by Pam Oken-Wright | Jan 2, 2015 | Teacher Research
Ours is a school for girls. Down the street is our brother school, for boys. Many years ago, I had a conversation with my counterpart in Junior Kindergarten at St. Christopher's about our observations in the block areas of our respective classrooms. She characterized...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Jul 16, 2014 | Teacher Research
I find that problems often beget projects, and one day early in October we had a problem. Some persistent bees were buzzing around the slide in the Outdoor Classroom. “But we want to slide!” objected the children. Since it was early in the school year, the children...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Jun 11, 2014 | Teacher Research
MM had the idea to make a tall castle on the block platform. As she began to build, she was joined by three friends, J, MC, and C, who asked what MM was doing. "I'm making a tall castle," MM told them. The friends watched MM line blocks along the perimeter of the...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Feb 1, 2014 | Teacher Research
Talking to a colleague in the Upper School yesterday brought back to the top of my mind an issue that nags and pokes and bothers me always...the reality of "mean girls" in school. It is a problem not limited to girls' schools like ours, but seemingly ubiquitous in our...
by Pam Oken-Wright | Aug 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
Twice in one morning wonderful things happened because of children’s frustration with too few of something. In cubby house (a little space for dramatic play), some children were playing a story in which pet dogs played a part. By the time Lydia arrived in the cubby...
