Since I began The North Star as a way to set the tone for the school year, I have found that I have also changed the way I plan the school year.  While I do spend the summer months reflecting on the past year and organzing for the upcoming year, I don’t quite get the next year set until I have met my new group and find out their plans.  Part of what we do with The North Star is make goals for the new year:  a goal for school, a goal for home, a goal to help the community, a health goal, and the last goal is THE BIG DREAM.  I ask the children, “If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be?”  I teach second graders, and this is a difficult thing, at first, for them to understand – to be able to choose anything. At you might expect, their goals are tied to their interests, but they are also tied to what is happening currently in their lives. It makes me think how important it is to give young children as many positive experiences as we can to help build their dreams!  So, here are some of my current student’s dreams with some ways I can build my year’s lessons and activities around their dreams.  Isn’t it great to be able to have a learning environment based on the learners dreams!

• THE SPORT DREAMS:  I want be a famous gymnast, Major League Baseball player, soccer player, Olympic swimmer, play basketball in the womens’ NBA. I think some of these dreams come from the Olympics this summer.  How can we support children who excel in sports while they are in the classroom?  How about creating a sports newspaper.  Have them teach others some sports moves or share orally what is happening in the sports world to practice oral expression. Share their dreams with the PE teacher. Have them bring in photos and let other children interview them for the Sports Hall of Fame.  There is TONS of math in sports. I have even converted one of our science kits into a week-long “Science CIrcus Camp” with a balance-themed circus performance at the end of the week – one of my favorite parts of the year!
• THE MONEY DREAMS: I want to be rich, have one million dollars. There is some good math here too.  And there are some great fiction stories to be told.  Plus, there are some good life lessons for those who want to be rich – work hard, do your best, what will you do with your money when you have it?  There are some great role models to share, like Milton Hershey.  Get the children thinking now while they are listening!!

Here are some more dreams. How would you use them to teach in your classroom?

• TO STUDY PENGUINS
• TO BE  A ZOOKEEPER
• TO BE FAMOUS FOR SINGING
• TO BE A PINKS DRIVER (racecar)
• TO GO ON A CRUISE TO HAWAII
• TO DO A BACK FLIP ON A SCOOTER
• TO OWN MY OWN HORSE TO RIDE
• TO CLIMB UP A CRATER
• TO GET ONE INCH AWAY FROM A TIGER
• TO BE FRIENDS WITH HANNAH MONTANA AND MILEY CYRUS AND BE A FAMOUS SINGER
• TO LIVE WITH FAIRIES AND HAVE WINGS:  I wasn’t sure whether to allow this as a BIG DREAM.  But then I thought it had good potential for discussion and learning this year.  What do you think?

I want to spotlight two other Peter H. Reynolds books, The Dot and Ish, which are very much in the spirit and philosopy of The North Star.  If you’re reading this blog then you’re probably very familiar with The Dot and Ish, but if not, and you love The North Star and all it represents, then you must go out and find them.  

While The Dot and Ish are very different stories than The North Star, they share The North Star’s messages of being yourself, being brave and following your interests and passions…  without worrying what anyone else thinks or says.  The three books are clearly in the same family in terms of philosophy… and no wonder, since all three were written by Peter H. Reynolds!   

I took The Dot  into a first grade classroom last month to read for a guidance lesson, and as soon as one little boy saw the book cover he said “I have that book!  It’s my FAVORITE!”  He quickly planted himself on floor right in front of me, and while the other kids put their materials away and joined us in the circle area, the little boy gave an impromptu summary of The Dot, and then added that he loves Ish too.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been able to put a child at ease about something they’re writing or drawing… anything they’re creating or doing… by reminding them it can be “ish.”  If the child knows the Ish story, then telling them that something can be “ish,” or story-ish, bird-ish, etc, immediately brings a smile to their face, and a calmness to their spirit… and they are most often able to complete their project with greater ease and confidence. 

So, if you’re looking for more resources that reinforce The North Star approach and philosophy, be sure to add The Dot and Ish to your libraries. 

Thanks Bill for sharing SmartMoves with my voyagers and me. I believe “the universe provides” and this learning tool couldn’t have arrived in my classroom at a more perfect time. It’s springtime, and we are preparing for two weeks of standardized testing during May. Stress levels are rising and this program has made our time together productive and pleasant. I have shared the activities and music several times a day with my regular classroom students, as well as students who attend my intervention math classes, and the kids’ reactions have been nothing short of sheer exuberance and joy.

Reading about the inaugural public event of the Constructivist Consortium brought back memories of the middle school where I completed half of my internship back when I was getting my certification for school counseling.  The school was King Middle School in Portland, Maine, and King’s school wide model is Expeditionary Learning… which is very much a constructivist model.  From the King MS website:

Our school wide model is Expeditionary Learning. Our students engage in eight to twelve week experiential learning expeditions. These expeditions are in-depth and interdisciplinary in nature and require students to engage in sophisticated research, use the community in authentic ways, and represent their knowledge with high quality products which are presented to legitimate audiences.

It was exciting to learn about the Expeditionary Learning model while I was interning at this school… observing how students learned about and applied language arts, math, science and other subjects while cooperatively completing an “expedition”, or large project, over a long span of time.  How wonderful to be able to learn subjects while applying them in the moment to real-world experiences and projects.

Recently, a new public elmentary school was built in Portland which also integrates Expeditionary Learning into their framework for learning.  Looks like it’s catching on!

Does anyone else have any experiences with Expeditionary Learning schools, or other schools that model a constructivist approach?

The latest Harry Potter film came out last night, and (according to MSN), hundreds turned out for the midnight showing.  I was not one of them, but reading the reviews this morning I felt a new connection to Harry and his friends.

Harry is following his North Star, and Hogwarts is a North Star school - hear me out on this!  Think of the muggle world as a traditional school model.  The Dursleys are afraid of what they don’t know, as so many people are.  (Granted, for the sake of literary drama they appear a little overzealous in their fear, but I’m sure we’ve all met with such opposition.)  But Harry has the memory of his parents as his guides, and the day Hagrid walks into his life and offers him a CHOICE, he begins his journey.

What makes Hogwarts different from the Muggle world?  Two things: first, Harry is asked to choose many of his own classes, with clear options of where these courses will lead him.  Nothing is theoretical in Hogwarts (particularly for Harry, who regularly finds himself in situations where he is forced to call upon history and practical magic just to stay alive).  Second, Hogwarts’ administrators make full use of every new magic they discover.

Replace the word magic with technology.  Suddenly, Harry is learning 21st century skills and utilizing those skills to develop his character and find his North Star.  YAY!

One of my most memorable North Star experiences this year didn’t involve The North Star book directly, but certainly involved the North Star Approach.

As a school counselor, I worked with a student, David, who needed some help reframing his focus and attitude toward school.   To help David with this, I tapped into his interests in animation and computers.  Together, he and I followed a little online tutorial Peter put together about how to animate in Flash (http://www.fablevision.com/flash), and by end of our second meeting, David had created a small, simple animation of a ball!  He was elated.

I met with David weekly for the remainder of the year, and he chose to work on the computer, animating in Flash, every time – which helped motivate him to come to school.  He became more patient with himself, and began to challenge himself… and eventually proclaimed that he was “really good at animating in Flash”.  

It was truly inspiring to be on that journey with this student as we explored his interests, his path… opening doors… witnessing him walking through… exploring some more… and watching him grow, along with his confidence, as he sailed forward to the possibilities… his possibilities… ahead.

To other NSCoP members:  What has been one of your most memorable North Star experiences or moments this past school year year, or years before?   Please share!