About Our Classroom

“Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.” ~John Dewey

These 11 words are the most precise and concise way to explain the learning which happens in my classroom.  In third grade students become powerful learners, more powerful than at any other age.  This is because third grade learners posses a synergistic blend of emerging intellect with a still strong sense of wonder.

This means that they have the ability to learn increasingly complex things, without having lost the sheer joy of discovering even the obvious.  While studying multiplication a pattern of repeating numbers may appear and illicit screams of joy.   Reading a book may inspire a story about a frog in a pond or a picture about a frog eating a worm or … You just don’t know.

I consider it my job as a guide among this incredible learning that happens.  To create an environment rich in possibilities and provocations that invite the children to undertake extended exploration and problem solving.

This all happens while also staying absolutely true to the Shawnee Mission Curriculum.  Weaving our experiences and discoveries through the curriculum and ensuring through assessment, documentation and portfolio learning that children have a rich and sustainable learning expereince.