December 12 Riff: Duke School students are prepared to face the future

Last week, the first grade had their reptile project culminations.  Both classes were fantastic.  Six and seven year olds, having made life-like representations of their reptile, talking about them with calm expertise was impressive, and so rare.  Games, made by the students, were projected onto the smart boards to make them interactive while board games were displayed as well.   A buzz of knowledge, confidence and pride permeated the room. 

Interestingly, Carolynn and Rebecca invited prospective families to attend their culmination and about fourteen attended.  Their enthusiasm for what they were seeing reminded me how special the work we do at Duke School is.

This Sunday, I read Thomas Freidman’s article in the New York Times.  In it, he suggested that the country’s economic future will not be found in factories but in “hubs.”  These areas (and he names Raleigh-Durham) are “networked urban areas where people learn, imagine and create value rapidly by … collaborat[ing] and compet[ing] to invent things that make people’s lives more entertained, productive, healthy, educated and comfortable.”  

I agree that future success requires creativity, imagination, collaboration, hard work and resilience.  The reptile project, and indeed all our projects at Duke School, allows students to practice and become proficient in these skills.  Our students leave Duke School prepared to face the future and prepared to be the problem solvers for our complex world.  How exciting and gratifying. 

Riff for December 5:

Tonight is a Duke School board meeting and to prepare I read through all the reports in the lengthy packet.  As I read the packet this weekend, the PSO report caught my eye—well, really, it took my breath away.  The report, which is printed below, lists some of the volunteer support offered by the PSO and the list is extensive.  Duke School is so much stronger because of this volunteer work, powered mostly by parents who are carving time from their busy schedules.  Not only am I thankful for this great volunteer effort, I am humbled that so many people care so deeply for the school and for all of its students.  I also want to thank the PSO leadership whose organization and leadership allow volunteers to shine.  It is exciting to be part of such a vibrant community.

Here is the list of PSO events thus far:

• Class liaison and committee chair training was held prior to the first Parent Night.  
• Creation of lunch coverage sign-ups for lower and middle school classrooms and ongoing management of volunteer coordination (approximately 616 positions filled)
• Hosted 3 days of hospitality coffees for the Preschool and K/1 buildings affording parents the opportunity to visit during the first few days of school.
• Supported “Coffees with Directors” for the lower and middle schools.
• Approximately 55 Duke School volunteers participated in NC Big Sweep collecting over 60 bags of trash.
• Approximately 26 Duke School volunteers harvested vegetables and tended gardens with SEEDS, Durham Inner City Gardeners.
• Over 186 volunteer opportunities were filled at Fall Festival.  New events and activities were included this year.  Attendance was strong.
• More than 60 parents attended the first discussion group of Raising a Self-Reliant Child in a Self-Indulgent World.
• Approximately 100 parents attended the lecture by clinical & organizational psychologist and author Robert Evans.   
• 38 parents filled over 60 volunteer roles for the Book Fair.  74 middle school students shared an original work or brought an existing piece of prose to life on stage and more than $2500 was raised for the libraries.
• Breakfasts featuring homemade treats and fresh fruit were provided for teachers during conference days.
• Over 1,000 individual baked goods have been provided for Fall Festival, Teacher Conference Breakfasts & the Book Fair.
• 11 parents delivered approximately 3,050 slices of pizza to lower school students.
• Ongoing collection of Boxtops.  New “collection worksheets” given to the preschool, kindergarten and 1^st grades.  
• Hosted two “Playground Socials” for the kindergarten and 1^st grades.  Over 50 families attended.
• An immeasurable number of parents have volunteered not only to cover lunch duty but have also driven for field work, participated in classroom activities such as cooking, interviews and story reader as well as attended culminating events.  

Reflection for November 21: Professional Growth

I spent the morning of today’s professional development day with the middle school faculty as they worked on improving projects even more.  The morning session was structured like a mini-project.  Faculty started by sharing stories of project successes and frustrations and then generating questions they would like to see addressed in the workshop.  I snapped a picture of one’s groups “wonderings,” as I saw it indicative of the deep thought that goes into developing great projects.  See the sheet below:

I noticed the intellectual tension in the “what do you do if it is not good?” question.  Teachers want and will guide students into doing their best work.  But, what do you do if despite that the student is not producing how they should.  Inherent in the question is the struggle between allowing students autonomy and insisting on teacher control.  One team mentioned that after they allowed some substandard work at the culmination, the student commented in his post project reflection that his work was subpar and strategized how to improve it for next time.  That is real learning.  Others talked about how some work needs to be improved before it is published, if it falls below minimum standards.  Finally, there is no right answer.  Much of this is the art of knowing how to best motivate students (or let them motivate themselves) and that differs depending on the child. 

I do know that these days, when teachers can focus on their professional growth, are something to be thankful for. 

Reflection for November 4, 2011: Middle School Camaraderie

I arrived at FAMM today and saw a microphone in the middle of the gym.  David got up and said, "note the open microphone, figure out what to do."  Oleg started by thanking the seventh grade for being so awesome, which started a flood of students making comments thanking folks, including Carol who is leaving today, observing good things, like the library, and promoting future events, like next week’s play.  Every comment was impromptu, every comment positive and supportive, and every comment productive.  It made me appreciate Duke School even more.    

Riff for November 2: It's Hard Being a Parent

It is hard being a parent and according to last night’s speaker, Rob Evans, we often make it harder on ourselves.  He discussed how to navigate the shoals of parenthood.  Evans emphasized that we need to give our children three things—nurture, structure and latitude.  Here is what he meant:

• Nurture—kids need to know they are loved unconditionally.  In some ways the best way to prove that is for parents to spend time with their children.  Rob debunked the idea of quality time and sometimes children make it hard for experiences to be high quality. Sometimes they just need you around.
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• Structure—children need to understand the "non-negotiables" in your family.  The "non-negotiables" can change from family to family but in your house with your own children they must be clear and you must enforce them.  As Rob mentioned, your job is not to be your child’s friend but to be his parent.
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• Latitude—While keeping your child safe from real danger, let him struggle, fail, get up and fail again.  Understand that the process of problem solving, being defeated and finally finding victory builds perseverance, the attribute most associated with a happy and fulfilling life.  

Rob then suggested three tips to help better supply nurture, structure and latitude:

• Technique won’t save you.  By all means read parenting books but understand that you will not be able to faithfully follow any one program.   Learn what you can from books but embrace the best you.  
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• Take what you are good at and build on that.  Rob suggests taking a piece of paper, putting a vertical line down the center.  On one side write what you are good at as a parent, on the other what you want to work on.  Take the paper, rip down the middle and throw out the “what I need to work on” side and really focus on and “do more of what you are good at.”
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• Most kids are mostly resilient.  You as a parent will not be perfect, but your children don’t need perfect parents.  They need parents that supply reasonable amounts of nurture, structure and latitude.

I left Rob’s talk with three counter cultural parenting approaches I ask you to consider:

• Schedule less, perhaps dramatically less, outside activities for your children.  They will get more from spending time at home with you than they will get from being coached by someone else as you wait to drive them to their next activity.  With the time not spent on the road, have family dinners.  This will increase nurture.  
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• Next time your child says that everyone has something or does something except for him, calmly say, “oh well, that is the way we run our house and I guess you have to live with that.”  This will help supply structure.  
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• Next time your child is struggling at school, at home or at an activity, look him straight in the eye and say, “I bet that is hard.  How will you fix it?”  Give them advice (not directives) on their plan and then let them attempt to fix it at least twice before getting further involved.  This will build latitude.  

I was so glad to see about 100 of you there last night.  It gladdens me to know that you and Duke School are partners in preparing the next generation of problem solvers for our complex world.  None of us can do it alone and we are truly stronger working together for all of our children.  

Reflection for November 1: Design is Important

I was somewhat worried about what I might find wandering around the morning after Halloween night, but all students seem relatively focused.  Indeed, I meandered into Marki’s art room where a third grader commented; “it seems awfully quiet in here.”  And why not?  The students were creating covers for their art portfolios, which would house much of their work for the year.  So, they had to be perfect.  Each student had selected a font and was copying the style (by hand) onto a cover.  The pride they were taking in their work was palpable. 

It was also great that students were beginning to see that the font you select sets a mood.  In a world in which design is increasingly important, Duke School starts teaching those skills early and in an integrated way.   

Riff for October 21: A New Brand

The school has officially rebranded—a new logo, a new website and even new magnets.  Before the rebranding, we had a full school assembly where I asked, “What is a logo?”  A fourth grader answered, “It is a symbol that represents a company.”  (Who knew our fourth graders went to Fuqua before matriculating at Duke School?)  After congratulating him for a great answer, I asked what thoughts does the new logo stimulate and the students starting firing off answers—modern, clean, professional and sophisticated.   They got it.  As Duke School works to position itself as the school of choice in Durham, we want our name to be synonymous with modernity and sophistication.  Further we want to send the message that our curriculum and pedagogy represent the best of 21^st century education.  I think the logo carries some of that weight. 

We wanted the website to send some of the same messages.  As you know, the website is really divided into two portals—public and private.  We hope you find the private section personalized to your needs.  It should give you the information you want and need.  The public section is designed to help folks new to us to envision the school as we are.  The videos capture our program—its rigor powered by student engagement.  The advantage section touts our graduates’ success as well as the advantage of attending a 3 year-old-8 school.  The whole site speaks to a confident school positioned to help students master an ever-changing world.  It is exciting.

I want to thank the advancement team for their tireless work in getting the new brand ready.  I especially want to thank Danielle who spearheaded the project.

As we move forward remember to put the new sticker on your car, use your magnet and enjoy your cup.  It is an exciting time to be part of the Duke School community as we grow and improve.  As the kids like to remind me:  "We are dragons; we are real."