Math club

From Sima Misra:

Today in Math Club, we had lively problem solving in action with a magic card trick.  Most students discovered it helped to work backwards and record their attempts to figure it out--some will still be working on it over spring break!  Others explored symmetry and area with the Part & Whole problems, or worked on some challenging puzzles.

Remembering Janet Stork

Former TBS HoS Janet Stork with Howard Gardner at HGSE's Project Zero Summer Institute in 2009 (photo by Julianne Hughes)

On April 5th, 2010, former TBS Head of School Janet Stork passed away after a seven month fight with cancer. In her 3+ years here, Janet transformed the school in so many ways, from our understanding of child development, to what it means to be a professional learning community, to how the Board should function. Janet was a champion of professional development, a voracious consumer of research, and a fearless advocate for children. Under her leadership, the school began the process of re-invention and transformation that lead to our current mission and school name. Janet and I didn't always agree on what to do about certain issues, but she was always willing to listen deeply and push me on the rigor of my own thinking. As a student of leadership, she truly modelled how to be a visionary leader who worked in service of others. Thank you, Janet, for our time together.

From left, Frida, Paula, Javanne, Tanya, Janet and Sheila at a staff party in the fall of 2009 (photo by Tanya Madrid-Campbell)

Making Learing Visible

We had three great presentations of student learning in the last 12 hours at TBS!

Last night the students in Strawberry Creek (4/5) shared their Famous American research projects with the community. Each student stood by his/her display and essay, and answered questions from parents and visitors. The room was alive with a joyful buzz. As a parent, I was thrilled to watch my child speak confidently to other adults about what she had learned, and the choices she made creating her project.

At the same time, the students and families in Wildcat Creek (6th grade) gathered for a class feast in the depot, where a student band performed.

Finally, this morning the students in Blackberry Creek held a publishing party. The event began with a class performance of "Octopus' Garden"; children and families then split up into groups, and each child presented and read from his/her "All About" book on a marine mammal. The event finished with a gallery walk of the great animal models that were hanging around the room.

Inside a K-5 Division Meeting

Today's K-5 division meeting began with a pop quiz group recall of our groundrules: everyone participates, different opinions are welcome, limit side conversations, respect time, and maintain your sense of humor. This last rule was in full effect as people suggested some rules that aren't part of our list!

The second agenda item was work in the Zones of Regulation curriculum, led by Social/Emotional Coordinator Kate Klaire. She began this three-part sequence began by walking us through a lesson on "Triggers", which included an art/writing activity to link actions of others with zones we experience. Next, Claire and Lisa presented a lesson on "Size of the Problem" they had done with students in Blackberry Creek (K/1), which helps children consider whether how they are reacting to a problem is in line with the seriousness of the problem. Finally, Kate shared a lesson called "Stop Opt Go", that helps children slow down their thinking and make choices about how to care for themselves before trying to respond to problems or situations.  

The third part of our meeting was taken up by some housekeeping - last minute planning for today's visit from the Marine Science Institute, and planning for next week's Readathon.

The meeting then moved into a professional development portion focused on math, led by Sima Misra, our Differentiated Curriculum Specialist. Sima presented two activities: number talks and math warmups. Building on a presentation from last month by Lisa Chung (k/1), Sima had the faculty do some quick number activities (ex: show how many ways you can create 56 in two minutes), emphasizing ways to have students effectively share their thinking and strategies with each other. For math warmups, Sima taught us the whisper/shout/move technique for learning skip counting, and had us practice it.

The meeting ended with a discussion about next year's calendar of program events. We've got some amazing traditions, such as the Art Show, Winter Sing, Math Night, Readathon, and Walkathon, and we also want to find a way to integrate student-centered performances of understanding about the other academic areas of our program that we don't yet cover on a division-wide basis (science, cultural studies, Spanish, and PE).

Alison Gopnik to speak at TBS

Math club

From Sima Misra, about today's math club:

We welcomed two third graders to math club today, Hannah and Talia, who tried out the Wheel Shop problem, stretching their algebraic thinking and number fluency, and played Oddball, another version of Poison/Nim.  Many of the 4th and 5th grade students enjoyed working on the different Sudoku puzzles, and I shared a strategy of keeping track of which numbers are possible in any given square using dots.  Finally, we all puzzled over one of the several "Liars & Truth Tellers" problems. This is a great one to talk about at the dinner table:  

There is an island in the middle of the ocean where there are two kinds of people: the liars and the truth-tellers.  The liars always lie. The truth-tellers always answer the truth.  You come to a fork in the road and need to know which way to turn to the village. Someone is at the intersection and can answer one yes or no question. You do not know if she is a truth teller or a liar. What should you ask her to learn which way to go?

Moments from the day

In Temescal Creek (2/3), students learned about the development of prokaryotes, and then created images showing their understanding of the organisms and their environment. 

In Laurel Creek (K/1), students used the Lost Tooth Chart for creating addition equations.

In Strawberry Creek (4/5), students used a scaffold to develop their comprehension and critical reading skills.

In Cerrito Creek (4/5), a lesson on the human respiratory system engaged students in a variety of learning activities.

In Blackberry Creek (K/1), students practiced making predictions during an interactive read-aloud.