Discovering Discovery Time

Discovery time is an exciting new part of our day this school year at Captain!  It is designed to be an opportunity for students to have more choice and be empowered to pursue their own goals in learning.  In fifth grade, we are still learning about how our discovery time might unfold, but we have begun brainstorming ideas building interest in a variety of areas.

For example: Simeon was given blood swipes from his doctor that he shared with our class to teach us about Leukemia.  His doctor even took pictures through the high-powered microscope and labeled the images for us to better understand what we can see in the slides.  Audrey then brought in her microscope so everyone could have a chance to see first hand.  What a great way to learn in a way that may not necessarily be directly linked to our fifth grade curriculum, but it something in which we are extremely interested in our class.

Another example of something that might inspire our discovery time is this clip we watched in class:

Finally we also looked at potential tools that might interest us such as Pixar in a Box, which is a way for students to learn how to use computers to create animated features.

The most important thing about discovery time is LEARNING.  We want it to be highly engaging and purposeful.  Maybe you've had conversations already about your child's pursuits.  Keep talking!  As we read in the book, What do you do with an idea?, these small ideas can grow and change our world.

Happy New Year 2016!

Welcome to our classroom blog, families!  This year, I will use this as a forum for sharing photos from class with you, some of my reflections and observations as a teacher, and the students might even share some of their writing as well.  I have no set schedule for my blog posts, but I will be sure to send you an email when a new post appears.  We will have a separate newsletter that provides details about the curriculum and schedule that will come out on a more regular basis.  

In fifth grade, we kick off our school year with a "Leadership Retreat."  This is a time for us to build our fifth grade community of learners and reflect on what it means to be a leader and how each of us can fulfill that role at Captain this school year.  They have responded so well to this opportunity!  Our theme this year comes from an African proverb: "If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."  Yesterday was all about dreaming and thinking forward to what we really want out of this school year.  Today, we are focusing on developing strong relationships in our learning community.  Tomorrow will focus on our roles as leaders at Captain in upholding our school "Touchstone."  Friday will be a day for teamwork and preparation for next week when our schedule will be more of the typical school routine.  

Here are some snapshots from the first day:

Lining up for the first time as a 5th grade class.

Working on our drawing meditation yesterday to help us practice keeping our minds focused.

Working together on creating a poster about what kind of classroom we want.

Working together on creating a poster about what kind of teacher we want.

Undoing a human knot after reading Head, Body, Legs.  

More human knot fun.

What kind of teacher we want.

What kind of classroom we want.

What kind of classmates we want.

Human knots are seriously fun.