by Cynthia Calhoun | Sep 25, 2019 | Blogs, Home Page News, Student News & Accolades
Words Have Power Summer Camp
In summer 2019, Rainbow Community School had the Words Have Power summer camp. April Fox taught this camp with such incredible results! This camp was for ages 10-13, with a total of 10 students attending for the week. The students who participated published an anthology of their work. April, their teacher, compiled all their writings and it’s now available on Amazon.
Anthology cover. We have a copy in the Main Office!
We interviewed April who told us the whole idea of the camp was to allow kids to explore writing “without all the rules.” She showed her students that there’s “school writing” and there’s also “fun writing.” April wanted her students to know that there is a world of writing outside of grammar, spelling and following conventional rules.
This was a camp that gave students a chance to explore writing in a creative way – possibly in ways they had never done before. They used words for nothing but the “pure expression of what was in their heads,” which allowed them to truly connect with the idea of writing on a different level.
Each morning, April would put up quotes from different writers or inspirational figures that had something to do with writing or succeeding. Students would pick their favorite quote and write in their journals, reflecting about how they felt, or scribbled other musings related to the quote they chose. These quotes came from different artists and writers, such as Maya Angelou, Tupac, Elvis Costello and many others.
How the anthology came about
Students studied different types of writing throughout the week. One activity they did was to use pictures to inspire their writing. If they saw a photo of a butterfly that inspired them, for example, they could write a poem in response, and perhaps “shape it” in the form of butterfly wings.
They did a lot of free writing, haikus and had the freedom to explore whatever type of writing style that interested them, from short stories to graphic novel layouts. They even explored writing a screenplay and all that went with it: writing, directing, rehearsing and performing their written words. Students were allowed to edit their work or not, depending on how they felt about it.
At the end of each day students could elect to turn their work in to be part of an anthology that April would put together later in the summer. After the camp ended, she spent time compiling and typing out each of the writings her students submitted. She remarked that some poems were funny, some were more serious, some explored serious issues and other poems touched on lighter subjects, such as smelly socks. In effect, these poems were a snapshot of this particular age group, and allowed their individual selves to come out. They had no filters. Their work reflects what was in their heads at that moment.
Student success
April considers the most successful part of the week to be when she witnessed an increase in student confidence with regard to their writing. They produced some insightful, heartfelt, and well-written work. They learned that even though they might struggle with specific aspects of writing academically, they can still be incredible storytellers, and write pretty remarkable content.
All photos courtesy of April Fox. We have a copy of the anthology in the Main Office!
by Cynthia Calhoun | Aug 27, 2019 | Home Page News
Collaboration and Renewal
Collaboration and Renewal: two key words that describe what it is for faculty to come back together for ten days of training before the start of school.
Faculty and staff began their August workdays with something that is so integral to Rainbow: Centering and an Opening Ceremony. The next few days were filled with division meetings, team collaboration time, and safety training. They delved into the their goals and intentions for the year, working with Dyad partners, themes in equity, and more. Reneé led an incredible training around this year’s theme: Wholeness.
The Path of Authentic Learning
Reneé’s training about wholeness is part of a year-long training series that she is offering the staff entitled, “The Path of Authentic Learning,” which is based on her doctoral research. All RCS staff learned about strands in “an educator’s model for spiritual development” and “teaching as a spiritual practice.” They explored “the field of connection” and the idea of vulnerability – both with the student and the teacher, tied in with authentic learning. They had a chance to do some journal reflections throughout their training days.
Reflection journals
Continuing collaboration and renewal in Hot Springs, NC
It was with that theme, and with this new knowledge, that all RCS staff embarked on an overnight retreat in Hot Springs, NC. They had a chance to engage in additional trainings that would benefit the classroom. They engaged in nature games that involved all the senses, positive discipline, and a module about “aliveness.” Staff investigated topics like awakening the senses, infinite learning, imagination, and even Oneness.
Positive Discipline training, led by Eddy and Josie
To be sure, all community members had a chance to go to the hot tubs, camp in a tent, or stay in a rustic cabin. They enjoyed fellowship and visiting with each other after summer break. In fact, every moment of these training days was intended to create a sense of wholeness and groundedness. That helped prepare everyone for a new school year.
Time in nature and participating in Restorative Circles was another component of the retreat. So many mentioned how sights of the forest, the running river, listening to the cicadas, and taking in the earthy scents of surrounding trees were incredibly uplifting and healing. They paired that with communicative circle activities in which folks shared about their “authentic self.” This was a path to forging vibrant, lifelong friendships built on a solid foundation.
Restorative Circles
Getting ready
The overnight retreat ended with Closing Circle, in full practice of the year’s “wholeness” theme. Everyone stood together, at times holding hands, sharing in song and in moments of vulnerability. This concluded with a final sounding of the singing bowl. Now, they were almost ready. With this session of renewal came the energy to return to campus. Teachers finalized their first-week lesson plans. They put the final touches on decorating their student-centered classrooms. Still, they arranged desks and furniture just so, printed out any necessary materials AND….
The singing bowl at Closing Circle
The first day of school began. It promised to be the best year ever!
Photo credits: Cynthia Calhoun
by Cynthia Calhoun | Oct 25, 2018 | News
So many things…all in a day’s work
Sacred geometry, science experiments, and literacy – all in a day’s work. Maybe not even a day’s work, but in the span of an hour and a half, students experienced some incredible learning.
Language Arts
It was mid-morning, and students were well-immersed in their classes.
Teachers create units that complement each other. Today’s activity included vocabulary words that would come up in science class later in the morning. Students were likely not familiar with them.
Susan, their teacher, had them study the list of words for two minutes. We love that some kiddos wanted to know why they needed to study and memorize them. Susan had them “sit tight” because they would find out in a few minutes.
At the end of the two minutes, students turned their papers over and had one minute to write down the words they remembered. Afterward, some folks remembered 2, 3, or 5 words, and one student had 15!
Learning strategies
Some students had words from an “A” list, or from a “B” list. The words on each list had different characteristics. Some words were bold, some were in alphabetical order, and more.
Students discussed their strategies for memorization. One student said he memorized words in groups. Another said she put a description with each word. Others mentioned eliminating words that were too long, repeating different words over and over, and some tried writing them down.
Learning objective
The idea here was that It’s important to try different learning strategies. By doing so, students can figure out what works best for them, and what doesn’t. By sharing ideas, everyone could learn a strategy that maybe they hadn’t tried previously.
Learning games
Next came cutouts of the vocabulary words. Students split into groups of 3 (with 8 vocabulary words each) or 4 (with 6 vocabulary words each) to collaborate and separate their vocabulary into categories. They were allowed to discuss and work together to do so. Susan instructed them not to worry about words they didn’t know, but to work together to see if someone else knew the meaning. If not, they could use deductive reasoning to separate them out.
What a way to learn vocabulary. Students had some fun and challenging approaches to learning new words. They will then relate them back to their science learning, as well as tie their different classes together to touch on the different domains. The lessons on this day emphasized the mental and creative domains.
Art History
Across the hall, another Omega class studied art history and math. It wasn’t just another garden-variety middle school class, however. Their teacher, Mark, was incorporating elements of sacred geometry.
Sacred geometry is an area of intense interest for Mark. In fact, he’s publishing a book on the subject soon.
While in his class, students studied Renaissance paintings and works by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Verocchio, and others.
Da Vinci and math
While listening to Mark’s lecture, students were quite riveted with the presentation. Mark mentioned how Da Vinci was a great artist, AND used mathematics heavily in his work.
Incredibly, perspective and sacred geometry came into play. The proportions of the human body, for example, represent universal sacred geometry parameters. Da Vinci’s paintings include so much symbolism as well as “hidden” geometry, especially in his human subjects.
For example, one might be able to find evidence of the sacred spiral or even phi ratios in different Da Vinci paintings.
Students had a chance to try their hand at creating their own works of sacred geometry. They used a compass and ruler and made their own golden rectangles, along with sacred spirals.
They also saw examples of how those patterns show in up nature on the most minute scale (such as with tiny seashells) all the way up to a universal scale, such as with spiral galaxies.
The “Eggs-periment”
Back in the science classroom, the Omega group that had become vocabulary masters began delving into their new science unit.
They began an investigation involving the standard egg. They chose to either do an “egg-speriment” or “what about other eggs” for their research.
The eggs-periment involved observing changes in an egg and recording those observations. The latter assignment gave students the opportunity to study an egg-laying creature to investigate.
Both projects required entries into student science journals, presentations, making models, and writing effective science reports.
Omegans have a rich curriculum
All these interesting subjects, all by the noontime hour! We can only imagine what happened after lunch. All in a day’s work.