Peachtown Elementary Blog

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The Merits of an Alternative Education

March, 2020 As an educator who has taught in both mainstream and alternative learning environments, I’m often asked to describe our educational model as it compares to traditional New York state public schools. How do we know that kids are learning if we’re not officially and systematically testing them? How can kids stay motivated to work without letter or number grades to distinguish their status in relation to their peers? How can kids learn to respect their teachers if they’re calling them by their first names? There are no quick answers, but when I think about the work that we do every day and the outcomes of the children we’ve served, the guiding principle that comes to mind, and one that really defines our approach is this: mutual respect. When we respect that children are individuals who come to us with unique interests, capabilities, personalities and goals, we’re able to reach them as such. Each child will head in a unique direction, and it’s our responsibility to...

Teaching Black History

Students visit the Harriet Tubman statue outside the Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn, NY Themed history months are a mixed bag. In an ideal world we’d all be teaching a diverse and balanced human history and there would be no need to focus on a particular race, culture, or gender for one month out of 12. That said, the reality of our country and our classrooms is not ideal, so themed history months remind everyone to dig a little deeper and go beyond the white, male, colonist worldview perspective. When done right, Black History Month is an opportunity to celebrate the positive contributions and accomplishments that black people have made in the United States and throughout the world. When we teach black history to children we should start with icons who have positively shaped our culture. It is easy to focus on civil rights leaders, and they are obviously important, but young children also need to see the faces of black poets, mu...

Goal Setting with Children

Resolutions abound this time of year, and many of us are on track to drink more water, go to bed earlier or get more exercise. While adults tend to feel the pull of a new calendar year, children are more likely to associate fresh starts with a birthday, the start of a school year, the beginning of summer vacation or even a return to the classroom after a long break. Whatever the occasion, goal-setting is a healthy way for children to begin to think about what they want from life and how to get it. Children as young as 4 or 5 are able to begin this process, and we can all benefit from taking the time to formalize our approach. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you think about setting goals with your children or students. As tempting as it may be to decide on goals for our children, the most empowering experiences will come from self-selected ones. Start by asking your child leading questions to get ideas flowing: What’s a skill you wish you were better at? If you could play an...

Tips for Living Zero Waste

The results of an annual lake shore clean-up last spring Enter any elementary math classroom, and you’ll hear kids talking at some point about the concept of zero. The idea that we would pair the concept of nothingness with waste sounds a little silly in today’s consumer-driven economy. If you search the internet for Zero Waste inspiration, you’re likely to find pictures of people holding single canning jars crammed full of a year’s worth of waste for an entire family. This just isn’t a realistic goal for most of us. Somewhere between the idealized version of Zero Waste and the expensive and wasteful disposable culture sits a middle ground where waste can be sensibly and ethically minimized by people like you and me — people who live, work, and maybe raise children in America today. Here are some affordable and realistic tips to get you started, because as the adage goes, the world doesn’t need a handful of people doing Zero Waste perfectly. We need millions of people do...

Women in Science - Lessons in Inequality

By Alyssa Binns Gunderson, published on October 16, 2019 in the Auburn Citizen One of the many unique aspects of our educational model is the fact that we teach rotating history and science units to our entire student body simultaneously. There are myriad advantages to this method, but my favorite is that we all have a common intellectual interest point when we’re sitting in the lunch room or playing outside at recess. I have watched kids play interactive, self-initiated Revolutionary War reenactments on the playground and have overheard intense debates about astronomical theories at lunch. Any teacher will tell you that there is little better than students discussing academic topics outside of the classroom. It’s a deeply satisfying feeling and encouraging sign that what you’re doing matters in the lives of your students. All that is to explain why I’ve been sharing stories of famous female physicists during our school-wide morning meetings. We’re nearing the end of ...

Critical Literacy in the History Classroom

By Alyssa Binns Gunderson, published on August 20, 2019 in the Auburn Citizen We are living in the midst of a huge shift in the way the world records and understands history. In the earliest days of human civilization, history was shared through oral tradition. Stories were used to create a shared understanding of the world and how it works. As humans progressed, history became a written narrative, with people whose education and circumstances allowed, sharing their observations, opinions and impressions on paper. As printing developed and publishing became an industry, this information was further filtered through the lenses of those who had the power and capital to distribute it. In America, this means that until recently, history has been funneled through the privileged minds and hands of wealthy or middle class white men. I don’t mean to imply that women and people of color haven’t passed along their own histories — we certainly have — but when we look back on the iconic heroes o...