Priceless

2/11/2019

Classrooms visited:

93.

Time invested:

93 hours.

5,580 minutes.

Value:

Priceless.

Remember those old Master Card ads? The ones in which the cost of certain activities and items is calculated and listed? A certain value is applied to an experience? For example, the cost of a hot dog and a soft drink, and the tickets to a Major League Baseball game? The real value of a quality experience for Dad and son? In the end, it's not the dollars spent on the experience that is remembered, but, ultimately, the time spent together. In essence, the experience itself becomes a priceless one, for its' value has a life long impact, and is irreplaceable.

Well, this past Friday, I reached my own priceless milestone, meeting a professional goal I established back in August. After over 90 hours of observation, and an average of visiting one classroom per day over these last six months, I have achieved my goal of attending a class taught by every single Faculty member at our School! That's 93 classrooms if you happen to be counting...Roughly 5,580 minutes of time invested. And, while I can certainly try to quantify this experience, I must confess that for me, the enjoyment, and the lessons learned in visiting each of them has been a priceless experience.

Beginning on August 29th (thank you, Mr. Dong), and finishing on Friday, February 8th (thank you, Mrs. Rodriguez), I have thoroughly enjoyed myself, embarrassed myself, too, and learned much along the way, reinforcing just how much I truly appreciate the amazing work our Faculty is doing. And, by the way...What fun it's been!

In every single class, I observed scholarly discussions, meaningful conversations, collaborative efforts, traditional methods, detailed and engaging lectures, powerful uses of our technology, and, most importantly, Faculty who care about each and every individual student. In these 93 visits, I found open, and welcoming classrooms decorated and designed in a myriad of ways, and the setting of each room to be quite fitting, particularly in line with the varied styles of each teacher. Without listing and describing all of the visits, here is just a random sampling of the highlights along the way:

*Watching new Faculty member Coach Weinberger confidently lead Middle Schoolers in the "finer points" of dribbling a basketball...

*Observing the patience of Mrs. Balke, leading Middle School Math students with some difficult topics...

*Attempting to write a short poem in the creative and capable Ms. Vera's class, thoroughly embarrassing myself...

*Trying to decipher just how to write code in Dr. Rivera's class---and appreciating his amazing ability to "simplify" the subject matter for his students (and me)...

*Attempting to "fish" in Dr. Nagel's Middle School Science class, all the while learning about "by-catch", and appreciating her warm and kind demeanor...

*Thoroughly being "stumped" in Mrs. Rittenhouse's Spanish class, trying to understand just what the conversation was---and her having the grace not to "call me out"!

*Witnessing a beautiful performance of singing by our Chinese scholars, led so capably by first-year teacher, Ms. Liu...

*Learning about Piet Mondrian in Mr. Moorehouse's Art class, inspiring me to do some of my own research on this fascinating designer, fully appreciating Mr. Moorhouse's passion for his craft...

*Hearing a wonderful lecture on "The Call of Abram", and sharing in the story of the Sacrifice of Isacc, led so astutely by Mr. Reho, in his Foundations of Religion course...

*Witnessing a powerful Harkness style discussion regarding the 13th Amendment in Dr. Regalado's Upper School History class, appreciating the discipline and professionalism it takes to implement Harkness correctly...

*Discussing the definition of "Love", and how this concept appears in "Romeo and Juliet" in the spirited Mr. Rachelson's Middle School English class...

*Spending an early Monday morning listening to the beautiful sounds of Mr. Lester's Chorus, also knowing just how hard it is to keep Middle Schoolers focused and working in unison...

*Discussing the influence of Sans Serif and Helvetica in Ms. Strauss' Art class, while also being inspired by the beautiful work hanging on display, knowing the hours of instruction it took to produce such fine work...

*Learning about "Killer Sentences" with the energetic Mr. Whitley, and his team of Middle School "grammarians"...

*Identifying various species of trees on our beautiful campus, led so capably by Dr. Llinas...

*Being part of an "active" forensics investigation, so creatively led and engineered by Mr. Mealey and his dedicated team of researchers, his Upper School students...

*Discussing Othello, along with twelve other ESOL students, led so well by Mrs. Fernandez...

*Witnessing the great collaboration between Middle School English teacher, Ms. Rolling, and Innovation Coordinator, Mr. Diaz, as they helped 7th-grade students create their individual Sci-Fi short story...

*Observing Mr. Chapman cast his spell on our "Shakespeare in our Time" students, captivating them with his knowledge, wit, and a good dose of humor...

*Enjoying the end of a stressful week, by playing softball on a sunny, Fall Friday afternoon with the always positive Coach Jennings and her P.E. students...

*Watching World Cultures 6 teacher, Mrs. McCabe, get the most out of 60 minutes, keeping the timer posted, and her Middle Schoolers "on task"...

*Observing the calm, confident Mrs. Schael simplify the factoring of quadratic functions for Math 6 students, keeping them focused and engaged (in the last period of the day, mind you!)...

*Enjoying fully the lessons taught in Mrs. Morin's Upper School Pre-Calculus class, and adding another great quotation to my book: "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you."

Obviously, I could go on...and on...If I had more time, I could write about each and every one of my visits, and, for those visits not noted in the above list, please accept my apologies wholeheartedly. In these 5,580 minutes of observation, I witnessed great things happening in all of my sessions; believe me, we are doing wonderful work, and our efforts are making a difference.

Again, thank you to everyone who has been so kind to "host" me this school year, and know that I continue to be so very grateful for all you are doing. And, as we celebrate the Lunar New Year, let's heed the good words of this ancient Chinese Proverb:

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

Thank you to all our Faculty for "planting for a lifetime" by leading, inspiring, and educating our students---being the "life changers" they are. Because of their efforts, our 760 students have the opportunity to see greatness in action, every day.

Onward and upward...

Patrick

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