel Scott (LS Tech Integration), Sara Clark (LS Library), and Daniel Roers (our amazing podcast recorder/editor finally steps out from behind-the-scenes) discuss:
1:18-2:56: The art of substitute teaching, and our first hint that Dewey Finn has absolutely no clue what he is getting into.
3:00-5:05: Daniel takes a trip down memory lane about his first few weeks on north campus, and asserts that there has to be a point that every teacher wishes they could act a bit more like the main character: goofy, fun, sarcastic, relatable . . . 100% themselves.
5:07-7:15: Sure inappropriateness abounds, but Rachel points out that “sometimes it was a little refreshing”; why being honest with our students and avoiding needless sugarcoating can be the best policy.
7:16-9:28: Our guests discuss their fury at public shaming in schools via data walls, behavior charts, names on the board, etc.
10:41- 11:27: How one scene got Sara musing on the challenges of teaching an ungraded co-curricular.
12:33-13:07: Why School of Rock is currently trending on TikTok.
13:08-14:31: Inspiring kids to find their passions, but breaking so many rules in the process!
14:33-16:18: Why asking youth what makes them mad can be a powerful springboard in the classroom.
16:18-16:49: The value of teaching kids to advocate for themselves.
16:50-19:15: The scene of a “lesson plan gone wrong” that the guest found oh-so-relatable.
19:15-20:37: Admin are people too! That time Dewey goes to the bar with his principal.
20:38-26:49: Who knew School of Rock had so much to say on the impact of emotions in classroom spaces?! Also shout outs to Rev. Hailey and Chelsea and our school’s general commitment to all things social-emotional.
26:50-28:20: Can you learn everything you need to know through music?: the potential in interest-driven, project-based learning.
28:21-end: The guests end with the big disclaimer: unless you want to lose your job, do not take cues fromthe Jack Black character. But if you want a great laugh at the end of a long teaching week and are willing to suspend your disbelief, check out School of Rock.
Spring has sprung, and while both of our feet are still solidly in this spring 2023 semester, our eyes are beginning to look toward next summer and the 2023-24 school year. Summer of excellence proposals will be going out shortly, my brain is beginning to spin thinking of new systems we can begin to co-devise, communicate, and implement structurally, and I am starting to dream of a new set of faculty reps across divisions to really bring new life and spirit into our teaching and learning initiatives.
But let’s first be clear; the 2022-23 reps have brought it. Kim, Michelle, Rachel, Buck, and Hollie have grounded me personally all year long, and inspired us all collectively with their written/spoken words and actions. They have collectively led or co-led four different PLC’s; they have given advice in the construction of our new faculty onboarding, workshop week, PD Days; they have written a host of blogs in our first year ever of themed blasts, sometimes going deeply philosophical and sometimes just bragging on the amazing work faculty are up to; they have led the way in two very different podcast seasons (one about accountability and one about representations of schooling in motion pictures); they have planned for and helped lead our monthly new faculty fellowship; they have gathered together once a month to share openly about successes and challenges in classroom spaces; they have done their best to kindly and accurately represent the needs and interests of faculty on-the-ground. I’m sure I’m forgetting things. I always forget things.
It is no exaggeration to say: I could not do this job without TEAM reps.
But as much as I loved this year’s TEAM and I loved the previous years’ TEAM (shout out to our inaugural 2021-22 cohort!), my favorite thing of all about the TEAM concept is the fact that it rotates out every single school year. Too often in schools labor and opportunities get distributed into the hands of the few, when there are so many that are capable.
I absolutely don’t need an echo chamber with this group. I need people confident to speak the truth to scary admin like me. 🙂 Seriously, though, I do. Like tell us what faculty need and don’t need. Ya’ll are the ones that know. Professional growth initiatives are 100% dependent on breaths-of-fresh-air. I need some fresh air. And I need it to come from people that teach 3 year olds, 7 year olds, 11 year olds, 17 year olds; from people that teach math, the arts, the sciences, you get the idea. A formal application process is forthcoming, but you should really start considering applying for TEAM next year if you . . .
Dig connecting and collaborating with faculty across divisions: TEAM members meet monthly to share honest challenges, give input on upcoming initiatives and themes, and just generally support each other in this difficult work. We often get so siloed across our north versus south campuses. This is a chance to build some new bridges.
Enjoy trying things outside your comfort zone (that can also be resume-boosters!): Many of our TEAM members are not naturally in love with the idea of hosting a podcast, writing a blog, or running a new faculty event. And yet- they care about the impact these things can have, so they try it!
Have new ideas of how to grow our collegial culture of faculty sharing: Contrary to popular belief, TEAM is not just about blogs and podcasts. If you have an idea about a new way to foster teaching/learning growth that we haven’t been doing, WE NEED YOU. Every year our goals and initiatives look different.
Are a solution-oriented practitioner: This is not just an advisory committee. TEAM is for people that are solution-oriented and that want to take on the initiatives that we can envision. If you are the type of person that just prefers to vent about what is wrong without offering an alternative that you are willing to pitch in on, this may not be the group for you.
Want to make an impact on the culture of teaching/learning at St. Andrew’s for years to come: Sure this is just a single-school-year commitment, but the work you do will persist, and not just on the blogs and podcasts we create and throw into the world. During the 2023-24 school year, we will be working on articulating our educational philosophy as a school as well as proposing a professional growth system along with FAAC. TEAM members will be integral pieces of this work.
Of course I can write all the words I want, but the real way you can get a sense of what it is to be on TEAM is to ask past/current members. For the real story, talk to the amazing folks from our 2021-2 or 2022-3 cohort.
Spring, in north campus anyway, means course registration and scheduling and imagining that somehow we will come through this frenzied spring semester into a summer and then start it all again next fall. But this year more than any year I’ve been at the school, I felt a refreshing sense of creative energy abound around course development. In one department chair meeting, I sat through faculty members impassioned proposals for classes to better-round-out the student experience. In another one-on-one chat, I learned about Rev Hailey Allin’s development of an amazing new experience designed for fourth graders to really put their leadership and service learning into a broader context.
Sometimes when I hear people pessimistic about the state of education or St. Andrew’s specifically, I realize that many don’t get to be part of these incredibly inspiring conversations. So here’s a little glimpse into just a fraction of the goodness that people are up to. I think the spirit of these faculty will be remarkably contagious whether you teach two year olds or 6th grade science. After all, we are all putting on new courses every single year: composed of a different swirl of students, needs, pedagogical choices, texts, and experiences.
Course(s) Proposed
Course Description
Why this Course?
Paul Smith
Creative Writing
Creative writing is a workshop course designed to introduce students to the craft and the discipline of expressive writing. We will explore techniques and forms of writing creatively, specifically in the genres of poetry, short fiction, and drama. We will read great writing together, not as students doing literary criticism in an English classroom, but as writers learning the craft from those who do it best. Together we will become a community of writers devoted to sharpening our aesthetic judgment, developing our unique voices, experimenting with new modes of imagination, and fostering originality of expression.
We have student interest in this offering, and this course could be a significant source of student writing for North Pasture and recognition programs such as Scholastic Writing Awards.
David Kelly
Digital Performance (new this year)
For students engaged with film performance, students design, create, and direct their own short movies ultimately for showcase and national festivals.
This expands the offerings for the theatre department and engages students in a way that was not previously available.
Playwriting (for 23-24)
Engaging the creativity and voice of each student, this is a deep dive into the practice of playwriting that results in a selection of one-act plays for competition or performance.
Technical Theatre Two: Designers (for 23-24)
Giving students leadership in the theatrical design process, technical theatre designers lead crews within their selected discipline of scenic, lighting, costumes, video, or sound to support the upper school plays and musicals.
This empowers students and recognizes what many of them are already doing within the existing class structure.
Theatre Arts Two: Competition (for 23-24)
Following the success of the beta-year with five state level top awards, this course supports students ready to take their skills onto the state and national levels, this course supports the development and performance of competition level pieces.
Students deserve dedicated time to present their best work at the state and national levels. It formalizes the work that students were already doing.
Hollie Marjanovic
ASPIRE reimagined
Are there ways to maintain the original promised goals of the program while making more opportunities accessible to all of our students? More brainstorming and details forthcoming!
Matt Luter
SEARCH (Self-Engineered Advanced Research in Creativity and the Humanities)
An advanced, individualized humanities study experience for juniors and seniors interested in deeper and more detailed research and writing related to topics in literature, history, or other arts and culture fields.
Multiple students have shared with me recently that, given the end of topical senior seminars in English and the relative paucity of electives in humanities fields compared to our curriculum of several years ago, they haven’t felt they’ve had adequate opportunities to explore their interests in the humanities in the Upper School at St. Andrew’s. I think it’s possible that this could become a transformative program within the intellectual life of the Upper School. It could play a major role in creating space for self-motivated investigation of individual interests at a depth that our required courses cannot always support. And as these talented students investigating the world in ways that they have some power to shape, I suspect that the ideas they discover will then get transmitted to other students and classes in unpredictable but fruitful ways.
Light streams into the gym, splattering sunshine-glitter across the light wood hatchery floor. Soaring violin ushers in lines of short humans. Smiling adults accompany them, some (including me) clutching tightly to travel coffee mugs. It’s the preface to Thursday morning chapel for our Early Childhood Center, and depending on where you work on campus, you may not have even known it exists. If you have attended a new faculty campus visitation day or an admissions visit for your own child you likely have experienced the joyful phenomenon that is Lower School Chapel. But the ECC-specific chapel is a fairly recent innovation, one that came to be (like many things) during covid, when we were forced to rethink large gatherings. And it is one pandemic-conceived thing, unlike the masks and the “let’s concurrently teach kids at home and kids in the classroom with iPads,” that many have grown to treasure.
In some ways this chapel is reminiscent of the lower school chapel gatherings. The children sing “This is the Day” with robust vocal stylings. They recite the Lord’s Prayer and 23rd Psalm.
But there are distinct differences too. Missing are the waving parents that flank the youth in the larger 1st-4th gathering. The room feels more intimate. Our little saints clearly feel more comfortable asking questions and giving feedback. Rev. Hailey also takes on homily with a delightful spin. She rotates ECC classrooms, asking them to illustrate the Bible story of the day, and then uses their creative drawings as the anchor text for the chapel. The result isn’t merely “cute”; it is breathtakingly poignant. The children who create the art are lit up with pride and excitement. The children who didn’t create this week squirm in their seats to get a closer look at the butterflies, the color choices, the angle of the figures. Even the adults, such as myself, who had heard the story approximately 1052 times feel something fresh being birthed by the artistic representation. One child stops Rev. Hailey mid-sentence: “Did you say Jesus was going to die?!” The room grew silent with the heavy-truth. I had thought of it a million times. But I felt it anew.
Even prayer time has a spin. Rather than just an abstract reading of the prayers, Rev. Hailey picks out symbolic pictures from a box to represent prayers for our families, communities, school, pets and teachers. It strikes me hard then. When you have a more narrow audience you can so much more precisely hit appropriate development levels.
A mere 15-20 minutes later the service is over. The children file out of the gym and back to their worlds of circle time, phonics, centers, lofts, snacks, outdoor play, recess. But the sacred follows them. It can come in so many shapes and sizes, after all: in the arc of a musical expression, a hug from a friend, the art of a four year old, the laughter of play.
I kid you not. It’s as if it was staged. About five minutes into my chat with the very-busy Jessie Humble, our very own Annie Elliott walked in as a walking-breathing illustration of exactly the kind of friendly-negotiation that is partnership. Not wanting to interrupt what seemed like a formal interview, she handed Jessie a notecard with what looked like a design of suggested language. I couldn’t help but be nosey. “TELL me this is about a partnership of some kind.”
“Yup,” Annie confirmed, “Banners for the 75th.”
Jessie smiled: “It is a gift to have amazing partners.”
Annie spoke about when they first decided to partner with graphic design to create celebration banners for our school’s 75th Anniversary: “My concern when they said student work . . well I was worried about student work. Not that I’m the student work grinch, I love student work. I just want all the banners to have the same font and same size. Jessie gets that. This is why she’s such a great partner”
Jessie nodded: “Someone has to give them the guidelines; someone has to say no, not the dragon, but I love your butterfly.”
And thus, before my very eyes, I saw collaboration unfold in the messy middle: coming to agreement with non-negotiables, clear guidelines, and doing so with all the communication means (email, talk, drawings on index cards) called for. Giving students’ authentic tasks means giving them tons of scaffolding, teaching with a capital T, offering templates and guidelines, and pushing for multiple drafts. After all, as Jessie points out “in the art world you always have a creative director guiding things.”
This approach doesn’t just result in great banners for our 75th, it is, as Jessie explains, the best representation of “what graphic design IS. To partner with someone. Maybe the client didn’t describe it well in the email, but I’m going to fix it and you tell me the best way to format.”
Of course Jessie and Annie were just two of the partners in this large undertaking. Rachel Scott was next in a long list of partners. Once the design is finished, Jessie will email her to laser cut the design. Then it’s off to Stephanie Garriga to approve. A circle of love.
This undertaking is just one, though, of many that Jessie has undertaken in her first year at St. Andrew’s. What else have they been up to? Glad you asked.
In Graphic Design they:
Made all of the posters for musicals and plays. Each individual submitted designs and then Mr. Kelly came back with comments and they revised based on that feedback. Jessie reminds us: “this is how the business community works; you’re going to work with clients that don’t initially like what you do.”
Designed the spring choir programs.
Created the senior trip t-shirt.
Individually partnered with different business (e.g. a local gym, shopping places, etc.)
Created mood meters and coping skills charts for 4th grade. (Fun fact: they are currently working on a field trip so seniors can present these tools to the 4th grade to explain how they made them.)
*Made a cut-out of Andy for Lower School
In Yearbook Class . . .
Yearbook is one MASSIVE collaboration, as it is a “really a love letter to the school about how awesome it is” featuring a dance between freedom and “here is what we need”:
The cover features Catherine Zhou’s artwork, and then we sent it to graphic arts to add effects.
We are constantly working with other teachers/people!
Other collaborations include working alongside the fabulous (and ALSO new!) Jane Randall Cleek to:
Put up art shows in the CPA aligned with the show themes! (Dr. Brown, ANOTHER new faculty member, got in on the fun when he saw what was happening and asked to include some appropriately themed student essays as well!) What if in the future we also had a pianist playing during intermission to further grow partnerships within the arts?
By the end of the year, she hopes to have her studio art students do an art awards show with outside judges coming in
Don’t forget Scholastic awards; the ceremony was just this past Sunday! That’s one large collaboration.
How did Jessie make all of this happen in her inaugural year at SA? She simply spread the word at the start of the year. “I made myself known in the beginning, saying ‘I would really love my students to collaborate in any way that you can find you have a need at the school. Just let me know! . . . We actually had too many possibilities! I’m thankful that people took it to heart. I love that we are able to service the community.”
If you are interested in carving out similar partnerships for your students, take heart! It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Jessie recommends you just look for ways to display your students’ work for a larger audience, anytime you can find a way for them to be proud of themselves. And while it may add a little stress for students, that stress can be incredibly motivating. Don’t take my word for it; take it from Jessie:
It’s a big thing for me too; the kids don’t see it as “this is another school project”. Instead, “this is a service we are doing for the St. Andrew’s community because we all love St. Andrew’s!” I could see it in their work because they are excited to do things when it is going to be seen at the school. “My play poster got picked!” “My design is on a T-shirt!” “It’s going to be on a banner at the convocation!” That means something to them.
When you think about being a first year faculty at St. Andrew’s, you generally imagine a year of all the questions. Where is the printer? How do parents expect us to communicate with them? What level of rigor are these students used to? How long will it take us to get through this particular unit?
But our incredibly inspiring 2022-23 cohort of new faculty have reminded us that sometimes the new kids on the block come with far more than just questions . . . they come with a host of experiences, knowledge-bases, and even relationships that make them more-than-ready to lead. I first spoke with David Orace Kelly (Theater Arts, US):
David, what brought you to theater education and collaborations?
I’ve always been a theater practitioner and an accidental-educator that has really fallen in love with education, but the first couple of years of teaching I was looking for a way out of the classroom because I saw myself as a practitioner. But, then I realized that the classroom was my theater. So I changed my mindset from “these are students” to “these are members of an acting company that I get to train and collaborate with” and that’s a lot of what I do here.
So how does seeing your students in this way impact your approach to theater education?
Everything in this program is very student-centered: very much about their journey, where they are. We are trying to build in metacognition and reflection, not so much on the deadlines and very much more so on the authentic journey that the student has, while also keeping them accountable to the things we have to be accountable for. Theater has constant deadlines built into it. The show has to happen and what that means is sometimes there are things that don’t get on to the stage. Or, there are projects that don’t get done because we are spending extra time on another project that’s more potent and important to the students than I had conceived (or my concept six months ago was incorrect – when I planned the sequence of action – that the project would have been completed faster).
This is perhaps a peripheral topic to collaborations, but partnering with other folks sure does a ton of flexibility. How do you remain flexible in this way without feeling like you’re compromising on high standards?
I think of high standards as part of a learning journey: like what does a student need right now to continue to build and grow inside of the context? I have a student right now accomplished as a performer, but they have less experience in their current work. They are very much interested in the domain, but their work might appear to be below grade level for the average student. Yet, they are still pushing themselves to grow. For them, their high standard is taking that next step. I’ve got many students in theater tech who are like “all I’ve ever done is work with construction” or some other element, so their growth is doing something introductory in another domain. I also have other students who have been doing the same domain for the last 3-4 years, and I talk to them in a more collaborative way, almost like a colleague, and this encourages their growth because they are ready to be in a professional space. [I am] asking them questions I don’t necessarily know the answer to and collaborating with them. That’s also high standards – super individualized high standards.
Ok so let’s get to the topic of the day: partnerships. How do you approach these?
Well it’s yes, and . . . that’s it. “What can you do, and how can I add to it” or “what do you [already] do and how can I add to it?”
What are some concrete examples of ways you have collaborated internally and externally this past school year?
In Wizard of Oz [they invited elementary and middle school students to participate.] That was an “I want to give you space, elementary, middle to be a part” . . .
Also, internally with graphic design, we had our whole season of [production] posters (and t-shirts) designed by Mrs. Humble’s graphic design class. It was an interesting/wonderful process.I heard many students appreciated having a more professional or exterior application to their skills rather than just the siloed classroom.
We partnered with MS opera this year. . . . and we are planning future collaborations.
We had a student employee. . . to start supporting community outreach.
We have the ballet coming in, MS youth symphony orchestra, bringing in community partnerships so our students see there is a home in the arts outside of SA’s . . . but also so they can start getting professional connections.
This is the first year in St. Andrew’s history that we competed in the International Thespian Association, so that was a bigger community thing.
We got the big projector [on the stage] through a “yes, and…” conversation. It wouldn’t have happened with the collaboration. It started with a conversation with Stephanie and then Tony really did the logistics and research and all of the vetting.
Wow! That’s a ton for your first year at the school! What advice do you have for planning to collaborate? How and when to start?
My advice for planning and collaborating is like finding the right temperature for your bathwater. You start running the water and keep checking on it, mix in a little of this and a little of that. Sometimes it takes a long time to get the right temperature, and so you must start the conversations and plannings now and then you’ve got to be ready and willing to take the next step when the next step presents itself. It might be tomorrow; it might be in 3 months. You’ve got to keep talking about it to people and keep refining it, because you are gonna get the feedback from the people you are talking to. You’re going to get the idea or the caution or whatever it is, and you’re going to find partners in that talk. So I don’t think one should ever wait.
In 2018, survivors from the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School came to visit Jackson, Mississippi to talk about the importance of standing up to gun violence. What struck me most was that these students (most between the ages of 16-18) said that there has not been a single year in their lifespan that a school shooting has not happened. In their lifetime, school shootings have become tragic, yet “normalized” occurrences. They begged us for help. They begged us to not let this continue and we have failed them.
This past week we saw, yet again, a school shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. As a mom of children near the same age and an educator, it hurts. Just like it did at Uvalde. Just like it did at Newtown. Just like it did at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Just like it does, when I read that there have actually been 74 lives lost to gun violence in schools this year.
We can no longer be afraid to look away and to believe that we can’t change the future. The motto of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is to find a way or to make one. We must make a way forward to protect our children. We can start by having conversations amongst ourselves and with our students (age appropriate). We can contact our local representatives, we can join groups like Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, and March for Our Lives. All of these groups are doing great work, but need so much more support in terms of humans participating in order to show our leaders that we will not stand for what is happening.
We can make a collective effort as a school whose mission it is to be a beacon of light in our area to ask for change. We can align ourselves with other schools in the area to do the same. We can ask that SAIS and NAIS put forth calls to support anti-gun violence legislation, such as safe gun storage laws and training for crisis teams–things that are proven to help. We can be the change.
I do not wish to see another spring that is sprung with death and tragedy from gun violence.
Lower school chapel, where have you been all my life? I went to Sunday school, VBS, and summer camp from childhood to adolescence and I can tell you honestly- I’ve learned as much or more from 1 + years of Friday chapels. I think we all agree, Rev Hailey has the gift of taking complicated theology and repackaging it in a way we can understand. I say repackaging, because she uses more than her mini sermon to teach. She incorporates art, dance, books, special guests, whatever will be most effective in keeping the attention of our youngest saints.
The simplicity of these messages reminds me of the subreddit “Explain to me like I’m 5”. Adults, educated adults, have learning gaps, too–areas of life, especially faith, we accept as true because asking “why?” at this point could be humiliating.
Take Mardi Gras for example. I am from Mobile, the place where Mardi Gras began. Rev Annie, I love you for saying it out loud to make sure our little ones know this. (New Orleans, much respect) I have NEVER considered Mardi Gras a spiritual practice. It was a time of year, not part of the church calendar. A season. A really fun, awesome few weeks when my mom took us to as many parades as possible and we ended up with piles of moonpies, candy, and beads. I always knew I was lucky to have a cool mom although now that I’m older, the word for her would be liberal. I was proud of my police officer dad, too, because he worked the parades, and to me, that made him kinda famous. Many of my friends had never even been to a parade since Mardi Gras was obviously of the devil. Full disclosure, there was that one time, junior year, I chose to “witness to the lost” downtown with my church group, then the next night, turned right around and went to the MOT parade. My shameful little secret.
Last month, in Hailey’s absence, Annie explained that MG is a time to get all our excitement out because we were about to enter the solemn season of Lent. I mean, I kinda knew that but it didn’t take root in my heart until she explained it like I’m pre-k3. It made perfect sense. Humans have to get their wiggles out before they can focus. Wiggles aren’t bad, but Lent just isn’t the time for them. There is growth that can only happen in such a still, reflective season. I get it, especially as a parent and teacher.
My cool mom asked me to come home for Mardi Gras this year, and the timing just wasn’t right for my family of 4. It was disappointing to decline, especially since Mardi Gras is finally back in full swing since Covid. After Friday chapel, after experiencing Mardi Gras as a spiritual practice, I’m good. I don’t need to see the dragon floats this year to feel the magic. We wore our beads and masks TO CHAPEL, people! Who knew this was ok to do?! And when we returned to class, we had king cake, straight from Gambinos! Mind blown. Heart full. I look forward to going home for Mardi Gras next year, and it will be even more meaningful. Let the good times roll! (And don’t even feel bad about it!)
The 8th Grade team tried something new this year–experiential learning week. In years past, we have had field trips and service learning days sprinkled across the year. This year, we agreed that the final week of 3rd quarter would be handed over completely to three experiential learning opportunities that have become major events in the life of the 8th grade: the annual trip to Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Service Learning Day and our Jackson area Civil Rights field trip.
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab trip is a two night trip to the aforementioned barrier island on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. We spend almost three days rotating through several different learning experiences–a cruise on the gulf that allows students the chance to learn about the environment and organisms that inhabit it, an opportunity to build a remote controlled underwater vehicle and then compete to see whose vehicle retrieves the most objects, a chance to dissect a squid and an activity out on the beach that makes the actual consequences of rising global sea levels very real. In addition, the kiddos get time together in dorm like settings and ample time to play out on the beach or to play tabletop games in the evening. It’s a great combination of learning and bonding.
This year’s 8th grade service learning day began with a kind of prelude to the next day’s civil rights field trip, as students visited Tougaloo College’s Woodward Chapel, site of many historic events during the height of the movement in Jackson in the 1960s and the synagogue that is home to Beth Israel Congregation, which was both an opportunity to continue the conversation begun during a chapel earlier in the year with Rabbi Joseph Rosen and to see another historic site in the civil rights movement in Jackson during the 60s. We then drove out to the Mississippi River Basin model near Clinton and spent the afternoon clearing brush under the supervision of a group dedicated to the preservation of the model and (hopefully) a renewal of Buddy Butts Park.
Finally, on Friday, students visited the two Mississippi Museums to learn more about the history of the state and the genesis, legacy and ongoing work of the civil rights movement. After lunch, we drove out to Jackson State University and visited the Masonic Temple, home of the office of Medgar Evers and still site of the NAACP’s office, hearing from Frank Figgers, a veteran of the civil rights movement and local educator and citizen-activist. Mr. Figgers shares the history of the Masonic temple and the role it played both in the civil rights movement, but also more broadly in the history of Jackson’s Black community. We also visited the COFO Headquarters, a space that is now managed by Jackson State University, but which served as a central location for the leadership and coordination of a number of organizations active across Mississippi during much of the 50s and 60s.
We’re hoping to fold all three of these experiential learning opportunities into places for the 8th graders to begin to answer the question “How do you want to work to/how can you change the world?” They’ve seen examples of how the world is changing and has changed–historically and physically, and they’ve had the opportunity to interact with folks who are learning about and who have been active in that change. This is a great place for the students to then think about where they might assume a role in such work or be inspired to think about their own lives differently, and to share their thinking in the context of their capstone presentations later this year. In the longer term, we’re also hoping to continue to build this aspect of the 8th grade experience. There is additional work that we can do to prime students for this week of experiential learning and to be more intentional about how we weave the threads these opportunities create throughout the 8th grade curriculum beyond their reading of Coming of Age in Mississippi and their work about Earth’s resources and environment in their science classes. Asking students at the pinnacle of their middle school journey to reflect on how the previous four years have shaped their view of themselves and their relationship with the world of which they are a part feels like a fitting way to wrap up the middle school journey.
Sybil Frame “First Trampoline Girl”Owen Newman’s “The Late Cloud”
Remember when you were a kid and it often felt like all the adults were in a room making decisions about you and never asking you what you wanted or believed?
Yeah- sometimes that’s kinda like our schools. And also kinda like this blog.
So for once (call it spring fever) I decided to venture into the warm afternoon breeze and bug tables of youth trying to enjoy some social time. With all of the great quotes coming in from teachers about the insanity that is trying to teach in the spring semester, I decided to ask the students what it’s like being in their shoes this time of year. Here’s what I learned: middle school students are mostly pumped/energetic/delighted by all the interruptions and social opportunities; upper school students use the word “stressed” a lot. I haven’t untangled if that has to do with our own structures, or simply coming-of-age. Here’s a mish-mash of what they said, with a little creative reimagining in the form of a found poem.
Tired all the time, Hectic. Chaotic. No free time! No flex periods! Overwhelming. Stressful because of workload, Everything starts to ramp up, Energy is down, Tests, exams, SATs, and PSAT’s,I don’t know what to do ever. (All the teachers put a lot more work on you to make you more prepared), But it’s kinda like a truck . . . and I want them to ease us into it.
Missing way too much school, Senioritus as a junior, You can feel the energy from the students, their lack of paying attention in class. Last chances: The last quarter for juniors where colleges see grades, Lots of random events going on, Rescheduling classes, Disorganized. (You improve your time management anyway?). Nobody will shut up about college. Checked out of school right now [With] summer weather [it’s] hard to keep up with school work. Mentally in summer zone.
Awful. Each Monday the cycle continues. It feels the same as any time in the year, At least it’s almost over, so that’s cool. We have freedom, but we don’t. School is killing me.
For some people they might say it’s more taxing, but for me it’s been a little lax, but that might be because I work ahead . . . I like to get all my schoolwork done at school.
It’s actually nice outside. Hot. Recess is a lot of fun [when] the weather is a lot nicer, (We have to wait outside classrooms.) More things are blossoming, It’s pretty outside, And the flowers and the pollen, More allergies. I love that it’s getting hotter, I don’t like tornados, I love how the campus brings it all together, It being warm and sunny everyday, We’re not freezing! It’s the same, but there are more allergies and the weather is warmer.
I feel like it’s kind of more relaxed (the school year’s starting to die down), Like we’ve really developed good relationships with our teachers Now we’re all comfortable in the classrooms together, Even having to speak in front of your classmates.
I feel like there’s a lot more things to do because a lot more is happening: May Day, sports games, Olympics are fun. We get to sit with our friends at lunch!
Teachers, we want you to know: Five minute breaks are much more appreciated, Just because students don’t know something doesn’t always mean they haven’t been trying; sometimes we have missed a class, (Sports in spring make it hard to have accountability.) Or you forgot that you didn’t teach it to this section. [I know] the work stresses me out more than it should. (I was obviously busy studying for the other tests I have!) We have other classes and other activities; (Be aware of other stuff we have going on as well.) We can’t do everything for every class. Try to be lenient. Don’t get really mad at me. Give us a break! We are trying! Shake it up! Help with the pollen!
Let’s face it. We are all losing our minds. Or at least a little bit. This month’s theme of “Spring has Sprung” can allude to joy and rainbows and warm weather and blooming all around us. But it can also bring to mind severe weather, chaotic winds, uncontrollable sneezes, and the evaporation of best laid plans. Nobody knows this better than you all: faculty working every day in classrooms with students. Here’s what SPRINGS to your mind when asked about your lived realities these days:
What characterizes the general atmosphere of classrooms and schools during the month of April?
Kids are gone all the time! Definitely a billion events going on at school, with holidays to boot! (Shannon Watt, MS Choir)
Loss of learning time! (Susan Pace, 7th ELA)
Everyone is ready for summer! (Austin Killebrew, 9th Math)
schedule changes and student pull outs are incredibly challenging! (Linda Rodriguez, US Faculty & Virtual Programming)
PK2 children are maturing, so challenging behaviors have reduced. Students are also more capable of independent tasks (using the potty, grabbing their own paper towels, etc.). (Catoria Mozee, PK2)
Spring Fever is real. (Marty Kelly, 9th English)
Spring in pre k 4 is my favorite time of the year. THe kids have been mastering the daily schedule, their jobs in class and how to resolve conflicts all year. THis is the time they shine. THey are very confident in all these tasks and I can begin to ‘take a ‘backseat’ and let them run the class. It’s really awesome to watch! (Kim Sewell, PK4)
Lots of activities! (Cyndi Irons, MS Art)
In April I turn into Abby Lee Miller from Dance Moms during May Day practice. (Rachel Newman, 2nd grade)
DISCOMBOBULATED! The kids, the schedule, lesson plans, assignments, duties. It’s like we all forget how to “school”. (Margaret Mains, 5th History)
Got any funny stories about “SPRING MISCHIEF” that have gone down in your classroom/school?
We’re all gearing up for our last massive essay of seventh grade over here, and the kids are a little concerned about the fact that they have to handwrite a 1000-word essay. So….no mischief this week really….other than a few kids struggling to find a way to show respect to their teachers and friends. (Susan Pace, 7th ELA)
I have a group of boys in my class on the baseball team who have enjoyed “practicing their throws” during my class. They practice with markers, sharpies, paper balls…whatever they can find! (Austin Killebrew, 9th Math)
Everyone gets a little “off the rails” in the spring – the weather’s great, the end of the school year is just around the corner, and nobody wants to be in class! My seniors, especially, are incorrigible! I have a small group of boys who are so pesky that I have had to ban them from leaving the class together! Journalism is often about filming student interviews and I allow my class the freedom to wander with the understanding that they will come directly back. Well, once I found this group of boys playing ping pong. Another time they found a baby turtle and were gone from class for an hour trying to figure out what to do with it. Yet another time, they were hanging out in the library watching their friends play video games! UGH! (Linda Rodriguez, US Faculty & Virtual Programming)
A student brought me her planned absence form on which she had written that she would be absent on 3/31 and 3/34. (Marty Kelly, 9th English)
Years ago on April Fool’s Day, I went to get some coffee during break. When I got back to my classroom, the entire room was backwards – even my heavy desk was moved. Well planned and executed! (Hannah King, 5th grade ELA)
A few years ago, two of my boys (who NEVER got in trouble) wrote down every cuss word they knew on the prayer paper in Little Chapel and turned it in to the prayer request box. Mr. Mac came to me with it and after we stopped laughing in the hallway, he took the boys to see Mr. Alford. Those boys are in 10th grade this year and I still have a copy of the list in my desk. (Rachel Newman, 2nd grade)
At another school, for April Fool’s day (My first in the classroom)- I told my 6th grade class we were going to have a documentary day during state testing. I told them that the documentary was great but was in Spanish and had subtitles. We were learning about Mesoamerica at the time so it fit. I also made an elaborate “notes” sheet for them to fill out while we were watching it. There was a lecture about how they needed to take this seriously etc. etc. I must have really sold it– before I could say “April Fool’s!” several students burst into tears and started sobbing about the work load. More joined. Not even the real game/fun day I had planned could salvage the mood. The class turned into a “pass the tissues” heart to heart about the stress they were feeling about the end of the year and testing. Lesson learned– Be gentle with April Fool’s day! Spring is hard for the students too! (Margaret Mains, 5th History)
What ADVICE do you have for other faculty to get through this final quarter of the official school year?
Keep marching forward! Take a breath – we will all get to May and graduation at the same time! (Shannon Watt, MS Choir)
Spring semester-we just show up and teach whoever walks through the door! (Anna Johnson, as shared by Shannon!)
Pick your battles. So your most challenging student has chosen to shimmy up her shirt and wear it more like a crop exposing her belly button…? But she greeted you and talked to you about her weekend plans. Ignore the belly…focus on the interaction. (Susan Pace, 7th ELA)
Just breathe and write everything in pencil: things will change! (Austin Killebrew, 9th Math)
PROJECT BASED LEARNING! (Linda Rodriguez, US Faculty & Virtual Programming)
Don’t overplan; lessons should be stimulating, but not at the expense of your sanity.
We all have home lives and other responsibilities, so don’t expend ALL of your energy when you are already stretched thin. (Catoria Mozee, PK2
Hold on to your hats. And don’t fight being on an outdoor campus; use it. (Marty Kelly, 9th English)
My best advice is to keep your students very busy. Keep moving forward until the bitter end! (Hannah King, 5th grade ELA)
Go outside! (Cyndi Irons, MS Art)
My advice for teachers in linear subjects at the end of the year is to individualize as much as possible; some students will need a mile deep and an inch wide; some students will need the exact opposite. . . as much as one could say “your goals for next year .. .and therefore I MUST” . . . you’re going to the next level so you really need to have a contact point with all of these skills versus you’re not going to carry on but you found a deep interest in and I can support you in that. (David Kelly, US Performing Arts)
Stay in your daily routine as much as possible. (Rachel Newman, 2nd grade)
Be gentle with yourself! Nothing is going to go exactly how you planned/hoped. You’re doing the best you can! Students will remember the fun and craziness of this time of year not that one lesson you didn’t quite get to. (Margaret Mains, 5th grade)
Just for fun, what is the most apt metaphor for spring at St. Andrew’s?
Why do we even have classes? HA! Just kidding! Crazy busy would be my word. (Shannon Watt, MS Choir)
A tire that’s quickly deflating….? i tried – it’s hard to be metaphorical at the end of a very long week. (Susan Pace, 7th ELA)
Switchback turns on a mountain road. Things just keep changing. (Austin Killebrew, 9th Math)
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If things are going well, don’t question it. If things are hectic, be glad it isn’t worse. (Catoria Mozee, PK2)
School in the spring is like a zoo during a hurricane. (Linda Rodriguez, US Faculty & Virtual Programming)
You’re running the final leg in a relay but you’ve dropped the baton and then you see they’ve added hurdles and you are simultaneously herding feral cats. (Marty Kelly, 9th English)
A butterfly flitting from one thing to another! (Cyndi Irons, 5th Grade math)
Treading water in the deep end with only one nostril above the water. (Rachel Newman, 2nd grade)
I always say that the beginning of the year is like jumping on a treadmill that is already in sprint mode and it takes a while to get into the pace/groove of things. The spring feels like you’ve been sprinting on that treadmill since August and are exhausted and weary. (Margaret Mains, 5th History)
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood for Kim Sewell (PK4), Andrea Stallings (ECC Instructional Assistant), and Ruth Fletcher (Little Chapel) to delve deep with their educator and Momma hats into all things Mr. Rogers. In their honest conversation, it becomes clear that the recent resurgence of interest around the show and man behind Mr. Rogers Neighborhood reflects some deep societal needs for connection, pausing, and emotional exploration. Enjoy!
2:35-4:13: Ruth and Andrea discuss two very different vantage points on the impact of television on the lives of young children; should we be hopeful about its ability to foster play and creativity, or should we be concerned about its impact?
4:14-5:50: What provoked Mr. Rogers to utilize TV as a medium, and a peek into Kim’s evolution as a parent.
5:55- 7:00: The shows our guests’ children enjoyed when they were young, and their own personal early childhood relationship with Mr. Rogers Neighborhood growing up.
7:01-8:06: Why watching paint dry can be entertaining: the power of meditative television.
8:23-10:24: The “other type” of children’s show, and what chaotic or subversive television reveals about the intersection of consumerism and the world of TV, particularly in today’s streaming environment.
10:25-12:45: Wisdom for current parents of littles: watch what they watch, and turn on your “icky” meter.
12:46-13:47: How our guests feel that adult cartoons and marvel movies have impacted young people.
13:48-16:09: On the other hand, the good old days weren’t so perfect: reflections on Bugs Bunny and nursery rhymes and the importance of differentiating reality and imagination for youth.
16:13-17:50: What imagination as a coping mechanism looks like in a PK4 classroom.
17:51-20:42: Why the first thing Ruth’s 1st-4th graders are asked to do when they enter the classroom gives us hope that slower, more deliberate programming can still entertain children; also, Bluey might be the new Mr. Rogers.
20:45-23:25: Tools we can practice as parents of young children after a busy day to help us “live much fuller lives”; “I think that’s the whole point: we all need to slow down.”
23:26- 24:15: The role grandparents can play in slowing us all down, and why we need to better connect across generations.
24:20-25:53: The guests confront accusations that Mr. Rogers’ message resulted in an entitled generation: “Loving yourself and entitlement are two completely different things . . . you can’t go wrong letting people know how much they’re loved.”
Raise your hand if you want to go back to middle school. Anyone? Anyone? (Why is it so quiet in here all of a sudden?) If the thought of re-inhabiting your 13 year old skin makes you cringe, you should be warned, Bo Burnham’s portrayal of Kayla’s culminating middle school year in Eighth Grade might very well transport you right back. But for those of us that work with youth in this age range, 8th Grade might be the most impactful PD experience out there. Why? By putting us smack dab in the center of the young protagonist’s hopes, insecurities, successes, and failures, the movie will do more than just elicit sighs of recognition– it may very well help you see all of your students in an entirely new light. Here to talk about the movie and their wonderful, awkward 8th grade selves are Toby Lowe (5th grade math), Hannah Williams-Inman (7th-8th grade Spanish), and Hollie Marjanovic (US Learning Facilitator).
3:55-5:10: How Hannah’s 8th grade year represented a huge identity shift from shy to confident, much like Kayla, the protagonist in the movie.
5:15-7:55: How Hollie’s 8th grade grade year was fraught with all of the normal awkward things in 8th grade, but also compounded by transferring to a new school and a school-wide tragedy; and the role that safe and kind adults played.
7:59-10:11: Why 8th grade was Toby’s least favorite year, and that strong sense waiting for life to start, trying to find your thing when you don’t yet know quite who you are.
10:15-11:02: Why it can feel like a huge relief for us as faculty to remember how marginal teachers can be in the lives of students, at best “blundering idiots.”
13:27-15:55: How Kayla’s middle school experiences contrast with the reality of our 5th-8th graders at St. Andrew’s; also Hannah drops some wisdom: “All 8th graders want to belong and feel like they don’t. 100% want to be part of something and don’t feel they are part of something yet.”
15:57- 17:55: We zoom a bit more into Kayla, her need to make help videos, and why 8th grade is, as Toby puts it, “such a well observed movie.”
17:56- 19:30: Toby recalls the “ visiting your friend’s huge mansion effect” from his own coming-of-age, and Hannah points out that adolescence is a project of comparison: “Should my life look like I’m having fun in this pool party with friends?”
19:36- 21:48: We gush about perhaps our favorite 8th grade character in the movie, the oh-so-lovable Gabe.
22:55-26:32: The good, bad, and ugly of when Kayla gets a glimpse into high school life, and does this have implications for our 5th-12th grade north campus?
26:38-34:35: We talk the role that technology plays in the movie, our own relationships with devices, researched links to anxiety, and our cell phone policies at school.
34:36-35:30: Reasons we think Kayla’s dad should win best dad ever.
35:31-37:20: The climactic end of the movie, time capsules, and Kayla seeing the light after a very fraught year of growing up.
37:42-41:11:Toby asks us to muster up our past 8th grade girl perspective: “Is there really all that staring and boy anxiety?!”
41:16-42:20: Why we just want to find every awkward kid and hug them and make them feel better. Also, we are ALL still Kayla, even those of us in our forties.
44:28-end: Hannah ends the episode with more words of insight: “It feels impossible that someone could look at you with all your mess, frizzy hair, and think that you are easy to love. It seems impossible! But we’ve all been there! And they are so easy to love.”
We got really deep in our last podcast season. The word accountability doesn’t exactly evoke flowers and rainbows, particularly in the context of schooling. Those conversations were powerful, real, and needed. But we (Toby, Kim, Michelle, Rachel, Buck, and Hollie) decided it was time for something a little lighter. This spring we are excited to launch a season that demands that we put down our stacks of work and go binge watch some Hulu. That’s right . . . we are looking at the ways that television and movies portray youth and schooling!
For those of us on the inside, representations of our profession can often be pretty annoying. (Take for example, the whole set of “savior” narratives in which the white teacher comes in with their unconventional methods and big heart and effortlessly changes an entire school culture.) But today we launch our season with what is perhaps the most entertaining and talked-about and (dare-I-say) possibly even realistic creative contribution to the genre: Abbott Elementary! Of course the best people to talk about it are our every-day south campus folks. Hosted by first grade teacher Michelle Portera, this episode features perspectives from Taylor Davis (PK3), Anna Frame (4th grade), Meredith Boler (2nd grade), and Sarah Rabke (our awesome newish permanent LS sub). Whether you are an avid fan of the show or have never even heard of it, you are going to love this episode.
3:53-4:50; 31:23-31:54: Why/how you should start watching Abbott Elementary immediately!
4:55-6:35: What Anna Frame’s favorite scene has in common with St. Andrew’s very own lost and found.
6:28-7:42: Why Meredith Boler loves the format: it’s so relatable.
7:46-8:58: How much the character Janine reminds us of our first year teacher selves, that one time Taylor Davis made the mistake of telling parents she was a first year teacher, and the age-old fear of young teachers everywhere: “What if I get to the number 3 and the students haven’t yet complied?!”
9:00-10:30: Michelle shares her own raw first-year-teacher-self story.
10:35-12:26: Why the substitute episode resonated big time for permanent sub Sarah Rabke, and a helpful reminder to us to include ALL the details in the sub plans.
12:43-14:05: The group discusses the most resourceful, loving, doesn’t-put-up-with-any-nonsense character: Melissa; also fun fact: if you need any Philly- translations to understand the series, make sure to ask our very own Sara Clark!
14:13-15:24: Why the aspiring-principal-turned-sub-turned-teacher Gregory reminds us of Jim in The Office; and how his “reluctance . . . turns into a really deep passion.”
15:45-20:22: Michelle plays a clip from the show and guests shout out all the Ava character love; she simultaneously incorporates all of the cliches of bad administrators, is so edgy and inappropriate, but underneath that there possesses heart, truth, and insight.
21:07-23:27: The group explores the character of Barbara, who represents the most old school, veteran, master teachers in our schools.
23:28-25:05: In what is my favorite moment of this podcast episode, the group discusses the young, progressive teacher Jacob who may or may not be compared with Anna Frame’s husband, Andy.
25:08-26:29: Guests explore the magical Mr. Johnson, eliciting a shout out to Greg Buyans and building managers everywhere, who do everything and know everything at any given time buoyed by a shocking amount of good humor.
26:31-28:15: It takes no stretch to find resonance in the bathroom/water situation episode for our south campus folks; Sarah recalls her first week on the job at SA this year: “Where am I and why is this happening?!
28:20-30:06: Guests predict what is next with Janine and Gregory’s relationship; and they discuss what happens at education conferences, stays at education conferences.
30:15-31:23: Lest we leave thinking the show is a perfect representation, guests end with sharing all of the unrealistic moments in the show: lunch breaks together; manicures in the middle of the day?! Come on, Abbott Elementary. No way.
AUthored by Rahi PatelAuthored by Marcella Robinson
Most of the time talk about differentiation brings to mind open-ended projects and choice. Giving students multiple avenues to show what they know is key to making room for meaning making. But what about the ideological differences students bring to classroom spaces? History, which inevitably involves interpretation that shunts between today, yesterday, and tomorrow, is arguably the most contested field of study our youth encounter. Is there a way to make space for both forms of responsiveness to the students in front of us?
Enter stage left: Paul Buckley’s Andrew Jackson Project. Buckley’s assignment sheet begins: “Unit 8: The Age of Jackson is a short unit covering only three lessons from Chapter 10. There will be no test and no quizzes. Rather, you will have three options for how to show your knowledge and understanding of the material.”
Option 1: Hero/Villain Poster– Within the poster option you have choices. You may create a campaign poster which portrays Jackson as a hero. Or you may create a wanted poster which portrays him as a villain. For each of these you will need to include at least four aspects of his life or presidency. It will also include a written component justifying the topics that you chose to incorporate. Further, the poster may be either a virtual or a physical poster.
Option 2: Five Paragraph Essay– Write a 5-paragraph essay in response to this question: “Assess the person and the presidency of Andrew Jackson. To what degree should we celebrate him and to what degree should we apologize for him?”
Option 3: Research Essay– This is the most challenging option and should be attempted only if you are really motivated by the topic. Write a research essay in which you address the question “To what degree are there parallels to be drawn between the persons and presidencies of Andrew Jackson and Donald Trump” You will address their personal characteristics, their policies, and approaches to the presidency.
P.S. Lest you are thinking what I am thinking (everyone is going to do the poster because it’s super easy and fluffy), there was some writing required either way. (See the back of the posters for proof below.)
Such assignment prompts are not for the faint of heart. But anyone who knows Paul knows he cares deeply about supporting students to express their ideas clearly, listen deeply to ideas that differ from their own, and be willing to engage in dialogue across difference. Paul explains further:
The overarching aim is to have kids recognize the complexity of people and historical events. Humans are so complex, aren’t we?! We can hardly even say that we understand ourselves, much less others. This recognition hopefully leads to us judging others, past and present, a little less harshly and with a little more humility. I guess this is one way to help depolarize, eh. Another aim of the project is to help us to recognize when we are using our presentism lens (judging the past by the moral standards of today) and our historicism lens (judging the past by the standards of their time and place).
From my vantage point, Paul is engaging in two flavors of differentiation in this particular project: (1) giving students choice in the product they create to show their understanding of the unit and (2) creating a clear avenue for agency in historical-ideological interpretation.
My two cents? Generally there are very few clear heroes and villains. We all have a good bit of both all wrapped up hiding under our very human skin. And I think the authors of the posters below get that too.
The word is FUN. There’s not a whole lot of chance for kids to just have fun . . and let it be their choice, because they are being driven to this practice and that practice, doing homework in the minivan. All three of us offer and do things with the kids that parents say “NO” to at home, like melting soap to make bath bombs. We’re doing stuff you do at your grandparent’s house, not at your parent’s house. (Patty Wolf)
I went with the carbon snakes where we were burning things, flames shooting up . . . ; they want something exciting and they go “THIS IS SCIENCE?!” yes it is . . . “(gasp) what else can I do” And that’s what I like . . the WHAT ELSE . . . in small groups you CAN do the what else! . . .let’s find out . . (Kathy Vial)
Yeah I think we all do [after school enrichments] that [we] would want to do. If I was little, I would want to do, and I STILL want to do it. I taught woodworking one time because I wanted to learn woodwork. It’s kind of like living through them by doing it. (Kim Sewell)
Fog rising from the grass, I stepped out of the car and wrapped my black, spit-up stained Moby around a half asleep three month old Alianna Rust, securing her to my torso. My husband and I were touring St. Andrew’s (just for fun, not for serious) while on a weekend marathon of house-hunting. (We had left five year old Lucy and two year old Zander in Indiana with the grandparents.) I had just recently accepted a gig at Millsaps College in the oh-so foreign land of Jackson, MS. This school visit was happening courtesy of a recommendation from an admissions-counselor at an Ivy League buddy of mine; she thought we should at least check out the school because of my research interest in K-12 education. But about 30 minutes into the tour, I felt a distinct sense of home. My mind began spinning with questions: (1) Is this place for real? (2) Could we possibly afford this place?, and (3) Do they have high quality after school programming?
For many working parents with children of a certain age range, finding safe and enriching opportunities for their babies between the hours of 3pm-5pm can become a Herculean task. St. Andrew’s established After School Care Programming and enrichment auxiliary classes was one large reason my husband and I decided to take the leap into the world of independent school. So perhaps it’s about time we zoomed in on all the goodness that happens after the official school day ends. Jay Losset and his crew of enrichment faculty and after school staff know that meeting students’ diverse needs after the day is done (right about when exhaustion and hunger can set in) is no small order. Nevertheless, they do so with a spirit of fun and ease that could serve as inspiration for us all.
I sat down with Jay Losset (Director of Auxillary Programming), Kathy Vial (Science faculty and long-time teacher of After School Science), Kim Sewell (PK4 faculty member and Enrichment teacher of classes like Tinkerlab; Emerging Engineers, Slimes, Doughs and Crazy Concoctions), and Patty Wolf (Teaching Assistant and Enrichment teacher of Happy Panda Yoga, Mindfulness, and Glow Girls) to learn more about the magic that makes it all work. (See them all pictured from left to right below.)
Jay, you are an enigma to me with all you manage as director of all of this after-school business for the past nine years! Under your leadership, our camps and after school programming has blossomed beautifully. What is a day in the life like?
Well it depends on the time of year. I oversee camps when school is out (throughout the school year on specific holidays and teacher work days); enrichment classes (we’re up to 60+), and Saints Summer Experience (Lord willing, registration begins Feb 27th!) Right now I’m trying to hop to summer because they go live in 20 days, but I can’t tell parents their concerns have to wait until I’m done with that. It’s the day-to -day stuff. Lynn Davis, Auxillary Programs Associate, keeps the trains of ASC running; I don’t know how I did it before her! I’m either getting ready for fall/spring enrichments or summer as well as the constant churn of ASC. (Jay)
I know that After School Care is quite distinct from Enrichments, so let’s start there. It’s a bit more affordable of an option, more play-based, and less structured. I know my three Rusts have spent many an hour doing homework in the Commons, playing outside, and watching the occasional movie inside before we can get them at the end of the day. What’s it all about?
Jay: It’s a place for kids to play after hours that’s safe; I think a lot of parents miss that. There are all of these nostalgic Facebook posts about “what I did when I was growing up in the 80’s.” Some of it was great and some of it was horrible–rose tinted glasses and all that. We were doing things that we shouldn’t have done. It’s nostalgic and there were no screens back then, but some of that was not great. In ASC we have guard rails in place to keep the worst stuff at bay. We let multiple grades play together; a 1st grader and a 4th grader can look at Pokemon together. It’s sort of a good experiment of sorts. It gives modern working parents who may lack the neighborhood or don’t feel safe letting them run wild from 3-5 or they can’t get the kid or they have to work. The number of kids that use it, [not having it] would affect a lot of working parents. After school care is sort of a wild, necessary beast. I can’t imagine St. Andrew’s existing without it.
Thanks for that, Jay. I see you’ve invited three fabulous and experienced enrichment teachers to join us today. Why did you choose Kathy, Kim, and Patty today?
Jay: Ya’ll came to mind because yours are some of the programs that have multi-year track records of success. For new/prospective teachers, I want to say “go talk to these guys”- they have it down to an art, a science. Thanks to ya’ll for what you do and being so self sufficient because a lot has changed.
What compliments! And of all of the veterans, I think Kathy wins the award. I’ve learned just today that she’s been doing after school science for 19 years; when she began, our after school programming just consisted of her science class and basketball. What keeps you going, Kathy?
Kathy: Well we teachers have a vested interest in these kids, and I can do things in my after school science class that I couldn’t do with a full load of kids; we can make sure it gets geared to them.. Of course, it depends on the day. If something has gone down during the school day, it is a little harder. But as far as planning, I know my subject. And I have fun doing it. And I can do it with kids who are excited to do it because they want to, and they get to truly experiment. They love it, and that brings me up. Of course I still go home and say “we are ordering out”. For me, I love what I do. Especially when they are going “GASP- can we do THIS?!” And you can’t do it in one [regular school day] class because if you do it in one class you have to do it for the whole grade. And they get a whole lot of “I remember,” and that’s fun too and I say “Can you tell me what you remember, and let’s expand on it.”
StudentKimber Sanders created this as a 4th grader in Kathy Vial’s After School Science Class in April 2022.
What about you Patty? How do you find the energy after a full day at work to do enrichments?
Patty: It’s not a struggle or a drag. I love it. I look so forward to it. This is my second side hustle. I sell real estate so my day ends at 9-9:30. I have another job after this. You know, what else am I gonna do? It’s a happy time. As far as the planning, it takes place during weekends. I plan for the week; I theme lesson plans. Valentine lesson plans, games, activities on a theme, exercises to go with each theme. I tweak it depending on how many students and the ages. And for Glow Girls I have 20-25 different things whether it’s making bath bombs or self portrait or art. Try to hit varied subjects each semester, each week and let them know what’s coming up the following week. “See ya Friday at glow girls!”
That’s amazing! Kim- do you also find this work rejuvenating, despite the added labor?
Kim: Yeah I think we all do things, like I do [after school enrichments] that I would want to do– if I was little, I would want to do and I still want to do it. I taught woodworking one time because I wanted to learn woodwork. It’s kind of like living through them by doing it. It’s not a drag at all. It gets harder for me when I have a lot of kids. It’s more stress when you have 12 kids versus 8. I remember when Inglish DeVoss left she asked if I wanted to do cooking, which was always packed, but I hate to cook. Do I want to do cooking that I hate and make so much money and I was like, “no.”
The theme of this month is teaching the students in front of us; knowing them and adjusting accordingly. What could classroom teachers glean from something you’ve learned while facilitating enrichments?
Kathy: Since 2005 I’ve been doing after school science. The one thing I’ve learned is that kids react to each other better and work together better if there is laughter and part of it is, “See where you want to sit” “See who you want to work with”; and “Remember there are other people who might not know you yet.” And I’ve never had a problem with that. Then the kids have their hand in planning it . . . [In after school science] we were identifying bases and acids and they said, “When are we gonna do some real science” and I said, “This IS real science” . . . and of course they were laughing. They said they want to do more science and I said, “What kind of science?” and they said “EXCITING!” I went with the carbon snakes where we were burning things, flames shooting up. They want something exciting, and they go: “THIS IS SCIENCE?!” “Yes it is!” “(GASP) What else can I do?” And that’s what I like . . the “WHAT ELSE” . . . In small groups you can do the “what else”! . . .”Let’s find out.” As long as there is (1)laughter (2) they have a hand in guiding it, we can guide where their questions lead them. They’ve got to come up with them. And it makes me excited. . I like it so, what can I say; I have fun!
It’s interesting your repetition of the word “fun”. Does that resonate with anyone else?
Patty: That’s it. The word is FUN- there’s not a whole lot of chance for kids to just have fun, and let it be their choice because they are being driven to this practice and that practice doing homework. All three of us offer and do things with the kids that parents say “NO” to at home, like melting soap to make bath bombs, messy. We’re doing stuff you do at your grandparent’s house, not at your parent’s house. And I send home directions on how to do this or that so they can know the ingredients, but even making smoothies, it’s messy, and who wants to go buy 8 bags of frozen fruit to make one child a smoothie at home or whatever! But it is a mess, but they are paying us to make a mess with the kids!
Okay so is it all just fun and games? Or is there serious “learning” that takes place?
Kathy: When I was doing rocket science: “Ok you want your water bottle to go how high?” “How are you gonna measure it?” And they have to come up with ideas on how to do finger measuring and estimates. And baking soda versus vinegar and recording it. But they don’t get upset about it because it’s theirs . . . they have a hand in it.
Patty: [Enrichment classes offer] an opportunity for kids to talk about school with their parents; they will talk about it.
How does choice/interest play into the success of enrichments?
Kim: I think for the most part parents give the kids agency to pick [which enrichments they are in] . . I’ve hardly ever had a kid that didn’t get to choose their enrichments.
What about the role of the social?
Jay: I think that’s important, because these [enrichment and after school care times] are some of the few chances kids get to do intermingled activities with different age groups.
Patty: Something I’ve learned from my work with enrichments: When we teachers are placing children for the following fall, [we should] pay attention more to how the children play, who they play with, who they are comfortable with. It will draw more out of a child in the classroom when they are with children that they play with: comfort and confidence.
Jay- any final pieces of information you want to share with faculty members reading this?
Jay: Staffing, particularly in after school care, will always be an issue, no matter what. Space is also a challenge – we are at capacity in the Early Childhood Center! I’m proud that we’ve been able to grow the program back to where we were pre-covid. In some areas, we’re much bigger than we were before covid. The breadth and depth of our enrichment offerings continues to grow. Sidenote: I’m always looking for someone to teach typing and chess!
I can tell you the day that I made peace with children falling asleep in my class. I was in the second semester of my first year teaching at (then) T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Another teacher friend who taught at a high school in North Carolina had recently tweeted something to the effect that she had no problem letting a child sleep in her class if that was what they needed at that point in the day or in their life. When I first read this tweet, my righteously indignant, “the children must learn at all costs and there shall be no excuses” (my–not everyone’s, but my particular flavor of (a) Teach For America self) was up in arms. The children? Allowed to sleep? Surely your lessons are hideously unengaging? Perhaps you’re incoherent and they can’t follow what you’re doing? Maybe they’re up all night playing video games at home? Whatever the reason, this. cannot. happen.
And then I taught in the International Academy (The IA) at T.C. I had students as old as 23, and as young as 15. I was teaching Geometry and Physics to students who had all recently come to the United States–mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, but also from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Moldova and a number of other countries. Their English levels ranged from fairly solid spoken, but rough around the edges written to “I should probably smile when you say what is your name because I have no idea what you are saying unless my friend who is also from my country translates.” It was a lot. My biggest rookie IA mistake was asking a room full of English language learners to trace something assuming they all knew what trace meant. And then I had to try to explain tracing as simply as possible, but with props.
But back to the sleeping. For much of my first year, when a student fell asleep in my class, I was irritated. I was out there busting my tail to make these lessons engaging, with low linguistic floors for entry and high ceilings for the thinking required to do them. And these students had the audacity to fall asleep in my classes. I began to ask around–among colleagues, the social worker (a really great man named David Wynn, who is 100% one of the greatest and most thoughtful and hilarious humans I’ve ever met and had the privilege to work with), and among my students themselves. What slowly became clear to me was that easily half of my classes were students who left school and went straight to a job, many at restaurants, some in other businesses, where they worked essentially full time jobs. Some worked demolition or construction after school and then worked even more on the weekends. We didn’t have a ton of disposable income while we lived in Alexandria, but when we went out to restaurants, I began to recognize my students as bar backs, busboys, cooks and food servers. And when I asked the ones I knew back at school how much they worked or what they had done over the weekend. And almost to a person, they said that they’d worked basically the entire weekend and that they worked a lot of nights during the week.
Some of these students were working for walking around money, but a lot of them were working because their family or the people with whom they lived needed their income in order to make the ends meet. A couple, for several different reasons including age, lived on their own. While in high school. In a foreign country they’d lived in for less than 3 years. It was mind boggling. Of course many of them were exhausted on Mondays or by Thursday night or didn’t show up on Friday morning. They were doing the equivalent of two jobs between work and school and the job that didn’t have as much to do with their survival was the one where they felt enough space to relax. My position in sleeping moderated. I moved from just being irritated by it to asking a couple of questions and doing my homework about who was working where and how much and what the situation was.
My point here isn’t to romanticize the life of teaching immigrants or to say that I got this right. It’s just to point out that there’s an internal logic to what our students do, even when they’re wrong for it in our eyes. What makes sense to people is what they do. And I think a big part of meeting our students where they are is trying to parse out this internal logic and if not to take it into account when we make decisions about children, at least to see that it’s something worth paying attention to. Sometimes it’s something worth respecting. We can go a long way towards meeting our students where they are if we respond to something that they do that’s upsetting appropriately, but thoughtfully, with the understanding that whatever they’re doing makes sense to them, and that that sense is worth getting our heads around.
A few weeks ago, a group from the Lower School made the trip down to New Orleans for some of the most enjoyable professional development, school visits!
Maya Buford, Jessica Farris, Kathy Vial, Mayson McKey, Sara Clark, Sarah Walker, and myself spent two days visiting schools in Metarie and New Orleans. The group visited St. Martin Episcopal School, Metairie Park Country Day, Isidore Newman School, and even got to catch up with Virginia Buchanan, a valued and treasured member of our St. Andrew’s family.
The purpose of the trip was to observe best practices for the application and integration of visual and performing arts, world languages, science, makerspace, and tech integration.
The co curricular team had wonderful and insightful tours and had numerous valuable conversations with teachers and administrators at each of the schools visited.
At St. Martin Episcopal School, the team witnessed the benefits of having departments from all divisions working together, planning, and sharing resources that enriched the students’ learning experiences both in and out of the core content classrooms, as well as fostered the growth of the community as whole from the preschool all the way to the senior class, where students parents, faculty and staff were all valuable parts of the whole.
Metairie Park Country Day was a magical experience where the team was able to observe that thinking outside the box and non-traditional classroom models can actually be a widely successful model for differentiation and student success. High expectations and relationships were the backbone of every story and interaction beheld at the school where students participated in specialized blocks of time for club and enrichment activities held by every member of the faculty and staff.
Isodore Newman welcomed us with open arms, and was excited for our group of teachers to join in their monthly assembly called the Greenie Gathering, where they infuse their monthly calendar with a critical to the educational experience, FUN! Special songs, guests from the community, celebrating success, student and event showcases, and reminders of who they are as a community shined through.
The team saw so many things that these schools were doing well, and that there is truly not some perfect model for all schools to follow and be successful. The keys are its members, the mission, and knowing and meeting the needs of your community and students.
Although much was learned, seen, and many more ideas were brought to the forefront for future pondering, the overall take-away: There are so many things in which St. Andrew’s excels, and we are proud to be part of the St. Andrew’s Episcopal community.
Take a walk through through the halls, so to speak, by talking a look at a few of the pictures below.
“Elephants” by Mila Marjanovic, 2nd grade year (May 2021)
100% commitment to 24/7 differentiation in any classroom, in its purest and most consistent form, is probably unattainable for a teacher with any semblance of work/life balance. Why? It takes a whole lot of that slippery, precious precious resource: time.
Maybe it’s possible if you are homeschooling your single child at home. Maybe then. Only then.
When I was barely 21 years old and looked about 10, I spent my first three years teaching seven preps (6th Grammar/Writing, 6th Reading, 7th Grammar/Writing, 7th Reading, 8th Grammar/Writing, 8th Reading, 8th US History) at a tiny private Catholic School in Terre Haute, IN. The entire 6th grade class had 31 students in it, so I needed a few extra chairs. 7th grade, though only populated by 10 students, made up for it in their constant talking over me. 8th grade was a more manageable 25 or so. I had never had a full time teaching gig before, so I didn’t know enough to know this was an insanely challenging load for a first year teacher. I had a brand new husband, which in my opinion shouldn’t need any maintenance. I remember distinctly thinking: “Oh this is a job you have to work hard for? I’m good at working fast. Time, for me, is a flexible heuristic.” (Oh dear, dear Julie before three kids. You had no idea just how finite time would become.)
So, I dedicated my life to this new adventure: morning, noon, night, weekends. I rode my bike in the just-rising 6am sun to arrive early to the building, in time to begin my daily routine of faking it until you make it. Sometimes I was reading the history chapter for the first time as I taught it. I had copious stacks of worksheets just-in-case I ran out of lesson plans. (Spoiler: I never ran out of lesson plans. I eventually recycled all of the worksheets.) I would sometimes watch a movie with my husband on a Saturday night while responding to letters my students had written me about the books they were reading. I found a bag of chocolate chips was a wonderful way to get through an impossible load of essays.
Lesson planning was my favorite world of exhilarating possibility. How might I spend the next hour, day, week, month, unit, year as I intentionally met the needs of each of my students? I buried myself in articles clipped from English Journal and Voices from the Middle and resources I gobbled up at every conference I was able to get my hands on. It was completely exhausting and completely unsustainable and completely wonderful. I fell in love with my students and my profession as I fell in love with my husband. I grew into my authority as an adult in the room as I literally grew into being an adult. I don’t recommend this kind of entry into teaching for any first year teacher. Funny thing is, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
What could possibly take me so much time? Well for one, I was a complete novice with no English teaching buddy or mentor in the building. There was no existing curriculum that I thought was worth its salt. So I painstakingly built it from the ground up. But there was something else at play here too . . .an annoying persistence to live out my educational philosophy that the best teaching involves giving individual students what they need in relation to interest, skill level, etc. Why put on an existing play when students could write a play based on their local reality? Why use an existing lesson plan on persuasive writing when I could craft an authentic series of activities related to my overdue library books and have students work on letter writing at the same time? Kids are complaining about homework? Let’s turn this into a research opportunity and have them lead a debate for the full school on whether homework in middle grades improve achievement. Every comment a kid made was a learning opportunity, a data point . ..one that if I listened hard enough could totally shift the trajectory of our curriculum.
For me, the calling to differentiation also often took the form of copious individualized feedback-tracking at every turn. Every journal entry required a personal response that both affirmed and gave a suggestion for improvement. Every worksheet was graded for accuracy and put into a spreadsheet I utilized to track individualized mastery of ELA Indiana Academic Standards. Sometimes feedback took the form of one-on-one conferences which I tracked on a different spreadsheet so I could account for what each student was working on and their progress. We talked individually about their books, about their writing pieces (which were individualized by genre based on interest of course.) The days and class periods flew by. Sometimes, the results of my work on student growth were astounding. Just as often, though, I found the first draft of an essay I had lovingly written all over crumbled on the floor. My feedback had never been read. By the end of most days, when I tried to read a few paragraphs in a book for myself, my eyes either refused to focus or I fell immediately asleep.
You can see where this story is going. I almost lost my mind those first few years of teaching. This “all the differentiation all the time” approach was killing me and exhausting my kids. It was also having the unintended impact of creating a curriculum that was all-over-the-place and failed to re-loop enough for most students to grasp full mastery.
This I believe: Differentiating and following individual students’ interests, skill levels, etc. is a TOOL in the TOOLKIT. It is not the whole kit and caboodle. On the other side of the coin, if we are never doing it because “it takes more time” or because “this isn’t how I was taught” or “this isn’t how we did it 20 years ago,” shame on us. Butlet’s not go crazy either. Sometimes, we can all benefit from the same lesson, the same message, the same way, at the same time. Sometimes the kids that are stronger in an area can then help teach the others and bring them along. This is slowing down their content acquisition process, sure, but is also helping them grow some skills: communication, collaboration, articulation of understanding, metacognitive skills. This is, at its heart a number of game. And if there is one of us and 20 of them in a classroom, well . .. you do the math.
And also there’s this: sometimes differentiating would be better, but for the sake of a healthy and balanced teacher that needs to have a life outside of school, we go with second best.
And guess what? Everyone still survives, learns some stuff, and goes on to live and learn another day.
(Anna Johnson, as shared by Shannon!)
