We had a Secret Dinner and so much fun and enjoyed Southern Comfort food! Thanks to Jeff and Jackie (Olivia WW) for opening your beautiful home to us and for joining talents with Jon and Lauren (Kirby WW) and for all of you who came to support the school and enjoy each other.
Astrid revealed the gender of her baby on Tuesday with a belly reveal! It’s a BOY!
Snack was brought by Tallulah, Will, Luca (WW) and Lola, Jacob, Clemmy, Lily, Poppy, Mason, Emilio (EW)
And Lisa (Lucy, WW) cooked with children and made a delicious fresh fruit and yogurt snack!
Flowers from Naomi and Tallulah (WW) brightened our week.
Just hours before our presentation Thursday night on how we use technology in the classroom, Juliet’s mom, Leslie (WW,) added insight at our team meeting.
Leslie: “Very eye-opening, excited about what you’re doing. We, as parents are always wondering what’s appropriate with children this age and this gives me new knowledge and shows me how I can use this at home and use my husband’s skills with technology with this. My only suggestion is conveying how New School-West decides which technology to use, what process you use to select.”
Just so all of you know, here is the process of thought we go through before incorporating any kind of technology (taken from a workshop with Ingrid Anderson from Oregon State University)
- Must have real world relevance (no cartoon colored bubbles you have to pop)
- Interaction with the item must be a social construction (no isolated interactions)
- The technology must be used to illustrate children’s thinking (not for entertainment, but to make ideas visible).
We’ve added that with all iPads and cell phones that we turn off service and WIFI and wipe all used items clear.
We hope you had a chance to see the presentation. If you missed it, Amy and Cindy will be presenting this work at Caltech ECSTEM conference on February 22nd.
Roleen hosted Grandparents last week and asked for reflections. Peggy (Estelle’s grandma, EW) put the experience well when she wrote:
Hi Roleen,