Election Day and Professional Learning Day
Dear families,
Election Day – a day that reminds us all to reflect on our democratic country, to act upon our civic duty, and in schools - the site of ballot-casting for many, staff report to work while students are home with their families and caretakers.
Here at 610 Henry St., we apply the democratic process to a Professional Learning Day - a day when staff come together to learn from each other, to engage in sessions led by experts, both from within and from our greater learning world.
We began our day in our cafeteria, starting the day in motion and mindfulness during a BAX Warm-Up, led by José Joaquín Garcia and Donna Costello, our teaching artists in residence for many decades. When our community pivoted to remote learning in March 2020, Donna and Jose came with us, leading grounding sessions that got us all re-connected over zoom. In the two years that followed, they’ve led us in movement in our classrooms, through our zoom screens, and in the street during Summer Rising. On this Election Day, they led us all as a staff community in stretching, dancing, and connecting with our bodies in a circle, together.
Through the magic of Google Docs, we organized a plan for the day that brought forward the needs, wishes and goals of our staff. Folks had the option to sign up for a session out in the world (The DOE offers many workshops on days like today), host a session in-house or attend a session organized by their colleagues. Our offerings were varied, current and necessary. Some teachers attended workshops at other locations, like AMNH, and others attended virtual sessions, relating to teaching children in traumatic times, and ways to apply the newest research to the teaching of reading.
A tour of the halls provides insight into the world of BNS - in a kindergarten classroom, retired early childhood teacher Amy Binin led a color mixing workshop - attended by educators who work with all the grades and guidance counselor Dalisa – mixing colors on a light table, using transparent sheets to combine colors, and mixing paint. Joy, craft, release and learning!
Down the hall in the first grade wing, first grade teacher Bill facilitated a discussion of three methods for supporting readers with decoding and spelling: Word chaining, Dictation & Reading Decodable text. As we consider the many facets of growing readers in a landscape of changing and evolving methodologies, having dedicated time to share as colleagues affords us all the opportunity to try new things and expand our practice.
On the third floor, fifth grade teachers met with Ed, our technology specialist, to plan out this year’s robotics program - we are so glad to see many important pieces of our Pre-K to 5th grade curriculum returning to their full form in this renewed and re-energized in-person school year.
There are many nuances to a building community as complex as ours - down to the nuts and bolts. Longtime custodial engineer Mazda worked for more than an hour today trying to reconstruct a doorknob that’s having quite a hard time - always taking a problem-solving approach to use the materials we have before going to the store to buy, spend, waste – Mazda works with his hands and his heart to make sure we all have what we need every day here at 610.
Second grade teachers split their efforts today, with some members of the team visiting Blue Heron Park, preparing for future field trips with students, while other members tackled the second grade book closet, integrating books from the Mosaic Curriculum - which arrive in boxes when we least expect them! - quite an endeavor!
In the third grade wing, Math-coach-turned-Pre-K-Teacher Shirley cannot stay away from her math work – leading a session about using math manipulatives to build conceptual understanding. Fourth grade spends the day at The Gowanus Conservancy, expanding their trip catalog as they move forward with their stewardship curriculum.
And that was just the first round of workshops!
Round two brought many of us outside, working with art teacher Paola on observational drawing in the farm, and with sustainability coordinator Johanna, planting bulbs in the Rapelye St. tree pits to beautify our space - bulbs that will break through the soil to welcome the spring to our campus this April.
NYU/Access Mindfulness intern Kevin, who leads up our weekly Mindful Mornings on Thursdays for families, led a session that included guided practice for the adults in attendance and strategies to take back to the classroom with children.
Mary Ann’s Kindergarten room welcomed Luciano from Puppetry in Practice, who led a session on ways to make puppets to share stories and adventures, a great tool for any educator to have in their toolbox - for the happy moments and the complicated ones, having a vehicle to tell our stories can make all the difference.
And for those hard moments, in our “Feelings Room” (our guidance counselor’s new space on the first floor), longtime BNS Occupational Therapist Katherine A. led a session about de-escalating challenging behaviors and helping kids to keep their bodies safe - eavesdropping from the doorway, the essential message of building a sense of trust with children filled the hallway nearby and the circle of listening adults inside.
José and Donna reminded us of the importance of being kind to each other when we gathered in the morning, and in every space we step into, we bring that kindness with us. Whether the focus is on the letters, numbers, and words in the classroom, the classroom beyond our school walls that we travel to by bus or train, or the seeds we plant around our school building to welcome us all together each day - when we come together in community, we all have so much to offer each other.
With appreciation,
D & M
PTA Newsletter - newsletter #4 comes out 11/13/22
Check Konstella and the website calendar for updates:
