Liz Moore’s Biotech (H) class has been given a lofty task. They each have “$10,000″ to invest in a biotech company, the goal obviously to see a substantial return. They will not be graded on how their virtual money grows, but the experience will teach them a great deal about the biotech industry. But how [...]
Arm cake, anyone?
Betsy Nash and her mom made a fabulous if terrifying creation to celebrate the last day of Mrs. Cabreros’ English 11 class before the electives begin: a massive cake representing Grendel’s arm from the book Beowulf. Take a look!
Sustainable farming
John Wilson of New Earth Compost Company/ T.A. New Earth Farm came to talk to Tina Whitaker’s AP Environmental class this past Wednesday to explain the impact of chemical farming and alternative methods of repelling bugs and maintaining rich, healthy soil through composting and crop rotation. The students discussed the chemical reactions in soil that [...]
Not a Moment Wasted in Pre-K
I began my Lower Experience with the Pre-Kindergarten class, hosted by lead teacher Carol Parker. At the end of my visit she asked me if it was what I expected, and I had to honestly say that I had no idea what to expect! Though I’ve walked down the halls a hundred times and looked [...]
A Tour of the Lower School
With my office housed in the Upper School and because I teach an Upper School course, I only get to see the Lower School in isolated bits. So this semester I have made it my goal to spend a day with each grade to get a better handle on how our curriculum develops throughout the [...]
Juan de Pareja
Tina Howard’s 6th graders are in the midst of reading Juan de Pareja, a historical novel about the slave who worked for and studied art with Spanish artist Diego Velázquez in the 1500′s , becoming himself a well-known artist, despite the fact that his social situation normally would have prevented this. What a wonderful coincidence [...]
Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul
Scott McGraw’s United States Government students learned Wednesday that solving the world’s budget problems is no easy task. After gaining a solid understanding of terms such as budget, revenue, expenditure, debt, deficit, and surplus, Scott explained to us that the national debt in isolation doesn’t tell us much. What is important to look at through [...]
Blog about a blog
Please check out Leesa Hannah’s 1st grade class blog! It has wonderful examples of the work our first graders are doing. http://mrshannahfirstgradeclass.blogspot.com/
Mail delivery
Karen Buchardt’s Transitions class learned all about the mail delivery system. After collecting letters written by Lower School students to teachers, staff and students in the rest of the school, Karen’s students sorted the mail, stamped it, and then delivered it to the appropriate rooms, lockers, and offices. Leesah Hannah had this to say about [...]
Research methods in the 4th grade
Frances Lonergan invited me to see a group of fourth grade students working on research papers using a technique the teachers learned last year from Karen Haag, the consultant who came to do a 3 day writing workshop for our Lower School teachers (see more about her at http://www.liketowrite.com/). Karen is here again this week [...]
