The Puzzle is Complete!
8/31/2018
As we close the second week of school, students have settled into routines and started digging into academic work. But at PNA we make this transition with care. In these first weeks of school it is critical that we take the time to build a community of learners and help students prepare for our learning journey. Last week students collaboratively developed a list of middle school guidelines that reflected the values of PNA and their own ideas about what kind of learning community they wanted. This week several students volunteered to create posters of these guidelines so we could have them in sight at all times to remind us of our commitments to each other. Each member of our middle school team signs the posters to indicate that she or he is in agreement with the guidelines. Throughout the year the posters will serve as a reminder of what we’ve all agreed to do as learners and friends. This week we also focused on our hopes and dreams for the coming year. We combined this goal-setting process with an art project that is designed to represent who we are, who we hope to become, and how interconnected we all are. Students (and teachers) created their own individual puzzle pieces, decorated the front with images and symbols to represent themselves and their aspirations, and finished by writing their hopes and dreams on the back. All of these pieces were then combined into one large class display that we know you will love seeing at Curriculoum Night. In this large display we see an interconnected team of unique, creative individuals, each person made stronger by his or her connection to others in the class. When we are together, the puzzle really is complete! As we head to our annual Solid Rock Middle School Retreat next week, this stellar team of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders will continue to discover each other’s strengths, interests, and commonalities as they work and play and live together. We’ll return to PNA ready to take on the year and all it has to offer! Have a great three-day weekend! Comments are closed.
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Sarah Mariner
Ms. Mariner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from Colorado State University, and was awarded a teaching certificate through the University of Alaska, Southeast. Her varied background includes being an environmental education field instructor in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Baja, Mexico. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Archives
April 2021
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