Among the many wonderful qualities in Waldorf education is a healthy view of homework. Homework is essential but should not be burdensome. It should help to clarify and strengthen work brought in class. It affords the opportunity to produce a detailed project. Students who work slowly or who want their main lessons books to burst with detail and sophistication on every page will undoubtedly have to bring work home. Yet the most gratifying "homework" to me is the work students do at home without ever being asked! My first experience of this came in fourth grade when a couple students went home and worked on braided form drawings and brought them to school. How proud they were to show me their work. Recently I had the pleasure to read a poem that a student wrote at home. It wasn't an assignment; he wrote because he enjoys writing poetry. This represents true "homework"!
I asked my student if I could publish his poem: he agreed!
"Four Seasons" by Collin Leonard
Can you hear Spring singing?
Can you see the Summer dancing?
Can you tell Fall's descending?
Can you hear Winter calling?
Can you hear the birds chirping?
Can you see the melon growing?
Can you feel the wind rustle the leaves?
Can you lick the snow off your nose?
Sing with Spring the Splendid,
Dance with Summer the Magnificent,
Catch the leaves with Fall the Joyful,
Call for snow with Winter the Bright,
Bring the four Seasons,
And merriment will follow.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Physics of Camaraderie in Sixth Grade
For the last three weeks my class has been in a Physics block and so far we've covered sound, light/color, and heat. Next week we'll study magnetism and static electricity. The focus of Physics, and all sciences in Waldorf schools, is observation before any conceptual formulation. What do we actually experience as opposed to what we believe we know based on scientific theory and concepts? For the first experiment I prepared a room by covering every window with black paper so that no light could get in and the class could experience complete darkness. What an experience it was! As we sat in darkness and silence the class became very calm. I asked them to close their eyes: nothing changed. I asked them to hold a hand up in front of their face: they saw nothing. The next day they had to write an essay about their observations in the dark: what was the actual experience? Many students wrote that they felt both relaxed and alert at the same time. Once they were used to utter darkness they noted that heart rates and breathing were slower, but that they could also hear classmates breath and were aware of themselves breathing loudly. A few girls told me they held hands as an "anchor" in the dark. We did a few other experiments where we needed a darkened room, but every time we went into the room my class begged me to be able to simply sit in the dark for awhile. One day it was pouring outside and the entire class, in uncharacteristic unity, pleaded with me to let them run around in the rain and then go upstairs and sit in the dark! How could I say no? The period was complete for them when I told a ghost story.
So were these extra escapades in the dark completely frivolous? Or did they serve another purpose aside from Physics? In many sixth grades students may form small groups of friends that could lead to cliques; students may tease and be unkind to each other. I'd argue that their time together in the dark was a bonding experience. They emerged from the dark laughing and talking and I felt a unity, a sense of one whole class that hearkened back to earlier grades. What a gift to them; what a joy for me to see a simple Physics experiment become an unspoken moment of real camaraderie.
So were these extra escapades in the dark completely frivolous? Or did they serve another purpose aside from Physics? In many sixth grades students may form small groups of friends that could lead to cliques; students may tease and be unkind to each other. I'd argue that their time together in the dark was a bonding experience. They emerged from the dark laughing and talking and I felt a unity, a sense of one whole class that hearkened back to earlier grades. What a gift to them; what a joy for me to see a simple Physics experiment become an unspoken moment of real camaraderie.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Sixth Grade Geology and Astronomy
"I look into the world, in which the sun is shining, in which the stars are sparkling, in which the stones repose..." These are the opening lines of the upper grade school verse that Waldorf students recite all over the the world. How apropos these words are as introductions to the study of Astronomy and Geology in sixth grade.
The sixth grader is a study in contrasts. Emotionally they are poised between late childhood and adolescence, not wanting to be called children anymore, but certainly not teenagers either. One moment I see them as third graders in all their nay-saying "let's disagree with Ms. Kran because we can" mode, and then as fifth graders in their eloquence and grace and beauty, and then I glimpse them as high schoolers and young adults, full of optimism for the future and belief in themselves. In short, they are a study in contrasts, in dualities.
The Waldorf school curriculum is informed by Rudolf Steiner's picture of the development of human consciousness and so sixth grade subject matter is a study in contrasts, dualities. The juxtaposition of Astronomy and Geology this year is a perfect example. On the one hand "naked eye" Astronomy draws students' gaze upwards to the heavens. I chose to study Astronomy in the winter because I hoped to capture the feeling of majesty and grandeur in the crisp, clear night sky. I asked students to keep a moon journal and to go outside and gaze upwards as often as they were able. Most days we discussed what we had seen (or not seen if it was a cloudy night) in the sky. Some students got parents to go outside to watch the sky together. One student proudly shared that she and her dad had gone outside on a cold night to discover the starry sky together. Students will fondly remember these experiences as adults and thereby Astronomy will be imbued with warmth. In the classroom, students consulted their "Peterson Guide to Astronomy" (my birthday gift to each student) and identified what they’d seen the evening before. The desire to begin to make logical, concrete sense of the cosmos was constantly contrasted and also enhanced with an immersion in the wonder and mystery of the heavens through poetry, drawing, and painting.
Whereas Astronomy has them soaring through the skies, Geology directs students’ attention to the earth and even below the earth’s surface into its deepest, hottest, core. Adults may perhaps remember their own 12 year old yearning to escape to the lofty heights of imagination one moment, but to also want to feel grounded and knowledgeable about your home, your surroundings, your physical environment, to perhaps feel like a “citizen of the earth”. In Geology students begin to read the earth. They come to understand how rain, a seemingly harmless substance, can and will over time bore enormous holes in rocks. They study how movements deep underground move entire continents, raise mountains, and destroy civilizations. They read novelists' descriptions of mountains and Pliny the Elder's description of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. They hear of and visit the underground world of caves where brilliant mineral formations explode from the ground and ceiling one minute and where the next minute they may find themselves in utter, complete darkness.
Waldorf graduates will go to college with enthusiastic memories of the sciences. Rather than shy away from college classes in Astronomy and Geology, I believe they will elect to enroll in them. Further, when they participate they will impress their professors with insights drawn from literature, history, and art. They'll produce research that is grounded in heart-felt thinking!
The sixth grader is a study in contrasts. Emotionally they are poised between late childhood and adolescence, not wanting to be called children anymore, but certainly not teenagers either. One moment I see them as third graders in all their nay-saying "let's disagree with Ms. Kran because we can" mode, and then as fifth graders in their eloquence and grace and beauty, and then I glimpse them as high schoolers and young adults, full of optimism for the future and belief in themselves. In short, they are a study in contrasts, in dualities.
The Waldorf school curriculum is informed by Rudolf Steiner's picture of the development of human consciousness and so sixth grade subject matter is a study in contrasts, dualities. The juxtaposition of Astronomy and Geology this year is a perfect example. On the one hand "naked eye" Astronomy draws students' gaze upwards to the heavens. I chose to study Astronomy in the winter because I hoped to capture the feeling of majesty and grandeur in the crisp, clear night sky. I asked students to keep a moon journal and to go outside and gaze upwards as often as they were able. Most days we discussed what we had seen (or not seen if it was a cloudy night) in the sky. Some students got parents to go outside to watch the sky together. One student proudly shared that she and her dad had gone outside on a cold night to discover the starry sky together. Students will fondly remember these experiences as adults and thereby Astronomy will be imbued with warmth. In the classroom, students consulted their "Peterson Guide to Astronomy" (my birthday gift to each student) and identified what they’d seen the evening before. The desire to begin to make logical, concrete sense of the cosmos was constantly contrasted and also enhanced with an immersion in the wonder and mystery of the heavens through poetry, drawing, and painting.
Whereas Astronomy has them soaring through the skies, Geology directs students’ attention to the earth and even below the earth’s surface into its deepest, hottest, core. Adults may perhaps remember their own 12 year old yearning to escape to the lofty heights of imagination one moment, but to also want to feel grounded and knowledgeable about your home, your surroundings, your physical environment, to perhaps feel like a “citizen of the earth”. In Geology students begin to read the earth. They come to understand how rain, a seemingly harmless substance, can and will over time bore enormous holes in rocks. They study how movements deep underground move entire continents, raise mountains, and destroy civilizations. They read novelists' descriptions of mountains and Pliny the Elder's description of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. They hear of and visit the underground world of caves where brilliant mineral formations explode from the ground and ceiling one minute and where the next minute they may find themselves in utter, complete darkness.
Waldorf graduates will go to college with enthusiastic memories of the sciences. Rather than shy away from college classes in Astronomy and Geology, I believe they will elect to enroll in them. Further, when they participate they will impress their professors with insights drawn from literature, history, and art. They'll produce research that is grounded in heart-felt thinking!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Amazing Girls
Amazing girls
How sweet their sound
That inspired a teacher like me
I once had doubt, but now I've found
That Waldorf girls work together amazingly...
So without revealing too many secrets, I have to relate how the 9 girls in my 6th grade regularly think, speak, and act with heart-felt thinking. Being 11 and 12 year olds, the girls occasionally get angry with each other. Sometimes one or two feel left out; mean words may be exchanged; feelings get hurt. This is all fairly typical adolescent, especially girl, behavior. But the girls' consciousness and strategies to set things right is not typical of average adolescent behavior. More often, bad feelings linger longer and may even be exacerbated before they are resolved. I would argue that the immediate and urgent attention, and genuine compassion, that the girls feel for each other is in part because of their education. Waldorf education is after all a social education. Although the Waldorf classroom is often referred to as a microcosm of the larger society's macrocosm, I 'd argue that my classroom is creating new social forms of friendship and caring. Rather than continue an argument or stand by when someone feels left out, the 6th grade girls will rally to put things right. A few months ago a girl was feeling left out. I mentioned this to 1 girl; she spoke with others, and within minutes the forlorn girl had a swarm of girls around her, hugging her, asking her what was up. More recently a girl felt left out and the response was incredibly heartwarming. In groups of 2s and 3s the girls spoke to the upset girl and tried to help her feel better. Later, they came to me excited, concerned, and full of caring. One girl said she was going to buy her classmate a diary so that she could write her thoughts out. Two more girls told me that at every recess they would make sure their classmate felt included and that even if she didn't want to play that she should be nearby. Finally, the girls asked if they could get together once a week to simply talk. "Don't be offended, Ms. Kran, but we want to talk without you present, just us girls," they pleaded. Offended!! I was impressed and overjoyed with the level of love and caring and heart-felt thinking. They embrace and care about each other deeply. They will carry this level of sophistication into their relationships when they leave Waldorf. I am truly blessed to watch these relationships blossom. The world is truly blessed to welcome these girls into the larger adult society.
How sweet their sound
That inspired a teacher like me
I once had doubt, but now I've found
That Waldorf girls work together amazingly...
So without revealing too many secrets, I have to relate how the 9 girls in my 6th grade regularly think, speak, and act with heart-felt thinking. Being 11 and 12 year olds, the girls occasionally get angry with each other. Sometimes one or two feel left out; mean words may be exchanged; feelings get hurt. This is all fairly typical adolescent, especially girl, behavior. But the girls' consciousness and strategies to set things right is not typical of average adolescent behavior. More often, bad feelings linger longer and may even be exacerbated before they are resolved. I would argue that the immediate and urgent attention, and genuine compassion, that the girls feel for each other is in part because of their education. Waldorf education is after all a social education. Although the Waldorf classroom is often referred to as a microcosm of the larger society's macrocosm, I 'd argue that my classroom is creating new social forms of friendship and caring. Rather than continue an argument or stand by when someone feels left out, the 6th grade girls will rally to put things right. A few months ago a girl was feeling left out. I mentioned this to 1 girl; she spoke with others, and within minutes the forlorn girl had a swarm of girls around her, hugging her, asking her what was up. More recently a girl felt left out and the response was incredibly heartwarming. In groups of 2s and 3s the girls spoke to the upset girl and tried to help her feel better. Later, they came to me excited, concerned, and full of caring. One girl said she was going to buy her classmate a diary so that she could write her thoughts out. Two more girls told me that at every recess they would make sure their classmate felt included and that even if she didn't want to play that she should be nearby. Finally, the girls asked if they could get together once a week to simply talk. "Don't be offended, Ms. Kran, but we want to talk without you present, just us girls," they pleaded. Offended!! I was impressed and overjoyed with the level of love and caring and heart-felt thinking. They embrace and care about each other deeply. They will carry this level of sophistication into their relationships when they leave Waldorf. I am truly blessed to watch these relationships blossom. The world is truly blessed to welcome these girls into the larger adult society.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Passionate Sixth Graders and Wise Grandparents
On Friday, March 9th, the Cincinnati Waldorf School invited grandparents and special friends to spend the day with our students. I had many grandparents visit the 6th grade, sitting next to their grandchildren and getting a sense of what we do. In the morning students sang 2 Gregorian chants in Latin, played their alto recorders, and recited some poetry. One poem, "A Sleep of Prisoners," by Christopher Fry, we had memorized. Over the course of a few weeks I told the class that I wanted them to think about the words they were reciting in preparation for a discussion. We did this yesterday. Students' responses reflected their passion for the future and their readiness to take on the world and "do the good!" A couple of boys argued that the poem called on them and their generation to take up the at times difficult struggle to improve the world, make it a better place. One boy interpreted the words as a warning about global warming. Yet another felt it was a description of an ice age. All the comments were thoughtful, well spoken, and passionate. I note that the boys spoke because, much to my chagrin, I couldn't coax any girls to speak!
Later that day boys and girls read their essays and explained pictures they'd drawn in their main lesson books. I was so impressed with their upright stature and clear speaking voices! I believe that Waldorf education cultivates these qualities in our students. Perhaps you've noticed that Waldorf students will look you, an adult, in the eye and have a serious conversation? It's common among Waldorf students because teachers consciously cultivate the expectation that students' ideas, thoughts, opinions will be taken seriously. I know that I enter the classroom every day with the expectation that my students will impress me with their words and actions and teach me something new!
I have been deeply moved by many students' responses to the inevitable contrast between the political and cultural violence endemic to the period encompassing the Fall of Rome and the Medieval Era and our study of the philosophy of non-violence and love as professed by Jesus, who we studied as an historical figure of ancient Rome. Well, I decided to ask my class to revisit this issue with the hope that some grandparents would lend us their thoughts, and indeed, wisdom. In sum, the grandparents who spoke hoped the students would remember to keep separate the philosophy (study of wisdom) of non-violence and love and peace and the culture in which that philosophy arose. We were reminded that kings, queens, warriors, and religious leaders, are human beings and therefore fallible and at times weak. Throughout history we see great civilizations come and go, but what remains is the wisdom: the mathematics, the science, the literature, the philosophy. To those grandparents reading this blog, I extend a deep felt thanks to you for visiting my class and offering us your wisdom.
Later that day boys and girls read their essays and explained pictures they'd drawn in their main lesson books. I was so impressed with their upright stature and clear speaking voices! I believe that Waldorf education cultivates these qualities in our students. Perhaps you've noticed that Waldorf students will look you, an adult, in the eye and have a serious conversation? It's common among Waldorf students because teachers consciously cultivate the expectation that students' ideas, thoughts, opinions will be taken seriously. I know that I enter the classroom every day with the expectation that my students will impress me with their words and actions and teach me something new!
I have been deeply moved by many students' responses to the inevitable contrast between the political and cultural violence endemic to the period encompassing the Fall of Rome and the Medieval Era and our study of the philosophy of non-violence and love as professed by Jesus, who we studied as an historical figure of ancient Rome. Well, I decided to ask my class to revisit this issue with the hope that some grandparents would lend us their thoughts, and indeed, wisdom. In sum, the grandparents who spoke hoped the students would remember to keep separate the philosophy (study of wisdom) of non-violence and love and peace and the culture in which that philosophy arose. We were reminded that kings, queens, warriors, and religious leaders, are human beings and therefore fallible and at times weak. Throughout history we see great civilizations come and go, but what remains is the wisdom: the mathematics, the science, the literature, the philosophy. To those grandparents reading this blog, I extend a deep felt thanks to you for visiting my class and offering us your wisdom.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Empathy Deficit
Today I heard a report on NPR about Barak Obama's concern that Americans have an "empathy deficit" or "gap". Why might Americans have difficulty identifying with, or vicariously experiencing, the feelings or thoughts of other human beings both here in the USA and abroad? Well, I'm sure the reasons are complex and numerous, but I'd like to offer one possible solution for turning the "empathy deficit" into an "empathy surplus": education imbued with heart-felt thinking. In my 6th grade Waldorf classroom I encourage my students to engage their hearts when they consider any problem, be it a history lesson, a political-economic discussion, a painting class, or a disagreement on the recess field. Today we discussed the 12th century Crusades and King Richard the Lion-Hearted. In the midst of battle against the Sultan Saladin over control of the Holy Lands, Richard gets a letter from his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, warning him that his brother John and the king of France are plotting against him. Eleanor wants Richard to return home. It makes logical, calculated sense for Richard to return to England and secure his kingdom, but legend has it that as he spoke to his knights he saw fear on their faces and tears well up in their eyes. He chose to stay with his knights, risking his throne. King Richard empathized with his men. Did my students empathize with the knights as well? This year I often assign first person perspective essays; students must become a crusader or Richard or Saladin and then write a factual essay describing how that character may have felt. They empathize!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Gender Relationships in Waldorf Classrooms
Today I had the pleasure of observing in the 2nd grade at our Waldorf school and it was so wonderful to see the easy friendships forming between the boys and girls. By 10:30 I was back with my 22 6th graders, smack in the middle of hormonal anarchy! It's amazing! On the one hand many of my students are experimenting with thoughts of crushes amidst the laughter and teasing and games of tag. On the other hand many of them have known each other since kindergarten and feel a deep and easy kinship with each other. What I truly find amazing is that most boys and girls feel at ease to adopt many personae throughout the day. During main lesson they are serious, engaged, show their brilliance and thoughtfulness. At recess they run and compete and show off their physical prowess...yes, boys and girls alike. There is little to no self-consciousness or feeling that... ooh boys or girls can't do this or that. Boys and girls in my class cry, are emotional, get academically competitive, are dramatic, like to sing and run and play soccer and football. There are no rigid gender-specific ways to act in my classroom. Why? I think it's in part because they all feel so comfortable with each other. They are able to be multi-talented in the arts and academics and sports and therefore multi-faceted in their characters. They are even able to see each other with newly budding eyes of "zest"...the lovely all-encompassing word that my daughter's 6th grade came up with to mean...well...pre-adolescent feelings! I am so lucky! What healthy young adults they are becoming!
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