our first day of workshops

What a wonderful first day of workshops! I’m working on uploading photos to the Photo page. Here are a few highlights…

• Morning Meeting – “roll the ball” greeting and 4 corners sharing
• Inner Explorer – introductory session focusing on sitting posture and breathing; some student reflections:
  • “It felt weird at first but then it was really relaxing.”
  • “I liked it.”
  • “I usually lean forward a lot when I sit. I noticed how different it feels sitting like this. It feels better.”
  • I thought it was just going to be seconds, not minutes. But it was okay.”
• Organized personal belongings and went on a walk to get acquainted/reacquainted with the school environment. Highlights: butterfly nursery in Michelle and Kaitlin’s office, the hens and tortoise and visiting Theresa in the Parent Center to see the Reading Lounge and ReadBox.
• Introduction to Leonardo da Vinci – also touched on the fact that it is difficult to know “the truth” about someone who lived 500 years ago.
• Renaissance game – 9 Men’s Morris after starting with the simpler Tapatan. Kids took home a copy of Tapatan. An easy-to-understand description and rules can be found on Wikipedia. These games are a lot of fun and great for developing strategic thinking. I suggest you play at home.
• Body Break – We had an extended break to give everyone lots of time to make connections and build relationships. Some of your kids played GaGa Ball for the first time!
• Observational Sketching – brief discussion of “observation.” We then moved to the Makerspace and sketched arrangements of small sand toys from two different perspectives. They took these home (we are looking for FP’s).
• Lunch – We spend the first 15 minutes eating together and the last 30 minutes playing and/or continuing to eat lunch.
• Quiet Time – a 15 minute regrouping time with origami, reading or drawing
• ST Math – everyone who attended workshop today now knows their log-in password and can access ST Math at home. Information on ST Math can be found on the Math Resources page of this website. I suggest having your child log-in daily for a few days to help solidify their memory of their 13-image password.
• Pattern exploration using half square triangle tiles
• Mini-break on the field
• Closing Meeting – sharing a special memory of the day; here are a few student comments:
  • “I liked making new friends.”
  • “I played GaGa Ball!”
  • “ST Math!”
  • “9 Men’s Morris was fun and I played it with my friend.”
  • “We drew in the Makerspace.”
  • “We walked on a tour.”
  • “We made crazy patterns!”
  • “I like having friends and I am a friend.”
• All Collaborative Gathering – We are ending every Wednesday with a few minutes together as an All-Collaborative Family. Today we visited the Voyagers in room 14 and played 4 Corners with them.