What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Summer’s ending…. Tomatoes are ripe…. Energy is gathering for a new school year, and as thoughts turn to school I am grateful for the learning time I had with teachers this summer. In the river—on the mountaintop–exploring the cityscape—–very fun!

As a curriculum coach who loves working with teachers when they have time to dream and scheme—the summer time provides unique opportunities for teachers to explore new sites, collaborate and plan a new year. Just for the record—I believe that this focused work and reflection should come with plenty of UNSCHEDULED time to play and be at home with no agendas—time to renew, hang out with families, friends….

I feel inspired and enriched by the experiences I had this summer with teachers as we explored nearby places. It started off with an evening presentation at the Middle Grades Institute that I co-presented with Katey Wyndorf. Downtown Randolph was an amazing place to explore–the architecture and commerce of downtown and the river that runs alongside the town—a river place that has visible memory of last summer’s Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene.

We explored the BLOCK–a lovely stretch of buildings where we examined what students could learn in this setting from the perspective of different subjects. See the attached outline of questions

Randolph BLOCKAnd went to the river where Katey led us in a poetic “Andrew Goldsworthyish” reflection on our learning.

It was a lovely evening and we thought the teachers left with new ideas and a refreshed feeling about learning outside with their students. Katey and I are looking forward to offering a strand at the 2013 session of Middle Grades Institutes. Information to come at http://middlegradescollaborative.org/news/ 

Watershed for Every Classroom 2012-2013

The Watershed For Every Classroom met in July during one of the hottest weeks on record. We have a wonderful crew and will meet throughout the year until May.

Keep in touch with this group on our website http://www.lcbp.org/watershedmatters/ 

Design Summit

I was also lucky to be invited to a Design Summit that Walter Poleman (UVM PLACE program — http://www.uvm.edu/place/—and Burlington Geographic http://www.uvm.edu/place/burlingtongeographic/) hosted at the University of Vermont. The purpose of the gathering was to meet with educators from South Carolina and Puerto Rico—places where Walter has been working for a few years planting the seeds of place-based education. We shared ideas, toured special places in Burlington and made plans for future collaboration.