Lemons into Lemonade
5/22/2021
Our 5th and 6th graders are different people today than they were on our first day of school. That’s often the case year-to-year, but this year was something special. “School will be so different”, “We can’t do x, y, or z”, “Something is better than nothing”, and many similar statements were uttered at the start of the year about how this school year would be difficult and disappointing. While some things were inevitably true, our class made the conscious effort to focus on what we could do together rather than what we couldn’t. On the last day of school, I asked all the students to do a written reflection about their year. One of the questions read, “What will you remember about 5th and 6th grade?” I am proud to report, not a single student mentioned anything regarding COVID. Instead they said: "I got closer with my classmates than any other year!" Their answers brought tears to my eyes and affirmed PNA’s goal for this year. We kept students safe and happy, but didn’t settle on “good enough”—our 5th and 6th graders had a “great” year. They ended their year with their capstone PBL project. Students were set out to demonstrate and share how much they had learned about different cultures and global issues. All students chose a country in the African and Asian regions we studied. Their task was more than just to research and report. They needed to create elements/pieces/artifacts that were representative of different aspects of their learning. Students crafted clay models of well-known structures and were able to describe their significance. Students set up mini sport activities (which they played with their “visitors” while they discussed the importance of that sport in their country. Students prepared recipes and tasted food they’d never tried before. They sewed their own country’s flag, wrote poems, made maps, did interviews, and so much more. This project took a lot of time and effort but they crushed it. While this project could have stood alone, the kids wanted to do more. As it was the end of the year, we were lucky enough to get to share our work with the rest of the school. We prepared mock passports for all of the classes, so as each student rotated through, “visiting” each country, the 5th and 6th graders stamped their passport with a stamp they created themselves. The gym was buzzing. The engagement from our students and their peers was inspiring. While they were exhausted after presenting all day, they felt such a sense of pride and value in their learning—accomplishing the goal of PBL. The last two weeks of school were filled with laughter and love. While I’m glad COVID isn’t what they’ll remember most, it certainly connected us in unprecedented ways. This class (and their families) made the sweetest batch of lemonade out of the most sour lemons. Who could have asked for more? Comments are closed.
|
Elizabeth FerryMs. Ferry's experiences include teaching with the Peace Corps in Tanzania, teaching high school English in Maine, and this is her second year at PNA. She loves moose, outdoor activities, and being with her students. Archives
April 2021
Categories |