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Breakout Boxes
Our 6th grade geography class used a creative way to study for their exam! Clues, aka review questions, were hidden around the library/media center to open up the “breakout boxes” – an educational spin on the “breakout rooms!” Students used a cypher key and a black light to see invisible ink to crack the clues. […]
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How 8th Graders Used Design Thinking to Imagine an Award-Winning App
Every year, people forward me an email announcing the Verizon Innovative Learning App Challenge. As chair of the Computer Science Department at GPS, people know that encouraging girls to code is a driving force in my teaching. This year, I decided to build the App Challenge contest into my 8th grade classes’ coursework. We followed […]
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STEM Brought to Artistic Live
The Bullis Upper School hosted renowned sculptor and lecturer Rebecca Kamen as artist-in-residence to teach 11th grade biology students to create artistic visualizations of biology concepts. Ms. Kamen investigates and demonstrates how art and creativity can enhance innovation and understanding of science. Her artwork considers a wide array of scientific fields to capture and re-imagine […]
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Gaining Perspective
Mayfield’s eighth grade participated in an interactive experience in January designed to provide insight and perspective on the reality of life as a refugee. Advisors and several teachers collaborated on the all-day program as a cross-curriculum component of the eighth grade service-learning project. They began with the question: How do we engage students so they […]
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Creative Teaching: Memorizing Becomes More Meaningful with a Tune
Creativity in the classroom is an every day occurrence at MJS. When students are engaged and excited about learning connections are made and growth happens. Mrs. Jaime Bradley, first grade teacher, wanted to bring one of her passions, singing, into the classroom. So, she decided to turn every lesson possible into memory songs. From classroom […]
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Nature is…
This year Conserve School decided to change things up on picture day by inviting students and staff to not only get their picture taken, but to also respond to the prompt – Nature is. Conserve School’s focus is environmental stewardship and this creative activity allowed individuals to explore both their own thoughts about nature and […]
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From Ideas to Prototypes: Hands-on Projects Cultivate Design Mindsets
As sixth graders, science students at Castilleja School begin developing skills as designers and engineers while creating interactive devices. They learn about sensors and actuators, programming, troubleshooting, and how to face frustrations that arise from failed iterations while celebrating improvements and successes, however incremental. Fast forward to the senior year elective, “Biology and Economics of […]
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Middle School Summit Offers Solutions to Local, Global Problems
When it comes to major environmental challenges, who solves our problems? Who stewards our resources? How does climate change impact me, and vice versa? What’s the role of government in fixing environmental, economic, and social problems? These questions guided Journeys School sixth, seventh, and eighth graders as they embarked on “The California Drought Summit,” a […]
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Innovative Schedule Supports Intensive Learning
In a variety of settings, ranging from their upper school campus to downtown Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and Paris, Hawken School students and teachers in grades 9-12 spent the three weeks between Thanksgiving and winter breaks immersed in “Intensives,” which offer hands-on, extensive study of a single subject. With the school’s unique schedule, students can practice […]
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Students' Art Installations Demonstrate Plight of Girls' Education Worldwide
Throughout the 2016-17 school year, Ranney School students in Monmouth County, NJ, have been working on a special cross-disciplinary project to support Global Peace & Justice, which is #16 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a follow-on program to the school’s 2015-16 SDG partnership with the UN and Monmouth University, the History […]
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Students flex their creative muscles and design thinking at SF Day School
Thanks to the overwhelming support and generosity of our community, San Francisco Day School was able to enhance our campus with new “Innovate & Create” design spaces. With flexible design spaces and tools, our students are empowered to embrace their journey as learners and to explore “productive failure” through experimentation. They learn the value of […]
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Peace & Justice Project: Phase II Photography
The Peace & Justice Project at Ranney School (Tinton Falls, NJ) continues, with Upper School photography students creating projects that demonstrate peace in nonverbal ways. Throughout the 2016-17 school year, students will be working on special projects to support Global Peace & Justice, which is #16 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The […]