Right now, each student in our small 4th-grade class is making a map of a different continent. We’ve been making maps since the second week of school, starting small (mapping our classroom) and expanding our focus month by month. We’ve learned about maps, and now maps are our first step toward understanding continents and cultures…
The last month and a half of the semester was a time that was heavy on reflection in my classroom. We began new units in reading in writing, which meant students had an opportunity to check-in by completing self-assessment checklists to see if and where their skills were stretched in the previous units. These itemized…
Every month, we reflect on a particular value as a whole school. November’s value has been gratitude and it has me thinking about what I am grateful for in my first year teaching at Chicago Friends School. I have been grateful to come to work every day and greet my students, to have the opportunity…
As a teacher of adolescents, one of the most important subjects I teach is not often considered a “subject” at all. I teach executive functioning skills. Adolescents and teens are often typecast into the role of rebels, complainers, challengers of authority, and hard to satisfy. These behaviors are normal and are often demonstrating that the…
“Infinity is not a number, it’s a concept!” exclaimed one kindergarten student. “What’s a concept?” questioned another. Over the past month, there has been a lot of chatter between the Sprouts about exactly what infinity is. I decided to take some time in math class the next morning to explore infinity in more detail. I…
At Chicago Friends School, we have very small class sizes. When people talk about small classes, the ability to customize instruction and provide individual students with teacher attention come up a lot. Those are important—part of the reason I wanted to teach here was that I wanted to be in a place where I would…