Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
Yesterday,
the staff attended the Association of Independent Schools of Maryland and D.C.
(AIMS) conference, and it appears from their comments that this was the best
annual conference ever. Our keynote
speaker, Sir Kenneth Robinson, an internationally-renowned expert in the field
of creativity and innovation in business and education, piqued the interest of
our GreenMount teachers. Indeed, his was
an inspiring and entertaining presentation. You can see Sir Robinson in a Ted Talks presentation at http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html. Part of what he talked about with us is
discussed in this presentation, and it speaks to the value of a school like
ours, where we celebrate ideas and creativity.
Here at GMS, not only do we foster
creativity in our students, but we encourage it in our teachers as well. This is one important reason why our teachers
have made the choice to be on our staff, as opposed to one in another school
where they might be stifled by a linear curriculum and a data-driven, test-oriented
curriculum. Speaking of which, did you
know that Finland is one of the top three educational systems in the
world? Did you know that they do not use
standardized tests? Perhaps they can
teach us something…..
Other workshops and presentations
throughout the day gave our teachers a wide variety of experiences. Before the conference, teachers had discussed
the workshops they hoped to attend, and we made sure that we had representation
at most of the workshops that would be of benefit to us. This Friday, at our staff meeting, we will
report back to each other about the sessions we attended and share new ideas. Mr. Fletcher and Ms. Elizabeth honored our
school in a session entitled “Are We There Yet with Gay/Straight Alliances?” Mr. Fletcher was the presenter, along with a
panel of high school students, and Ms. Elizabeth was the presider. Mr. Fletcher serves on an AIMS committee on
this subject and has contributed a lot of time, energy and ideas to helping
independent schools support students in establishing gay/straight alliances
that foster understanding and cooperation.
We are indeed proud that our school was represented so well.
I hope that you realize the value of
the kind of professional development that we experienced yesterday. This is how we keep on top of our game as
adult learners and how we work to improve the instructional program for your
children. So far this year, you have had
to make arrangements to accommodate two full days of our professional
development, and I want you to know that your support is appreciated. I also appreciate the fact that our staff can
function as a professional learning community every Friday. This is an important part of our professional
development and how our school continues to improve.
I’ll end today with a story told by Sir
Ken that illustrates the natural creativity of children:
“I heard a
great story recently, I love telling it, of a little girl who was in a drawing
lesson. She was 6, and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this
little girl hardly paid attention, [though] in this drawing lesson she did. The
teacher was fascinated and she went over to her and she said, ‘What are you
drawing?’ And the girl said, ‘I’m drawing a picture of God.’ And the teacher
said, ‘But nobody knows what God looks like.’ And the girl said, ‘They will in
a minute.’”
Cheers,
Steve
