Mark Making and "Messing About": Exploring the Language of Materials in the Power Primes
In our classroom, inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, we believe that children learn best through active exploration and discovery. "Messing About" is a key phase in the creative process where children freely experiment with materials.
Projects Class in the Uppers
This is my 11th year teaching in the Uppers at the Center School, and during that time, a lot of things have changed. Teachers and students have come and gone, we are in a new building with lots of different spaces, we have rotated through lots of different lit books and even have a new math curriculum!
Mental Health Minutes: Anxiety
An Attitude of Gratitude with the Woods Primes
The forest is a bustle of activity these days and the Woods Primes appreciate any opportunity to slow down and just BE with one another in community. One of our morning meeting rituals is for a child to lead us in a breathing technique. Similar to the bubble breathing that we do in All School, but the Woods Primes know so many more!
The Real World in Real Time
At the Center School, transportation to and from field trips is provided by teachers and families. Some may see this as an obstacle, however it played in our favor recently as we decided to take an impromptu field trip to downtown Greenfield.
Nurturing Classroom Community in the Wonder Primes
The Wonder Primes are now in their sixth week of school and we are proud of how much they have grown as a community over the past weeks. We spent the past few weeks really getting to know each student and their unique needs and interests. We have been present with the students, offering familiar favorite activities and scaffolding play to support them as they learn about each other.
Fostering collaboration, patience, and creative expression with the Mups Green
This year, the Mups have been exploring the joys of music through an exciting new adventure: learning to play the ukulele. During their weekly Friday music classes, the students have embraced this hands-on opportunity with enthusiasm, building not only their musical skills but also fostering collaboration, patience, and creative expression.
Foundation Fridays in the Uppers
If you’ve talked with an upper this year, they may have mentioned something about Foundation Fridays. This weekly PE class is a space for students to expand their understanding of their physical strength and learn some new ways to move their bodies. It is an addition to our usual Uppers curriculum which centers around seasonal sports, like soccer and basketball, and offers a time for students to really push themselves individually as an athlete.
Learning Through Play In The Adventure Primes
Evolutionary science tells us that humans are naturally hard-wired to learn through play. For young children, play is literally the engine that drives their development. Observing, documenting, and reflecting upon children's play is how teachers learn about the children's interests, and provides insight into where they are in their social-emotional, physical, and cognitive development.
Collaborative Learning in Uppers Math
In Uppers math this year we are working on building thinking classrooms. Building Thinking Classrooms is an educational approach developed by Dr. Peter Liljedahl, professor of mathematics education at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Sparked by observing dozens and dozens of teachers struggle to engage students in deep thinking and problem-solving, and observing hundreds of students engaged in a lot of behavior that didn’t include thinking—or learning—Peter set out to find the answer to a simple question: How can we get more students to think and to think longer?
Skin Tone Talks in Mups Orange
In the Mups classroom, we began our year with a powerful exploration of skin tone and race, rooted in self-love and community care. At our school, we believe that developing a deep understanding of identity is crucial for young learners. By helping our students see beauty in themselves and others, we lay the foundation for an inclusive, anti-racist mindset.
Outdoor Play in the Middles
We read the book Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran at the start of each school year. It’s a book that has traveled with me through my teaching years in various urban and rural schools. The picture book describes a scraggly hill the neighborhood children call Roxaboxen. The hill is dotted with wooden boxes, ocotillo plants, and cactus. The hill looks unassuming, but to the children, it’s a magical place that comes to life each time they are there.
Power in the Power Primes classroom
This year our class is called the Power Primes! We chose this name because we wanted to embrace and celebrate all the power within a preschool classroom and more specifically in a 2-4 preschool classroom. Throughout our days together we come up against ‘power’ all the time.
Should 12-year-olds be allowed to vote? (8th Grade)
As part of our eighth-grade election/civics unit, we will be diving into some big questions about America using the PBS digital series, America from Scratch. Designed with young viewers in mind, each episode in the series asks a question about a fundamental building block of the United States as we know it.
Bridging Subjects and Best Laid Plans (7th)
The seventh-grade lit class is reading One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. We are only four chapters in and the author has ignited deep and important discussions about family dynamics, racism, and the economy.
Caring for Our Woods Spot (Preschool)
In the fall of 2023 preschool teachers noticed that some areas of our woods spot had been worn down to bare dirt from years of playing. We proposed to the children that we place a boundary line around some of the areas in the woods and take a break from walking or playing in those areas. The children agreed and went to work deciding together about which areas we would protect.
Creating Community with the Woods Primes
The beginning of a new school year is always an exciting time for both children and teachers, partly because so much is new, but also because so much is possible. Teachers, like any good collaborator, approach new experiences with careful listening and thoughtful intention. Intention centers around a “something” you mean to do—whether you pull it off or not.
Wonder Primes and Emergent Curriculum
The Preschool team of teachers met before school started and had a discussion about the names of our classrooms. Teachers from the toddler class, 3 and 4 year old class, and 4 and 5 year old class, along with Kiah, from student support services and Bev from Aftercare sat down together to brainstorm what we would like the names of our classrooms to be and how we can create new names that unify our preschool team.
Enriching Field Trips with the Mups (2nd/3rd)
As the Mups embark on another exciting school year, we want to highlight one of the most enriching aspects of our first-trimester curriculum: field trips! At The Center School, we believe that learning extends far beyond the walls of the classroom. Field trips play a pivotal role in our students’ educational journey.
Community Building in the Uppers
Building bonds in the first few weeks of school is crucial for creating a positive and supportive learning environment. Establishing strong connections with teachers and peers helps students feel safe and comfortable, which in turn fosters a sense of belonging and confidence.