spring 2007

Thinking About Thinking

Fibona-chachaA Conversation with

Dr. John Ratey

Hearing Sculptures

In this Issue

Sticky Curriculum

2 Fibona-chacha

People Who Inspire Us

6 A Conversation with Dr. John Ratey

What Works

10 Thinking About Thinking

Creative Fusion

14 Hearing Sculptures

In Each Issue

1 Greetings from Paula19 Alumni Perspective20 Hot Resources21 UCDS Mission Statement

p 14p 2 p 10

What works? In education, as in business, this question often sounds deceptively simple. Businesses must constantly monitor what works, and see their successes reflected in the bottom line. Why should it be any different in education? “Get it right and student achievement will rise” seems to be the obvious lesson that we take away from the business world. But is the implementation of the idea as simple as it sounds?

Much of the educational reform in American schools today is based around two quite reasonable ideas: that schools should be held to standards of accountability, and that it is possible to scientifically evaluate the outcome and effectiveness of a curriculum. To this end, the Department of Education has begun funding research to measure the success of the major educational curricula being used across the country. The results of these studies are compiled and posted to a government “What Works” website www.whatworks.ed.gov/.

Unfortunately, there is no need to rush to your computer just yet. The results gathered thus far have been inconclusive; it appears, for example, that none of the major math programs that have been studied are producing significantly better results (see Education Week, January 24, 2007). So what can we conclude? That all programs are equal? More likely is that the question “What Works?” must be answered using a much more complex set of metrics than can be formulated by simply considering the variable of curriculum in isolation.

At UCDS, it is the teachers that are asking “What Works?” We have found that when teachers are given the time and the responsibility to have this kind of conversation, any curriculum performs better. By placing this teacher conversation about students and programs at the center of our work together, teachers become the drivers of school renewal. We use curriculum as the toolset to achieve our goals, rather than the recipe. Professional support for teachers, a shared sense of purpose, and the freedom to innovate are all metrics we have found to have a powerful impact on student achievement.

Like UCDS, high performing schools across the country have built a faculty culture that empowers teachers to monitor multiple indicators of progress, to share successful teaching strategies, and to solve problems as they arise. Over the past twenty years, The Coalition of Essential Schools has established a national network of schools which provides a structure and protocol for teachers to have meaningful dialogue about their work through Critical Friends Groups. This resource can be contacted in our region at www.cesnorthwest.org or through the National Center for Independent School Renewal at www.ncisr.org.

We now have, as never before, a real need to share what is working with our colleagues in our school and across the country. Rather than seeking a teacher-proof curriculum as the solution to failing schools, our children would be better served by redefining “teacher” as a key member of a small entrepreneurial company that can change the world.

Paula SmithHead of School

BY TEACHERS FOR TEACHERS™

Spark is published by University Child Development School.

Paula SmithHead of School

Melissa ChittendenAssistant Head of SchoolTeacher Education Center Director

EditorJack Forman

Spark Masthead & Publication Design Kelsey FosterCommunications &Public Relations Director

Contributing StaffJulie Kalmus, Ginger Goble, Jessica Garrick, Matt Swanson, Brooke Leinberger, Diane Chickadel, Kathleen McKenzie, Leanne Bunas, Kai Toh, Emily Munson, Charles Kapner, Meg Herland, Gretchen Morse

PhotographyUCDS Faculty and Staff

For submission information, please contact Brooke Leinberger at brookel@ucds.org. The editor reserves the right to edit and select all materials.

© 2007 University Child Development School. All rights reserved.

3

Fibona-chacha

2

Sticky Curriculum®

by Jack Forman

How we studied the Fibonacci Sequence, then danced.

The

Stand on the mountaintop, breathe in deeply and then say it with me. “I love math.”

No, really, say it!

“I love math!”

“I LOVE MATH!!!”

Not everyone can say this and really mean it and we’re trying to fix that, one math lover at a time. You can too.

The first thing you have to do to de-stigmatize math and the way you may have learned it is to erase these images from your mathematical vernacular: the slide rule, the taped glasses and yes, yes, even the pocket protector. Forever disentangle these words from the word math and you’re well on your way to finding an area of study that’s far more loveable.

We learned this in a big way from our dearly departed Math Specialist Lowell Hovis who, though he sometimes actually did wear taped glasses (!), was a bona-fide mathematical artist. For years, Lowell worked in our classrooms, teaching our students not just the algorithms behind numbers, but the beautiful relationships that they often hide just below the surface. His natural connection between such seemingly disparate domains inspired us so much that we named the “Creative Fusion” section of this magazine after him.

We look for math in exciting places, letting our curiosity as teachers and students drive us, embracing the big, surprising ideas that come up along the way. To best see this process in action, we’ll now whisk you off to our third and fourth grade levels to see one particular multi-sensory approach to math.

Each level at UCDS’ main math curriculum is something we call Math Vitamin. The idea here, of course, is that like a vitamin, math should be something that’s good for you cognitively and emotionally. It’s something that makes you stronger, healthier. It’s something that feeds you. The 3–4s

decided to use this time to explore the artwork of Andy Goldsworthy, an environmental sculptor who we’ve been studying under our school-wide umbrella theme: Form. Hidden inside the prompt that students read Monday morning was one of math’s most captivating patterns. Here’s what kids read on the morning board:

Good old Andy Goldsworthy is back at his workshop planning his newest stone creation. At his site there are only two kinds of slate available: short pieces (singles) and long pieces (doubles). He wants to see how many different ways he can construct walls between one and ten units long. “There’s only one way to make a single,” he says, “because it’s just a single stone. But there are TWO ways to make a two.” Andy creates a chart and explores all the possible combinations of stones. “There are three ways to make a three: three singles, a single with a double and a double with a single.” Help Andy finish his chart. How many ways are there to make each length? Do you notice a pattern?

Kids immediately grabbed handfuls of cuisinaire rods (simple centimeter cubes arranged in lengths from one to ten) and experimented. They lined the blocks up side by side to find all of the possible permutations. One and two were easy: there’s only one way to make a one, and two ways to make a two.

With three, the questions started coming. Kids asked each other:

“Is a one plus a two different than a two plus a one?”

“They look different,” one student responded.

“Yeah, I think they’re different,” another posited.

And on to four. Suddenly, organization became a key part of the process and students discovered the visual dynamics of the pattern.

“I arranged them with all whites,” a girl said. “Then I added one red and put it in all the places it could go. Then I used two reds. So there were five ways to do it…I thought there would be only four.”

And on to five. Students worked close to each other, some in small partnerships, others feverishly arranging blocks on their own.

“Eight ways to make a five?” a boy asked. “It can’t be, I only found seven!”

Students excitedly compared notes, bringing their carefully recorded charts and diagrams to each others’ tables, looking for missing solutions.

By the sixth step, kids had found 13 possibilities. 21 for seven, 34 for eight and 55 for nine. “These are so cool,” one particularly artistic student said. “They’re like sculptures with math!”

“I got it!” a student exclaimed, dog-eared paper in hand. “If you add the first number plus the second number, you get the third number! See? One plus two equals three!”

“And two plus three equals five!” another chimed in.

“And three plus five equals eight!”

And so on. Third and fourth graders discovered the Fibonacci Sequence!

“What would happen if you tried to build these out of ones and threes?” A student asked later. “Would the pattern be the same?” We followed his lead:

Andy jumps on the Goldsworthy jet and heads to a new stonefield! At this new place, he discovers new lengths of slate—THREES! He tries to recreate

Leonardo Pisano (a.k.a. Fibonacci)1170-1250

Fibonacci was a medieval Italian mathematician known for his 1202 work Liber abaci (“Book of the Abacus”), which introduced the Hindu-Arabic decimal system to the west for the first time. Fibonacci is perhaps best known for a simple string of numbers that he used in this publication, posthumously named in his honor The Fibonacci Sequence. This remarkably prolific number sequence is found embedded in many natural forms, from the relationships of different sized cavities within a nautilus shell to the mating habits of bees. The pattern follows a simple sequence:

1. Start with this short number sequence: 0, 12. Add the last two numbers of the sequence together. For instance: 0+1=1.3. Add this sum to the initial sequence and repeat step number two.

Slowly, the Fibonacci sequence unfolds: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, etc. Read the accompanying article or visit our online resource page to see examples of this pattern in a classroom setting.

4

the ones and twos planning with ones and THREES. Try it! Is there a pattern? How about ones and FOURS? Sure—we could try that! Just gas up the Goldsworthy jet and head to the four fi eld! FIVES? SIXES? This could take all year!

The next day, kids across the 3–4s were building the shapes with different colors, discovering the hidden patterns. “I call this one the ‘skip Fibonacci,’” another student writes in his journal, because you add the fi rst number to the third number. It’s fun and really suspenseful to fi nd the new ways to make different numbers and trying to fi nd the pattern.”

“So with ones and fours what would it be?” Moments later, she solved the riddle. “You skip TWO! One, skip two, plus two is three! There are three ways to make a fi ve!”

Teachers got online, read textbooks and experimented with manipulatives, pencils and paper to fi nd new places the Fibonacci Sequence was hidden.

We found it in real life bee reproduction:

1. When a non-mating female lays a bee egg, a male hatches.

2. When a female lays an egg fertilized by a male, a female hatches.

Asked to start with either gender of bee and trace back its ancestry, each successive generation reveals a new Fibonacci number.

Looking for a way to make the Fibonacci Sequence a full body experience, we designed a dance step, the Fibona-cha cha, that illustrates Fibonacci patterns in motion.

We built the numbers out of paper shapes to form the foundation for the famed golden spiral. We looked at the patterns on the outside of fresh pineapples, then ate them. We colored on pinecones and plucked fl owers, each time revealing the hidden math in simple, beautiful things.

Continued on page 20 >

It all starts with the first number in theFibonacci Sequence, 1. Cut out a perfectsquare that's one unit by one unit. This willbecome the foundation of your design.

Fibonacci's Golden Spiral is one of the most recognizableways to see the relationship of this mysterious skip pattern'snumbers. Once you're clear on how the pattern unfolds(a+b=c, b+c=d, c+d=e...) this fun art project is a snap!You'll need colored grid paper, scissors and somethingto put it all together on!

Now build the second number, also a 1. Place it to the right of the first one

This time, build a 2x2 square and place it belowyour other pieces.

Build a 3x3. Keep adding eachadditional shape in a clockwisedirection!

Keep on building! Make sure each additional number you build is in the real FibonacciSequence and that you add it in a clockwise direction!

Now start in the corner of the first singleunit square. In a clockwise motion, carefully draw a continuous curved linethat passes through each new square'scorners. You're left with the mysteriousGolden Spiral! In what other naturalforms have you seen this mysterious shape?You'll be surprised how often you find it!

You can continue thisprocess as long as you please!

Just remember to keep adding ontoyour Fibonacci rectangle in a clockwise

direction. For instance, a square that's 34x34would go on top of the current arrangement!

823

5 8

1321 1 1

235

1 1

23 1 1

21 1

1 1

1

235

1 1

The Golden Spiral

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

Step Four:

Step Five:

Step Seven:The Golden Spiral!

The Nautilus shell, one of many places in nature that the Golden Spiral appears!

For more curriculum, please visit www.ucds.org/top_menus/whatsnew

Step Six:

6

People WhoInspire Us

Dr. John RateyA Conversation with

Planning in advance of Dr. John Ratey’s visit to UCDS, his assistant Mary informed us that

we should take notes and hang on tight. John is a Cambridge MA psychiatrist, known for his

work as a pioneer in the study of ADD in kids and adults. He is author/co-author of many

publications relevant to the education community, particularly Driven to Distraction, Delivered

From Distraction, and A User’s Guide to the Brain. Dr. Ratey visited UCDS in November to

address teachers and families about our kids’ brains, a nine hour crash course in brain science

that we’d like to title “Neuroplasticity for Non-Scientists.” He spoke about his newest work

studying the psychiatric effects of exercise, the cognitive, attentional, and emotional benefi ts

of physical fi tness in kids.

UCDS is committed to continually bring experts to our faculty to stretch our thinking and

consider our programs from a different perspective. We certainly found this in Dr. Ratey!

After hearing John’s myriad examples of entire schools’ academic successes increasing as

a function of enhancing their focus on physical fi tness, and the biological bases for this

cognitive/physical connection, the topic of movement has become a much more defi ned

component of our curricular planning. We’re excited to keep exploring how movement is

related to enhanced learning and can help augment our ever-refi ning programs.

He sat with a few of our faculty to talk about these and other passions, which are quickly

becoming our passions. Here are a few of the questions we asked; we actually felt the neural

pathways forming as we listened to the answers!

You talk so much about exercise. You said in the last fi ve years there’s been a tremendous amount of progress. Where do you think the research is going with this? Do you think this will become more well understood in the next fi ve years?

What I think we’re going to see are more refi ned studies about exercise and, especially in school age kids, what effect it has on performance. Not just on attention, anxiety and motivation, but whether or not in fact it’s going to boost scores and improve behavior, improve compliance (which we know that it does). We hopefully will have bigger and better studies to support that so people will be aware, and not just see it as something that is an outside activity.

You’ve talked about the revolutions happening in Physical Education, particularly at a school in Napierville, Illinois, the strides that kids are making in fi tness and correlations with higher test scores.

Yes! They changed their whole emphasis in physical education from sport to fi tness, which is a really important issue because the standards were very personal! Each child was evaluated against himself, so anyone could get an A if they were in the zone. If you have everyone having to do it, and you get a grade by having your heart rate within a certain range, then each person is not judged against the others but against themselves.

There’s this story of a school principal in Titusville talking about their climbing wall. There was a student climbing the wall. She was struggling and the kids down below were yelling “Go! Go! Go!” She climbed down and he was showing a bunch of other principals around who had come to visit this school and he called her over. He asked her how did it feel to make it to the top. The girl started crying and she said “I’ve never been cheered for in my life.” And you can just imagine the difference that would have been for her!

UCDS parent, John Neilson, loved ideas; those he found in literature and those he gained through a deep appreciation of world culture, math, science, art, music, philosophy, and physical excellence.

In 1999, at the age of thirty-eight, John lost a hard fought battle against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In honor of John’s life, The Neilson Fund endowment was created. Through the Teacher Education Center at UCDS, we use this endowment to create and share programs that offer children access to big ideas.

John was an inspiration to us in life and we dedicate this, ‘People Who Inspire Us’ section to him.

In memory of

John Neilson

Continued >

John Ratey, M.D., is a clinical

professor of psychiatry at

Harvard Medical School. He

is the author or coauthor of

numerous groundbreaking

books, including Driven

to Distraction and Shadow

Syndromes. He lives in

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

More information about Dr.

Ratey can be found in the Hot

Resources section of Spark.

can begin to take part of what they said as the words, or the constructs or the concepts to the way they think. Because it might match! And then they begin to feel comfortable applying it them to themselves. It’s just like anything else—you give them the script and they can begin to go down it in maybe a borrowed, or imitated, or routinized way but eventually it develops into their own and they get better at it. Especially if it’s encouraged year after year. Certainly from a behavioral perspective a lot of times the biggest problem is these

kids don’t have the ability to look inside and don’t notice what they’re feeling. They might not have the tools to pull apart what they’re dealing with.

I don’t think we teach people much to trust their own thinking nationally, which can be a problem when people are receiving information but not analyzing it, not having the confi dence in their problem solving abilities.

It really is a big problem and I do think that part of it is we have so many external distractions. We’re so externally driven these days and internal information is not nearly valued as much as it was. What you’re teaching also is time spent contemplating, thinking

You talked earlier in the day about having kids think about their own thinking, and the power of that.

I think that it is really such an important thing that people learn to do what we call “self talk,” to talk to themselves about what they are thinking and feeling, paying attention to their inner world. We also just don’t spend very much time doing that, and we’re spending less and less time doing that as a culture

because everything is so externalized. We’ve gotten away from the contemplative institutions like church, or family gatherings, or talking in a group where you’re recounting memories, or telling stories, things that have been there forever for our human society. People just don’t talk about things naturally that are internal, nor do they turn to themselves internally to see. What I was impressed with in your students was that they really were taught and encouraged to start noticing how they thought, and what was going on in their brain!

I also think that a lot of kids aren’t going to have that language, aren’t going to know what to say, aren’t going to know what they were thinking. But even if other people in the room are talking about it, they

8

In the kids that you’ve worked with in your practice, do you see this notion paying off?

Oh sure. That’s what you look for, what their strength is. What they naturally are drawn towards. And if it’s something that’s a growth possibility. You want to try to support that and have parents understand what that natural strength and emotion is all about, so that they can develop the skill and the sense of confi dence. It could be fl y fi shing! It could be school, or not school. It doesn’t matter what it is.

Our goal here is to give the kids the opportunity to stretch and then, as you said today, provide the emotional support that they need. As they work through a strategy, and it doesn’t always work, sometimes they have to start again which can be frustrating. Emotional support here is incredible.

Yes! I think one of the things I think is true is the more that kids make the internal external, produce by acknowledging, or talking, by teaching others, by letting others know that this is what they did, then that is a real way to improve learning in a big, big way. Someone once was telling me about the difference between the educational system in Taiwan and in America, that in some of the schools there, the teachers are more facilitators. That each day one of the students has to lead the class and teach the others.

It’s all about participating and producing. Mel Levine is big on producing, as is most of the neuroscience community: saying it or writing it, not just learning it, but sharing it and demonstrating it. That really solidifi es it in the brain. That’s the way we learn! You produce it, you try it out, reshape it because it’s not quite right, get feedback, and so on.

The best way to learn is to teach!

Yeah, that’s exactly the point. That was a lesson I learned a long time ago. s

and struggling, rather than just doing things like Sudoku and other challenges to keep your brain young or to keep your mind sharp. You’re really saying “use yourself as the fi rst object to contemplate.” That can lead to people contemplating more. Some people talk about the co-evolution of our culture. We’ve evolved, our culture has evolved, and we’ve gotten away from this kind of contemplation.What about those mental gymnastics like Sudoku and math facts, how do they play in? Are they worthwhile?

Oh my word, yes! When you struggle over a math problem, the front part of the brain is lit up, then eventually you’re stressing other parts of the brain, creating growth. Those kind of things are challenging to the brain. That’s great.

It’s something outside of using the cyber world, which is such a great thing, but such a danger. It’s why we have such a huge obesity problem and the solitariness problem. It’s what I’m always on the soapbox about: sedentary and solitary.

There’s something you said today as you were talking about your passions as a doctor and researcher. You said, “It’s always nice to be addicted to something.” Can you explain that?

Right! I think that for people, certainly ADD people, it’s important to have a mission. Something that’s really guiding them. Which can have different forms: it could be creating something, or it could be a hobby. It can be your job. For most of us when we have kids, it’s our kids. It’s nice to have something that’s so captivating that it pulls you. I think it’s one of the secrets to life, to have those things in front of us that keep us growing, that keep us organic, something that demands from us more and more and we want to give to it because we love it. So when I say “addicted,” and I do mean that, it’s like you get really passionate and you feed your passion and it’s not self-indulgent.

One of my favorite quotes, believe it or not, is from Nick Nolte. He was saying that he had been in AA and he had recovered, and was starting to do all kinds of acting, and started a drama company and he was really into it and he said “I’ve learned what I have to be is fully engaged at all times without being self indulgent.” And I just said wow!

9

10

So how do you create a curriculum?

At UCDS this is a question (the question) we get to ask ourselves, year after year. And we actually like doing it! Just as we encourage the kids to do, we celebrate that we’re always in the process of growing. We force ourselves to think outside of the boxes that pre-written curricula can create. Each year, we find ourselves as teachers continually thinking and re-thinking what we teach, how we teach it and how we know if we taught it well. It sounds daunting but, in reality, this is a very sustainable approach to creating programs. It all starts with the collaborative systems we have in place.

UCDS is a community built on collaboration, something we think is evident throughout the school, from our students to our faculty. You can see it in the yearly regrouping of students in multi-aged classrooms, the conversations we encourage our students to have as they learn, even the doorways that we’ve retrofitted in between our rooms. All these are meant to symbolize and encourage collaboration and ongoing communication in our student body. We take this part of our mission statement a step further though, by modeling what we teach.

We meet.A lot.

As a faculty we charge ourselves each year to collaborate in the innovation, review and development of curricula and assessment tools. We even wrote it into our program philosophy:

To participate effectively in a democratic community, students and faculty engage in dialogue. It is vital for the individual to explain his/her thinking, to consider

another point of view, to build on someone else’s idea, and to reconsider their thinking based on feedback from others.

What this looks like as a faculty is as variable as what it looks like as a student. We arrange ourselves into small teaching teams to encourage collaborative curricular development. We meet with our neighboring levels weekly. We meet as a whole school weekly. The content of the conversations is always the same: how are we supporting our students’ growth and how can we continue to improve doing it?

To think bigger, we rearrange our faculty each year into half a dozen committees. One committee’s role is to coordinate special curricular events. Another creates connections between our individual students and the larger school community. Faculty sit on the Admissions committee, the Communications committee and even the Faculty Coordinating committee (this many meetings don’t coordinate themselves, after all!). Last but not least is our Committee: Curriculum.

The Curriculum Committee is responsible for organizing regular reviews and revisions of our school-wide curricula. As we all are teaching our respective levels over the course of the year, the Curriculum Committee’s task is to explore our work from a larger perspective. Namely,

• What are we teaching at each level?• How successfully are we doing it?• How consistently is it being taught?• How are we measuring students’ growth across

the school?

In step with this process, the Curriculum Committee is currently culminating a two-year process to review how we teach and assess thinking, what we historically have

What Works

Continued >

referred to as our “Critical Thinking” curriculum. This area of our curricula metamorphosed from our early review of a science curriculum and represented one of our core values as a school: that one skill successful students possess is metacognition. The scientific process defined a structure that also defined the thinking process: observation, building a hypothesis, testing ideas and refining theories. We liked the established structures of this part of our curricula, from the self-assessments we coach kids to create to the reflective thinking documents that we teach kids to write about themselves as learners. We were concerned, however, that the developmental continuum of thinking skills that we have historically used could be better.

We had many questions.

Is thinking a purely academic activity? Or are there similar skills that students use in their interpersonal relationships that would be valuable to measure?

Is there really a visual way to “see” how a student thinks?

Are all thinking skills developed in a linear fashion, or is there another way to look at the development of thinking?

We value problem solving in our curriculum and wanted to understand how children approach thinking and further their understanding. We were looking for a multi-dimensional tool to assess thinking, not just the outcome but the process. Our previous Critical Thinking Continuum represented thought developing in a linear process. We wanted to create a document to illustrate how a child approaches thinking, what strengths the individual brings to the process. We also wanted a document that reflected our community values, including inter- and intra-personal skills.

To initiate the process of re-thinking our thinking curricula, the Curriculum Committee’s goal was to facilitate enriching experiences to motivate thought—then stand back. Our goal wasn’t to steer the conversation, merely to provide every teacher with the opportunity to be an active part of the process.

by Diane Chickadel, Meg Herland, Gretchen Morse, and Jack Forman

To make the facets of reflective thinking more “visible,” we experimented with different graphical arrangements... including the hands and knees approach.

12

Off Campus Research

We began by visiting ILABS, University of Washington’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences. We observed their developmental psychologists’ work in measuring language acquisition and proficiency, quality of thought in problem-solving situations and social thinking. This experience kicked off our process of looking deeper into our own teaching practices and the exciting, emerging work in the field of cognitive study. Small teams of teachers traveled to workshops hosted by Mel Levine, John Ratey and the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Each group returned to school with new ideas about how we as a school could understand the thinking process.

Self-Study

We then brought the investigating process home, filming students as they manipulated blocks to solve a puzzle. When they finished the task, a teacher interviewed them about their process, strengths and challenges; how they thought. Watching these videos as a faculty, we discussed what problem-solving looks like and how our curricula honor and refine students’ proficiency. We repeated the process again, this time with teachers working through puzzles and problems, identifying their thought processes as they worked. We revisited our previously written Critical Thinking Continuum to assess and identify what successfully represented how we think about thinking. We wondered, where is the social/emotional dimension of thinking? How does this document reflect collaboration, a tool we hold so dear? All of these activities were intended to help our faculty create shared language and inform our ongoing discussions.

Guest Speakers

We invited several outside experts to illuminate different facets of thinking, from the cognitive roots of creativity to the functions of cognitive development in students. Flexible inservice schedules and weekly all-faculty meetings gave us time to listen and consider ideas from a wide range of thinking specialty areas. Robert and Michelle Root-Bernstein presented ideas from their book The Sparks of Genius about the sophisticated thought processes involved in creative thinking. Ellen Winner from Boston College and Harvard’s Project Zero shared her work studying giftedness in students and artistic thinking. John Ratey, co-author of The Users Guide to the Brain, presented his work studying attention. Ron Ritchhart of Project Zero visited three times to explore cultures of thinking and behaviors that promote successful cognition. Jennifer Amsterlaw from ILABS presented her progress studying the quality of thought, the concept of “good thinking.” These visitors provided food for thought, assisting our faculty as we wrapped our heads around what “thinking” really is.

Reading

Looking deeper, the Curriculum Committee prepared readings to share with faculty, illuminating further the cognitive theories and teaching pedagogies. Small groups of teachers met together to read, share and consider different methods of thinking about thinking, such as Bloom, Vygotsky, Dewey and Levine.

Readings and discussions led us to believe that after all this, we didn’t want a continuum at all. This was a huge paradigm shift! Our faculty talked with each other in mixed groups and the Curriculum Committee took running notes. Then, armed with the first year’s worth of research and conversations, a small representative group of teachers distilled our findings and created a working prototype document, dubbed The UCDS Reflective Thinking Profile.

We brought this document to the faculty the following fall and assessed its success, then embarked on a series of serious revisions, all collaborative. By the spring of this year, we further modified this Reflective Thinking Profile to spill over into our other developmental continua, an exciting prospect we hadn’t even thought of at this project’s inception!

In the end, our faculty-wide conversations led to discoveries that we couldn’t have made without this active collaborative process. The conversations were enthusiastic, spirited and sometimes long, but we now find ourselves as a faculty smiling at the other end. “It says what I want it to say!” several faculty members remarked after our initial use of this document this

The Critical Thinking Continuum was our first method of documenting student thinking behaviors.

The Short ListHow to Create Faculty-Driven Curricula

Multi-mediaWe regularly videotape, photograph, and audio record our students and teachers to bring a slice of the classroom experience to our curricular inservices. It helps concretize the conversations that we have and it’s fun!

Engineer discussion groupswith a balance of faculty. Mix level, years of experience in the school, and thoughtfully create groups small enough to give each faculty member a voice.

Schedule it!Provide regular time for faculty-led inservices during the year.

Administrative supportAllocate school day time, funds, and professional development opportunities for faculty!

Feed the facultyLiterally!

Provide different approachesDifferent methods that support different faculty members (see, hear, talk, do).

Budget for guest speakers Bring speakers to the school so that everybody benefits rather than sending a few people on trips.

past winter. Our hope is that this new assessment tool will help our parent body better understand their kids as thinkers.

Now we get to live with the Reflective Thinking Profile for a few years as we re-investigate other areas of our curricular program. The steps behind these investigations will vary, but will always reside under the heading of finding collaborative solutions that

We rethought the process to consider how students think academically and socially.

inspire us as teachers and further increase the quality of our programs.

Next year, we’re going to think about another part of our program and this exciting innovation machine will set sail once more.

We expanded our view, focusing on social/emotional thinking on this document and refining the curricular

continua with added thinking assessments.

s

Ellen Winner, continued

Creative Fusion

“Is this Art or Music, or wait…What is this?” Befuddled 2nd and 3rd grade students file into the room, trying to make sense of the materials spread out before them: there are giant coils of black drainage pipe and sticks; hacksaws and string; metallophones and safety goggles; bicycle tubes and rhythm sticks. After an hour of sawing, measuring, tuning, taping, and tying, the original

question no longer seems relevant. Students are perfectly content to simultaneously be artists and musicians, builders and players, and these distinct disciplines come together in the resounding bass notes of a room full of J-Pipes!

This is the story of an exciting collaboration, making Art and Music one and the same.

Students’ eyes are glued to a collection of objects on the table. The box full of salvaged hotel keys and the 2 bathroom towel racks invite some sort of explanation, however within moments it becomes clear that none is needed, as eyes light up and hands shoot into the air. “We could hang the keys from the towel rack—” exclaims

one student “—like a chime!” Interjects another, and so a project was born.

There’s an air of discovery as groups of students set about removing keys from key chains with pliers—along the way hypothesizing the height of the hotel building—and suspending keys with rubber bands from the towel racks.

Other students set about putting the discarded key chains to use,

placing them inside tubes to make shakers, while still others devise a variety

of “clacker” instruments from the stack of plastic room numbers.

Jessica Garrick, UCDS Art SpecialistAt the beginning of each school year, as our

faculty set up their rooms, there is always a room full of leftover materials that are up for grabs. I am always scrounging for ideas to link my art

Lowell had a lifelong love of both math and the arts. His first love, however, was teaching, which he did continuously for 50 years. Lowell was dedicated to UCDS and enriched our community in so many ways. He shared with each of us the childlike enthusiasm for daily discoveries and the wonder of the world’s complexity and beauty.

With this section, Creative Fusion, we hope to honor and perpetuate Lowell’s interests and talents.

In memory of

Lowell HovisNovember 5, 1929 to April 24, 2001

by Jessica Garrick and Matt Swanson

HEARING SCULPTURES

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Continued >

Matt Swanson, Music SpecialistFor me, the idea of making music out of every

day objects has always been something of a passion. I suppose this explains why my favorite percussion instrument is the steering wheel

of my car, why I see beachcombing as an opportunity to produce melodies with

driftwood xylophones, and why as a camp counselor in high

school I armed a group of elementary students

with plastic buckets, horseshoes and

rebar and taught them how to perform West African rhythms for their parents.

Last summer, pondering the theme FORM, my

mind had already begun

to drift toward the possibility

of forming sounds out of

different materials. When Jessica, the Art

specialist, pulled out a box of some 200 salvaged

plastic tubes which all produced a perfect F, I knew that we were headed

in a similar direction. The idea of collaborating opened up many doors for both of us, in terms of combining both our different areas of expertise and the resources of our respective programs. Working together also allowed us to venture into a realm that was shared by both Art and Music, emphasizing the commonality of the two disciplines.

classes with that year’s theme and sometimes the discarded items turn out to be great materials for a project. So this year was not unlike others; This time I was looking for ideas for the concept “FORM”.

I walked into the give away room, what we call the “Free Store,” and started lifting up boxes, opening lids and moving things around. I happened upon a box full of a couple of hundred clear tubes about two feet long. I pulled one out and started to bang it around. It made a very distinct and intriguing sound. I also found a box that had these caps that fit perfectly on the ends of the tubes. So the wheels started turning. What if kids took items that would be on the road to recycle or thrown away and FORMed them into an instrument.

As the Art Specialist I was really excited about the development and construction of instruments but without much musical experience I needed some help. I did not want the kids to walk away with the instrument and not use them. With this idea I went to our Music Specialist, Matt Swanson, and proposed the idea of making instruments with the kids. Funny thing; he was thinking of the same idea. So together we began a collaboration of Art and Music.

After researching possible instruments to build, I became a frequent shopper in the dusty back corners of building salvage supply stores, and in the period of a month or so I had amassed enough plastic tubing, wire, metal piping, and miscellaneous hardware to plumb and wire a small building.

JessicaBefore Matt and I began this

project, we took all of the elementary students to see a performance by Lelavision, a local art and music-based performance troupe. In their production entitled Warped, the members of Lelavision used original sculptures to produce music through performance art and dance.

The imaginative sculptures in this show were created out of industrial materials such as scrap metal and plastic piping, and their visual forms combined with their eerie sounds catalyzed students’ thinking about the overlapping nature of art and music. What a perfect way to kick off this collaboration!

MattBuilding on this inspiration, my next step was

to design this project in a way that would tap students’ musicality from multiple angles. The resulting curriculum had four main components.

• First, students developed an understanding of the relationship between materials and the

sounds they produce—this involved examining physical properties such as the length of a tube versus its pitch, and the nature of a material versus its tone quality.

• Secondly, students gained an appreciation of sound as something that can be evaluated and modified, rather than simply heard. By analyzing the sounds of their instruments and then redesigning materials to improve these sounds,

students became active participants in their auditory surroundings.

• Third, students took part in the tuning of their

instruments to perfect pitch. For the J-pipes

and PVC boingers, this involved finding the closest note on a metallophone, then cutting the pipe with saws until this pitch was matched. For the dingers, I prepared the metal pipes by

cutting them with a power saw, and

the students role was to find matching

pitches on the piano keyboard, name them, and

record the letter names on the instruments.

• The final aspect of the curriculum was to develop students’ playing techniques and

their ability to play in an ensemble setting.

JessicaAfter the Lelavision performance students were more aware of the idea that reclaimed objects could become more than just recycled. Laying out the different materials we were going to use, kids immediately had ideas of what they could make. I wanted students to create from these materials. We brainstormed with the kids and then laid out

16 17

a plan for students to begin constructing their instruments. We’ve provided several of these lessons on Spark’s online resource page: http://www.ucds.org/top_menus/whatsnew.

This project was a great chance to teach students to use hand tools and some wood working techniques. We went over basic safety rules and the correct use of each tool. As they used the tools they were able to adjust cuts and positions to aid in the construction of their instrument.

As part of this project students worked in groups to build the instruments. Each group decided how they would divide the work. Some chose to give equal time to a step and some divided the steps between one another. Either way they were all present during the process and had a voice.

MattMy favorite part about this project was how

it connected the whole school. When the dust had cleared from all the construction, the nine different types of instruments became part of the music room collection, and students of all levels had the opportunity to try out everyone else’s creations. Since we had chosen the different

Students work in the Art Room to create their instruments from reclaimed objects

Halloween Scaroling was the first time the whole student body saw the created instruments

Continued >

18

instrument types with an ensemble in mind, they easily lent themselves to group playing. The PVC drums, shakers, door handle cymbals, and drain pipe guiros set a steady beat; the J Pipes laid down a solid bass line; the tubes and boingers added melodic rhythms; and the dingers rang out melodies high above everything else. I will never forget seeing whole classes playing these creations together and marveling at the complimentary sounds. I will always remember students beaming as they played instruments twice their size. And I will certainly take away how this project brought together two subjects that are usually taught in isolation, and how it united the whole school in the common goal of seeing music in all things.

JessicaKids were moving between the art studio and

the music studio to tune instruments, tweak construction, and play some notes. I started to realize this was a metaphor for this whole project. Matt and I wanted the students moving between the two specialist areas fluidly; not work in isolation from one another but see how the artist and musician could be one. I think we achieved this goal. They developed their skills in creation and construction and had a beginning understanding of what it takes to think through the process of building something. And we all did it together!

The instruments were a feature of the annual Grandparents & Special Friends Day performance

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19

We interviewed our fifth graders last year to see what our Math Vitamin curriculum feels like from a student perspective. To learn more about this exciting curriculum, read our feature in the “Sticky Curriculum” section. Now, here’s how some of our alumni students answer the question, “How did math at UCDS impact you?”

Alumni Perspective

My favorite subject! I liked math most. It is sort of a strength of mine because both of my parents are mathematicians. I like thinking about different things and math gives me a chance to do that. Here, it’s kind of cool because it is stories, rather than just “this times that.”

Michael Sylvester

My favorite memory? I’ve got lots of them. It’s hard to choose. I’ve got one—it happens a lot actually. You might be working on something, say a Math Vitamin, and you say, “This doesn’t make any sense,” and you might go ask a teacher for help but if you just say to yourself, “Read it over again, try to figure it out yourself,” it is amazing how that works and you don’t really need to get a teacher. It’s so great how the teachers help you here, how they don’t give it quite away but they give you the piece of the puzzle you need to figure it out yourself.

Lily Monsey

Math Vitamins aren’t just a math problem, they are something that is fun and exciting. We focus on something we might be learning or on our theme. And you might not realize it until later how things related. You get to realize new things through the theme. You look back and see there are so many ways to be strong. Even though I am leaving, I will carry a little mini-UCDS in my heart.

Anna Yusov

I’ll never forget learning in that fun way that UCDS teaches, like a Math Vitamin tells a story but there is a math problem hidden in that story and you have to figure out that math problem and that is a really fun way to learn.

Ellie Neilson

A good strength to have is working together. We all work together so we all make friends really fast here. We sit at groups in tables; we don’t have our own separate desk. Everybody helps everybody. People have to explain things and listening to someone else. You can do it yourself but you know if you ever get stuck there is somebody there that will always help you.

Zoe Otis

My favorite subject is probably math because you can learn a lot of stuff and it’s challenging but it’s fun and it’s worth it. Working with a partner is easier because you can each work on one part of it and then put it together for the big answer, it’s easier on both people but it’s also more challenging at the same time.

UCDS has a very good approach to teaching, it’s more one-on-one, and different than just “Do the math sheet.” It’s story problems, it’s more fun to learn so you learn quicker and it stays with you because you remember the things you learned during the activities and games.

Mitch Penney

Advice? Be creative in your journal. Leave reflections for the next student. Keep your mind open. Be creative and energetic. You don’t have to just come to school and just do your work: you can do it creatively. Make it exciting and unique!

Elliot Hershberg

By the end of the third week, Fibonacci waved goodbye as our kids looked toward how to follow Frank Gehry’s architectural process to build geometrically precise tree houses. How to use probability to design exciting games of chance. How to each day reinforce the novel idea that math can actually be a fun, self-propelling process.

It’s okay. You can really do this.

Proclaim it from the highest mountaintop:

“I love math!”

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Lelavisionhttp://www.lelavision.com/

sound + vision = light

Lelavision co-founders, Ela Lamblin and Leah Mann, began their collaborative efforts in 1992 in Atlanta, GA using sculpture, music, and movement to develop themes based on myth, nature, and spirit. In 1996, they founded Lelavision Physical Music in the Seattle, Washington area. They host educational workshops throughout the greater Seattle area and perform in a variety of venues.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematicshttp://www.nctm.org/

NCTM is a public voice of mathematics education, providing vision, leadership, and professional development to support teachers in ensuring mathematics learning of the highest quality for all students. Founded in 1920, NCTM is the world’s largest mathematics education organization, with 100,000 members and 250 Affiliates throughout the United States and Canada.Their website offers a wealth of resources directed toward building effective, innovative mathematical curricula.

Michelle and Robert Root-BernsteinProfessors Robert and Michelle Root-Bernstein of Michigan State University, co-authors of Sparks of Genius, visited UCDS in the 2005-2006 school year to present from their in-depth examination of The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People.

For Fibona-chacha curriculum, please visit www.ucds.org/top_menus/whatsnew

Fibona-chaha, continued from page 4

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Hot Resources

John Rateyhttp://www.johnratey.com/

Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D., is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr Ratey is specifically interested in the impact of ADD on life issues such as relationships, employment and personal fulfillment. His other major research interest is the treatment of aggressive behaviors across a range of diagnoses.

Dr. Ratey has most recently authored the best selling book, A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention and the Four Theaters of the Brain. He has also co-authored Driven to Distraction : Recognizing and Coping With Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood (1994), Answers to Distraction (1995) with Edward Hallowell, M.D., and Shadow Syndromes (1997) with Catherine Johnson, PhD. Additionally, he has edited several books including The Neuropsychiatry of Personality Disorders (1994).

Dr Ratey has lectured and published many articles on the topic of treating ADD adults using psycho-education and pharmacotherapy. Dr. Ratey frequently lecture on a variety of topics, from “Harnessing the Psychiatric Benefits of Exercise” to “Girls and ADD.” His latest bookSPARK: The Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain (2007) will be released mid-2007.

Dr. Ratey visited UCDS in November, 2006. A conversation between he and several UCDS faculty is printed in this issue.

UCDS Summer Math Workshophttp://www.ucds.org/workshops/

For many students and teachers, building and manipulating objects helps create a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. Experience a hands-on spatial/visual workshop where you will learn to assess and teach to the level of a child’s mathematical thinking. The workshop is one week-long running August 13–17, 2007 on the UCDS campus. Clock hours are available.

Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (ILABS)Interdisciplinary research on the science of learninghttp://ilabs.washington.edu/

The UCDS faculty visited this innovative research facility at the University of Washington, leading to a continuing learning relationship.

From their mission statement: “The Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to discovering the fundamental principles of human learning that will enable all children to achieve their full potential. Our goal is to become the world’s foremost research generator on early learning and development. We will translate and disseminate cutting-edge research discoveries to global constituents in order to help unify the science of learning and the practice of learning.”

Jennifer Amsterlaw, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at ILABS visited UCDS throughout the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 school years. Dan Bernstein, Affiliate Assistant Professor, and his assistant Joy Durham worked with us in the 2006–2007 school year.

Ron Ritchharthttp://www.pz.harvard.edu/PIs/RR.htm

Ron Ritchhart is a research associate at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education. His research focuses on understanding, supporting, and helping to develop the kinds of thoughtful learning environments that support powerful learning for both students and teachers. This guiding interest has led him into research on intellectual character, mindfulness, thinking dispositions, cultures of thinking, teaching for understanding, creativity in teaching, and the development of communities of practice.

Ron visited UCDS three times in the 2006-2007 school year to work with our faculty. He is the author of Intellectual Character: What it is, Why it matters and How to get it.

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University Child Development School is centered around

the lives of children and is dedicated to the development

of their intellect and character. We actively encourage,

and the school everywhere reflects, the process of joyful

discovery that is central to meaningful and responsible

learning. Teaching is individualized and responsive to the

talents of each student, and the curriculum is rigorous and

integrates the concepts and skills embedded within the

major disciplines. Our students are chosen for their promise

of intellect and character and are selected from a cross-

section of the community. Our faculty members are leaders

in their fields, supported in advancing their studies and

encouraged to share their knowledge widely.

In pursuit of these ideals, and in recognition of obligations

beyond the school itself, we strive to be an innovative

leader in education, serving as a model for others.

The UCDS Mission

UCDS Board of Trustees

OfficersBill Nicholson, ChairEric Fahlman, Vice ChairJan Chiles, TreasurerNan Garrison, Secretary Members at LargeAndrea LiebermanDavid BolinElana LimGreg HeadrickJanet DonelsonJulie Petersen-DunningtonKelly WebsterMark LeahySally RevereTina Podlodowski

Ex-Officio MembersChris PotheringJoelle HarrisonKim SteppePaula Smith