Join us in April for an outstanding professional development opportunity!

 

We are thrilled about the second Seminar that Cadwell Collaborative will co-host for educators here in St. Louis in April:

Myth Busters: Challenge Assumptions and Learn for the Future

We are fortunate to collaborate with three schools: The College School; The Maplewood Richmond Heights School District; and The St. Michael School.

Participants will 

• participate in student led tours of eco school yards and innovative school design
• observe dynamic classes and students in action
• learn in presentations by students and teachers
• join in Open Space dialogue and idea sharing
• challenge assumptions and learn for the future

A Seminar for K-12 Educators

April 19 & 20, 2012  

St. Louis, Missouri

Join us as we challenge common assumptions about schools and explore new ways of thinking about learning in the 21st century. 

Assumption: Independent and public schools do not collaborate.  Instead, learn from the dynamic collaboration and professional growth among two independent schools and a public district.

Assumption: Students don't do real work in school.  Instead, witness engaged, high achieving students in action, learning and working for a healthy, hopeful future.

Assumption: Students are not yet citizens.  Instead, explore with teachers and students stories of effective projects that contribute to their communities.

Assumption: Teachers deliver curricula, students receive it.  Instead, observe students and teachers collaborate and work together to create effective results.

Assumption: Tests are the best measure of achievement.  Instead, look at a long view of achievement through electronic portfolios of exemplary work and student reflection on progress over time.

REGISTRATION LIMITED TO 60

discounts for groups of 4 or more

limited scholarships available 

questions may directed by email to:

ashley@cadwellcollaborative.com

or call 314-614-9889

Happy Thanksgiving

Right now, I am thankful for many people and places mostly, and feeling abundantly blessed.  Among the amazing miracles that I am also thankful for is our lemon tree.  That's right, in St. Louis, MO, on a gray, wet, dark day, we have, in our porch room, a blooming lemon tree with about 30 lemons on it in various stages of ripening!  

People are amazed when they see it, like a perfect manifestation of the goodness of the planet, offering lemons in a cold climate all winter long.  We give lemons to friends when they visit.  They exclaim, cup the lemon in their hands, close their eyes and bring the lemon to their noses and sigh as they take in a long whiff.

Today, as I often encourage others to do, I sat down to draw a lemon.  To notice the beautiful curve and the tiny, bumpy texture, and the shiny, dark, dark green leaves of all sizes brings me happiness.  Taking the time to draw as adults, and especially with children, with soft colored pencils of many hues and satisfying pens, is such an important and lovely way to be present, to be awake, to be thankful and to make something that you will remember.

So, this Thanksgiving season, pull up your chair, get out some pens, and draw with the children you are with.  Draw the pies, the apples, the flowers, the people, the joy and the gratefulness that we share this time of year.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Louise and Ashley

Designing a New School for the 21st. Century

Designing a New School for the 21st Century

To an educator is there anything more exciting (or daunting) than starting a new school?  I don’t think so.  I’ve done it twice (if you count the complete renovation of The St. Michael School, both the building and the curricula).  And now, I’m privileged to be a consultant to another new school in the making, Bennett Day School in Chicago.

After six months of working with the creators of Bennett, I realize that, in their process they are using the very 21st Century skills that they plan to engender at Bennett.  In brief, here are a few.

The excitement is palpable in the innovators who are designing Bennett, Shuchi Sharma and Kate Cicchelli.  They are a great team, working in a collaborative way from the start, modeling a practice essential to their objective: to create an innovative school for the 21st Century.

Shuchi and Kate are also a bit of an odd couple, in a really good way, sort of yin and yang.  Shuchi, the Director of Operations, comes from the business world and she picked up the gauntlet on this project thrown down by Cameron Smith, a Chicago financier.  Kate, the Head of School, is a veteran educator, presently a fourth grade teacher.  They model another key to 21st Century education, understanding multiple perspectives.  They are open to each other and to many new ideas.

In their research phase, Shuchi and Kate have discovered several innovative sources for inspiration, including: the Reggio Emilia Approach, Peter Senge, Grant Wiggins, Ron Berger, and Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound.  In addition to adapting the big ideas from these sources, Kate is completing the puzzle of fundamental skills curricula.  This is problem solving and systems thinking in action.

They have also begun to grapple with the more intangible aspects of school design, for example, creating school culture.  Kate spent a couple of days with me in St. Louis, visiting four schools where Louise and I consult: The College School; Maplewood Richmond Heights School District; The St. Michael School; and Clayton School District.   She reflected later, Understanding school climate, and more, the development of school climate, is difficult work.  It's like trying to grasp air.  Having the chance to observe four different examples of creative and collaborative school cultures was powerful.  Creating a vibrant school culture can be like trying to grasp air and yet, there are many fundamental ways to ground and build successful school cultures.  And, creating school as a community is an essential ingredient for the 21st Century school...like the air we breathe.