Keep Calm and "Hands On"

Recently I had a chance to visit Mrs. Ann Rose Wright’s Pre-Kindergarten class at Hardy Elementary.  She was teaching her students about the life cycle of plants.  She could have shown them pictures of the different stages, or even had them grow seeds in cups in the classroom, but she carried the lesson a step further.  She took a class of four and five year olds outside to the raised garden beds to plant their seeds.  They actually turned this in to an experiment.  Some of the seeds they planted had been soaked in water while others had not.  Soon they will see if water has any affect on the growth of the seeds.  They can watch the seeds develop into mature plants, with leaves and flowers.  While the students were planting the seeds, they got their hands dirty and there may have been an incident of some thrown dirt.  Instead of stopping the experiment and sending everyone inside, Mrs. Wright dealt with the situation and the students continued with planting seeds.  I applaud Mrs. Wright for having the courage to provide these opportunities for her young students.  Instead of restricting the environment because a student may make a poor choice, she anticipates what might happen and handles the behavior accordingly.  She doesn’t eliminate these experiences for her students.    

I asked Mrs. Lynn Briggs, Director of Communications, to put together a video of Mrs. Wright in action with her class.  Of course, she was doing an experiment with her students related to their study of the Arctic.  Students were learning about the types of animals found in the Arctic and their adaptations for surviving in the cold weather.  They learned about blubber and how it helps to keep the animals warm.  Mrs. Wright could have just told them that blubber insulates animals and moved on to something else.  Instead, she turned the lesson into an experiment.  Each student got to place their hand into a bucket of ice water.  Then she showed them the “blubber” they were going to put their hand in before placing it back in the water.  First, she had them predict what the temperature would be when they put their hand back in the water—cold or warm.  Then each child got to place their hand in a glove surrounded by shortening in a plastic bag.  This had the potential to be a very messy activity, and there was some mess, but she knew that ahead of time.  Mrs. Wright also knew how learning this lesson through a hands-on experiment would be more meaningful than just being told the function of blubber.  

As we move forward toward project based learning, I’ve heard more questions about how this will look at the elementary level than middle and high school.  This is what it will look like.  I commend Mrs. Wright for taking a risk by introducing hands-on activities with her Pre-Kindergarten students.  I appreciate her courage for taking risks with her students and realizing that learning is more than what is found in a book.  I hope you will watch the video below that shows how our youngest students benefit from an environment that encourages them to use their brains, and their hands, for learning.

Mrs. Wright's PreK Class 

Art Appreciation

The VSBA Spring Tidewater Regional Art Forum was held April 12, 2016 at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. Elementary, middle, and high school students from all over Superintendent’s Region 2 submit art work to be judged by local artists.  Region 2 includes twelve divisions, from the eastern shore to Southampton, Williamsburg to Virginia Beach.  The forum is a chance for School Board members and superintendents to network and enjoy an evening of fine arts.  Kellam High School students played music, sang, and had an exposition of learning on display with students standing by their work, explaining the different projects and problems that they have been collaborating on in their classrooms.  Kellam is a project based learning high school.  Virginia Beach is working on this innovative initiative and recently visited High Tech High as well.

The night did not disappoint.  The music was beautiful, the students gave great presentations, and the art was extraordinary.  Not everyone can have the winning entry, but I will say I was very proud of our students. Malina Chevere, an 8^th grader at Smithfield Middle School, received a second place ribbon for her artwork, “Perspective.” Blake Vanderburg, Westside Elementary, received a third place ribbon for his entry, “Perspective Drawing with Photographic Imagery.” Sydney Bak of Windsor High entered her beautiful art, “Morgarts Beach,” in the high school category.   I also want to congratulate their teachers who provided guidance for the students as they created their artwork—Beth Gibble (WSES), Kevin Segner (SMS) and Lois West (WHS).  

The art in this competition comes from all the school divisions in our region.  Unlike a sports competition, our students compete against Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Hampton.  While all of us in IWCS know the talent we have in our schools, I’m delighted that other board members and superintendents had a chance to see for themselves on Wednesday night. 

Malina Chevere, Smithfield Middle

Blake Vanderburg, Westside Elementary

Sydney Bak, Windsor High

Keeping the "Pace" in Mrs. Jewett's class at SMS

I recently visited Erin Jewett’s history class at Smithfield Middle School.  I noticed highly engaged students actively working on a variety of assignments.  After a closer look, I saw a variety of resources, projects and assignments clipped to a large dry erase board.  As I explored more and spoke with students, they told me that they worked through the different tasks at their own pace and received assistance from their teacher when needed.  It was obvious that they knew the procedure and routine as they got right to work when they entered the classroom.
 

 Mrs. Jewett walked throughout the classroom helping students that required a little guidance.  There was no lecture or whole-group teaching.  The assignments were varied and very detailed, containing rubrics, directions and places for students to take notes. They watched videos on laptops using headphones while they took notes on the subject matter.  Then they moved on to the next part of the lesson.  It was obvious that this type of instructional model took significant planning in order to have all the modules in place at the start of the unit. This allowed students to progress through the assignments with time to research, explore on their own and create solutions.

Some of the activities students completed in Mrs. Jewett’s class included a World War II Leaders Interview Project.   Students created comic strips where the characters were World War II leaders who were answering interview questions.  Another assignment focused on Life in the 1920s and 1930s.  The students completed an activity where they researched specific questions about the two decades with the ultimate goal of responding to the following: “Would you have wanted to live during this time period?  Why or why not? Your answer must be at least 15 sentences long.  Think about all of the different things you have learned about the 1920s and the 1930s and use those to help you come up with your answer.”

 

Altogether there were seven different activities that the students had to complete.  This put the learning in the hands of her students.  I talked with several students who commented that they enjoyed finding the information and being able to use their research in a variety of different projects.

Mrs. Jewett tried out this style of teaching last year with a few topics. She said the format worked well with her classes, and her students really enjoyed the model.  She made a decision to transform all of her units this year to this new style and has had no regrets.    Her principal, Mr. Eng, stated that this model allows Mrs. Jewett to work closely with the students who really need her help.  I appreciate Mrs. Jewett taking a risk and trying a different approach with her classes.  While she is constantly evaluating her lessons to make improvements, as all teachers do, she seems to have hit upon a model that works for her but, most importantly, for her students. 

To see a video of Mrs. Jewett's class, click the following link:  Keeping the Pace in Mrs. Jewett's Class.