Inspired by Musical Director Sue Ford’s vision of writing all original songs on the theme of Love for December’s Winter Program, Susie Robidoux, 4th grade’s fearless Lead Teacher, developed an entirely new unit on Love. She got her students started by asking them: What is love for you? What does it look like? What does it feel like? From there they came to understand love as having three distinct forms. Love is first an expression originated in the self, then an action cultivated in community, and finally an offering given with generosity. The fourth graders learned to think of it this way: Love is fostered within us… grown among us…. and gifted beyond us. These beautiful song lyrics reflect their journey through their curriculum on Love.
Let us work together for love in head, heart, and hand. Let us work together for love to make a better land. Love is many things; I cannot count them all. It is powerful. It is peaceful. Love is many things; I cannot count them all. It can break down every wall. Through the woods past the valley where the sea of green grass grows. Love is found in nature’s harmony where the holy river flows. Friends, family, love of life; I feel the warmth from you. Follow me to the land of love where your light is honored and true to make a different land.
The 2nd grade River Otters wrote this original song in collaboration with their teachers for Rainbow’s Annual Winter Program last month. As one 2nd grader put it best, “We wrote about how we know we’re loved.” Rainbow children grow up knowing their loved from the moment they walk on campus. From teachers who design their classrooms to feel like home, to classmates who learn to communicate their feelings with honesty and compassion, children are exposed to the raw power of Love through their Rainbow community and their Rainbow education every day. These second graders however are unwilling to keep all that love for themselves. They take it one step further spreading their enthusiasm for love with cheeky grins and sincere joy as they sing out to us, “I love myself, hope you do to!”
This year our Annual Winter Program featured all original songs composed by our students in collaboration with their teachers. Our Music Director, Sue Ford, took on this robust task with zealous passion and creativity. With “Love” as their muse, these First Grade Wolves reflected on what they most cherish in their lives. Together they chose the object of their affection with ease… the world. They simply love their world. With images invoking nature and circles of family and friends, they share their sincere love with us, inviting us to join them in loving our dear world with trusting innocence and peace.
Rainbow Community School has been doing student-led conferences since the early 80’s. When students lead their own conference, they truly have to reflect on what they have learned, how they learned it, and what their future goals are. Plus, it gives parents the opportunity to gain greater insight into how their child thinks, what is meaningful to their child, and what their school experience is like through their child’s eyes. Our student-led conferences will be the last one of the year, and a great way to wrap up the year. Other progressive schools have followed our lead and started doing student-led conferences, in particular International Baccalaureate (IB) schools. Check out this great video from The Wildwood School: http://www.edutopia.org/practice/student-led-conferences-empowerment-and-ownership
“The most vital attribute in the world you’re about to enter is not critical thinking or fluency in another language. It’s about whether you’re able to see the world through another’s eyes. The key factor of success for any society going forward is what percentage of its people are change-makers. It’s the new literacy, and empathy is the foundation of that new way of being.” Arnie Duncan, National Secretary of Education, May 9, 2015.
I am thrilled to hear that those with the power to change America’s public education system understand what Rainbow Community School has understood since 1977. I am just confused as to why they are still pouring all their resources into obsolete methods of education.
Read more here: “Empathy most vital,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan tells NCCU grads.
