Memorial Update

January 30, 2022

2023 Inspired Learning Day Design Challenge- Click to View Slideshow

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Some Successful Zip Lines! Click the picture to View!

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February 13, 2023

Good Morning Memorial Families,

I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend. Our staff left quite exhausted on Friday afternoon after a very exciting, busy, and fun week. Between the 100th day of school, the Inspired Learning Day Design Challenge, all of the Portrait of a Learner activities, and our All School Meeting on Friday, routines are a bit out of whack. Throw in a 60 degree day, and it feels like spring fever a month early.

Our Inspired Learning Day Design Challenge was a smashing success. Throughout the week, students deepened their understanding of our Portrait of a Learner competencies by learning about the six superheroes and what their superpowers are. They then listened to an adventure story about the PoL Superheroes venture around the globe with their friend, JiJi (from ST Math). They encounter a problem when they reach a large canyon and the superheroes can fly across, but penguins don’t fly. Here come our students! With their new knowledge of how to be a solution seeker, skillful collaborator, effective communicator, inspired innovator, global citizen, and mindful learner, each child designed their own zip line device to help JiJi cross the canyon safely and quickly. On Thursday afternoon, students brought their unique designs to their school families. Family split into two groups (with students from each grade) and shared their ideas, redesigned to incorporate everyone’s ideas or adopted on person’s idea, and got to work building using their choice of 7 materials. Some students were given token by their classroom teacher for exemplifying a PoL competency throughout the day. Those tokens allowed students to purchase extra materials that were helpful when building their zip line. Finally, students tested their zip lines and if it didn’t quite work, they had time to redesign and try again. It was fascinating to watch our students so effectively collaborate with one another, communicate respectfully, and truly have fun learning together. They loved spending extended time in their smaller families, and when I reflect back on the day it reminds me just how important it is to allow students the time and space to engage in authentic, inquiry based learning. The pictures and videos do not do it justice, but I thought families might enjoy seeing some of them. See the slideshow below for scenes and short video clips from the day.

Have a wonderful week, and an enjoyable February vacation. As a reminder, we have an Early Release this Friday for a Professional Development Day for teachers.

Warmly,

Lauren and Wendy