Creating Classroom Values

Using Student and Parent Voice to Develop Classroom Values

         On back to school night, parents wrote letters to their children sharing their hopes and dreams for their children this year. The students read these letters and used their inference skills to develop a list of values that our parents might want to include in our classroom community.  Annie read that her parents were gazing out the window at the trees outside and she inferred that her parents value the natural world.  Many students read that their parents hope that they enjoy their 5th-grade experience and have many moments of laughter. The students inferred that their parents valued joy and humor. 

A few parents wrote that they hope their child makes some new friends, so we added friendship to our growing list of values. When we had culled out all of the parent values, the students read through the list and thought about whether some important values that they hold were missing.  We added Safety, Learning from Mistakes, Wonder & Curiosity, etc... 

       When we felt our list was complete, partners were given 5 red dots to spend on the most important values to them. Each value that contained a dot was then included in our list of classroom values. 

     Below is our list of values! We created art to hang in the classroom to remind us of the values that we share. These values will then be the basis of our classroom constitution. 

What values stand out to you in this photo?

Traditions and New Beginnings

     There is something so exciting about beginnings. Fifth grade holds a sense of familiarity for our oldest students, but it also brings something new. Fifth graders are often reminded, you are the leaders of the Lower School. This leadership role kicks off so beautifully with the Bell Tower Ceremony. On Wednesday morning, the fifth graders were charged with ringing the bell 149 times for each year of OES, to mark the opening of the new school year. The excitement and pride the students felt buzzed in the room as we gathered together for the first time as a community. Here are a few photos of this momentous event. 

     We held onto the energy of the ceremony and went right to the forest to play games and laugh together. The goal was to start to learn who WE are as a community. When we returned to the classroom, we were ready to think about the Bell Tower Speeches and how they might inspire us throughout the year. 

     The excitement of that first day continued into the week as we learned more about the community we will co-habit. We spent time mapping the classroom and all of the tools available to students. 

    We also spent time co-creating our classroom procedures. We started to answer questions like, How will share the cozy spots on the rug and around the room? When can you get yourself a snack? What should happen if you consistently forget the uniform policy? 

   I am truly impressed with your amazing children and excited about the community I see forming! 

   Cheers to the start of a new year!

   Mary Duden

(P.S. Please feel free to peruse the blog, but know that many of the photos and links are from the class last year and may not hold a lot of meaning for you yet.)

Field Day Fun!

Last Field Day of Lower School

Silliness at Camp Orkila

Campfires at Camp Orkila

     There was plenty of laughing at Camp Orkila! The Campfires each night gave us an opportunity to just enjoy each others company. 

The Challenges

The Challenges

      The philosophy at Camp Orkila is that each person must choose their own personal challenge level. The counselors helped the students to understand what they might feel in their body that indicates that they had reached their threshold and pushed themselves to their ultimate challenge level. At the zip line, some students experienced suiting up and climbing to the top of the tower as their threshold, others found new ways to hold their body as they flew through the air. Challenges presented themselves outside of the designated challenge activities. Overcoming homesickness, connecting with friends, or managing fears of pond creatures. Orkila provided great opportunities for students to stare down their own individual challenges and work through them. 

Camp Orkila Learning in Nature

Camp Orkila: Learning in the Natural World

     My favorite part of Camp Orkila was the wonder that was brought about by being surrounded by nature. There were geckos, snakes, fish, crabs, tube worms, starfish,  plankton, jellyfish, goslings, etc...One group even found what they think may be a new species. 

       The students watched the creature suck in the insides of the green worm. Stay tuned for their own reflection of what happened. 

   Click here for a video of some of our students on an exploration of adaptations that allow tidal creatures to survive in their habitats.

Mt. Hood Climb Service Day

Mt. Hood Climb Service Day

     The work of Mt. Hood Climb service day started well before the day itself. The Dudicorns were responsible for informing the OES community about Project Second Wind, a food drive to benefit Neighborhood House. This year we had the kids nominate their peers to talk to particular age groups about our food drive. This involved speeches, an informational movie created in Technology, and posters to advertise and collect donations. 

     On the day of Mt. Hood Climb Service, the physical work began. Students spread out across the campus to collect the donations, then sorted the food into categories. Once the food was sorted, it was repacked into a waiting by our magical student packing ninjas. We then drove with the donations to the Food Pantry, delivered and sorted the food once again, onto the Food Pantry shelves.  After all of this work, we learned that we had collected 1, 895 lbs of food. It was a satisfying and exhausting day captured beautifully by Enzo Smith in his reflective poem.

Mt. Hood Climb Service Day

Enzo

We trudged around the school,

Met together,

We sorted food,

Expired,

Expired,

Perfect,

Boxes of beans,

Boxes of pasta,

Desserts, snacks, canned fruit,

Delicious things that I so want,

But that I can’t have.

Carried boxes as heavy as a pail of rocks,

The sound plays in my head a thousand times,

Clink, clink, clink,

Carried paper bags almost as heavy,

The noise still playing,

Put into a cart to be carried to a bus,

I hear the rip of a bag,

Food goes everywhere,

Like the leaves in the fall,

Blowing in the wind.

Loaded food into the bus,

Vroom vroom goes the engine of the bus

I feel every bump in the road

Crash,

The food falls to the floor of the bus,

Finally, we get to neighborhood house,

Carry boxes again to the top of a hill,

49 pounds it weighed,

After it was weighed,

Off to another room to be sorted yet another time.

So much food just past one thousand,

Almost two.

Celebrate for all the food we brought,

Now we go off back to school.

Go to the chapel to get some drink,

Surprised by an Oreo just for me,

The taste exploded in my mouth like a firecracker,

The cold sweet lemon berry juice,

Falls into my dry mouth waiting to be swallowed.

The day is done.

Waiting for another year of food to come around.