The "Private School" of Rockingham County Public Schools

 

Name:  Kelly Flora-Brownell, Lower School Library Coordinator

Place:  Linville-Edom Elementary School, Linville, VA, PreK-5^th Grade

With:  Lana Daniels, Librarian, Diane Drury, Computer Lab Assistant, and Alice Blair, Instructional Technology Resource Teacher

As a resident of Rockingham County, I have heard many wonderful things about the public elementary school near my home, the most often repeated phrase being that it is the “private school” of the county. LEES is unusual due to its smaller overall size (less than 200 students) and nice class sizes (15 -17 per class). The school just celebrated its 100^th anniversary, so the building itself is older, but it is bright, colorful, and you immediately see examples of the students’ achievements and work upon entering the building. 

 

I was curious about every aspect of the school, and I was met with helpful answers and information at every turn. With the exception of fewer art, P.E., and music classes, I found their schedules and average day to be similar to ours at Stuart Hall Lower School.  The upper grade students, most of which have classes on the second floor, have their own lockers, which are left unlocked.

Teacher aides/assistants in PreK, K, and 1st grade (PreK all day, others until 11am daily)

Recess everyday - approx. 10-15 min.
Music - 1 day a week
Gym varies weekly - 2 or 3 days a week
Guidance every other week - 1 day a week
Art every other week - 1 day a week
Challenge - 1 day a week
Upper Grades - No specific library time, only as needed
Lower Grades - Scheduled times on Tuesdays and Thursdays

My visit started in the library witnessing the way that the school starts its day. Fourth and fifth grade students air a newscast from the library daily to every classroom in the school. The librarian, Dana, said that the students come in, set it up, and carry it out completely on their own.  The announcers sit at a desk with a smart board behind them while the camera operators film them. 

The announcers began with a greeting, then the weather, lunch menu, general announcements, and a list of school-wide birthdays.  The cameras then turned to a student seated off to the side who informed everyone about upcoming SCA elections and how to run for office. They finished with the pledge, a minute long moment of silence, a joke, and then closed the program with, “Have a great day!” I was very impressed!  The students were friendly, efficient, and poised.

The physical library was much bigger than ours at the lower school even though their collection of books wasn’t that much larger. The library room had more space for computers—nine Macs and one PC—a smart board, several big comfy chairs, and four large tables. The story time carpet is in front of the smart board. About half of the library is in the photo below.

 Many students trickled in and out of the library while I was there, returning and checking out books. They had a computerized checkout system with barcodes, which made it easy for the librarian to quickly see if the student had any overdue books. The librarian recommended the Alexandria system due to ease of use and minimal issues with the program. The librarian is a full time employee, even though she only teaches classes to the lower grades two days a week. The library is then open the rest of the time for research and for the upper grades to come in for lessons as needed.

I observed a library lesson with kindergarten and found it to be very similar to the ones I have with the lower grades. The only striking difference between our lessons was that she used the smart board to illustrate points of the book she was reading, so I was naturally quite jealous. Unfortunately, I think the library at the Lower School simply doesn’t have the physical space for a smart board without some serious reorganizing and new shelving. The “aha” moment I had about the LEES library is how the picture books, or early readers, were categorized as EVERYONE books. I love this because I think sometimes older children think that they are “too old” to check out the early readers from our library. I plan to change the signs for our early reader books to Everyone Books over the summer.

Since VAIS made recommendations about our technology curriculum, I have been interested in what type of technology opportunities other schools provide. During my time in the LEES library I was fortunate to have a conversation with Alice, an ITRT (Instructional Technology Resource Teacher). She was in the library setting up new Google email accounts for the teachers, and was happy to share with me what she does. Alice has her master’s degree in English, and until the last six years as an ITRT, was a reading teacher (she is planning to retire next year).  Her job is to make teachers feel comfortable using technology and to help with computer issues in the schools, and Rockingham County employs six ITRT’s for the county.  Even though Alice spent most of her life teaching reading, she now questions whether the ability to read is truly one of the best measures of a child’s intelligence. She pondered that with “text to talk” programs and other technological advances, the way children learn is changing rapidly, and maybe there needs to be other ways to measure a student’s success.  This was just a fascinating conversation and gave me lot to think about.

The second half of my visit was in the computer room with Diane, the computer lab assistant. The room was bright and cheerful, much like ours. I especially liked the dividers Diane had invented to put between the computers. Having assisted with technology classes in first grade for five years, I saw how these could be quite helpful. The picture below the dividers is a great display made out of Styrofoam containers.

 

I observed a first grade class in the computer lab. They came in, sat down, put on their headphones, quickly found the program they needed, and started reading.  The lesson made up some of the weekly time the class spent reading, and the program read books to them while highlighting words.  Diane was able to log on, and then log off, all of the computers from her desk.  The ability to have that much control over the computers in the class would be a much needed improvement for our computer lab.

It seems that the role of the computer lab assistant is mostly to provide guidance to students as they work on a pre-planned lesson chosen by the teachers.  Later on that day, the third graders came in to work on an advanced math website for which their teacher had won a grant.  The grant requires that they spend a minimum amount of time on the website each week, and when the lab is not in use the third grade teacher brings her students over for some time on the computers.  In addition to the computer lab, the fourth and fifth grades (two classes each) do most of their math lessons and much of their reading on shared Ipads.

Below is a list of some of the websites they currently use. The most highly recommended website was Starfall, and it seemed like it was worth the yearly price of $200, especially for the younger students at the Lower School. There were many interactive activities dealing with colors, letters, sounds, etc.

http://interactivesites.weebly.com/math.html
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html
http://www.learnyourtables.co.uk/en/index2.htm
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm
http://www.multiplication.com/resources/online-tests-and-quizzes
https://www.readworks.org/    This is free, you just need to sign up...
reading passages and questions
http://www.quia.com/jg/354699list.html
http://www.quia.com/jg/1355859list.html
http://education.jlab.org/solquiz/index.html

I enjoyed my entire visit with the teachers and students at Linville-Edom, and gained many new ideas.  My favorite part of the day was seeing the LEES morning news. The staff and teachers were extremely helpful and kind, and I would happily visit there again if needed!

Coffee, Classes, and Research

I traveled to Washington and Lee University last week for my day away.  My two main goals were to get acquainted with more of the professors to build ties for the Math and Science Emphasis program and to sit in on classes to help guide the development of an Advanced Mathematics course.  Dr. Carrie Finch was my guide for the day to help me find my classes and get to know everyone.

            My day started with a cup of coffee and a small meet and greet with a few of the math department faculty.  I met Kevin Beanland and Dr. Wayne Dymacek, whose classes I would be visiting that day.  As W&L is on their spring semester, classes are a bit strange.  They typically run every day for two hours over the course of four weeks.  Because of this, I spent quite a bit of time in each of their two classes.

            First up was Set Theory and Logic.  The class had 12 students and this was their second day.  They were working on a very challenging problem set that dealt with the basics of set theory.  Due to the layout of the semester, the pace of the course is quite accelerated.  The students were to be working in small groups to solve and present problems to the rest of the class.  Since there was no lecture going on, I was able to bounce between groups and ask them questions.  This was their first introduction to both set theory and logic.  They all found it very difficult, but felt good about the class and up to the challenge.

            After this class, I got to sit in on a class called The Mathematics of Puzzles and Games.  This class was structured so that students would either be given a puzzle or game to play, they would spend some time with no instruction trying to analyze it and figure out the best strategies, then the class would reconvene to learn the math behind whatever it was they were working on.  This day was one in which they were working independently on a variety of different puzzles, so I spent a large amount of time discussing the class with the professor.  He liked to keep the math very straight-forward and avoid formal game theory, since there is already a class on that topic.  His goal was to get the students excited about math and choose games that are simple enough to analyze without a great deal of calculation.  He has been teaching at W&L for 33 years and was a great source of information.

            After these two classes (and a lunch break) I was able to sit and chat with the aforementioned professors.  We discussed general philosophies on grading, class structure, expectations, and what they feel they would like to see students be better prepared for.  I noticed several parallels between what they do at W&L and what we do here at Stuart Hall, especially in the idea of students being responsible for their education.  In both of the classes I observed, and often in my own, the structure is student driven.  There is plenty of group work and student led discussions. 

            I got a lot out of my observations and discussions.  I have several new ideas for the structure and content of an advanced mathematics course.  I feel confident in the standards we hold our students to here at STU.  I learned about how W&L grades their mathematics students.  And most importantly, I spent the day getting reacquainted with higher level math which translates to me being more excited about what I’m teaching to my students. 

            I ended the day by working with Dr. Finch on some number theory research that we’ve been doing since last summer.

Feminism, Long Swords, and Empire: My Day at Bridgewater College

For my day away I traveled to Bridgewater College.  My objective was two-fold:  observe how history was being taught at the college level and work out with the Bridgewater College Comitatus--a historical martial arts club that I helped found over a decade ago when I was an instructor there--so that I might better instruct my students in both areas.

I contacted Dr. Jamie Frueh, Chair of the Bridgewater History and Political Science Dept., prior to the day away and he connected me with the various professors that were teaching that day.  I then contacted the professors to arrange my visit.  That process went very smoothly.

The first class I observed was Dr. Jennifer Duncan's Global Women's History Honors class which met at 8:00 a.m. and lasted 75 minutes (classes at Bridgewater either meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 75 minutes each or M/W/F for 50 minutes each).  I arrived a few minutes before the class and was welcomed by both Dr. Duncan and the students that were already present.  The class itself was comprised of nine students and the desks had been arranged in a semi-circle to facilitate discussion.  Before class began I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Duncan and the students about how the Honor's program worked at Bridgewater and I found it to be very similar to our own program--there were specific honor's classes and students could also contract for honors with the professor's permission.  Students were then required to fulfill additional honors requirements which included a formal presentation of a research based project--very similar to what I do with my honors students.  The topic that morning was "Second Wave Feminism" which happened to be Dr. Duncan's research expertise.  She informed me that class was typically very discussion oriented but, because that day's topic was her research focus, she would probably end up lecturing  more than usual.

Dr. Duncan is a very engaging professor--she had assigned a reading for this class and gave the students opportunities to raise points about it and ask questions.  She enhanced her lecture with a PowerPoint and the students were attentive, participatory, and took notes.  Some students accessed the reading on their phones or computers, others had a hard copy.  Some students took notes via a device, others used pen and paper.  I personally found the lecture to be fascinating and useful as it broadened my own understanding of this particular topic and I have already used some of Dr. Duncan's content in my own classes.  Overall I enjoyed the experience very much.

The second class I attended was Dr. Brandon Marsh's Imperialism class--a 400 level course that focused on the British Empire from the mid 18th century to mid 20th century.  I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Marsh prior to the start of class where he brought me up to speed on what had been covered and what the topic of the day would be (the British Empire during World War II and Indian independence afterwards).  I was especially interested in how Dr. Marsh would present this material as I teach these topics myself in both Modern World History/Honors and A.P. World History and British Imperialism is Dr. Marsh's specialty.

The class was comprised of about 15 students, all dept. majors.  Like Dr. Duncan, Dr. Marsh made use of a PowerPoint to augment his presentation and used a lecture format that included questioning the students and encouraging their participation.  Like Dr. Duncan's students, Dr. Marsh's students were engaged and took notes via devices or notebooks/pens.  Dr. Duncan began by returning an historiographical essay he had assigned previously and then he gave an overview of the topic for the day as well as an outline for the remaining class sessions before launching into the material.  Seventy-five minutes later (it honestly felt like no more than 10 minutes had passed) I was much more knowledgeable on the topics of the inner-workings of Anglo-Indian diplomacy during the 1930's, the Japanese conquest of Indo-China and Malaya in 1941, and implications of both for Indian independence following World War II.  I will be able to incorporate all of this material in my future classes on these topics.

In addition to my own intellectual gratification, sitting in on Dr. Duncan's and Dr. Marsh's classes re-affirmed that my own approach to teaching "college-prep" history is consistent with what college students are actually experiencing in college classrooms.  I firmly believe that I could take any Stuart Hall student that has experienced our Upper School history curriculum and place them in a Bridgewater College classroom and they would already have the tools they needed to be successful in that environment.

I extend my sincere thanks to both Dr. Duncan and Dr. Marsh for allowing me this experience, as well as for sharing their syllabi with me so I could get a broader sense of each of their courses (for example, writing requirements, quantity of reading, etc.).

In between Dr. Ducan's class and Dr. Marsh's class I had the opportunity to once again work with my good friend and collaborator Dr. Gavin Lawson on some historical long sword techniques.  We both suited up into full-contact sparring gear and Dr. Lawson proceeded to teach me three new sword drills as he was introducing them to the Comitatus (I taught all three drills to my military history students the very next day with great success).  We then engaged in several rounds of free-sparring to put the techniques together.  I believe I can honestly say that I gave as good as I got.

Comitatus practice was immediately followed by Dr. Lawson's long sword exercise science class.  This class can be taken by any student for a required exercise science credit and that day was the final day of final exams--the final exam being a two-minute sparring session with Dr. Lawson himself where the student has to demonstrate their mastery of the techniques learned over the duration of the class.  It was very insightful to observe these exams as I also include physical components into my military history exams.  As always, I am grateful to Dr. Lawson for sharing his expertise so that I may continue to develop this very unique form of instruction at Stuart Hall.

To conclude, I left Bridgewater that afternoon bruised (from multiple sword hits), affirmed, and exhilarated about what I had experienced that day and the opportunities that I have at Stuart Hall to provide similar experiences for our students.

The Honey Badgers of Middle School

Middle school students have much in common with honey badgers – they're very focused on their desires, they're remarkably resourceful, and they're incredibly defensive when provoked. One particular honey badger attribute does stick out above all others, though. The narrator for the BBC short Honeybadgers: Masters of Mayhem put it best when he said,“Considering their small size, Honey Badgers have remarkably big brains.”

During my three years of teaching, I have found that middle school students are no different.

My goal has always been to encourage students to exercise their aforementioned brains in new, exciting, and creative ways. As I watched Stoffel the honey badger use the resources available to him to escape his enclosure, it occurred to me that Stuart Hall students could be similarly encouraged to try new things and utilize materials in unexpected ways through one fantastic program – Destination Imagination.

Like Middle Schoolers, Stoffel is excellent at escaping unpleasant situations.

For my “Day Away,” I set out to begin the process of developing a Destination Imagination team at Stuart Hall School with the help of Bev Rakes, the Jefferson Area Director for DI. Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving competition that combines theatrical elements with STEM and service learning.

My primary objectives for this professional development day were to:

1. Examine the DI team challenge previews for the upcoming year in order to determine which challenges might best suit our student body.
   
   
2. Work with Bev Rakes (who, in addition to being the area director for DI, is also my mother) to create a presentation to encourage student participation in the program next year.
   
   
3. Begin the planning process for registering a team (paperwork, financial concerns, scheduling) so that next year's implementation runs smoothly.
   
   
4. Tweak several of the program's established “instant challenges” so that they might function as icebreakers and creative exercises to promote fluency, flexibility, and originality in students.
   
   
   

Competing in DI is a fantastic opportunity for kids to experiment with things that are often outside of their comfort zones, such as using power tools, writing scripts, developing teamwork skills, and being forced to think on the spot. It is a fun, accessible way to combine academics with creativity.

Next year I hope to have a Destination Imagination team (or perhaps more than one team, number of students permitting) that can confidently approach one of the problems and solve it in a way that showcases their ability to think outside of the box.

For our first DI meeting, I'm looking into acquiring a honey badger and placing it in the the old pool room on the Upper School campus. I'm hoping that it will be able to teach the students a lot about creative problem solving!

Stoffel does a DI Instant Challenge

DI Global Finals 2007

My team scored 2nd place at the global competition!

You meet a lot of people who like to make things out of duct tape.

DI teaches you to be prepared for anything!