Please have a wonderful week replete with friends, family, books, music, games, laughter, volunteerism, gratitide, nature and/or complete and total solitude if that's your complete and total jam. I look forward to seeing you back at school Monday, December 2!
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In the last two weeks, and truthfully, since the first month of school, we have experienced some bigotry at Walgrove, and it must be met with powerful action.
Students have made unkind comments to others about their weight, their height, their ethnicity, their religion, their parents' politics and recently their perceived gender.
It should go without saying that bigotry is unwelcome and unacceptable at Walgrove.
So that we are all on the same page, what bigotry looks like:
The Oxford Dictionary defines bigotry as:
An obstinate or unreasonable attachment to a belief, opinion, or faction, in particular prejudice against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group.
Prejudice literally means pre-judging before fully understanding.
As a school, we will address this head-on with classroom lessons and grade level assemblies. (All in line with District policy.)
At home, perhaps share with your children the following list. While it may seem simplistic, it is at least a start and a touchstone for future conversations on how to better treat one another.
1. Treat others as you would want to be treated.
2. If you don't have something kind to say, then don't say anything at all, especially unsolicited. This doesn't mean you should be dishonest. Just don't offer unsolicited critique, and don't be mean.
3. Feel free to share who you are, but don't proselytize. Don't try to convince others to join your group. No matter if you are Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic, Atheist, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Anarchist, male, female, non-binary, etc. None of these choices should be anyone's business but your own. If your choices don't mesh with someone else's religion, they can privately ponder that seeming dissonance while they say nothing mean to you because your own religion (or non-religion) should guide your choices. My motto (even though I am an Atheist, or more accurately an Agnostic) is "Everyone is welcome at God's table."
Even though I am not a member of any one religion, I value the tenets of many religions and absolutely value each individual person's right to choose his/her/their own. While I was a member of the 110-person choir at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco's Tenderloin for several years until about 20 years ago when I moved to LA (see our video below), our Minister Reverend Cecil Williams would say at least once if not ten times each sermon "Everyone is welcome at God's table." He would say this while looking out onto a busting-at-the-seams room of over 1,500 congregants (at two consecutive services, so 3,000 congregants) composed of rich, poor, Black, White, straight, gay, trans, housed, unhoused, and more all sitting alongside one another. Maya Angelou was a member (and frequent speaker) as was Oprah as was Bono as were hundreds of unhoused neighbors. We all sat alongside one another in the pews. No special VIP section. We all sang alongside one another on the risers. It was the most incredible feeling. There was no room for judgement, shame, fear, or intolerance.
Now, even though I am not religious (but relish community spirit!) and even though I am now in LA and not San Francisco, and even though I am currently running a school and not a theater, as I was while in SF, I still have as my constant reminder the adage "Everyone is welcome at God's table." This adage informs the choices I make at Walgrove.
Your child wants to tap dance? Great! They can sign up!
Your child wants to sing in the choir? Great! They can sign up!
Your child wants to play violin? Great! They can sign up!
I try VERY hard to take away artificial barriers and to make as many offerings as possible as inclusive as possible. It is my job to give your child as many opportunities as possible to find themselves.
4. Finally, while I will continue to do what I can to make school as welcoming as possible for ALL students and staff, no matter their personal beliefs, and I will do what I can to employ restorative measures that give people some grace when they falter and that provide students who falter with opportunities to make amends and earn back trust, I will only do that so many times before exploring other options because it is not just tolerance that I am responsible for, but safety as well.
If you would like to discuss this topic with me, please join me at tomorrow night's Coffee and Diet Coke with the Principal in my Zoom room at 6:30pm.
I look forward to the conversation!
Best,
Dr. K
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Happy mid-November! One more week, and it's Thanksgiving Break! Can you believe it?!
Lots of food from today's harvest to add to the Thanksgiving dinner table. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out today, our first Sunday volunteer day.
Here are are few pics from the week (or thereabouts):
And a clip of our very own Walgrove rock band "Room 21 Pilots"
Here is some of what is coming up this week at Walgrove:
MON
Tap for the Littles in the Auditorium 2:32-3:15
Advanced Math in Rm 20 2:32-3:30
TUE
Staff Meeting, PD and Grade Level Meetings in Rm 19 1:45-3:45
Angel City Youth Chorale in the Library 1:45-3:00
Musical Theater Auditions in the Auditorium 1:32-3:00
Today is Veterans Day, a day of remembrance for all who have served and will serve. Thank you to our parents, staff, and extended families who have served.
Here is some of what is coming up this week at Walgrove:
TUE
Staff Meeting and PD Asynchronous (check your email) due to PARENT CONFERENCES
Angel City Youth Chorale in the Auditorium 1:45-3:00
Parent Conferences 1:32-6pm - SIGN UP THROUGH YOUR TEACHERS
WED
No Tutoring in Rm 24 this week
Chess for all in the Quad, then Rm 28 before, during, and after school
Parent Conferences 1:50-6pm - SIGN UP THROUGH YOUR TEACHERS
THU
No Tutoring in Rm 24 this week
Tap for kiddos in Gr 2-5 in the Auditorium 1:50-2:50pm
Chess for all in the Quad, then Rm 28 before, during, and after school (Just Like Wed, TBD)
Parent Conferences 1:50-6pm - SIGN UP THROUGH YOUR TEACHERS
FRI
Friday Morning Assembly in the Quad. Mr. Merrick's class to lead the Pledge. Owen, Ollie and Lliam to perform on drums, guitar and vocals
Violin in the Library (bring your violin to the Library by Lunch so Danielle can tune it)TIME TBD
Parent Conferences 1:50-6pm - SIGN UP THROUGH YOUR TEACHERS
E-Choices Deadline for those applying to Magnet middle schools
SAT
GATE Visual and Performing Arts Auditions for those who have been referred and have confirmed
SUN
Walgrove Volunteer Day. Enter via the Morningside gate. 9am-1pm This is a "So You Think You Can Weed" challenge for grades 1-3 with high stakes for those grades ;) However, ALL are welcome (except pets. Please keep your pups at home.)
Let's have a great week, Walgrove!
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At this morning's Coffee and Diet Coke with the Principal, a parent asked a question, which I am paraphrasing, "How does one know a student's level of engagement...I'm asking as a parent interested in various states of consciousness, not just at school but at home."
This question came up because our school-wide "Problem of Practice" is student engagement in high-order Bloom's, and our schoolwide "lookfor" when our Instructional Leadership Team visits classrooms is high student engagement in high-order Bloom's for as long as possible. We actively count the number of students in the room and then count how many are deeply engaged in high-order Bloom's, and we pay close attention to when that engagement shifts.
So, in answer to the question, "How does one know...?" there are two things observers consider: 1) the student's body language and 2) the task at hand.
Regarding body language, what specifically do we look for? Well, when I was teaching a 4-5 combo class back in the days of yore, I came up with a way to make this seemingly abstract endeavor more concrete. I compared the levels of concentration to the rock cycle:
The Four Levels of Concentration:
Igneous: You are off-task and self-conscious; your energy is in your eyes. If you and others are writing in private journals, you are looking around at what others are doing or elsewhere at what is going on around you.
Sedimentary: You are beginning to get on task and are starting to "go through the motions," hoping to appear to be on task. You are engaged in low-order thinking. Your energy is moving toward your head (and eventually toward the Magma). But because you dip in and out of Top Soil, you don't yet fully move forward.
Metamorphic: You are moderately engaged and are on the journey toward the Magma. Your energy is approaching your belly. Your mind and emotions are starting to merge. If you are writing in your journal, you are engaging your feelings and are writing somewhat diligently, stopping only occasionally to look around and/or to ponder.
Magma: You are so engaged, you don't notice much (or anything) of what is going on around you. You are so enthralled! Your energy is in your spirit. If you are writing in your journal, it is as though your journal is writing you. This is the place where epiphanies happen (or the inklings of epiphanies which solidify later during REM sleep). When a roomful of students is in the Magma Layer during journal writing, the sound of pencil hitting page is like rain.
High Engagement = Magma
Now, of course, one could come up with other metaphors to use to help understand and explain the various levels of consciousness and/or concentration. If I were teaching a class right now, I would invite my students to come up with another possibly more apt metaphor. Or they could come up with a more detailed and specific rock-cycle metaphor that more fully and accurately explains the perceived (or scientifically exact) levels of concentration.
In the absence of that, I have found this rock cycle metaphor to be sufficient and even potent.
Regarding the task at hand, we look to see what task the students are actively engaged in. If they are copying from the board, they are engaged in a low-order Bloom's activity. If they are writing a summary, they are engaged in a slightly higher, low-order Bloom's activity. If they are coming up with a more apt metaphor than my rock cycle metaphor, they are analyzing, evaluating AND creating and are hence engaged in a high-order Bloom's activity.
Why is it important to spend much time engaged in high-order Bloom's activities? The more high-order thinking you do, the more your synapses connect, and the better you do in all manner of endeavors from divining your own business or non-profit to writing a graphic novel to taking high-stakes tests.
For more information on Bloom's and its application to the classroom (and potentially to home), here is a helpful article about how a Constructivist approach to Bloom's Revised Taxonomy yields even greater rewards. For example, in lieu of having students first memorize the attributes of the elements of the Periodic Table, via copying, memorizing, making flashcards, etc., and then afterward create something that involves that information, have them right from the start write a play where the characters are the elements of the Periodic Table. Give the students access to two key resources: 1) the basic elements and structure of a play, and 2) a chart that lists the attributes of the elements of the Periodic Table. Students simply reference both tools as they create. No "front-loading" or laborious time engaged (or disengaged) in low-order Bloom's required. Through the process of creating, they more deeply remember salient facts.
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