As PKS teachers, we are always seeking new ways to practice our Habits of Character (respectful, responsible, resilient, collaborative, globally minded, caring and reflective) and bring them to life for our students within and beyond our school community. My own journey took an unexpected turn this past August as a result of an amazing and transformative professional development experience, an experience I want to bring to my students in the classroom.
Sharing Chinese Culture and Tradition with Our Grandfriends
Grandfriends Day was an opportunity to celebrate and thank the family and friends whose support helps each of us, and our school, grow and thrive. Part of the opening agenda was a spirited Lion dance and kung fu performance by our kindergarten classes, which is one of the many ways our students build authentic connections to Chinese language and culture.
The Role of Homework in Learning: The Elementary Perspective
One of our goals at PKS is to instill a love of learning in our students and for them to be curious, connected, and engaged with the world. We nurture these characteristics in the classroom through authentic learning experiences, and encourage it after school by limiting the amount of homework, thereby allowing for more unstructured time to pursue passions and interests.
Creating a Culture of Learning: Professional Development at PKS
As Chris Livaccari shared at the beginning of the school year, our key themes for the 2019-2020 school year are connectedness, continuous improvement, and sustained inquiry. Together, we are working to create a culture of learning that engages and challenges not just our students, but also our educators.
What Authentic Learning Looks like in the Classroom
One of the greatest joys and challenges of teaching in a progressive school is the ever evolving curriculum. Although the topics for the Units of Exploration are set, the course of study each year is driven by the ideas and questions of each year’s unique group of students; based on their interests we rethink and reshape the projects to provide meaningful, authentic learning experiences.
Building 21st Century Skills Through STEAM
What to Expect from the Student-Led Conferences
2019 Dali Trip Journal
New Elementary School Reporting of Academic Progress
It is our overall goal to deepen our communication with parents through shared digital portfolios, in-person conferences, and revised report cards that reflect not only key benchmarks in our curriculum but also our focus on understanding and supporting every student as a learner and community member.
Presenting and Learning at the Progressive Education Network's Biennial Conference
A team of PKS teachers, myself included, just came back from the Progressive Education Network conference in Minneapolis. This conference was a twofold opportunity – not only did we get the chance to be “experts,” presenting our perspective on progressive immersion education to educators from around North America, but away from the comfort zone of our SF bubble, we also had the opportunity to learn as our students do – by questioning, exploring, and trying new things.
Advocating for Change
And the Teacher Becomes the Student….
Building a Middle School Community
Movement: The Brain Trainer
Children move in a variety of ways and each time they move, they learn something new. Our bodies are our first point of reference, our own compass, everything we do from birth involves our body moving in some form and from this we learn a variety of gross and fine motor skills. Learn how our movement program helps create a whole body to brain relationship, which helps with reading and learning.