Hands & Minds-On  Applying Knowledge to Real Life

By Diane Hichborn, Middle School Teacher & Yvonne Domings, Director of Sparhawk Upper School

At Sparhawk Middle School, “minds-on” learning turns to Project-based Learning opportunities whenever possible. Sparhawk Middle School students apply their knowledge of this year’s science curriculum; forces and motion, towards two project-based learning units this year so far; the Science of Rocketry and Data Arcade Sportslab.

During class time our young scientists learn about action and reaction forces, thrust, trajectory, and experimenting with velocity and gravity by building and shooting off air-propelled paper rockets. They were able to experiment with fin design and placement to see how it affects the rocket’s flight path. Our second project based learning venture is the Data Arcade Sportslab Challenge, which we will continue to work on until mid January.

In fact, while the High School students are delving into their annual Winterim Session during January, middle school students will be spending their days taking deep dives into various academic areas. In these PBLs, they will be exploring Castles, Catapults, and Cathedrals, exploring a variety of cultures and romance languages, learning about geometry and finishing their design of a new Parkour shoe. Below are the descriptions of the January PBL courses for Middle School this year:

Castles, Catapults, and Cathedrals

Driving question: What effective architectural designs protect castles from a siege? Using that knowledge, can we build a better catapult to effectively siege a castle?

Our Language Arts and History classes will be joining thematic forces in this unit where students are immersed in the dark, yet exciting days of the Middle Ages with knights in shining armor, dragons, catapults flinging Greek fire into the air towards enemy castles and the ominous Gothic cathedrals that took center stage in the medieval townscape. Students will learn about the prominent characteristics and driving forces behind the architecture the Middle Ages. They will select a castle or cathedral to research its design and history. Each student will then create an historic fiction short story where they take on the role of themselves living in the feudal system. The castle or cathedral that they researched will be a major part of the setting for their story in which they will incorporate descriptive details from their research. Models and “stained glass” windows will be constructed to help illustrate each project. This unit will culminate with building catapults, learning how a castle siege works, and then actually using our catapults to siege a ‘castle’.

Geometry is Just Plane Fun

Driving question: How can we use geometry useful to design a Medeival castle or cathedral?

Sir Cumference and Lady Di Ameter will take our young mathematicians on a journey to geometry for the month of January. Geometry is all about shapes and their properties. In this unit, we will have fun learning about plane geometry; flat shapes, lines, and angles, as well as solid geometry, which is about three- dimensional objects like cubes, prisms, and cylinders. Students will become familiar with the terminology of many angles and shapes, plot coordinates on the coordinate plane and learn how the world around us is greatly driven by geometry: shapes, scale, patterns, parallel line, perpendicular lines, and angles. In combination with what they learn in the Castles, Catapults and Cathedrals PBL above, students will learn to use architectural tools to design and draw the plans of their own castles and cathedrals.

Data Arcade Sportslab Challenge:

Driving question: Is it possible to create a new and improved parkour shoe?

In January, students will complete the Data Arcade Sportslab Challenge that they have started in science in the fall. Data Arcade Sportslab Challenge project is (a National Science Foundation funded research project designed by TERC) is a game-based design challenge. Students do work online (learning about the sport) and hands-on in the classroom (design, testing, etc.). They work on teams to collaborate, plan and track their progress through the on-line tool as they collect data, engage in design activities, and pitch deliverables (design of a new shoe). Students also watch and interview real athletes in action.

Students use what they are learning in the Forces and Motion unit of our science program. They test the coefficient of friction on many sneaker outsoles and test how the force of jumping affects the design of the sneaker’s midsole. After interviewing each other, teams work together to build models of sneakers that enhance the shoelace tying experience. Last year, one team used biomimicry to do away with the laces using an octopus-like strap that secured the sneaker with suction cups.  Through the process, each student creates their own deliverables and then joins forces collaboratively in designing a final product that best illustrates their team’s exploration of the anatomy of sporting footwear.

A Little Mix of Spain and France

Driving question: How are food, language and culture interconnected in Spain and France?

Students will shift from learning Mandarin for the month of January to getting a taste of both Spanish and French languages and food. Two mini classes will allow our middle-schoolers the exploration of foods and language in Spain or France. Students will begin by independently researching traditional foods. Then they will come together to share their findings and choose the foods that they’re going to prepare as a class. The class’ meal will be comprised of key elements such as an appetizer, salad, main course and dessert. Next, they will break into small groups, and each group will have a target-language recipe corresponding to their particular dish to follow. After the final meal, students will journal and describe the foods, compare and contrast the foods and cultures and discuss which types of food and preparation they enjoyed.  

Sparhawk Pizza Company: Project-based learning in the Upper Elementary

By Lisa Hughes, Lower School Teacher

We Sparhawk parents know the real value of Pizza Fridays: it’s one day out of your busy week in which lunch is covered. My sympathies are with those whose children can’t or won’t eat pizza on Friday, and, as the Pizza Company faculty liaison at the Lower Campus, I sincerely wish we could order a grand buffet of options, both hot and cold, for students to enjoy. It’s just not possible.

But I digress...I’m here to talk about how the fourth and fifth graders know a different value in regards to Pizza Fridays - that it is hard work that must be accomplished with grace and care. And, since it’s been a tradition at Sparhawk for over 15 years, Pizza Friday is tradition to value as a right of passage in the upper elementary. It is something to take seriously!

So, when you or your child signs up for 2 slices of cheese on a Thursday morning, or when you are scrounging once again to put together a couple of bucks to stash in your child’s lunchbox (you certainly don’t need another IOU this week!), just know that a little piece of that tradition is continuing on with your consumerism. You are keeping a little tiny and important business afloat!

To help paint the picture, as it were, of the behind-the-scenes activity that goes on each Pizza Friday, here’s a quick rundown...remember, we teachers consider Pizza Friday “project-based learning”, and therefore it must include the following elements: Role-playing, Authentic assessments, Authentic audiences, Real-world expertise brought into the classroom, Student choice & Collaboration (among many other things)!

Here goes -

9:00 - The “Pizza Friday” song is sung in the Village Meeting. There’s nothing like a chant to drum up support from your customers. I do a little dance and everyone cheers. Good fun.

10:15 - The Fifth grade math class tallies the spreadsheet orders and calculates cost, including tip. The call to the restaurant must accommodate each and every student’s order in the number of pies requested (hopefully with extra slices, in case of students without a lunch)

12:15 - The pizza is delivered and money exchanges hand. The fourth and fifth grade classes trade off responsibilities - one month, a class is serving, the other is on clean-up duty. The next month it switches.

Student jobs include cashier, server, orderer and juice-maker. We need a crew just to serve the Woodsview population, and the rest handle the Farm building. Everyone gets their choice of job and is encouraged to try new jobs over the course of the year.

12:25 - The customers arrive, hungry, excited, noisy, throwing money at us. Believe or not, a lot of the hard work is in getting children to remember to grab their change! The order for each child is called out, the appropriate number of slices is put on the plate, complete with cloth napkin. Money is exchanged and assistance is given to the younger children who may struggle with carrying a cup of juice with a plate. No one needs their slices to hit the floor. The stress level is very high during the lunch rush, and the pizza employees really need to keep their cool under pressure. Focus is expected. The teachers monitor and critique the work ethic of the pizza employees during this time - anyone slacking off or fooling around may find themselves out of a job soon enough. Customer service is paramount, and there is no touching your hair or itching your nose!

1:00 - The customers head out to recess and the clean up crew arrives. IOUs are written out and taped to lockers. The floors are swept, cash box is returned to the office, the boxes are recycled and our reusable plates and cups are rinsed and head into the dishwasher. Paula Renda has the best clean up boot camp I have ever seen. No wonder - she is the oldest of six girls after all!

And this happens almost every Friday throughout the year. We also revisit the pizza options in the Amesbury area each fall, complete with cost comparison and blind taste test. As you can see, Pizza Friday is a whole piece of our upper elementary curriculum that stands on its own.

So thank you, again, if you are a dedicated customer to our little business. Each year, we make enough money  to feed our students week to week, take a trip to Canobie Lake in June, and use the remaining funds to purchase something new for the playground, be it dodge balls or climbing elements. Here’s to you, and to those hard-working Sparhawk students dedicated to keeping the Pizza Friday tradition alive for another year - Mangia!

Project-based Learning and Sparhawk’s Curricular Approach

By Yvonne Domings, Director of Sparhawk Upper School

Sparhawk has a long history of favoring hands-on learning. Hands-on learning becomes minds-on learning as children move from concrete to more abstract thinking. Minds-on learning at middle & high school, takes the shape of driving questions to be answered and problems to be solved.

I’m happy to say that I see the fruits of students’ labors every day as they transfer the skills they are gaining in PBL to other aspects of their lives, in the poise as they talk to adults, the confidence with which they carry themselves, the capacity for working through problems and the skillfulness as they propose and pitch new ideas. PBL is only one of the many facets of Sparhawk’s overall program that seeks to build critical and creative thinking skills in students who can also collaborate and communicate effectively.

At Sparhawk High School, Project-based Learning (PBL) is done in classes throughout the semester, but in addition, we dedicate a large portion of Friday afternoons to PBL with the sole purpose of developing 21st century workplace skills.

Faculty begin the development of “PBL’s” by developing a compelling driving question. Some PBL questions focus on the theme for the semester and others are problems of today or issues being discussed in the news. Since personal choice is the first step toward deep engagement (an important component of good learning), students choose one of those questions during course selection each semester.

Each week on Friday, high school faculty help students hone their 21st century skills as a means of answering the driving question. Students make decisions on the process, on the way it should be assessed and on the product to be developed. They work together, pitch ideas to peers and mentors, develop solutions, iterate products and end by communicating the results to an authentic audience of parents and community members.

As the director, my favorite days at Sparhawk are the days when we, as a school, get ready for the PBL Community Presentation Night. The halls are filled with engaged and active learners as they put the finishing touches on their projects. The afternoons are spent presenting and critiquing.

On November 29th, we held our Fall 2018 PBL Community Presentation Night. If you were in our audience, you saw some polished products, but you also saw and heard students reflect on the process they went through. We feel both are important. Since hindsight is 20/20, students learn as much, if not more, from reflecting on what worked and what didn’t work. So we applaud both successful products as well as good reflections. I’m proud to say that this semester’s PBL presentations were some of the best I have seen in the time I have been here. Below are the courses and driving questions students worked to answer during the fall semester:

Children’s Literature

Driving Question: How do professional authors craft meaningful children’s picture books?

In this PBL, students worked in small groups to storyboard and draft children’s books. Groups chose to teach, motivate, or expose children to bigger concepts and worked to craft their story with that goal in mind. After spending the semester creating their own books, they will take them to the Lower School to test them on young students.

Books:

Chad is Sad by Nate Elmer, Atticus Chiasson, and Joseph Shannon

The Problem with Ploos by Sabina McLaughlin, Lauren Rochford and Eunwon (Kiley) Huang

The Adventures of Tee and the Cavity King by Vincent Brogan, Guanshujin (Jarvis) Yang and Clementine Cashmore

Faculty mentor: Nate Velluto

Ancient Sailing and Seafarers

Driving question: How did geographical locations/problems influence advances in technology, navigation methods, and the way different societies solved problems common to water travel?

In this PBL, students looked at how and why seafaring peoples ventured onto the deep blue sea, for trade, adventure, and/or conquest. Teams of students looked at how environments and situations influenced technological advances, navigation methods and more. They considered how different societies solved problems common to water travel: stability, buoyancy, movement, and direction. They also examined the technology and physics of sailing while building their own sail cars that move upwind.

Projects:

Phoenicia Ancient Sailing & Seafaring by Annika Ainsworth, Natalya, Rowan Brennan,and Yifei (Heidi) He

Ancient Chinese Vessels - Strummer Barr, Sam Dellea, Richard Lally, Chase Sweet and Jonah Smith

Hokulea the Great(Hawaii) by Nora Hickey,Samantha Jordan, Sivan Kotler-Berkowitz, Olivia Riley, and Madi Whitlock

Faculty mentors: Bob DeLibero and Jennifer Esty

Next Stop . . .  

Driving question: Can television be an intellectual medium?

In this PBL, students watched the genre-bending classic The Twilight Zone and analyzed the show through both a cinematic and philosophical lens. They considered how to create compelling, watchable drama while also exploring vast and thorny ideas. Finally, students worked on teams to produce their own Twilight Zone episodes, either in homage or spoof of the source material.

Projects:

Solitude- Jacob Adamsky, Sarah Cox, Richie Labritz, and Jonah Thompson

Live Without -Dyani Monclova, Charlotte Strovink, LiAm Wexelblat, and Lyupin (Sway) Xu

Where am I?- Ryan Brennan, Jackson Musial,Will Tessmer,, and Yuxuan (Kevin) Zhen

Faculty Mentors: Lee Ford and Casey Wright

Beauty of Acceptance

Driving Question: How has the idea of beauty in America changed over the last hundred years? How has it differed for different groups based on lines of race, gender, and class? Who has benefited from these ideals, and who has suffered?

Students will research the roots of Beauty that trace back to ancient Greece, and chart its evolution in American society through the last hundred years. They will apply a critical and intersectional lens to the concept of beauty in order to examine its impact on the individual and society. Students will produce a documentary film that they will present in two showings to a live audience that answers these questions and poses new ones.

Research and Project Team:

Yamilette Espada, Téa Flach, Yifei (Heidi) He, Lydia May-Broyles, Parker Rogers, Anayah Tejada, Anna Tessmer, Huiru (Sarah) Zhang and Yanan Zhang

Faculty mentor: Eric Schildge

Sparhawk Geographic

Driving Question: Can we create a magazine that depicts the nature and history of the surrounding areas?

In this PBL, students spent the semester creating their own National Geographic-type online magazine of the surrounding areas. They picked topics and pitched them to the magazine executives. Once approved students became journalists, editors, photojournalists or designers. They worked on an "editorial team" to edit each other's articles and worked to formulate the final product: Sparhawk Geographic

Article Locales:

Parker RiverWildlife Refuge by Kaiwen (Kevin) Chen, Tianshi (Tony) Li and Chloe Weiss-Curry

Sparhawk School History by Leticia Baptiste, Jacob Foti, and Lyndsay Morris

Arrowhead Farm by Matthew Lichtenberg, Maia Panthera-Allen, Maritza Ramirez

Faculty mentors: Joanna Tomah & Dana Nuenighoff

I’m happy to say that I see the fruits of students’ labors every day as they transfer the skills they are gaining in PBL to other aspects of their lives in the poise as they talk to adults, the confidence with which they carry themselves, the capacity for working through problems and the skillfulness as they propose and pitch new ideas. PBL is only one of the many facets of Sparhawk’s overall program that seeks to build critical and creative thinking skills in students who can also collaborate and communicate effectively.

Excellence in Education - Assessment at Sparhawk Upper School

by Yvonne Domings, Director of Sparhawk Upper School

The purpose of assessment in any form is to look for evidence of learning. It is an integral part of teaching. Yet, in common parlance, the word “assessment” has a negative connotation due to the rise of the use of standardized assessment. At Sparhawk, we believe that assessment should be as varied and dynamic as the process of learning. In one moment or in one day, it would be impossible to measure what we, at Sparhawk, value most: the child’s process of learning how to think both creatively and critically in service of developing themselves. Rather than a snapshot, Sparhawk assessments capture a collage of the learner as a whole, multi-faceted person on a path toward lifelong learning.   

We begin curriculum design by setting the destination of where we want students to end up. In the same way that GPS would be useless if you don’t set a destination before you begin, creative and varied assessments are not effective if they don’t focus on a goal. Teachers ask, what skills do I want my students to gain and big ideas do I want my students to explore? The answer differs for different students at different ages and stages of development. So before designing projects and instruction, teachers ask themselves what “evidence of learning” could look like. It is at that point, that they begin to design clear expectations and guidelines that will eventually be communicated to students.

Like a GPS that continuously checks progress toward a goal and makes adjustments, good teachers are constantly asking questions, checking in and observing their students ability to participate purposefully in class, reflect upon their own process, produce meaningful notes, benefit from a socratic seminar or work on a team to solve a complex problem. These “formative” assessments are like litmus tests that guide the teacher to effectively respond to the needs of the different learners in the group. Formative assessments also keep instruction interesting yet focused on the goal. In doing so, it is easy to give varied learners choice and latitude in way they will be assessed.

As a progressive school, teacher and learners often co-design summative or “end-of-course” assessments. These less often include a traditional test of skill and understanding, and more often include measures that provide evidence of growth and development of deep learning. Evidence of deep learning can come in varied forms such as the ability to apply math and science concepts to a complex problem, to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills in a piece of analytical writing, to perform of a monologue or create a piece of new media (video, blog). In the end, teacher and learner reflect both formally and informally not only on the content, but also on the process and the end result.

During the final semester of senior year, students prepare for their final assessment at Sparhawk: Graduation by Exhibition. Graduation by Exhibition is a final reflection on themselves as a learner. Seniors spend the spring semester going through old papers and projects and considering themselves as a younger, less mature learner. They ask themselves: How did I develop into the learner I am now, what worked and didn’t for me and how can I use this information in the future. This can be a challenging process, but one that we value as a means of setting our graduates up well for the next phase of education. Graduation by Exhibition culminates in a review of the portfolio with a faculty of choice and their advisor. The result is an introspective look at who they have become: multi-faceted, competent learners. This is a joyful moment for our students and one that we celebrate as a school as each senior completes the process. This reflection is the ultimate example of assessment at Sparhawk, a dynamic assessment of the learner, by the learner and shared with the entire community.

*Standardized assessment is a large-scale test that measures a student’s understanding as compared to a norm or an academic standard. The widespread use of standardized tests began to rise after the 1983 report “A Nation at Risk” suggested that the poor performance of US students on standardized tests when compared to international peers put the US at risk of economic failure.

Creativity at the Heart of Progressive Education

by Suzanne Atkins, Director of Sparhawk Lower School

Our global world is rapidly changing and we have no idea what it will look like five years from now, let alone when our students will be adults.  As the educational pendulum has swung radically over the last thirty years, one is left to question what truly is best practice. How then can we best prepare our children for the unpredictability of the future?

As with many ideologies, extremism is often not the answer and particularly in a time of rapid change and growth. At Sparhawk we believe that progressive education is not just one thing, but a fabric of interwoven beliefs that support and complement one another. One core belief that drives our mission is that of creativity.  To some this word may simply conjure up artists, and while we have a high regard for and a very strong arts program, in reality tapping into one's creativity is at the heart of all learning within progressive education.

In an age where many schools are forced to squelch creativity as teachers are pressured to teach to a test, (Do Schools Kill Creativity - Ken Robinson) at Sparhawk we are doing the opposite.  We are celebrating the process, we are excited about what mistakes can teach us and our students not only use their creativity as a vehicle to learning, but also as a way of showing their learning.  There is often no one right way and so we value the individual’s desire and ability to do things differently and not as necessarily prescribed. This is true in all areas of focus where we foster the innovative spirit and a willingness to face challenges, make mistakes, think creatively and approach questions and issues from multiple perspectives. These qualities can only spring from a creative mindset (The Power of Progressive Education: Can Creativity be Taught? | The New School).

From an early age, children ask thousands of “why” questions. We respond with, “what do you think” or “how can we find out?” We want to foster this intellectual audacity from a very early age. We also greatly value play and ample time outdoors. Children are intrinsically motivated to explore and to experiment.  Just watch our third graders building a city in the sand box, there is intent in the process and careful thought put into the integrity of the structures. Witness the fourth graders digging a long trench in order to divert the water flow in certain ways. No one asked them to take on these tasks and yet they attend themselves with great concentration and commitment to the task. There are social roles being played out in the process as well, negotiating responsibilities and taking turns at leadership. Back in the classroom, their joy in learning continues in collaboration, experimentation and hands on experiences.

On the lower school campus one of the greatest examples of how creativity plays out every week is when the Kindergarten through Fifth Graders gather in their “family” groups to explore the year long theme, which this year is Connections. Weekly a pair of teachers put a tremendous amount of time and energy into creating an experience that will lead to student inquiry and which will naturally include multiple disciplines while students are asked to figure questions out through “doing”. Never the same and always deeply interactive, these experiences are often among the most memorable. Recently we had a fourth grade student visiting from another school who was here during theme time.  At the end of the day, he reported that never had he enjoyed a day at school so much and that he could not believe how much he learned in one short day, especially at theme time. Creative education at its best!

Open Studios | Connecting Our Community

by Jen Silver, Director of Marketing 

We just wrapped up our fourth annual Open Studios weekend here at Sparhawk School, and it was spectacular.  Four years ago, we hitched our star to Amesbury Cultural Council's Open Studio Weekend, a town wide arts event, as a way of creating a deeper connection between our school and the community as a whole. Each November we welcome families from far and wide into our school to ideate, build, create, explore, interact with and participate in art.

Traditionally, Open Studios artists are showcasing their artwork, gallery style, for patrons to view, appreciate and perhaps purchase.  These events often keep the attendees at bay however, with little interaction with the art process outside of observation; Enter studio, talk to artist, ask a question, observe, but DON'T TOUCH.  In creating our version of Open Studios, we were really looking to turn this concept on it's head.  Our entire event is designed to fully engage our attendees in the experience of making art.

We begin planning Open Studios activities months in advance, assembling Pinterest boards with inspiration.  Each event typically has at least one sculpture and mural activity as well as several smaller scale process-based options that are designed to engage humans of all ages.  This year we adopted the Lower School's theme of Connections for Open Studios.  Each activity tied back to this theme to showcase how we are all connected to our family, friends, community, world and galaxy.  

Our activities included:

• Sol Lewitt inspired Human Connections Mural
• Sumi Ink Club Collaborative mural
• Geometric String Art Sculpture
• Louise Nevelson inspired Monochromatic "My Family" Sculpture Boxes
• Galaxy Charm Necklaces
• Ojo de Dios Sculpture
• Dreamcatchers
• Teddy Bear Rollout Printmaking

Like most events at Sparhawk, Open Studios would never be possible without the incredible contributions from our community.  We extend a huge thanks to our students, teachers and parents for their generous donation of time and materials.  Many thanks to all of our incredible attendees as well, we had a blast making some really cool art with you!  

Project-based Learning (PBL) at the High School

Introduction by Yvonne Domings, Upper School Director

As a progressive school, Sparhawk has long put high value on teaching students to do more than memorize information. Sparhawk teachers spend countless hours designing and developing interesting curricula that help students learn how to think critically and creatively. Project-based Learning (PBL) is a great example of a progressive approach where teachers present students with a complex and authentic question, problem or challenge and structure tasks and activities in a way that allows them to gain deep knowledge and skills.

PBL, when done well, is supported by research that indicates:

• Improved academic outcomes across age groups, ability and achievement levels (Boaler 2001)(Halvorsen, Duke et al, 2012).

• Improved ability to transfer skills and understandings to new contexts (Barron & Darling Hammond, 1998).

• Improved student engagement in learning (Barron & Darling Hammond, 1998)(Holm, 2011).

• Improved collaborative and problem-solving skills (Barron & Darling Hammond, 1998)(Ackermann, n.d.).

• PBL supports identity development when students work on teams that require both independent and collaborative work (Langer-Osuna, 2015)(Langer-Osuna, 2011).

Although PBL is used in our Upper and Middle School classes in various ways, we dedicate Friday afternoons to PBLs that focus squarely on helping our students develop the skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity that have been called out as crucial for success in 21st century college and careers (Partnership for 21st Century Learning).

If you visit the Upper School on a Friday afternoon, you will find classrooms and hallways alive with students actively working on real-world problems. You will see student historians, scientists and researchers, textbook editors, mathematicians, marketeers and movie makers. This wide range of roles provides opportunities for them to try on different “hats” within a project, thereby leveraging their passions and strengths to mediate their challenges (Langer-Osuna, 2011 & 2015). Students make key decisions, develop and live within timelines. They innovate and collaborate, pitch and test ideas, collect data and reflect upon results. At the end of the semester, students communicate their experience and learning to a real-world audience at PBL Exhibition Night.

What follows are descriptions of each of the PBLs that students are working on this semester. We invite the entire Sparhawk community to join us for the PBL Exhibition night on June 14, 2018.

Back to the Roots

by Lee Ford (with Dana Nuenighoff)

Driving question: How can we construct an aquaponics unit that uses the waste from fish to fertilize plants?

As a teacher who generally teaches the Humanities, it has been both inspiring and refreshing to help co-facilitate a science-based PBL with Dana this semester. Every Friday, our students gather in small groups to research, design and construct their own aquaponics system (a method of growing that allows for the cultivation of animals and plants in a shared, symbiotic environment).

They are also learning to collaborate and work through design iterations through which they hold each other accountable to back up their choices with analysis and research. I love the way this particular PBL allows students to explore a wide range of skills and disciplines in a single afternoon -- relying on chemistry to monitor the pH in the water, troubleshooting engineering challenges in their design, or becoming ecologists and botanists in order to determine the best species to include. In addition, I love that sustainability and agricultural innovation have a place in our science curriculum at Sparhawk. Who knows -- the students problem-solving their fish tanks today might be the ones to pioneer new ways to feed our growing planet tomorrow.

Voices and Visions of the East

by Shelley Carpenter

Driving question: How do we develop a text that represents the voices and visions of the Eastern world?

The students in the Voices and Visions of the East PBL, have been spending the last few weeks researching India. In this PBL, students are working as a group to develop an online “textbook” that can be used to teach and learn history from the perspective of voices of the Eastern world. In the first two PBL meetings, students shared their research in presentation format as they proposed topics to the group. After several round table discussions about their central content focus, the students decided to pursue areas of interest relating to Indian culture such as Art, History, Medicine, and Religion.

Each week, students begin with a round table discussion where they pitch ideas, share their progress and get feedback. The students are writing individual research papers that will evolve into an online text - one article and two side bars relating to persons, places, and events in Indian history.  In the second phase of this project, students will choose a platform and produce the online text. Although I continue to support the process, my role as direct facilitator has ceased. I have turned over complete control of the PBL to the students. This PBL utilizes and builds twenty-first century skills such as: critical inquiry, evaluation, analysis, synthesis and Socratic discussion.  

Behind the Numbers: Decision Making in Sports

by Mitch McDonald and Jennifer Esty

Driving question: Can we create a model for sports performance that helps to select an ideal team using common sense and statistical data?

The Behind the Numbers PBL allows students to dig into the math behind sports.  Some students walked in hoping to just talk about sports and study their favorite teams. They thought they would be able to ignore the math! However, what they have found is the math of sports is fun!  

We began the semester by debating questions like: Who is the best soccer goalie in the world… do you use total goals saved or allowed?  Minutes played? A great goalie with a great defense in front of them will have numbers that look fabulous, but what about that goalie on a lesser team that is playing a better team? The answers require research, analysis, evaluation and critical thought. They stimulate great debates and require students to use the numbers to back up their position!

Each week, students work on small groups to do research and decide which statistics and aspects of their sport chosen are essential to success. Students are learning to use sports databases, R software, and their own creative ideas to draw conclusions about of what creates athletic success. They may study simple statistics like goals scored or minutes played, or they may investigate more advanced metrics such as PER (player efficiency rating) or 4th quarter scoring. These more complex statistics involve truly understanding the sports being studied. In some groups, students have background knowledge on the sport chosen that allow them to filter through how data is relevant to their analysis. As in a front office of a sports team, the viewpoint of fresh minds collaborating with sports fans help to make business decisions. In the end, students strive to answer: What combination of statistics best describes and predicts the qualities of a winning team or a successful player?

Power of the Podcast

by Nate Velluto

Driving question: How does one create a persuasive, powerful podcast?

Podcasts give everyone a voice because anyone can make them. In this PBL, my students are working hard to create their own podcasts. They have researched professional podcasts and come up with elements they would like to emulate and those they would like to avoid. They are developing podcasts on a diverse range of topics, from Chinese history, to video game reviews, to discussions of various issues affecting teens today.

Students are working in groups, some to record, others as peer-editor groups. The students have worked to solve such problems as what recording equipment to use, how to integrate introductions and closings with music, as well as how to script multiple episodes in a short time period. We are working to have our podcasts finished and uploaded for consumption by the end of the semester. Be watching for our podcasts on iTunes and Soundcloud!

Making Movie Magic

by Bob DeLibero (with Casey Wright)

Driving question: What elements, when combined harmoniously, lead to the magic of successful films, documentaries, social media and advertising?

This PBL team has been busy learning about lighting a scene, camera angles, storyboards, and sound techniques. During the first half of the semester our students, working solo and in small groups, have been practicing their skills while filming 2 and 5 minute short videos on a variety of topics. Currently, they are in the process of brainstorming and creating their own story to shoot from the ground up.

This project entails writing an original piece, planning the shots, music, lighting, film style, casting, directing, etc. The groups are responsible for all pre and post production work on their video, as well as the actual filming. The goal is to create an 8-10 minute short film which will be viewed by an audience of friends and family.

Works cited

Ackermann, E. n.d. Piaget’s Constructivism, Papert’s Constructionism: What’s the difference? Accessed January 30, 2018. http://learning.media.mit.edu/content/publications/EA.Piaget%20_%20Papert.pdf

Barron B & Darling Hammond, L. 1998. “Teaching for Meaningful Learning: A Review of Research on Inquiry and Cooperative Learning. Edutopia. https://backend.edutopia.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf

Boaler, Jo. 2002. “Learning from Teaching: Exploring the Relationship between Reform Curriculum and Equity.” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 33 (4). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:239–58.

Halvorsen, A L, Duke N K, Brugar K, Block M, Strachan S, and Berka M. 2012. “Narrowing the Achievement Gap in Second-Grade Social Studies and Content Area Literacy: The Promise of a Project-Based Approach.” https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537157.pdf

Holm, Margaret. 2011. “PROJECT-BASED INSTRUCTION: A Review of the Literature on Effectiveness in Prekindergarten through 12th Grade Classrooms.” Rivier College.

Langer-Osuna, Jennifer M. 2011. “How Brianna Became Bossy and Kofi Came Out Smart: Understanding the Trajectories of Identity and Engagement for Two Group Leaders in a Project-Based Mathematics Classroom.” Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education 11 (3). Routledge:207–25.

Langer-Osuna, Jennifer M. 2015. “From Getting ‘Fired’ to Becoming a Collaborator: A Case of the Co-construction of Identity and Engagement in a Project-Based Mathematics Classroom.” Journal of the Learning Sciences 24 (1). Routledge:53–92.

Experiential Learning- What does that even mean right?  Families who hear "Experiential Learning" on a tour probably can not grasp how or why our educational model is so different until their child does a day visit with us, or perhaps until hey are enrolled.  To us it's really about getting deep into the subjects that we are studying, first hand, up close and personal.  We become the lessons.  

It might seem a bit like a rebellious concept, and perhaps it is.  It rebels against the style of education that many of us grew up on (I certainly did!)- sit at a desk, read your textbook, repeat your textbook back, take a test so the teacher knows you understand the information.  But, do you really understand the information?  How do you know what you know? All you can really tell is that someone can repeat back exactly what they were told.  

Whereas, in our experiential model, a student who is studying archeologists and artifacts at Sparhawk Lower School would be tasked with:

• Learning excavation techniques, methods and best practices by studying them and then by physically becoming archeologist and digging up artifacts 
• Creating a Cartesian coordinate system to map the recovery of artifacts - gridding the dig site and then mapping on paper the location of the recovered artifacts
• Studying and categorizing artifacts once they are extracted
• Students create their own artifacts out of clay and repeat the excavation and categorization process.  

We want students to immerse themselves in the experience, and by doing so they will have greater retention of information than if they simply read about the process in a book.  An experience connects all of your senses- it has smells and gives you a feeling, you witness, observe and connect information.  As I said, we become the lesson.  

Originally published September 2015

Postcard from Hog Island

An Audubon retreat for educators provides a rich habitat for a Sparhawk Lower School teacher.

Starting off the 2012-2013 academic year was your typical enthusiastic sort. And, like any class at the Sparhawk Lower school, they had to decide on a class "bird name", the name to which they would be referred to as a group by me, other teachers, administrators, parents and students for the school year. As you can imagine, there are too many too choose from at first, and each one is just perfect at the start.

The Gannets. The Purple Finches. The Harpy Eagles. The list begins broadly, but is whittled down by a system of votes and teacher guidance. I've gotten quite efficient at this over the years, and for this particular class three years ago, the grand winner was the Atlantic Puffins, which was my first seabird name, and come to find out, a bird with a remarkable legacy. 

You see, the Atlantic Puffin underwent a steep decline in the 19th century across its breeding grounds on the Maine coastal islands due to habitat destruction, invasive predators and hunting for their meat and eggs. The birds are monogamous and each pair returns to their burrows on rocky island outcrops each year to hopefully lay, brood, hatch and raise a single chick before taking off to the open ocean once again. All along the northern Atlantic, from Scandinavia to the Atlantic Provinces of Canada these birds could still be found. But there were dwindling or extirpated colonies in Maine.  Until, that is, the early 1970’s, when Stephen Kress, who worked for Audubon, began his life's work, which was to bring the Puffin back to one former colony, Eastern Egg Rock Island, in the Muscongus Bay region of Maine. This project continues today, known as "Project Puffin”.

Project Puffin was a wildly exciting idea for me and the class back in 2012. We loved it, and quickly researched that we could adopt one or more of these Puffins, and thus support the continued work of Kress and his team. We set up our first bake sale fundraiser of the year, and sold enough to adopt two different couples. I promptly received glossy photos, biographies and newsletter updates about our happy puffin colony on Egg Rock.

Then one day came a mailing about something different: the Audubon Camp in Maine, featuring a gorgeous Maine Island and seven different weekly programs, including one just for educators. I was sold on the idea immediately.  One summer, soon, would be the right time to go...

Well, that right time finally came, this year. On Sunday, July 19th I hopped in my car and drove 2.5 hours up the coast to Bremen, Maine, for what was certain to be a grand adventure. My clothing options were functional: I had flip flops, water shoes and hiking boots. My bug spray and sunscreen, and most cherished, my Canon DSLR and a waterproof pair of binoculars for some serious wildlife viewing!

You see, since embarking down the road of adopting those puffins three years ago, my appreciation and fascination for the world of birds and just about anything else wild and natural has become a major interest in both my personal life and in my classroom. The bird memorabilia my students gift me each year has easily doubled. Each new academic year, are now raising bake sale money for multiple conservation programs, always looking to out-do ourselves. I am a total nature geek, and here I was pointing my GPS to an island about to be inhabited by 55 fellow like-minded nature loving educators, all looking to get jazzed about teaching children about appreciating and caring for nature.

I was certainly not disappointed. The entire experience was top notch, from the history of how the island came to be under Audubon's care to the rustic 1900's era buildings to the amazing oceanfront view and wildlife.  During my week, I worked with educators from all over the country (there around 50), and wonderfully enthusiastic and talented instructors.  For five days, I was inspired by the programming, intrigued by my colleagues, and in awe of the delicious food.  What could beat that?

I very much enjoyed this adventure. And I highly recommend to you, reader, the programs that Hog Island Audubon camp in Maine offers during the summer.  I would do it again in a heartbeat, and I am considering becoming a volunteer in the island next summer, as well as attending the island during their family programming week. It was that good.

I could not have attended this program without the support of the Sparhawk PTO, whom have me financial support without question. I felt wonderfully appreciated and encouraged as a Sparhawk educator. I also have to thank the National Audubon society for their scholarship towards my tuition.

It was clear to me, as I listened to Stephen Kress speak to us teachers one night about Project Puffin, that had my class not gone down the road of choosing the Atlantic Puffins as our class bird name way back in 2012, that I probably would not have been sitting in the audience on this gem of an island on the Maine coast. I thought, "I guess even a seemingly small decision like choosing a bird name can lead to wonderful things." I felt that something remarkable had happened to me.

~Lisa Hughes, Grade 4&5 Teacher, Sparhawk Lower School

For more information on the Puffin Project, click here.

For more info on the Audubon Camp at Hog Island, click here.

I was one of the first of my friends to have a child, and it just so happens that I work in education- this automatically makes me the prime candidate for school related questions in my circle.  Undoubtedly the most frequently asked question is, "How do I know when a school is right for my child?"  

Here is my answer, always.

• Do your homework, explore your options and choose a few (at least three) schools to tour that mirror your child's interests, learning style and needs.  
• Make sure the school is within your budget (or ask about financial aid, most schools welcome that conversation!)
• If your child requires services, make sure they are available.  
• Call, ask the questions that are important to your family.
• Book a tour and then GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Here is the most important part of my answer- When you tour the school, bring your child and pay close attention to how they feel.  You know your child better than anyone, and chances are you will know within five minutes if the school is the right fit for them.  The visceral unlearned response; that overall feeling that you get walking in the door, meeting the staff and students, is a mirror of that school's educational habitat.  Allow your child to explore that habitat, ask their own questions and make them part of the process.  It is SO easy to impose our own learned behavior and educational beliefs on our children but they are the ones who will be learning at the school.  Let them lead the way, your child will feel it, or they won't.  

Here are some good reads & videos on getting out of the way: 

• Sometimes, You Need to Get Out of Your Child's Way, by Jim Taylor

• How to Encourage Little Scientists?  Get Out of the Way!

Check out this story about a local mom allowing her child to feel the difference.

• If No Child is Left Behind, Where Was Mine, by Holly Robinson
•  

One of the phrases that you hear most often about the culture at Sparhawk is that we "know our students well."  If you are unfamiliar with Sparhawk, you might think that we are just talking about their academic lives- Billy is a B+ student who likes robotics...  but, in truth, it's much much more than that.  

The Sparhawk culture has been both organically and intentionally created over the past 20+ years.  The cultural intention of Sparhawk can be ideated, but doesn't truly come to fruition without the actions of the community.  We CHOOSE to be invested in each other.  We share in each others' successes, and encourage one another during loss or challenges.  We seek to understand the intricacies of personalities, and celebrate individuality.  Most of all, we listen to our students and value their insightful contributions to our community.  

The depth to which we know our students is highlighted at our graduation ceremony.  Each year, members of our faculty stand before the audience and give individualized tributes and speeches for all of the graduating seniors.  Teachers weave together recountings, fond memories, achievements and joy, showcasing the deep connection and understanding that we have of each student.  Here's a snippet of a story that was shared at the 2016 graduation by Emily White about graduating senior Jordan Michel:

Ten years ago I started my Sparhawk career at the Farm Campus. I happily began teaching Italian for the 1st time in an elementary school.  And ten years ago, Jordan Michel, you too started your Sparhawk career at the Farm School and began studying Italian for the first time in your life.

After a decade, we can reflect on some of the most valuable things that Sparhawk has taught us both: fundamental ideas like patience, perseverance, openness to learning, trust, and bravery. These are just some of the necessary pieces to becoming a fair teacher and a role model student.

Indeed all of our graduates have some of these traits--There are countless memories I could share to demonstrate how they possess them, but I will talk about just three that I think best illustrate some of the finest aspects I see in you, Jordan. In my opinion, these are never-faltering parts of your personality. You embody these qualities and they define how you interact with others. 

These are also some of the exemplary features that turn people into what we like to call good humans. And Jordan, you are just that, a good human. 

Traveling to Nicaragua with you this past winter proved it; the trip allowed me to witness true and generous offerings from the heart. You find joy both in giving and receiving from others, and have much to share of yourself.

You never shy away from an opportunity to help those in need. This is your way of demonstrating kindliness.

It is hard to imagine a better role model for any young man than you, Jordan. You are the perfect gentleman--always holding a door, waiting for all to be served before eating, gracious and sincere. You are a compassionate friend--always supportive of your peers’ endeavors and willing to listen or offer helpful advice.  You are a welcoming smile to newcomers--you accept all without judgment, and realize the opportunities newness and diversity can provide.

Being such a role model, you can only imagine the great fortune I feel knowing that you have been this to many, but most luckily for me, to my own son Nico. Thank you, Jordan for being this to him and to others. 

In listening to this speech a few years ago, and rereading it now, I think the statement that "We know our students well" is too limiting.  The truth is simply that we know each other well.  To many of us, faculty and students alike, Sparhawk is a second home.  We are growing together, sharing defining experiences that will help shape our future choices and we are building human connections that will last a lifetime.

At Sparhawk, students of all ages are given the opportunity to solve practical, real-life problems as well as those found in math books. In other words, we combine traditional skill- development and practical applications. The applications, often called “hands-on” or “experiential” learning, allow students to use and practice their emerging toolbox of skills, in context, and in ways that are intrinsically interesting and make sense to them. The result is greater enthusiasm, commitment, sustained interest and, ultimately, comprehension. This dual approach also illustrates the reason for math learning.

I have never heard a child ask why they need to learn how to read, or write.  Sometimes, however, kids ask, “Why do I have to learn math?” This is because math is hard work in a way that other academic subjects are not, and this is true even for those with math talent. Math is a new language, a foreign one in the sense that few students have much explicit experience of it before coming to school. Children, on the other hand, are immersed in language experiences even in utero. They learn vocabulary by listening as parents talk away to them and provide nouns for everything gaze or hands encounter. They observe social cues and use verbalizations to interact with others, even before they speak their native language. They literally dance the rhythms of syntax, internalizing the patterns while still very tiny.  These are the algorithms of spoken language.

On the other hand, parents don’t talk baby-math to newborns, and even if they did, it would not be “math,” per se; it would simply be words with no reference, and without reference, 2+2 or Pi squared is 9.869604401 are just pretty nonsense syllables, in other words more English, Chinese, or French. We don’t read math books to children. Not even math-talented parents do this. Yes, there are some early exceptions to this rule, but usually it is because a child is, seemingly, mysteriously endowed with some understanding from a rare brain’s organization, that is not attributed to instruction. We have had such children at Sparhawk. However, direct instruction and math immersion is rare in most families and language immersion natural.

Counting, is not math, it is memorization. One-to-one correspondence is a foundational skill that does occur naturally: One cookie for you and one for me; Let’s count the trucks on this page; but beyond that, for most children, the foreign language of math starts once they begin school. The direct parallel would be to imagine a child whose only experience in language arts, before coming to school, consisted of recitation of the alphabet. No stories. No conversation.

Math is not only a foreign language, it is an abstract, ordered, logical and convergent language that, in the earliest years, requires a connection to the real world; it needs reference to real objects. Otherwise, math is intangible and mysterious, abstract and untouchable at a time of life when much of experience and understanding is concrete rather than abstract, and in the absence of experience, meaningless. And, if one is asked to do hard work, one should discover, “What’s in it for me? Why am I learning math?” In the absence of sense-making, math can also be frightening, as we all know it is to many. To too many, in fact.

These are the reasons why experiential math activities are the foundation for our very youngest students, and as children move through early elementary grades and show developmental readiness, more time is devoted to abstract reasoning and increasingly formal instruction in the standard scope and sequence of math concepts. Number facts are memorized and students develop skill in solving mental-math challenges. The combination of traditional skill development, the tools, and enticing challenges to solve, makes for a successful and fear-less approach to math learning. Both text and touch are essential and synergistic ingredients in early math learning. 

RESOURCES

The Learning Way: Meta-cognitive Aspects of Experiential Learning 

Hands On, Mulit-Sensory, Math Activities