Peachtown Elementary Blog

August 23, 2017 Peachtown Elementary School is situated on the Wells College campus, and every year I am amused to see that I am driving just about the ugliest car on campus. First-year college students usually drive better — or at least prettier — cars than I do. I am quite certain that Wells is no different than any other residential college in this respect. I just like a good, cheap car, and I drive it until it stops, whereas most consumers like something new and shiny. As a culture, we are a little obsessed with things: nice cars, nice homes, stylish clothes, exotic foods, overstuffed furniture and the latest technology. Even families with very little discretionary income are inclined to attempt this consumerist lifestyle. The parents of my generation all lived through the Depression and World War II; they were experts at the exigencies of spartan living. They saved rubber bands and twisty ties, and folded pieces of used aluminum foil and bread bags for later use. We thought

July 26, 2017 Afternoons in the lower classroom at Peachtown Elementary (pre-K through third grade) are a little more casual than the morning academics. After lunch and an active recess, time is devoted to such things as foreign languages, art, music, stories, writing and visiting the library. Recently, in a work session to discuss the general tone of the afternoons, we spoke of “relaxed, productive, creative,” and, ultimately, a focus on aesthetics. Finding the beauty in everyday life and learning to create it may be a rapidly disappearing aspect of education. An enemy of aestheticism is the rush of contemporary life. It takes time to use all of our senses to appreciate what is before us and more time to create it ourselves. In the days of worn books, pencils, crayons and paste, children took their time to carefully practice their cursive, erasing not backspacing, drawing with fat crayons and gluing shapes with sticks dipped in pots of thick paste. A good book came with the smell

June 28, 2017 Most parents start thinking about long-term savings for college when their children are still toddlers. That’s a good thing. Our culture and economy place a heavy emphasis on college education, but sometimes that emphasis becomes an obsession about a future, which supplants the importance of the here and now. The lives of many high school students and their parents are dominated by the focus of getting into a “good” college. Conversely, parents considering private elementary education are often daunted by even a modest tuition payment. The contrast between decisions made for a kindergarten student and a high school senior are marked. Often, the same parents who hesitate to invest in early education are later delighted to enroll their child in a very expensive Ivy League school. Raising and educating children requires a balance between the health and happiness of a child in the moment and the anticipated outcomes for the future. The two are integrally related. A col

May 3, 2017 Middle school students get a bad rap. They are stereotyped as difficult to handle and difficult to teach, but in a small multi-age school like Peachtown, we are fortunate to see so many positive qualities in this age group. My sixth- through eighth-grade classes are an absolute pleasure to teach. Certainly, one can expect moody, hormonal seventh-graders and too much idle chatter, but as a group they are eager, independent learners, with reasonably mature manners and values. Peachtown was founded as a K-6 school in 1990. A few years later, we included prekindergarten and extended through eighth grade. We’ve never regretted it. Carrying students through eighth grade is the reward for many years of teaching. Historically, elementary schools were K-8, and developmentally the eighth grade demarcation makes sense. Age 14 is one of those points in child development when a sea change in maturation occurs. Of course, anyone who has worked with teenagers knows that good judgemen

April 5, 2017 When I hear teachers complain that their students refuse to follow the recommended steps to complete a research project, such as using note cards, preparing outlines or creating a timeline for a project, I secretly feel sympathy for the students. I was always convinced that I had a good enough system, and I liked it. When I did comply, the entire process was an irritant to me. In retrospect, I admit there were virtues in many of the formats suggested to me, but I still feel that the fun is in the creation and the proof is in the pudding. We all have our own ways and ideas. Learning new ones is essential to broadening our perspective, but allowing students the flexibility to create a quality finished product through their own peculiar system may be just as important. One consistent element of my creative process is procrastination. I have never thought it was a virtue, just an inevitability. Procrastination, poor time management, evasive behavior — whatever you call i

April 5, 2017 When I hear teachers complain that their students refuse to follow the recommended steps to complete a research project, such as using note cards, preparing outlines or creating a timeline for a project, I secretly feel sympathy for the students. I was always convinced that I had a good enough system, and I liked it. When I did comply, the entire process was an irritant to me. In retrospect, I admit there were virtues in many of the formats suggested to me, but I still feel that the fun is in the creation and the proof is in the pudding. We all have our own ways and ideas. Learning new ones is essential to broadening our perspective, but allowing students the flexibility to create a quality finished product through their own peculiar system may be just as important. One consistent element of my creative process is procrastination. I have never thought it was a virtue, just an inevitability. Procrastination, poor time management, evasive behavior — whatever you call i

March 8, 2017 In recent years, increasing numbers of students have transferred to Peachtown Elementary because their schools have become too stressful for them. They often come after prolonged bouts of truancy brought on by anxiety — sometimes crippling — or when school just becomes too miserable. The source of this disturbing phenomenon seems to be a confluence of factors, some obvious ones such as academic, testing and social pressures, and some less concrete. Our contemporary culture, parenting styles and expectations may also be important elements. Today’s teachers and students are pressured to teach and learn new curricula under a very tight timeline, with high-stakes testing in play. This stress inevitably affects students, not just because of the testing, but because the pace of study is accelerated, homework is unrelenting and success and failure are measured in unforgiving numbers. Middle school-age children are most vulnerable — caught in that grey area between childish

February 8, 2017 The first 10 minutes of every day at Peachtown are spent in a morning meeting with all our students. Happenings of the school day are discussed, as are mini-lessons in the arts, poetry or current events. Often, these lessons center around how to be kinder people or better citizens, with the central focus on independence, self-reliance and personal responsibility. A person who is confident, strong and comfortable with themselves and others can stand up and make good choices. They look outward to the people around them, empathic rather than self-involved, bold rather than fearful, and decisive rather than hesitant. A keen sense of personal responsibility is an all-important attribute. It implies integrity: standing by what you know to be right, what you know you should do, or the commitments you have made. Sometimes, however, otherwise responsible citizens turn their backs on people in need; the “bystander effect” is a troubling phenomenon. The greater the number of

January 11, 2017 A central focus of a Peachtown education is fostering a love of learning characterized by curiosity, research and reflection. When a student follows up an explanation of why cold air is denser than warm by asking why it is that ice expands when it freezes, it makes my day. That child has listened carefully, considered the possibilities, identified an exception and posed an inciteful question — all in a moment’s reflection. As I have often repeated, dialogue is at the heart of learning. A two-way conversation, or better yet a group conversation, takes us in new directions and leads to unexpected places. Classroom dialogue is a conversation among equals. In an effective classroom, the teacher engages students by suspending the differences in their age and education, and inviting students to be full participants in an “adult” conversation. Peachtown classes are discussion-based. Children are free and full participants in their learning. Questioning, interjecting an

December 13, 2016 A school is an interesting place to observe changing trends in child-rearing. Readers of my generation will recall the brown bag with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two carrot sticks and an apple. On a good day, there was a cookie. Oh sure, there were those children whose lunches I envied; one friend had just three-quarters of a tuna-on-lettuce sandwich, and another had what I thought was the most exotic sandwich of all: pepperoni on white bread. But in the end, the theme was the same: sandwich, vegetable, fruit. And, I don’t recall ever having a snack time, although I do remember listening to my stomach growl all morning. Today, most children bring a daunting array of foods in their lunchbox, with as many as eight selections from which to choose. Whether healthy or not, the sheer variety of foods is curious to me and perhaps a little window into larger parenting trends. Parents (and teachers) hope to offer children healthy and happy experiences to nurture

October 19, 2016 Two months ago, I wrote about the less than appropriate dialogue that has riddled this presidential campaign and the difficulties it poses for engaging children in our most fundamental democratic process. Obviously, this situation has not improved in the past few weeks. As a result of the recent news coverage of the presidential campaign, Kelly Oxford started the tweet #notokay. It began, “Women: tweet me your first assaults. They aren’t just stats. I’ll go first…” By the time this is printed, well over 30 million women will have read and/or responded to this tweet. This is a depressing and damning comment on our culture. After just a moment of reflection, many of my own experiences surfaced. In conversations with my female friends and family members, almost all could relate experiences of harassment or assaults, some of them violent. We talked about this without surprise. We all know that’s how it was and still is. The viral response to this tweet, however, ha

September 21, 2016 At Peachtown, we pride ourselves on teaching our students to be critical thinkers, and we try to practice what we preach. So, as we began a series of meetings to review our philosophical and pedagogical standards, we had to take a long critical look at the status quo. The first tough topic we tackled was homework. Homework in American education is ubiquitous. However, Peachtown has long eschewed homework in the Lower Classroom and attempted to minimize homework in the early years in the Upper Classroom, but fairly significant loads of homework were assigned in the middle school years. A recent movement among progressive schools promotes the elimination or drastic reduction in homework in pre-high school years. Alfie Kohn’s book "The Homework Myth" provides a sweeping overview of studies on the efficacy of homework and its consequences for students and families. Kohn declares that homework does little or nothing to improve outcomes in elementary schoo

August 24, 2016 In a typical presidential election year, Peachtown teachers take the opportunity to inform even their youngest students about the political and electoral process, and current events are often the springboard for wider discussions of civics. This year, however, is anything but typical; teachers will have to think twice about turning their students’ attention to the national stage. I have written before about the poor example of manners and civility displayed by public figures, the loss of intelligent discourse and the preference for flamboyant rhetoric over facts and science. We are in a season of social, political, racial and religious tensions, which makes it a critical time for thoughtful response and leadership. I am often struck by the similarities in social interactions among a group of adults and an average group of fifth-graders — a testament to our basic natures. In almost any group of children, a dominant personality will exert some influence over the be

March 19, 2016 It's been 100 years since John Dewey led the burgeoning progressive education movement in America, which did so much to shape and improve the American public school system. Sadly, by the mid-20th century, the ideals of progressive education were whittled away by the necessities of handling a rapidly growing school population, and a delight in all things deemed scientific and pragmatic. The Cold War era was one of rapid population growth, school consolidation and increasing political investment in policy, bureaucracy and standardization. Today's champion of progressive education is Alfie Kohn. Ardently opposed to testing, rigid curriculum, competitive grade-based learning, canned curricula, unnecessary homework and more, Kohn is a prolific writer, lecturer and blogger — an excellent source for anyone interested in learning more about progressive education. Progressive schools are not radical alternative schools. They are schools that rely upon the wisdom of

September 16, 2015 The first day of school can be a magical day. I still remember my first day and the “toe tag” attached to my shirt with my bus number on it: No. 29, I think. I remember being overwhelmed in a strange place, knowing only my siblings and the children who lived up the road. I don't think my experience was magical at all. Making that first day of school count is important because it is so memorable, but also because it sets the tone for days to come. Successfully translating the nervousness of that first day into a positive and exciting day of learning experiences and creative play gives a child a sense of mastery and opens a world of opportunity. The innocent and expectant faces of kindergarten students rejuvenate us. Recently, a friend forwarded me a New York Times article by Jamie Holmes entitled, “The Case for Teaching Ignorance.” While the title of the article doesn't inspire, its message is clear. Our educational culture is increasingly interested

August 19, 2015 A new film has just been released titled “Best of Enemies.” It recounts the iconic televised debates between arch conservative William F. Buckley and liberal Gore Vidal, which aired during the fateful 1968 Republican and Democratic national conventions. For those of us old enough to remember these two intellectual characters in the context of the dramatic and often violent decade of the '60s, two points stand in high relief: one is the philosophical chasm between the two men, and the other, the level of intellectual discourse in which these two opponents engaged. On a small film set, the two men discussed the political, social and economic issues of the time with exquisite research and articulation. Their debate was such a wonderful exercise of ideas and verbal jousting that whether their positions were personally repugnant was of little consequence. Their minds were so impressive that the enjoyment was in the listening. And, while this discourse is at the very

July 22, 2015 A documentary titled “Web Junkie” recently aired on PBS; it described military-style camps in China, designed to withdraw children from their addiction to the Internet. In our local papers, we read about a juror who sent 7,000 texts during a murder trial and other cases where jurors tweeted, emailed and accessed social media. Jurors are being fined and jailed for contempt, and mistrials are being declared. On the other hand, criminals also can't resist texting and tweeting; crimes are reconstructed through texts, alibis proved or disproved, and movements tracked. In the theater world, Patti Lupone walked off stage into the audience and confiscated a cellphone from a woman who persisted in texting during the show. At another theater, a patron leapt on stage before the show to recharge his phone in an outlet that was part of the set. Many of us peek at our phones during meals or conversations, but where are the limits? At Peachtown, we don't allow phones or