4th grade Playground Presentation from Kelli Etheredge on Vimeo.

Want to see AP Art students at work?  Here is a video of a day at work in their figure study class with Felicia Olds. 

AP Art Figure Study from Kelli Etheredge on Vimeo.

Model is Richland Pugh.  Students spent three days working with live models who graciously donated their study hall time to model.  Other models were Keaton Andrews and Ann-Kathrin Roth.

On Monday, Earth Day, 4/22, the entire 6^th grade Skyped an intermediate school from Tucson, Arizona about the oil spill.  In preparation for the video conference, sixth graders researched three days.  After compiling their research, students created PowerPoint presentations of the most intriguing facts related to the oil spill.  The video conference opened with the fourth grade Arizona students asking questions about the local impact of the oil spill.  St. Paul’s sixth graders then presented the information they found in their research.  The presentation helped the fourth graders, who as their teacher noted live in a desert, understand the environmental impact of the oil spill on communities near the Gulf.  For St. Paul’s students, our sixth graders gained practice in the skills of critical thinking, researching, and communicating. 

 by David Hughes

What have St. Paul’s fourth and fifth graders been up to this year? Well, writing two musicals of course.

My music classes started working back in October on two projects that have developed into some fantastic musicals. The fifth graders have written a musical called Mustachia that will be performed this Friday at 1:00 pm in the Moorer Theater located on the campus of St. Paul’s Episcopal School. The fourth graders have also developed a great musical that will be performed on May 20th in the same location. The fourth graders originally decided to write a musical about a talent show at St. Paul’s in the 80′s. However over time it morphed into the final idea of “A Day in the Life of a Fourth Grader at St. Paul’s…In the 80′s” Both musicals are hilarious.

  I gave the one directive in the beginning, “Brainstorm!” The students spent a few weeks brainstorming, debating, voting and laughing. Throughout the school year the musicals slowly took form; story lines were developed, songs were picked and lyrics were written.

To learn more about Mustachia, watch videos and view photos you may visit http://mustachia.com. I will be posting more information very soon about the fourth grade play here on this website so check back for photos, videos and songs.

So, why in the world would I do something as crazy as give my students free reign to create their own musical and choose any music they wanted to choose? Am I lazy? Well yes, at times, but that’s not the point. I blame it on a silly little book I read last year. Sugata Mitra’s “Beyond the Hole in the Wall”.

About the book: Ten years ago, educator Sugata Mitra and his colleagues cracked open a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed a networked PC, and left it there for the local children to freely explore. What they quickly saw in their ‘Hole in the Wall’ experiment was that kids from one of the most desperately poor areas of the world could, without instruction, quickly learn how the PC operated. The children also freely collaborated with each other, exploring the world of high-tech online connectivity with ease. It was the dawning of Mitra’s introduction to self-organized learning, and it would shape the next decade of his research. This important update on Mitra’s groundbreaking work (which provided the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’) offers new research and ideas that show how self-directed learning can make kids smarter and more creative. He also provides step-by-step instruction on how to integrate it into any classroom. It’s an important lesson that could reshape our schools and reinvigorate our educational system. With a foreword by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of both MIT’s Media Lab and the One Laptop per Child Association.

Ever since reading about Mitra’s research I wanted to see if this open style could in any way be implemented in my music classes. Last year I attempted a more controlled version of this “develop your own musical” project when I let my second semester fifth graders write a musical. It was a fantastic musical called “The Real Meaning of Reality”! (Read about it here) I was pretty involved in the whole process and saw areas the musical could have been better developed had I not stifled the student’s creativity with my opinions. So I altered my approach a bit this year. I still did not follow the exact steps put forth through Mitra’s research but I did give the students more freedom to collaborate. It is also difficult to offer a true Self Organized Learning Environment because my space is not conducive to this approach. However, to the best of my abilities I tried to get out of the way and provide the students a “Self Organized” type of environment. They were encouraged to simply create. When ideas began to slow or stagnate I would pose questions or occasionally assist in joining different concepts together.

 I must admit that while I love to “teach” I am finding it quite humorous and humbling that my students seem to work harder and do more when I function less as a traditional “teacher” and more as an “un”opinionated, passive “tour guide”. It is a powerful feeling to watch them take ownership of their ideas as they develop concepts and follow a massive project through to it’s completion. It is an even better feeling when parents tell you their children can’t stop talking about Mustachia. It is an even better feeling when a parent tells you they are tired of listening to the Mustachia music in the car with their child, because at that point I know the student is completely invested in the ideas they initiated, developed and completed.

Students learning and developing without needing a teacher to force feed the information. Isn’t that what we all have to do to survive when we “graduate from school”?

After reading Creating Innovators, by Tony Wagner, in a St. Paul’s Faculty book club, Mrs. Law was inspired to challenge her students with finding a problem on their campus and creating a solution.  The problem they wanted to solve?  Litter on their campus and in their classrooms.  Students used critical thinking skills, collaboration, and problem solving to create a video about the problem as well as offer solutions for their schoolmates.  In addition to the video, students visited other classes and invited them to join the Clean Up Crew, handing out stickers to anyone who joined.  Mrs. Law's class worked extremely hard to combat the problem, and they thoroughly enjoyed the work!  Mrs. Law is extremely proud of the finished product.  Check it out:

The Cleanup Crew from Kelli Etheredge on Vimeo.

In 9th grade composition, Lindsey Cerkovnik's students don't just study mythology they live it.  To help reinforce the literature they are reading in English, Mrs. Cerkovnik's students review the myths they are reading by reliving them.  Here is a picture of her 9^th grade composition class acting out the story of Perseus today.

     In Greek mythology, if you gaze upon a gorgon, you turn to stone. In this picture, Perseus (Bryce Huff) is showing the head of the gorgon Medusa (his wallet), whom he has just slain, to Polydectes (Ostin McPherson) and his supporters (Addison Metcalfe, Hunter Stokes, Henry Mann, Tre Threat, BJ Edmonds, Darius Whitfield, Trejon Hunter, Michael Jemison, Colton Wadkins, and Jacob Evans). They have all been turned into stone! Not pictured are Meredith Jackson (who played Danae) and Kate Sullins Canfield (who played one of the Gray Women).

Love the SPS jerseys! GO SAINTS!

The ninth grade students have just completed a unit on Genetics. They learned the steps the scientist took to discover what DNA really was and how Watson and Crick made the model of DNA, the Double Helix. The section began with Gregor Mendel ‘s discovery of genes and how genes are passed from one generation to the next.  Mendel experimented with pea plants that had seven different genes and two different characteristic for each gene. The students studied protein synthesis in detail and realized that each one of the traits were made from proteins. This WOW factor really pulled the section together. The icing on the cake was the Strawberry DNA lab! Students could not believe they could see the DNA stands. Strawberries like many other fruits and vegetables have been genetically engineered and have thousands to millions of DNA strands. So even though one strand of DNA is microscopic, many thousands of strands of DNA can be seen with the naked eye. In the DNA extraction Lab, the students break through the cell wall, cell membrane and nuclear membrane and extract the DNA.  Through steps performed in the laboratory they were all able to visualize the Double Helical structure of Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA)!

On April 27th, the boys and girls in Ms. Dyess' Transitional Kindergarten class were given a map...a treasure map! The map was to the lost treasure of Wragg Swamp. They had studied maps and had discussed the fact that our very own football and baseball fields were built on Wragg Swamp. Wragg Swamp was an old pirate hideout. Once the map was found, Mrs. Davis asked Dr. McDonald to help Ms. Dyess' class in their pursuit of the treasure. Dr. McDonald assisted the group with his map reading skills and general knowledge of the area. Once they located an area in which they wanted to dig everyone took turns digging and a chest was discovered! The treasure included gold, jewels, coins and artifacts from exotic lands. They divided the treasure and all went home tired and happy!

On Friday, April 20^th, the one year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the entire 6^th grade class Skyped an intermediate school from Tucson, Arizona about the oil spill.  In preparation for the video conference, sixth graders researched two days.  After compiling their research, students created PowerPoint presentations of the most intriguing facts related to the oil spill.  The video conference opened with the fourth grade Arizona students asking questions about the local impact of the oil spill.  St. Paul’s sixth graders then presented the information they found in their research.  The presentation helped the fourth graders, who as their teacher noted live in a desert, understand the environmental impact of the oil spill on communities near the Gulf.  For St. Paul’s students, our sixth graders gained practice in the skills of critical thinking, researching, and communicating. 

Sophomore World History students recently practiced historical thinking, collaborating, and writing about the Age of Imperialism, 1850-1914.  Using analytical techniques developed by the US National Archives and Records Administration, students analyzed a photograph of Congolese rubber workers, an advertisement for bicycle tires, a political cartoon, and a children’s ABC book to understand imperialism’s impact on African, Asian, and European societies.  Then, using historical reading skills developed in an earlier unit, students worked in small groups to interpret a dozen primary sources detailing the impact of British imperialism in India. 

The primary sources offered conflicting accounts of British imperialism in India, requiring students to consider carefully how the author’s background and word choice, the intended audience, and the historical context affects what the document says.  This is called sourcing analysis and contextualization analysis.  To understand the truth of what happened, students also learned how to corroborate similar sources and how to reconcile conflicting sources.  They used their prior knowledge developed through textbook readings, direct instruction, and classroom discussions as part of their contextualization and sourcing analysis for each primary document. 

It was terrific to see them utilizing all of their resources in class as they cross-referenced the primary sources with information given in the textbook or class notes.  For fifty minutes each day, students talked history.  They asked probing questions, made predictions and inferences, drew conclusions, and created historical knowledge.  Students reflected their understanding of imperialism by writing a persuasive essay in which they incorporated evidence from the primary sources.  Below is a link to some of the comments students made about this approach to historical thinking and learning.

                                                                                                                            -  Peter Wilson

Click Here for Student Comments

Sophomore World History students recently practiced historical thinking, collaborating, and writing about the British Factory Act of 1833, an early child labor law.  Using a method developed by the Stanford History Education Group, students interpreted nearly a dozen primary sources and considered the author’s background, intended audience, and word choice, as well as the historical context.  The goal was to help students develop an understanding that primary sources reflect particular perspectives or points-of-view for which historians must account when doing research.  In other words, the goal was to help students think and work like historians.  

Working in groups of four and using a technique called a Structured Academic Controversy (SAC), students worked collaboratively to reach consensus on an open-ended question using eight primary sources that offered conflicting perspectives.  Students wrestled with how to make sense of conflicting evidence, just as historians do.  If the group did not reach consensus, the members had to explain the points of difference that could not be resolved.  The SAC invited students to listen carefully to their colleagues’ interpretations of the sources, and it required students to communicate clearly and effectively with each other to solve a problem.  Last, students individually answered the question in an essay in which they had to use at least four primary sources and then explain how the sourcing information, the historical context, and the author’s word choices shaped the perspective or affected the credibility of at least three of the sources used.

Peter Wilson
Sophomore History Instructor

Click here for a sample student essay.

In my 6^th grade American History classes today, students experienced life in the trenches as a soldier in World War I.  In the interactive game Over the Top, students began as privates stationed in a dugout in France.  They quickly discovered the harsh conditions of war!  The deadly consequences of their quick decisions surprised them the most.  In the second interactive experience, Trench Warfare, students acted as commanders leading missions in the war.  The commanders could only select 3 weapons to carry out each mission.  The students were challenged by the critical thinking that was required to accomplish each mission.  The sixth graders were also amazed at how many men they lost on each mission and how little ground they gained.  After the second interactive experience, the student’s blogged on their class website about the difficulties soldiers faced during World War I.  Most of the students were amazed at how hard it is being a soldier!  Sixth grade parents can visit their student's class page to see the responses, but for everyone else, here is a taste of the reflections about their interactive experience:

Mrs. Messer

Mrs. Steadman's Latin class retold various myths.  Students chose how they retold the story.  Students used Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft PhotoStory.  Here is one student group's video of the retelling of Pandora.

Pandora's Box on Vimeo.

In World Literature, 10th graders study both ancient and medieval epics.  After reading all of the epics, student groups worked together to demonstrate their learning.  Students had 3 goals:  (1) to summarize the key events in the epic, (2) to identify the societal values learned from the epics and (3) to analyze the societal values in the epic that still exist today.  Groups chose their medium for demonstrating their understanding.  Some chose to create videos, others created an artistic rendering of the story and then explained it in a podcast, and one group even created a game using Kodu.  The variety of the projects allowed students to use their strengths when creating their final product.  Students then posted their final products to Glogster Edu so everyone could see their work.  You can see one of the group's projects here.

It was wonderful to see how much the students learned, how they connected the epics to their own culture, and how creative their were with their projects.   Kelli Etheredge

In Mrs. Steadman's Latin class, students learned about the Roman classes.  To demonstrate their understanding of the different classes, students used the Motivator poster application on Big Huge Labs.  Here are some of the posters they created:

For the past twenty-eight years, the senior Economics class Stock Project has been a rite of passage at St. Paul’s. With the many changes in the technology available to do research, the project has evolved over the years.  When I first arrived in 1983 the projects were manually prepared on typewriters with hand-drawn graphs.  This year stock projects were produced utilizing a wide array of technology from various websites to Excel.

The project has both Macro and Micro Economics components.  In the Macro component students follow economic indicators for approximately three months using a wide variety of indexes including unemployment rates, CPI, retail sales, and GDP which they track on a number of websites. Based on data collected, the students then make assumptions as to the position of the country’s current economic cycle.  In the Micro component, students “invest” id="mce_marker"0,000 in the stock of three corporations which are traded on the NYSE or NASDAQ.  These companies are then researched to determine their history, source of revenue, and financial positions.  The value of the stocks, along with the Dow Jones Industrial Averages, are kept daily in an Excel spreadsheet.  At the end of the project students produce a report, with graphs, typically twelve pages in length, comparing their selected stocks to the Dow Jones. Perhaps the most important benefit of the project is the skills that are learned by using the Excel program. I was most heartened to hear students in my class this year talking about using Excel to collect and analyze data for their sports and outside activities and actually using it for other real-life applications.  Victor Helmsing

St. Paul’s faculty member Kelli Etheredge was selected to represent the U.S. and advance to compete against educators from around the world at the Microsoft Partners in Learning Global Forum, November 6–11, 2011 in Washington, D.C.

The Innovative Education Forum (IEF) is an event recognizing innovative teachers and school leaders who creatively and effectively use technology in their curriculum to help improve the way kids learn while increasing student success.

Pictured at right is Kelli presenting her project, The Trial of the Count of Monte Cristo, to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the forum.