Principal John Kernan lends a hand when it comes to facilitating teacher professional learning around student engagement
Hunter Elementary School is a place of continuous, dynamic learning for both educators and students. I had the pleasure of spending time with staff facilitating a conversation around growth mindset and the power of risk-taking. When students realize it’s not only okay to fail, it’s a desirable part of the problem-solving process, our whole academic paradigm shifts.
Hunter is a place where students are empowered to be self-directed, engaged learners. Whether in a fourth grade reading workshop or a four year-old pre-school class, I witnessed kids who were motivated and eager to learn. They loved school and the excitement of working in community with other kids.
At Hunter, students are empowered to own their learning. The morning announcements are kid-run and the level of engagement on the part of the newscasters and their school-wide audience is high. This ethic of engagement is repeated many times throughout the day at Hunter Elementary.
Teachers consider ways to stimulate a growth mindset in their students
Professional learning that is meaningful must be relevant to our classroom practice
The morning announcements at Hunter promote a school culture of celebration, information and respect
Interactive read-alouds are a hallmark of literacy instruction at Hunter
Students are hard at work reading voraciously during independent reading time
Student choice in the book selection process builds maximum engagement
Guided reading support provides explicit instruction to students individually and in small groups
Preschool is a time to preserve and protect the sanctity of free play...
...which every learner needs for optimum brain growth and development