Capital City #3

Today I observed a 5th/6th grade class, a Kindergarten and a Pre-K class. What was most interesting about this visit was my conversations with Ms. Stroman about Capital City and the Expeditionary Learning culture. There were four things that stood out to me: the concept of culture, commitment to service, student assessment, and an expeditionary learning project.

In the entry of the school their is a Green Building project. It was not a project that I observed in the making but a final product displayed at the school. What is unique about the expeditionary learning is that projects last for long periods of time and encourages students to apply subjects like math, environmental studies, and/or art to real world projects. In this particular projects students were to work with Green concepts to design a single floor of Capital City. They drew preliminary blueprints, researched green school buildings and then proposed their own design for green improvements. These designs were to include 5 improvements (solar paneling, recycled materials, dual flush toilets, etc.) with the possibility of being presented the CCCS Board. To complete their projects, students had to increase the size of their blueprints to scale, and create a 3-D model of their proposal. It was an indepth project and had kids working with relevant material.

Projects at CCCS encourage service to the community. Some of the projects that students make are sold and the proceeds donated to the cause of the students choice. Usually they give to an organization related to the project they were working on. For example, there will be an upcoming unit on the Chesapeake Bay and students will donate the money they raise to the a local oranization that does DC watershed clean-up.

Assessment is different too. There are no A,B,C,D grades. From pre-K thru grade 4, students receive either an E, an M, or a B, plus a narrative description of the child progress. These letters correspond to whether the child is exceeding, meeting or falling below the expected range of performance. In 5th grade, students are assessed on a scale of 1-4 plus a narrative. Teacher make these assessments based on student Progress, Social Responsibility, and Effort.

And finally, Ms. Stroman talked a little about the culture of caring. A pre-K student has a serious emotional meltdown when he was not able to play today because he had other work to do. He was not being punished but was very upset and could not catch his breath because he was crying. Ms. Stroman encouraged him to breath like her, slow and deep. Then she asked the class if they could help. The whole class breathed slow and deep with Ms. Stroman and the distressed boy. Eventually he calmned down, and Ms. Stroman asked another student to tell him why everything would be okay. A classmate explained that he could play another day. They will be back to play. This is an example of how students are taught to care and have compassion for the members of the group.

Expeditionay Learning is talked about in An Ethics of Excellence by Ron Berger.