What a great year!

Well, this is it, friends.  I know people say this a lot but I can't believe it's already the end of the school year.  I am sorting through student work and marvelling at how our kids have grown.  Students who weren't really ready to read at the beginning of the year are reading and thinking independently.  Students who were complete strangers to each other at the beginning of the year are now like family.  Students who started with a handful of topics they cared about have found dozens of new lines of inquiry to pursue. We have become whole new, more mature versions of ourselves.

I want to take this last post to thank everyone for such a great year.  I want to thank Ms. Brenan and Ms. Leake for being inspiring and supportive collaborators.  I didn't get to work with Ms. Elissa or Mrs. Kennedy as much as I wanted but they both also kept me going.  I want to thank Tracy for all of the reminders and the thousand little things that she makes sure go right everyday.  Mr. Lauer makes Lewis a fabulous place  to work and to grow and explore as a teacher. Ms. Layman is not only an amazing PE teacher, but a relentless tinkerer and a creative inspiration.  Mr. Jamesbarry makes Music a joyful but intensely focused time - kids have fun while actually learning what it is to make music.  Ms. Kathleen made garden time a chance to explore the natural world around us and also an opportunity to give back.  Ms. Tori brought books alive for us, with high-flying read-alouds.  Our Learning Center team not only gave students the individualized support they needed but were always on hand to brainstorm ways to reach all of our kids.  Nick and Vianca were brilliant at helping Che participate but also at advocating for how our classroom could be more inclusive. Ms. Liska stopped by every day to check in on her special students and always left us smiling.  Rasema and Selim kept our room and the rest of the school looking good, even when we made a mess. This staff is an all around wonder.

I mostly want to thank you Room 5 families, though.  You shared these amazing students with me and gave me the support I needed to make meaningful learning happen.  Your kind words, helpful reminders, probing questions and good humor have made this a year I will never forget.  Thanks for everything.

Odds and Ends of the Year

These last two weeks of school are really important for our young learners in an unexpected way.  A big part of developing a sense of oneself as a learner is taking the time to reflect on what you've learned and how you've grown.  In this great post, Zarretta Hammond makes a strong case for why the end of the school year is a key time for our students to find themselves as learners and thinkers.  She writes, 

The brain remembers the first and last parts of an event more vividly then what happens in the middle. What we do at the beginning and end colors how we feel for years to come because it imprints the brain and leaves a biochemical tracer tied to emotions and neural pathways.So, just like we spent dedicated time at the beginning of school building learning partnerships, we should be using the last few weeks to reinforce important non-cognitive skills that can help students maintain a positive mindset and set them on the path of summer learning.

So we will be using these last days to take account of the journey so far and map a course for the future.  Hammond has a lot of ideas about how to do this, and we are going to focusing on two in particular. The kids are going to create a reflection piece that deals with "what they learned, how they learned, what was challenging, how they dealt with those challenges, what they feel proud of, how they changed."  The second part will be to give themselves what Hammond calls a Summer Assignment.  They will choose work that they want to focus on and choose some activities to keep themselves growing.  Look forward to those assignments and reflections to come home soon!

And below behold the mayhem of bridge destruction.  Reta's structural mock-up of the Marquam bridge withstood 60 pounds of text books before finally crumpling.  Mind that it is made of only craft sticks and hot glue.