Finding the Math in Recycled Christmas Lights

By Stephanie Bartlett “These lights are longer than the ruler.” Listening for the spark, I was ready when it came. We stopped everything and came over for a quick conversation and HG repeated his thought. As I held up the lights, more comments came and this was my chance to teach French oral language structures and vocabulary for mathematical reasoning. “Those Christmas lights are taller than...

Linking Art and Math

by Stephanie Bartlett Lately I have noticed that my bulletin boards don't look very traditional. In fact, if you took a quick glance expecting a display of uniform work, you will be disappointed. I am wildly proud of my students' work, but feel that I need to explain the process so that people can appreciate how they arrived at the finished product. It started as an art project, extending over...

Alligator Tales

By Stephanie Bartlett Around the time we were exploring metal and found objects, we left a photo of two metal alligator sculptures on the smartboard for students to discover. Many went immediately to sketch them.  One student went so far as to create a materials list so that he could create his own alligator in the classroom.  We sent the list to the scrap metal yard, hoping they...

Getting My Feet Wet...Inching Back into the World of Poetry

Story # 361 C   By Stephanie Bartlett Or was it # 259 B? Favourite stories told to cousins by our parents- calling out numbers was part of the fabric we wove together around the table which sat 4 or 24, depending. We younger ones didn’t know our elders except through stories. Told. Retold. Again and again. Held close by warm wood walls, crackling fire reflected on windows, adding...

A Little Bit of Magic to Start the Day

By Stephanie Bartlett Although I greet each morning with anticipation, rarely does the day begin with magic. We normally begin our day with about 15 minutes of activities that target fine motor development or skill competencies and then move on to the rest of our day. Until today.  One of the activities I had left out was a container of loose metal pieces and magnets for sorting, patterning...

My Story, Our Story

By Stephanie Bartlett As I think deeply about the threads that I could use to begin weaving the fabric of this new school year, the idea of stories seems very appropriate. Early in September, my pace is slow and my vision is big and far-reaching, in a friendly sort of way.  I feel like I won’t be able to achieve my goals in my Kindergarten class this year if I don’t slow down and pay attention...

Grade 7 Final Project | Using Design Thinking | Part 3

by Erin Quinn. Our kids have gotten down and dirty with prototyping and design thinking over the past few weeks, and now it was time for them to show what they’ve accomplished. So today, we had a celebration of learning where the students showed their models and talked about their idea. I was so impressed by the students today. Here’s why this interdisciplinary project and design thinking...

Grade 7 Final Project | Using Design Thinking | Part 2

by Erin Quinn I watched a great movie awhile ago called How to Cook Your Life that features a Zen Buddhist chef called Edward Espe Brown. In it, he said, “Cooking brings your hands nourishment because your hands get to be hands instead of playing around with your iPod or computer. They get to do something instead of sitting around all day while you’re entertaining yourself with your...

Grade 7 Final Project | Using Design Thinking | Part 1

by Erin Quinn I should have posted this a LONG time ago. This is a cross post from cbeilc.info. A cross-curricular final project has been a tradition in our grade team at Samuel W. Shaw School since the school opened five years ago. This year, our final project became much richer due to the addition of the Maker Kit Pilot in which we’re participating. We started this project through...

Music...It's Instrumental

By Stephanie Bartlett Time. We need the slowness of time to really learn and explore a topic and sometimes this is very difficult to honour. I took the time to reflect this summer on some of our projects that best demonstrate my journey as I learn how to slow down and really take the time to figure out what really matters in our classroom. I am beginning to discover that no matter what the program...

Scrap Metal: Lessons in Sustainability

By Stephanie Bartlett It began with the spark of one student. Departing from the typical get-to-know you activity at the beginning of last year, I invited students to bring five photos that defined who they were.  I asked parents to think deeply about the fabric of their family. What were the passions and curiosities of their five year old child? What made their child laugh? What are...

Collaborative Spirit Fuels Creativity

by Stephanie Bartlett Co-lab-o-ra-tionkəˌlabəˈrāSHən/ noun: collaboration; plural noun: collaborations1. 
the action of working with someone to produce or create something."he wrote on art and architecture in collaboration with John Betjeman Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Innovate West conference at Connect Charter School in Calgary. I was...