Happy Autumn, Walnut Acres Parents! I headed out to yard duty last month and discovered a large group of 50 or 60 students milling around in a tight group. If I had been on a high school campus I would have been anxious that something untoward was happening. Since it was our angels, I wasn't really worried, but concerned enough to double my pace toward the throng. As I got closer, I could see that the tight group was actually a series of small student clusters with heads together that seemed to shift consistently creating new small random groups. I could also see that the students had pencils and paper and seemed to be poring over and sharing what looked to be drawings. I was completely intrigued and as I approached the group, I was delighted to realize that the children had opted to begin work on an assignment that had been presented to them just before recess. The 3rd grade teachers had shown a video of "Cain's Arcade" and tasked the students to develop their own arcade game. They had further explained that students were invited to bring their game to school to create a full-blown arcade in the MUR to which our youngest students would be invited. The students I saw were delighted with the plan and were spending their recess jotting their designs, presenting their ideas to peers, and collecting input. It was heart-warming to witness many of our 6 Cs (critical and creative thinking, collaboration, communication, global citizenship, and content mastery) in play during this student-created learning experience! Out of the students' efforts our Annual Third Grade Arcade Day was born. It was a rousing success, starring young entrepreneurs who proudly shared their games with one another and awed kindergarten game players. The third graders felt empowered by their creative achievement, excited by their contribution to creating a funhouse that filled the entire MUR, and highly motivated to continue their learning. In this case, that meant expanding their experience with levers and pulleys to learn about simple machines, as well as an analysis of their teamwork. You see, the experience was designed by the teachers to provide trouble-shooting and problem-solving opportunities for the young creators. Games broke or failed to work as their creators intended and students had to revamp their game or fix it in real time. That experience was fodder for students to reflect on what didn't work and realize the power of failure as a stepping stone to success. Students also discussed the balance of fun and challenge as they reviewed their Arcade Day. The memories of the experience and the analysis of the event now become potential topics for writing or reading...as students choose. The Arcade event exemplifies the kind of student choice and application that is more and more frequently infused into our Walnut Acres learning environment. We want students to take ownership for their own learning, and to succeed in that endeavor we have to motivate our learners, help them discover meaning in their instructional goals, and get them actively involved in sense-making. To that end, students are analyzing progress toward selfdeveloped reading goals. They are assessing their narrative pieces and deciding how to implement writing strategies. They are participating in Math Talks to share insights and strategies with peers. Our teachers often provide strategy lessons to students and then serve as facilitators to support student thinking. As our 21st century transformation continues, our Innovation Team is discussing the possibility of designing and building a new kind of learning space on our site. Our "Colab" would be a flexible, multi-media, library and large/small room space that could be adapted by teachers and students to serve a multitude of needs. Our concept is to create a space in which students could move as needed to research, build, design, compute, read, collaborate and analyze in a flowing, task-based manner that is simply not possible in our current configuration of small classrooms filled with students. If you are interested in helping to explore our Colab dream, you are welcome to join us at our next meeting on 10/27 at 3:00 p.m. in A-1. We have been given permission by the district to get a feasibility study for a new building. If you would like to help us plan and organize financially to raise money from corporations and businesses that understand the value of our plan, we would appreciate your presence. For now, our work to foster a value of empowered, life-long learning continues in our traditional setting. We appreciate the ongoing support of our dynamic and dedicated parents and we thank our feeder pattern community for working with us. I particularly want to note appreciation for the 14 enthusiastic Northgate high school students who are with us for about an hour four days a week us to support learning at Walnut Acres as they explore their passion to join the teaching profession. I also want to thank parents who are supporting PEAK (Partnership for Educational Achievement K-12) through their various fundraising events for our Northgate feeder pattern schools. We make good use of the monies that come from PEAK to Walnut Acres each year and we are grateful for their support. Finally, kudos to YOU: our amazing Walnut Acres Parents. Thanks for the many diverse roles you play. To the wonderful folks who are coordinating our annual Fall Walnut Acres events, our Ice Cream Social, the recent Community Service Day, our upcoming Red Ribbon Week and Carnival, and our gift wrap fundraiser, you are appreciated. To those who are primed to support our work in the classroom as Art Awareness and PEP volunteers and those awesome, behindthe- scene Room Parents and e-News coordinators, your communication and collaboration skills are pivotal, thank you. Finally, to those who serve on teams and committees, such as SSC, PFC Board, Safety, and Innovation, your leadership is crucial and your work is phenomenal. You are prized. Speaking of SSC, I am sending home a ballot to vote on one new member to our SSC. Currently, our PFC president is an SSC member, and as she is kept very busy with many other PFC-related activities, we are providing a ballot to you to vote on a new SSC member. Please return your ballot by Friday, 10/16. One more upcoming change for you, hot off the press-teachers would like to try inviting all students to wear costumes on 10/30 for a morning Halloween parade and Sing-out. More details of guidelines and plans will follow. Shhh, please, the teachers haven't told the children yet. Remember that if you have questions about your child's progress, contact your child's teacher and know that my door is open to you, as well. There will always be challenges as we grow and learn together, but if we tackle problems collaboratively, we will be modeling the process for our children and supporting them to become the best they can be! As Helen Keller reminded us many years ago, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!" Respectfully, Colleen Dowd Lucky principal Walnut Acres Elementary, 180 Cerezo Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 |
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