Greetings,
GreenMount Community,
Ah, spring! It is finally here and the crocuses are
coming up in front of the school. Soon,
we will be enjoying the warm sun and that beautiful spring green around our
area. Gym classes will be outside, and
instead of coats being left on the stage, they will be left on the grass. Then there will be that tricky time between
heating and cooling our building, which is always a challenge, especially since
our weather in Baltimore is so finicky.
Nonetheless, it will change and the students will be chomping at the bit
for summer vacation to begin. It will all happen too fast and before you know
it, we will be in summer mode. For now,
we still have a lot of work to do.
Our third theme is coming along
nicely as students are learning about the history of journalism and media. Some great discussions are taking place about
journalists’ responsibilities and the role of media in shaping opinion and even
policy. And speaking of experiential
opportunities for students, our kindergarteners experienced what it was like to
be a carrier pigeon with a message attached to their bodies. Can you picture them “flying” around the gym,
delivering their messages? A subsequent
discussion in class amazed Ms. Laura as the students identified all the
disadvantages of using pigeons to carry messages. Some comments were very practical, such as,
“The pigeon could get shot!” or “The pigeon could be attacked by a hawk!”
(exclamation
points always come after a kindergarteners comment). Other students recognized
that the pigeon just might get tired and decide to go visit a pigeon cousin or
that it was not his job to deliver messages.
We’ll have to have a lesson with the kindergarteners about what a “bird
brain” is. Teachers will be letting you
know about some of the activities as we move forward and perhaps you can find a
way to contribute in class as well. Our
thanks to Ann Foster for stepping up and creating an artistic and imaginative
bulletin board for the theme. I haven’t
seen that much newspaper since the last time I moved.
The other day I received a note from
one of our second graders. It came in an
envelope and in very neat Denelian handwriting said, Dear Mr. Steve, I am having a great time at GreenMount. GreenMount is awesome! Love, ______. As I sit and look at this lovely sentiment, I
am struck, as I often have been, by the power that lies within us as adults to
bring about so many wonderful attributes in children. This young student has a family that
encourages independent thought and openly expressing feelings. This student has teachers who provide the
tools of self-expression and the skills necessary to put thoughts down on
paper. And when I think of this child, who is benefiting from a supportive
family and skilled teachers, I think of all the children in our school and the
extent to which we mold them into the big people they will surely become. Will they still love learning? Will they still innocently express their
feelings and opinions?
A lot of research out there, such as that done by Ken
Robinson (How Schools Are Killing
Creativity), indicates that as students get older they become more
inhibited, less creative, and less communicative (talking that is). I remember my own teenage son’s phone conversations
(pre-Internet) that lasted about ten seconds and went something like, Hey, yeah, when?, Cool, Later. He’s a great adult now, but he was a much more
interesting 6-year-old. And now that he
has his own 11-year-old son, I can talk to him about trying to preserve the
inquisitive, thoughtful grandson that I have.
I think we all have a responsibility to not make the
assumption that children just “get it” as they grow older. We need to continually stimulate their
imaginations and to be thoughtful and deliberate in how we educate them about
their world. And in order to do that, we
have to understand their world. This is
what we strive to do at GreenMount. Why
are our seventh graders so excited about the trip they took to help the
homeless in D.C.? I think it’s because
it is real to them. It is something that
gives them the opportunity to make a difference and have value. We tell a kindergarten student regularly that
he or she is special and wonderful.
Let’s make sure we say the same thing for our middle school children,
because they are, too.
Cheers,
Steve
