Looking Back...Looking Forward

As we approach the end of the school year, we find ourselves looking both backward and forward. How have our children grown this year? What are our successes? What do we wish we had done differently? What are the next steps we want to take next year? What are our hopes and dreams for our children?

Today, as our staff gathered for inservice, we spent time talking about our successes this year. Many of us were brought to tears as stories were recounted of children who are have taken off in reading or math, who have matured and grown in their social skills or their organizational skills, who have made amazing discoveries… the lightbulb moments that make teaching such a rewarding experience.

As I reflect on this year, and begin thinking about the year to come, both as an educator and as a parent, I find myself remembering that learning and growing is often a painful experience. As a parent, it is difficult to see my child go through hard times. He has coped with disappointments and challenges and frustrations that were hard to walk through with him. It is hard to see him sad or frustrated. But I recognize, if I am honest, that it is those very times that have been the catalyst for his greatest moments of growth. That have made him the incredible young man he is becoming. And the challenges he faces today are the growth opportunities of tomorrow.

As you look back on this year, delight in your child’s accomplishments. Celebrate the incredible leaps your child has made in learning and growing and friendships, and more. But look at the circumstances that led to that growth. Was there pain involved? Was growth sometimes uncomfortable? For your child? For you?

As you prepare to thank your child’s teachers for the year, consider thanking them not only for the happy, fun times. Consider thanking them for the hard times as well. For the times they pushed and prodded and held your child accountable. For the times when you struggled to be on the same page and questioned whether this was the right path. My guess is that those are the times that allowed your child to grow the most.

Growing and learning can be hard. I am grateful that my child been able to grow at Seabury where he is loved and supported and nurtured and challenged – even when it is hard!

A Case for Creativity

I was recently reading a post in the blog, This Creative Moment, by my friend, Eric Ode, a local children’s singer, songwriter, poet and writer who has visited Seabury as an artist in residence and periodically as a substitute teacher. Eric is one of the most creative people I know, and his blog explores the idea of creativity and where it comes from.


Eric refers to a recent article in Newsweek magazine about a study indicating that creativity is in decline among America’s youth. The article refers to a longitudinal study by Dr. E. Paul Torrance, that found a high correlation between a child’s creative thinking ability as measured by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking and the child’s success in college and adult careers. The article states that, “the accepted definition of creativity is production of something original and useful… To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result).” Highly creative children more often grow up to be CEOs, entrepreneurs, college presidents, inventors, and diplomats based on Torrance’s research.

Eric talks about his observation of how two different teachers handled a moment in which a five year old tried to take a creative step in a classroom project. One allowed the child to take a creative step, and another shut the child down with a “we’re not doing that now” comment.

As an educator, I am concerned about the ways in which education is being more narrowly defined as a series of discreet skills rather than a broader focus on learning to observe, think, analyze and create. I talk often with parents inquiring about Seabury, and am heartbroken when I hear stories about how their child’s vivid imagination and insatiable curiosity seem to be shut down in programs that focus on the one “right” answer.

As I read Eric’s blog post, I was reminded that what we sometimes describe as the “magic of Seabury” lies partly in the big things like the fact that we are committed to process as much as to product in our students’ work and learning. Our thematic curriculum and creative projects immerse students in both convergent and divergent thinking every day. But the “magic of Seabury” also lies in the little things our teachers do, almost unconsciously, every day.

Just this morning, a third grade student walked in and announced to her teacher she had brought three encyclopedias to school today because she had gotten interested in a particular topic and just wanted to do some research on it. The teacher, rather than telling her that wasn’t part of the plan for the day, celebrated her passion for learning and made time for her to explore her interest.

As a teacher of gifted children, I found that one of the most difficult things facing me daily was deciding what was negotiable in each lesson. “Take out a pencil for this lesson,” was always followed by, “How about a pen? Colored pencil? Chalk?” Lessons that were intended to go one direction could easily end up heading an entirely different way as students began to ask their own questions and as their interests guided discussions. Sometimes I had to do more steering to get us where we needed to be. But the magical times were those when we could follow the interests and inclinations of students and see where they took us. It was always an adventure.

At Seabury, one of the gifts we give our children is the room to wonder, to ask questions, think about possibilities, and to recognize that problems in real life don’t always have neat A, B, C or None of the Above answers. Our curriculum is designed to develop that kind of creative and analytical thinking. But our teachers also encourage creative thinking in a hundred little ways every day. By letting another way of doing something be a possibility. By taking time to say, “I don’t know either – let’s figure it out.” By valuing the process of learning as much as the product.

The next time you watch your child’s teacher work with your child, pay attention to the many ways, large and small, the teacher is encouraging your child’s creativity. You will be amazed – and grateful – as I am!

Beyond the Basics

At Seabury, we know that learning goes far beyond rote memorization and basic skills. Foundational skills are just the launching point for exploring big ideas, making connections, analyzing information and much more. A program that encourages the development of creativity, imagination, and critical thinking allows students to take what they have learned and apply it to new situations, to innovate, to create and to reason.


In this age of educational standards, sometimes learning is reduced to what can be learned rotely and repeated – on creating students who score well on standardized tests rather than students who are thinkers and creators.

A recent article in Slate, Why Preschool Shouldn't Be Like School: New research shows that teaching kids more and more, at ever-younger ages, may backfire, by Alison Gopnik, points out the limitations of learning that is confined to direct instruction and rote learning. It is a great reminder of the value of the kind of learning we provide in our classrooms. Learning that promotes the development of a strong foundation of skills, but that uses those skills as a launching point for going farther and deeper, for taking learning in new directions, for promoting inquiry, and for developing creative, inquisitive minds.

One of the greatest joys of being at Seabury is seeing where our students take the material we give them. Students in fourth grade who studied revolutions in their classroom earlier this year, looking at the similarities and differences between revolutions happening currently and throughout history, nearly staged their own revolution when they felt they had been treated unjustly at a competition several of them participated in. Second grade students learning about the human body regularly use medical terms in conversation to talk about what is going on with them, or to describe what part of their brain is working on a particular activity. Preschool students who appear to “just” be building with blocks are having complex discussions about working together, engineering, transportation, and much more.

Learning in an environment that values the questions as much as the answers, that provides opportunities to go beyond the basics, that promotes exploration and discovery is at the heart of Seabury. Miracles happen every day as our students make discoveries, get excited about new ideas, and make new connections. It’s what makes our school such an exciting place to be!

Spring Break Is Here!

Spring Break Is Here!! The school has been buzzing this week as students and staff prepare to head out on spring break adventures. Whether your family is staying close to home or heading somewhere exotic, we wish you a safe and happy week!


Spring break is a great time for families to share experiences together. You know, as we do, that our children remember the places they go and the people they meet, and that learning naturally happens in all kinds of circumstances. Helping dig the family garden can be a time for discovering how plants grow or what soil is made of. Meeting people, from a docent at a museum to the cab driver that takes your family to your hotel, can provide opportunities for discovery as well.

Learning at Seabury focuses on experience – learning by exploring, touching, wondering, building, doing. This week, our preschool students learned about the human body, including learning how long their intestines are by measuring 23 feet (the length of an average intestine) of spaghetti noodles, cooking them and then seeing how they fit in the bowl when they are all twisted together like intestines are in our bodies. Middle school students went to PLU to meet with a chemistry professor who is working on experiments with nano technology, something students are experimenting with at Seabury. Not only will these first hand experiences help them remember what they’ve learned, they will give students chances to see what a college campus is like, to find out a bit about what professors do, to think about what it must be like to be a doctor. The richness of these experiences provides for learning that goes far beyond simple facts.

As you work and play with your family this week, I encourage you to stop from time to time and think about what your children might be learning from the experiences they are having. Not just when they are doing “educational” things like visiting museums, but when they are doing regular things like riding in the car or helping with the garden. Listen to their questions and observations. Pay attention to the connections they make as they interact with people they come across and situations they find themselves in.

Children learn by doing. Have a great time this week doing fun, relaxing, family activities together!

Building a Strong Foundation

This has been parent-teacher conference week at Seabury. A time for celebrating the progress students are making. A time for identifying and addressing areas for growth. Conferences, both the ongoing, informal discussions that happen every day and the formal conferences held this week an important elements of the partnership between parents and teachers that supports the success of Seabury’s students.


Often, we find ourselves talking about the priorities in our academic program. The conversation often centers around the question, “How can we be sure our children are getting what they need?” In this era in which discussions of public education often focus on how we ensure students meet minimum standards, learning is often described as acquiring lists of distinct skills. Parents of Seabury students recognize that learning is more than that, particularly for gifted children. But the question remains, “Where should the emphasis be?” That our child is able to write in grammatically accurate sentences with correct punctuation and spelling, or that he communicate complex ideas through writing? That our child can add, subtract, multiply and divide correctly, or that she understand mathematical reasoning and algebraic thinking? That we develop a strong set of core skills and competencies, or that we focus on big ideas, deeper understandings, more complex connections?

Of course, the answer is yes to both – students need to develop a strong set of foundational skills in reading, writing, communication, mathematics. They need to develop basic knowledge and understandings in social studies and science. But they also need to think deeply, grapple with complexities, express themselves creatively, and develop skills in critical and analytical reasoning. A person with amazing ideas needs to be able to communicate them in a way that others understand, including with correct punctuation and spelling. Foundation skills are just that – a foundation. But the ultimate goal is to develop thinkers, dreamers, innovators and problem solvers.

You only need to read our classroom blogs to see how this happens at Seabury. There are examples to be found every day in every classroom of students becoming thinkers. Asking profound questions. Grappling with difficult problems. Applying knowledge in new and unique ways. Creating alternatives and new applications for basic ideas.

But the question often remains. How can parents be sure their children are getting what they need? Here are some of the questions I ask myself when I am thinking about my own child:

•  Is he happy at school? Gifted children are typically not happy if they are not adequately challenged. While he might not love every part of every day (who among us loves every aspect of our jobs?), is he generally finding school to be a place where he wants to be?
• Does he feel safe and understood at school – among kids and teachers who “get” him and who he “gets?"
• Are activities at school thought-provoking, inspiring, and challenging? Is he finding topics that capture his imagination, provoke questions, or stimulate his interests? Does he bring home interesting ideas or want to debate with us on topics that he feels passionate about?
• Is he growing in his ability to ask relevant, interesting questions? Gaining knowledge and having answers is important, but is he also encouraged to ask great questions? Is he digging deeper, inquiring more fully, and debating more vigorously?
• Are his communication skills growing? Is he, over time, expressing himself more clearly orally and in writing? Is he showing steady improvement in the mechanics of his written work, but also showing growth in the thinking behind his oral and written expression?
• Is his mathematical reasoning growing? When life presents him with a problem, is he showing increasing ability to call upon his mathematical knowledge to solve the math problems he encounters?

Last month, when Dr. Linda Silverman talked with parents about raising their gifted children, she encouraged parents to focus on what they can do to build the relationships they want to have with their children when they are adults. For me, that also applies to learning. As educators, we ask ourselves what we can do now that will move our students toward becoming the thinkers, communicators, leaders, inventors and learners we want them to become? As I think about the future that awaits our Seabury students, I can hardly wait to see where life will take them. But I have no doubt that they will march into their future as learners, leaders, innovators, and problem solvers. And that our job is to open the doors to the possibilities that await them as widely as possible!

 

Reflections on Dr. Silverman's Talk

On February 16, Seabury was proud to host Dr. Linda Silverman, director of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development and its subsidiary, the Gifted Development Center, in Denver, CO, for a presentation to parents and educators of gifted children. Speaking on the topic, “If Our Child is So Smart, Why Aren’t Our Lives Easier?” Dr. Silverman addressed the characteristics of gifted children and their gifted parents, talked about how we can support the learning, growth and development of our gifted children, and talked about the joys and challenges of parenting our intense, sensitive, inquisitive, creative kids. It was a wonderful night for those who love and support gifted children.


Since that night, I have found myself reflecting on one small side note at the end of Dr. Silverman’s presentation regarding introversion and extroversion in the gifted population. Research, including Dr. Silverman’s own research, has shown that about 60% of typical gifted children tend to be introverts, a higher percentage of introverts than is found in the general population. Research has also shown that the more profoundly gifted a person is, the greater the likelihood that the person will tend toward introversion. As she explained this to participants, Dr. Silverman pointed to me and asked, “Sandi, would you say that more of your Seabury students are typically introverts than extroverts?” I agreed – yes, the 60/40 percentages she talked about seemed about right for Seabury students.

In and of itself, that is an interesting tidbit to think about, and something for parents and teachers working with gifted children to consider when setting expectations and building programs. But it struck me this week, as I have given tours of Seabury to visitors and prospective families, that the majority of our students don’t look like introverts to visitors. And I think that says something important about our school.

Introverts, by nature, have a strong interior life. They tend to keep much of who they are and what they think to themselves until they feel comfortable enough to begin to reveal their true selves. Extroverts, by contrast, tend to be more outwardly focused and are usually comfortable opening up to people they meet right away. When you meet extroverts, you often get to see the best of who they are immediately. When you meet introverts, at first you only see the small fraction of themselves that they are comfortable sharing right away. It is only as you begin to build a relationship with introverts that they begin to open up and you get to see the best of who they are.

In thinking about Seabury, it struck me that many of our kids who tend toward introversion, those who were extremely shy in other school settings or who are quiet when they are with people they don’t know, feel safe enough and comfortable enough to let down their guard and be themselves at Seabury. Some of the students who have become our leaders, especially in our upper grade classrooms, are introverts who were extremely shy when they were younger. Being in a safe environment among intellectual peers who understand and appreciate them, and among teachers who support and encourage them, gives our students the confidence to take risks and step outside their comfort zone, something that is vital to learning and growth. Our students who tend toward introversion will always be introverts, appreciating time alone for reflection and re-energizing. But when introverts feel safe enough to reveal their true selves, they are willing to explore, discover, take risks, and develop confidence.

Perhaps this resonated with me because I tend toward introversion, and so does my son. I have watched my son blossom and grow in his years at Seabury, going from being a preschool student afraid to talk to his teacher to someone who is a leader in his classroom, on his baseball team, and in many areas of his life. I am grateful that he has had the chance to grow up at Seabury, and to develop the self-confidence that he will need as he moves on to high school and college. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of a school community that supports and encourages all of our children to discover their gifts and develop their talents. And I am grateful to Dr. Silverman for helping me see the value of what we do at Seabury in a new light.

Advocacy

Funding for gifted education in Washington is at risk due to the current budget challenges our state faces. Parents, school personnel and others are working hard to make sure that the needs of our state’s highly capable children are addressed through our schools. The Washington Coalition for Gifted Education is working to make the voices of those advocating for gifted children to be heard in Olympia.


What does this have to do with Seabury, an independent school that is not tied to the public system? At Seabury, we recognize and are committed to the unique learning needs of gifted children. As the only PK-8th grade independent school with a program designed for gifted children in the South Sound, our voices need to join those in the public school community working to raise awareness about our children and the kind of education they need and deserve to discover their gifts and develop their talents.

Seabury’s program is designed with these understandings in mind:

• Gifted children are not better or more special than other children. They are simply children who learn differently and who deserve school programs that allow them to learn and grow and be challenged each and every day.
• Giftedness is not just a quality related to school. It is a way of being. A way of experiencing the world. It not only affects the intellectual life of a person, but impacts all of how they perceive and interact with the world. Effective gifted education is not simply academic programming – it encompasses the development of the whole child including intellectual, social, emotional and physical growth.
• Gifted education is different from academically advanced programs. It takes into account the fact that gifted students are not typically equally gifted in all areas, and that the degree of giftedness impacts the pace and depth in the curriculum that is required to provide adequate challenges. Tailoring the pace of instruction, and providing adequate depth, breadth and complexity of study are necessary if a gifted student is to be appropriately challenged in all subject areas.
• Gifted students benefit when they have the chance to learn and grow with other gifted students who think and learn like they do. As important as classroom instruction is the opportunity to interact with other students who “get me.” Developing a strong sense of identity starts with finding a community of those who can relate to me, and with whom I can relate. Bringing gifted students together benefits their intellectual, social and emotional growth, and leads to students who have a strong sense of identity and confidence.

It is important that Seabury be a voice in the gifted education community, advocating for the needs of our unique children. We need to continue to reach out to find children in the community who would benefit from the program we offer, and to advocate for gifted children who are served in other places. We need to promote understanding of this often misunderstood population, and educate parents, teachers and the public. We look forward to continuing to be part of the conversation!

• Join Seabury at Gifted Education Day in Olympia on February 11. Learn more at the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education website.

• To learn more about parenting gifted children, join us on Wednesday, February 16 to hear Dr. Linda Silverman from the Gifted Development Center in Denver. Seabury is sponsoring her presentation entitled, “If Our Child is So Smart, Why Aren’t Our Lives Easier?” at the Tacoma Convention Center Commerce Room. Reserve your space by contacting Halley Griffin at Seabury Middle School.