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Sharing stories about inspired learning in independent schools

  • We Spark Creativity

    Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten

    On Tuesday, after morning work was complete, students were offered some choice activities. All thirteen students chose to explore trains together. With interest and curiosity I watched and listened as they began playing together. Would they be able to make this work with all thirteen of them? Would I need to intervene? How would they […]

    9 Recommendations
  • We Strengthen Communities

    St. Mary’s Goes to Beautiful Lengths to Help Cancer Patients

    At St. Mary’s, an Early Education to Grade 8, private IB school, the month of October is dedicated to educating the school’s community about cancer. “Through assemblies designed to teach students about healthy lifestyles through diet, exercise and sun care– to students’ service learning opportunities, we want our community to feel empowered to affect change,” […]

    3 Recommendations
  • We Cultivate Character
    Video

    OES Winterim Off Campus

    Oregon Episcopal School Upper School students have the option to take a trip off campus for a one week Winterim. These trips are a lot of fun, but more importantly they cultivate the character of our students. Every Winterim trip is focused on Service Learning and/or Language Immersion.

    2 Recommendations
  • We Challenge Minds

    Putting physics into action

    Upper School physics instructor Dr. Matt Greenwolfe saw a problem last year in his mechanics course. He knew his students were learning what they needed through their worksheet problems, but they weren’t having that knowledge reinforced by seeing it in action. Like the good scientist he is, Greenwolfe approached the problem, studied it and then […]

    3 Recommendations 1 Comment
  • We Encourage Exploration
    Video

    Lower School Mandarin Students

    At Westchester Country Day School, we introduce world languages and exposure to other cultures at a young age. Our students begin their study of Spanish and Mandarin Chinese languages and cultures in Pre-Kindergarten, build on it yearly, and expand their studies into the college-level courses offered in Upper School. WCDS also offers many opportunities for […]

      Recommend This
  • We Shape the Future
    Video

    Beekeeping at Catlin Gabel School

    This video was made for the NAIS 2013-2014 Teachers of the Future group, which is creating and posting lessons online that combine issues of social equity, environmental sustainability, and technology use. We began keeping bees at Catlin Gabel School as a Garden Club, a group of students, teachers, parents, and staff that oversees our 2,000+ […]

    5 Recommendations 1 Comment
  • We Spark Creativity

    Microsoft Kinect and Some Molecular Dancing

    Kids love video games but some remain unenthused about molecular geometry – I tried to fix that.

      Recommend This
  • We Strengthen Communities
    Video

    Vermont Commons School Students Run a A Campaign for Health Care in South Sudan

    Tenth-grade students at Vermont Commons School (VCS) partnered with the Sudan Development Foundation (SUDEF) to create a video about SUDEF’s work bringing health services to villages in rural South Sudan. The partnership grew out of a Challenge 20/20 project undertaken in the students’ Global Studies class, taught by Mark Cline Lucey. The VCS students were […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Spark Creativity

    Communal Understanding through Drawings, Post-Its, and Poetry

    Students were asked to analyze a vignette in House on Mango Street and create a shared bulletin filled with student work and community. They first drew a visual image, based on a vignette, meant to create an emotion. Students then completed a gallery walk and posted comments on each other’s work regarding the artistic decisions […]

    2 Recommendations
  • We Inspire Leadership

    Experiential Leadership Training for all Middle School Students

    Each fall, Middle School students embark on a one day field experience to hone their leadership skills. Whether they participate in rock climbing, low ropes courses, team-building activities, white water rafting, or zip-lining, students encourage one another, overcome fears, tackle real-world issues and learn the true meaning of being a leader. A Seventh Grader commented, […]

    5 Recommendations
  • We Nurture Growth

    Student Says School Saved His Life

    In my junior high classroom, Grandparents’ Day fell on a Friday, and every Friday my students read aloud their writing assignments from that week in small groups. I assigned a short essay on how my students see their grandparents in themselves, and that Friday invited the attending grandparents to come and listen to the essays […]

      Recommend This
  • We Challenge Minds

    Down by the Riverside: Middle School Math, Science and Humanities

    Friends School of Minnesota 7th and 8th graders go on monthly field trips to Crosby Farm Regional Park on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Paul. This interdisciplinary exploration combines math, science, geography, writing, and art with a focus on environmental education. Each month, they gather by the Mississippi to take river notes, […]

    1 Recommendation

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