Opal School Professional Development-Don't Miss it!

We have been good friends and colleagues with Opal School educators for over fifteen years.  We knew founder, Judy Graves when Opal School was still a dream of hers and her colleagues.   Now, Opal School, a program of Portland Children’s Museum, is a fee-based preschool and a K-5 Portland Public Charter School.  We travel to be with Opal colleagues whenever we can; we collaborate on learning initiatives and workshops and we are always grateful for their partnership in the journey to create meaningful, artful learning communities where we all become active and positive participants and contributors to the world around us. Every year, as a part of the mission as a public charter school, Opal offers many exciting learning opportunities.  Below please find a list of possibilities.  This year Opal is working with many dynamic and well known authors and thinkers in education! We recommend traveling to Opal. We believe that learning alongside Opal educators and the colleagues who they invite to work with them will enrich your experience as an educator immeasurably.

You can easily register on line by going here.

" With Opal’s civilized pace and tie to nature, your inviting classrooms and strong communities, you have managed to do something wondrous—you have created a school safe for dreaming.” 

Kirsten Truman • Teacher-Librarian • Portland Public Schools

• NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR READERS

with Vicki Vinton

$325

December 9, 2014 • 6:30pm–8:30pm; December 10, 2014 • 8:30am–3:30pm

How do Opal School communities embrace the written word? How does a focus on “reading the world” help children “read the word”? Through stories collected in Opal School classrooms, we’ll look at how preschool and elementary readers authentically encounter text. Vicki Vinton—author of What Readers Really Do, The Power of Grammar, and the always engaging blog To Make a Prairie—joins us to discuss her work with children and teachers and will model some of those approaches with Opal students.

• OPAL SCHOOL VISITATION DAYS— EXTENDING OUR IMAGE OF CHILDREN:

NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR
 COMMUNITIES OF LEARNERS

$450

January 28, 2015 • 6:30pm–8:30pm; January 29–30, 2015 • 8:30am–4:00pm

Designed to immerse participants in Opal School practice, this multi-day workshop supports educators’ application of approaches to playful inquiry through negotiated curriculum. Visit Opal School classrooms in session to observe, analyze, and reflect on inquiry-based learning through the tools of the arts and sciences. Talk with teachers about the joys and challenges of a practice that holds a strong image of children as thinkers, planners, and contributors to the community. Mara Krechevsky and Ben Mardell, whose research with Harvard’s Project Zero has inspired Opal School’s approaches, will provide commentary as honored guests.

University credit available.

• EXTENDING OUR IMAGE OF CHILDREN: NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR WRITERS

with Matt Glover

$325

April 9, 2015 • 6:30pm–8:30pm; April 10, 2015 • 8:30am–3:30pm

What is the relationship between literacy and the arts? We’ll examine approaches developed at Opal School— including Story Workshop and Literacy Studio—and consider the growth of Opal students. Matt Glover, author of Already Ready, Projecting Possibilities for Writers, and Engaging Young Writers, will link his influential work with children and teachers around the world to what he observes at Opal School.

• OPAL SCHOOL SUMMER • • SYMPOSIUM— EXTENDING OUR IMAGE OF CHILDREN: CONNECTING LITERACY, CREATIVITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY

with Ann Pelo
 $600 • $500 Early Bird price through 12/31/14!

June 18–20, 2015

Every summer, hundreds of educators committed to recognizing, celebrating, and extending the creative and cognitive capacities of children join Opal School teacher-researchers for three full days of renewal through synthesis, dialogue, materials exploration, and reflection. This year’s theme examines the ways in which literacy and the arts build upon each other—a theme which resonates deeply in Opal School practices and connects the year’s workshops. Our time together is enhanced through the involvement of Ann Pelo, author of The Goodness of Rain, Rethinking Early Childhood Education, and The Language of Art.

University credit available.

Opal School, the Museum Center for Learning, and Portland Children’s Museum strengthen public education by provoking fresh ideas regarding conditions, environments, and relationships where creativity, curiosity, and the wonder of learning thrive. At each of the following offerings, Opal School teacher-researchers and invited guests will reflect with you on ongoing practice-based research with the intention of improving practice, advancing teacher professionalism, and transforming ideas about what is possible when working with children.

• OPAL SCHOOL MENTORSHIP PROGRAM

$2000

October 2014–June 2015

The Mentorship Program supports a small group of teachers seeking an in-depth experience of observation and reflection in Opal School’s preschool through fifth grade classrooms. The program allows participants to flexibly design a series of visitations to Opal classrooms
in session throughout the school year. This provides an opportunity for extended exposure to inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning through the tools
of the arts and sciences. The program includes registration in Center workshops, the Summer Symposium, online offerings, and an ongoing discussion platform. Registration is limited. To apply, email thecenter@portlandcm.org.

• OPAL SCHOOL ONLINE OFFERINGS

The Museum Center for Learning offers online modules and eBooks to support, connect, and extend inquiry around the world. Visit portlandcm.org to learn more today!

• CUSTOMIZED CONSULTATIONS

Responding to your needs!

Contact us for scheduling and fees.

The Museum Center for Learning will bring the research 
of Opal School and Portland Children’s Museum to your organization. If your team of any size desires to expand its approaches, contact us to arrange an experience designed to meet your distinct needs, interests, and schedule.

Customized Opal Workshops can be held at your worksite, at Portland Children's Museum and Opal School, online,
or a combination of the three. Museum Center for Learning staff will support your investigation of a wide variety of topics. Duration of workshops can range from a few hours to long-term studies.

Email thecenter@portlandcm.org to start a conversation about how we can work together to nurture growth.

Creating Possible Worlds...a new book from Opal School

The following piece is reblogged from Opal School...the announcement of their first ebook, Creating Possible Worlds. We are honored to be included in the first reviews and are excited about this little book.  Read more about it below.

Creating Possible Worlds

We are so pleased to present our very first ebook!

The first to come in our Symposium Series, this ebook documents a project facilitated by Opal Beginning School teachers Lauren Adams and Caroline Wolfe with children ages 3 - 5 years, which they presented at the Opal School Symposium in 2013. Lauren and Caroline inspire us to wonder together: How does the world of imagination and storytelling support the world of science and reason? How might the languages of the arts support children to make sense of their relationship with one another and together negotiate meaning of the world around them? What might be possible if adults worked with children to bring their ideas to life? What might be possible for us all? The volume is rich with images, children’s words, reflections and questions to support teacher practice and discussion.

Here are some reviews!

"In Creating Possible Worlds, we see a project about seeds unfold through photographs, children's stories and drawings and teachers' insightful comments. The heart of the learning in this project focuses on relationships, connections and empathy for living systems that we are all a part of. This little book adds to the beautiful collection of publications from Opal School. It offers us another glimpse into the imaginative and extraordinary work that children and teachers engage in every day at Opal, and inspires us to do the same." Dr. Louise Cadwell, author of Bringing Reggio Emilia Home: An Innovative Approach to Early Childhood Education, co-founder, Cadwell Collaborative

“Creating Possible Worlds is an invitation to educators to be curious, self-aware, humble, and contemplative. The book illuminates both the inward thinking and the collegial conversations that guide Opal School educators as they join with children to explore questions that matter. It is both provocative and encouraging, as it asks educators to claim a strong role in constructing knowledge, neither shying away from nor overly asserting their right to active participation in investigation and learning alongside children.” – Ann Pelo, teacher and author of The Goodness of Rain: Developing an Ecological Identity in Young Children

“Once again, the wonderful educators at Opal School have offered us a glimpse into the minds of young children by creating a safe and nurturing space for them to wonder, explore, discover and express their discoveries in thrilling ways. What we see in those minds is not only delightful but profound: These are children who, through playful inquiry, attempt to make sense of the world around them with boundless curiosity, compassion and joy. And we see that same boundless curiosity, compassion and joy in the minds of their teachers who have traded certainty in for wonder and pre-determined outcomes for trust in order to arrive an unexpected but truly glorious ends.” - Vicki Vinton, literacy consultant and author of What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making and the blog To Make a Prairie

This preview links to the print version of this book -- be sure to click through to "Related Editions" for ebook version ($11.99)! 

Creating Possible Worlds The Teacher's Role in Nurturing a Community Where Imagination Thrives by Portland Children's Museum Center for Learning | Make Your Own Book

All proceeds benefit the documentation and dissemination efforts of the Museum Center for Learning as Opal School expands its learning community to include classrooms serving children experiencing poverty and disabilities.

If you are not an iPad user and wish to read the ePub version of the book, calibre is a free ereader which allows you to access publications in ePub.

A Gathering of Educators in Boston

A week ago, Ashley and I were invited to join a most distinguished gathering of New England educators at the home of a friend in Boston.  The group assembled to host and to hear from Ellen Hall and Deborah Dumont about a new exhibit that they curated entitled, "Cultivate the Scientist in Every Child."  The exhibit is made up of stories of children and adults exploring and discovering the world together, full of wonder and curiosity.  The exhibit opened at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History in January and will soon open at Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center, at the University of Wyoming.  The hope is that it will grow and that there will be additions to the stories added by schools and museums along the way. The exhibit celebrates the work of David and Frances Hawkins and all that they brought to the world of inquiry and science education.  All of the educators in the living room last Saturday had somehow been touched by the Hawkins and had stories to tell about why and how.  I realized, as I listened, that I was surrounded by many of the influences of my life, both past and present, and that this was all happening in Boston, our new home.  As we went around the circle to tell our stories, I was able to identify with fellow students and professors from the program where I earned an M.Ed in 1976 at Lesley University.  I hung on every word as Eleanor Duckworth described her work with the Hawkins.  Eleanor Duckworth, who I have so long admired that I can't count the years...and I had never met her.  Her book, The Having of Wonderful Ideas, has been and will continue to be a seminal, classic book for educators.  We heard from Lella Gandini, a dear friend and inspiring colleague, tell of being the interpreter at a conference planned by Loris Malaguzzi in Italy where David Hawkins and Paolo Freire were the featured speakers.  We heard from teachers at the Advent School in Boston, a marvelous Reggio inspired school where Ashley and I just visited, and from the educators at both the  Reggio inspired Lincoln Nursery School and the deCordova Museum.  We heard from our host, Joanne Pressman, former director of the Community Nursery School in Lexington, MA, tell about her work to establish a Hawkins Center for Learning at the school.

David and Frances Hawkins lived in Boulder, Colorado and for many years, so did Ellen Hall.  This is where she founded Boulder Journey School.  That they all lived in Boulder is one of the reasons that Ellen is so captivated by the work of the Hawkins; another compelling motivation is that David is among the educators who influenced the development of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy.  Ellen wanted to make the Hawkins' contribution to teaching and learning visible and to bring these vital ideas to life through stories in an accessible and lively way.  If you are in Wyoming, you will have a chance to see the exhibit this summer.  If not, you can follow the exhibit schedule or make a plan to host it yourself.  It is free of charge.  To find out more, contact Hawkins Centers for Learning.  Thank you, Ellen and Deborah, and all the educators who are working hard to keep the dream of the wonder of learning alive for children and for all of us.

Homebound

Homebound.  That's what it's called, medically, when you are basically going to be at home for a while and need services and the world to come to you instead of visa versa.  And, sadly, for better or for worse, that is what I am.  Here is how it happened.  Twelve days ago, I remember one of those sparkling 24 hours, including a Friday night, candle lit dinner with wonderful friends...my first down hill ski day of the season on a bright blue Saturday fluffed with new white powder...a star lit night and an "all is good" kind of feeling through body and soul.  Then, all of a sudden, swift as lightening, I slipped on unseen black ice in a dark parking lot and crashed onto my hip such that it fractured and shattered and I was told, after an ambulance ride and x-rays, that I needed to have a total hip replacement. Now, this week, instead of working with one of my favorite teams at IPS Butler University Laboratory School in Indianapolis, I am homebound.  And, all of my work and travel plans have been rescheduled or canceled for the time being while I recover, slowly.

I am fortunate to be living in the perfect recovery room.  It is a small, first floor study in our newly renovated, fresh Vermont house.  Ashley and a good friend moved one of the single beds from upstairs down and from here, I can see the world.  Out of 6 windows in this small room I can view the changing weather, the comings and goings of chickadees and cardinals at the feeder, the sky through the day and night, the distant traffic on route 23 traveling out of town, and one of my mother's little Italian stone men, the one with the long pipe, placed under the birch tree, today with snow on his cap.

It is strange to go from fully engaged, moving through work and life at a robust pace, healthy, strong, fit...to full stop, going nowhere, life is what you see and do from here, and that is that.  One friend called and left a message, "Hi, I am calling Cadwell Calamities and I want to leave a message." My friends, colleagues and family are so wonderful...bringing soups, sending cards and flowers, calling, writing, sending emails and books.  And, Ashley as well as being a stellar business partner and husband, is an excellent nurse and cook!  I believe that I will recover especially well because of the cheering squad and blessings of this wonderful support team.  Below are two examples that I want to share with you.

The day that I came home from the hospital, my mother-in-law, Mary Cadwell, sent me the following email:

I was delighted to read that one of Ashley's chores in preparation for your homecoming was to hang a bird-feeder outside your window. We have a flock of little juncos busying the spillage in the snow under our feeders. They make me think of one of E. B. White's little essays, "Winter Back Yard: "Even the drabbest yardscape achieves something like elegance when a junco alights in the foreground - a beautifully turned out little character who looks as though he were on his way to an afternoon wedding."

This all comes from my having time now to pull out some of these lovely books which have stood on our book shelves tantalizing me while days filled up with "busy work." E B W has lovely observations on Spring coming in the city. But I won't aggravate anyone's itch for a change of season by quoting those .... yet.

So, I guess we must be patient, patient, patient, patient with all things.

And, a few days after, I received a book from my dear friend, Carol Hillman, entitled, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.  This little book, written by Elizabeth Tova Bailey, is both a memoir and an account of a naturalist's research and observations. The author is struck by a mysterious virus that attacks many of her body's systems such that she becomes very ill and must stay in bed for a long time.  This is the tale of her relationship with a woodland snail that a friend brings by one day in a flower pot of spring violets.  While reading it, I began to feel much less sorry for myself and somehow more able to calibrate myself to the rhythms of the natural world that surround me.

I am grateful for the wisdom of my mother-in-law, Mary, and my friend, Carol, manifest in what they thought to share with me as I adapt to my new life during this dead of winter time and trust my body to heal.  And now, just as I conclude writing this post to glance up from my lap top, the blue and pale light has turned to soft gray and a spiral swirl of soft snow falls all around.  I am in my very own snow globe.

Ecoliterate

I just received a notice about a new book, Ecoliterate, co-authored by Lisa Bennett and Zenobia Barlow from Center for Ecoliteracy and Daniel Goleman.  Seems timely.  I wrote last week about literally bumping into Howard Gardner while I was writing a piece on constructivist theory and sustainability for Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in St. Louis.  Ecoliterate comes with high praise from Howard Gardner.

The new book brings theory, practice and twenty-first century skills together and I can't wait to read it.  It will be released next month and "has received early praise from Sir Ken Robinson ("powerful and persuasive"), Linda Darling-Hammond ("practical and inspirational"), and Howard Gardner ("vivid and compelling")."

To quote the announcement...Building on the success of emotional and social learning, Ecoliterate: How Educators Are Cultivating Emotional, Social, and Ecological Intelligence, offers a new integration of these three intelligences that advances academic achievement, fosters resilience, and helps schools play a vital role in protecting the natural world...Ecoliterate presents stories of innovative educators, activists, and students from across the nation; a comprehensive professional development guide; and the five practices of emotionally and socially engaged ecoliteracy. We invite you to pre-order your copy today at Amazon.com. 

This book takes Howard Gardner's foundational work in Multiple Intelligences and Daniel Goleman's research and writing in the domain of social and emotional intelligence and builds on it.  At the same time, this book takes a leap into new territory.  From looking at the preview material at Amazon.com, I was struck by the title of the Introduction: From Breakdown to Breakthrough.  Here the authors write about instability in systems, any systems, as a time for new creativity and unexpected breakthroughs.  They write, "In these times of instability-in our schools, our nation, and our biosphere-this book reflects our core belief that educators are ideally situated to lead a breakthrough to a new and enlivening ecological sensibility for the twenty-first Century."

This core belief drives our work at Cadwell Collaborative and inspires us as well as the educators with whom we work.  It looks as if this book will be a must read for all of us.  Thank you Center for Ecoliteracy and Daniel Goleman.