Today we went to Fernwood Montessori to check out their Greenhouse operation and my gosh did we have a good time. We got to interview the teacher involved, as well as some of the students that were working (it was eye opening for some of our students to be know that gardening takes so much time. I wish I would have taken a photo of some of the kid’s faces when they got to look at the fish they keep there (it is an aquaponics system so there are hundreds of fish in the greenhouse fertilizing the plants). To hear the conversations in the back of the car on the way back to school….wow! “We should do it this way because…”, “if we could start over, we should plan it this way…,” and “wow, I never thought of it that way” were just some of the discussions I heard the kids saying to each other. It is amazing how far they have come along.
Category Archives: Our Community 7th
7th Social Studies Update
As you know by now from the e-mail you received yesterday from your child, we are planning a field trip next Friday, March 15, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am to visit the Fernwood Montessori greenhouse. I, along with Gev. Noorlander, will be driving the students there and back, as well as supervising during the entirety of the field trip.
Our Greenhouse
We have done so much on our greenhouse it is hard to get it all down. Below is a list of some of the items we have worked on in the last month or so (feel free to ask your child about it):
- Build a virtual and physical model of our greenhouse
- Meet with our development coordinator and write personalized letters to prospective donors
- Research, identify, and complete multiple national grants
- Create and modify a presentation for the school board and Jewish federation for approval of our project
- Get accepted a grant (for $400) and identified and purchased all items to be able to build elevated grow beds
- Outreach to local schools who have built and maintained a greenhouse of their own
This entire project has been student owned; meaning each child is working on a unique set of skills; which can be utilized throughout their life.
- Collaboration – everything we have done involves multiple people working together to achieve a common goal; which is not always the easiest
- Communication – we have worked on written and verbal communication; contacting community members asking for assistance
- Creativity – creating the dimensions and a model for the greenhouse has to come from somewhere
- Critical thinking – we have analyzed, reviewed, modified, and discussed every aspect of our greenhouse…it is not easy to ask and answer why for each aspect of our greenhouse
Our Farm – next steps
We visited other farms and accumulated a list of things we all appreciated (feel free to check out the student’s blogs for their take-away’s of what they noticed at each farm that was worthwhile). Now, we have a few steps we need to figure out, such as our list of must-haves, location, structure, funding, and a whole host of issues.
If you happen to know anyone that gardens/farms (more commercially than simply in their yard or basement) and would not mind coming in for a panel discussion, please let me know. I am trying to put something together for Thursday, November 29, from 9:00 to 9:57 am.
Ending food deserts – fund raiser from North Shore Bank
Farming field trip 10/30
It was an amazing time on our field trip. We visited 6 different area farms, learning all different types of farming methods, skills, types of farms, and reasons for doing what they do. Hopefully you will get a chance to read up on each student’s blog to see what it is they learned/took away from the event.
Make Change Happen
North Shore Bank is offering local schools the opportunity to win $1,923 to help Make Change Happen in our community (grant information here). Our seventh graders spent two days (not because of laziness, but because we received the grant information about 4 days before it was due) putting together a video to send in to explain why we should win the grant. Click on the link below to look at the fine work they did and follow along with our upcoming project (video link here).
Possible field trip 10/30
Hello all,
Discussion leading to collaboration
Today, the 7th grade students were all separated into their three working groups. One group worked on planning a dinner menu, another planning a scarf making session, and the last worked on getting fleece to make blankets. As I walked from group to group, I was amazed at what the students were doing. They were all sitting together and talking! Their conversation was about what they were doing and how they could improve. One student would make a suggestion, which would feed off another student and so on.
It is hard to put into words or even showcase the learning and advancing the students make on a day to day basis when so much of what they do is sharing and collaborating with classmates and people within their community. I tried my hardest to capture even a fraction of their learning in this video linked below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/162cJoQfvIboxjgCRhFsnrkE43yS60jh7/view?usp=sharing