Dear Friends,
Last week we had some great experiences in the Garden:
a return to school after an exciting, rewarding, and anxiety producing strike;
8th grade pitching in to prepare the garden for winter and potatoes for our Harvest Day;
Harvest Day itself, with such a celebration of nature, children and parents taking note of our relationships and our blessings.
And here we are, Nov. 11, 2019 in the midst of an Arctic Vortex!
Let us gather up our forces,
gather up our courage and our Joy,
and face the Vortex,
and its root causes,
and dedicate ourselves to doing better,
to Climate Justice,
and a future for our children.
The future starts tomorrow, Tuesday, November 12,
I invite volunteers to help with pasting up 90+ 1st grade leaf collections for a June release of "The Trees of Waters School". This year we lost our Cottonwood and Black Cherry trees to the construction project.
But we gained Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana) and River Birch (Betula nigra).
Come help paste up, get dazed by rubber cement, and test your addled memory in ID-ing trees. I will be working in the Conference room from 8:30 until 10:30 on this project.
Wednesday is Report card pick -up day. I have found myself recalling that in the 90's (last century) we were on a trajectory to eliminating report cards in favor of conferencing with parents, student and teacher to look over portfolios of student work. We were doing that! Not ranking, and punishing, but, real, in-depth, discussions between all these people. After the election of 2000, high-stakes testing, No Child Left Behind became the national and local mandate, and we struggled to stay true to our philosophy and mission under the new regime.
We struggle still! We are trying.
Our children, each and every one are unique,
precious, unpredictable and our treasure.
Our ecology program persists as a remnant of that time.
I don't (and don't have to) give grades.
I provide experiences, context, feedback to our students.
I am blessed with the best job.
I meet them 20 years later on the picket line, and grocery store,
where they tell me that they have become counselors,
biology teachers,
nurses,
moms and dads.
On Report Card pick up day, Mighty Acorns Journals will be put out for you to check out, 3rd thru 5th Grade. Write a note in the journal to your child, to encourage them.
In spring, Lake and River journals will also be available.
On Thursday and Friday 7th grade ventures to the Lake for the "Fall " trip to study lake ecology. The Lake is a moderator of temperature extremes,
but also can be counted on to provide a dip in temperature,
a brisk wind,
and an inspirational blast of energy.
You are invited to join us on this CTA bus ride and journey.
Room 305, Thursday, 9:00 until 2:30
Room 302, Friday, same time.
Bundle up!!!!
Mr. Leki
Last week we had some great experiences in the Garden:
a return to school after an exciting, rewarding, and anxiety producing strike;
8th grade pitching in to prepare the garden for winter and potatoes for our Harvest Day;
Harvest Day itself, with such a celebration of nature, children and parents taking note of our relationships and our blessings.
And here we are, Nov. 11, 2019 in the midst of an Arctic Vortex!
Let us gather up our forces,
gather up our courage and our Joy,
and face the Vortex,
and its root causes,
and dedicate ourselves to doing better,
to Climate Justice,
and a future for our children.
The future starts tomorrow, Tuesday, November 12,
I invite volunteers to help with pasting up 90+ 1st grade leaf collections for a June release of "The Trees of Waters School". This year we lost our Cottonwood and Black Cherry trees to the construction project.
But we gained Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana) and River Birch (Betula nigra).
Come help paste up, get dazed by rubber cement, and test your addled memory in ID-ing trees. I will be working in the Conference room from 8:30 until 10:30 on this project.
Wednesday is Report card pick -up day. I have found myself recalling that in the 90's (last century) we were on a trajectory to eliminating report cards in favor of conferencing with parents, student and teacher to look over portfolios of student work. We were doing that! Not ranking, and punishing, but, real, in-depth, discussions between all these people. After the election of 2000, high-stakes testing, No Child Left Behind became the national and local mandate, and we struggled to stay true to our philosophy and mission under the new regime.
We struggle still! We are trying.
Our children, each and every one are unique,
precious, unpredictable and our treasure.
Our ecology program persists as a remnant of that time.
I don't (and don't have to) give grades.
I provide experiences, context, feedback to our students.
I am blessed with the best job.
I meet them 20 years later on the picket line, and grocery store,
where they tell me that they have become counselors,
biology teachers,
nurses,
moms and dads.
On Report Card pick up day, Mighty Acorns Journals will be put out for you to check out, 3rd thru 5th Grade. Write a note in the journal to your child, to encourage them.
In spring, Lake and River journals will also be available.
On Thursday and Friday 7th grade ventures to the Lake for the "Fall " trip to study lake ecology. The Lake is a moderator of temperature extremes,
but also can be counted on to provide a dip in temperature,
a brisk wind,
and an inspirational blast of energy.
You are invited to join us on this CTA bus ride and journey.
Room 305, Thursday, 9:00 until 2:30
Room 302, Friday, same time.
Bundle up!!!!
Mr. Leki
RSS Feed
