Greetings! Welcome to summer vacation in the Tri-Town. I wanted to take one last look Behind the Bulldog for the 2016-2017 school year.
At staff meetings, I offer a quick exit ticket to get some feedback from staff members on a school-related issue. At one staff meeting, I asked staff members to describe one amazing thing that happened in their classroom this year. This is a true look, deep behind the bulldog … into the classroom! Here are a few of my favorite responses, in teachers’ own words:
“My students have created some stunning and impressive visual arguments.”
“Students engaged in a very meaningful discussion on acceptance of our differences. I remarked on how educated a discussion it was on such a sensitive issue. Students felt safe enough to discuss deep issues and provide their own personal opinions.”
“There have been many amazing things, but I am very excited about partnering with the Hope Foundation and possibly building a garden for our school soon.”
“Today a student came into class and proclaimed she/he was looking forward to Ceramics class all weekend! It made my day!”
“A student who felt he struggled in Spanish and feared taking the class discovered that he’s very competent and successful in class. He wants to continue his study of Spanish as a result of this discovery.”
“I have officially become a Chromebook mom! I love being able to have them on-hand for reference or a change of focus in class. They are perfect in a science classroom to explore the various biomes of the world or to take a tour of the human body.”
“I just had an amazing group project. Students were supposed to choose a theme in Hamlet, and graph that theme’s intensity throughout the play. This group actually wrote a piece of music. Every note’s endurance, volume, and tone reflected a particular descriptor and quote. I have never seen a group so creatively intertwine music and language to develop a project. Amazing.”
“Students were able to use the “Socratic circle” from English in the math classroom to understand quick conversions between radians and degrees.”
“Student today looked at a document and was intrigued by it. It was just another primary source, but he was curious to figure out why it was written and what the author’s intention was. For me, it is not the big events but the small rewards of everyday curiosity of a child that keeps things amazing.”
“Somewhere north of 90 percent of my Algebra 2 students annihilated an essay assignment. That was amazing.”
And my personal favorite: “Most of the students say thank you at the end of class. It creates a respectful learning environment in which we are all working together. I love it!”
See you all in the fall. Come August, I’ll tackle the topic of going behind the bulldog for the first time as a freshman!
By ORR Principal Michael Devoll