As I reported back to school this week, very little of what I did was focused on preparing for the first day of school. That will come, but there are also bigger conversations happening. We opened with worship and a discussion of our mission statement. From a previous post, you know how large our mission statement is. We talked about each item in it and what it means at school. Our new head of school talked about our vision and why it was important. We had a Maker Faire in order to inspire each other to reflect our Creator by being creators. As our school is encouraging students to be makers, we wanted to remind ourselves and discover hidden talents in each other. We discussed what skills these types of learning build in our students that are not built other ways.
On Friday, we had many different meetings to discuss project based learning. Each teacher that had an idea for one (which ranged from Tiny House building in Geometry to providing electricity for missionaries in Physics to a History Department initiative to make every student in expert in a particular world region). Some of these discussions were brainstorming; others involved incorporating multiple classes into the same project so that students can learn that life doesn't exist in 45 minute segments that never overlap. These discussions are inspiring, not only because they reflect the depth of education philosophy in our teaching staff but also because they reveal the innovation that new and veteran teachers alike possess.
Don't get me wrong; we will have all the nuts and bolts discussions, arguing about drop/add policies and discussing schedules. All of that has to happen, but I am so glad to be in a school that never lets the urgent drown out the important. By the way, we have a lot of fun doing it as well. Need proof? Here's our English department.
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