Classroom Observations – August 29, 2014

I try to make time for visiting classrooms and talking with teachers and students about what they are doing. As the Head of School, it is easy to sometimes get trapped in the office or in meetings. It is always uplifting to spend some time with the students and it helps me as a leader, understand the daily rhythm of the school. Sometimes I will do a blog post on my observations. The purpose is to keep community members and visitors informed about the teaching and learning and to show off what great teachers and student we have here at SOIS of KG.

It is nice to see the range of activities for the different subject areas and grade levels in a short time. The seniors were discussing the play, “Top Girls” by Caryl Churchill, which is set in late twentieth century London, and features a total female cast of characters. The play examines feminist issues. The grade 10 students were learning how to simplify radicals in mathematics, and the grade 8 students were learning how to use Adobe Photoshop in Design class. The grade 2 students were reading Goldilocks out loud as a group. As you can see in the first photo above, the kindergarten students were getting some exercise and were laughing while dancing the classic, “Hokey Pokey” a participation dance for children, popular in English speaking countries. That is one of best sounds, the infectious laughter of children! In a grade 8 visual arts class (middle photo), Ms. Henbest was explaining color theory to the students. The visual arts is one of the shared programs between the two schools and the building was designed to feature many stunning display places, almost like an art gallery. One of the projects the students did last term was to pick someone, most were famous people, and learn about their life. They then were asked to pick a quote by the person and feature it, and the symbols of the person’s life, into the design of a canopic jar. The ancient Egyptians used these jars to store the viscera of their owner during the mummification process to use in the after life. These jars contained no viscera, but many were quite provocative. The students also sketched their figure.