The Salmonberry Garden students have been enjoying the new set of pattern blocks in the classroom.  The children have created vertical towers, flat designs and designs on paper which they trace and then add pencil details for a pattern block drawing.   Here are a few photos of them deeply engaged in their projects.

The Dragon dances through the Salmonberry Garden classroom

From Linda’s desk…

“In anticipation of the Chinese New Year the Salmonberry Garden class had fun charting the Chinese Zodiac animals for the children and their families.  (It’s the only time you can call someone a pig or a rat without it being an insult!)  We had the most monkeys and snakes with roosters and goats (sometimes referred to as sheep or rams) following close behind.  There was only one dragon amongst our class families.  Even the elementary children were asking during recess to see the list which showed the years for each animal so they could figure out which animal they were.

On Monday, we created a dragon head by adding wings, horns and a mouth to a cardboard box.  On Tuesday, the children painted it and on Wednesday we added a red satin tail.  On Thursday we had our dragon parade in the room with four children under the dragon and five playing instruments.  We continued the parade until every child had a turn to be in the lead under the dragon head.  On Friday, when we had just four children, we took our dragon parade “on the road” to visit the elementary class and Children’s House.  The children rotated places inside the dragon while Becky and I played musical accompaniment.  It was well received by all.”

Classmates provide music for the Dragon to dance to.

Parading through the Salmonberry elementary classroom.

The Dragon visits our neighbors at Children’s House.

Time to head back to the Salmonberry Garden for snack…

Students admire the aliens on display.

The children at Salmonberry Garden created space aliens last month from recycled materials.   They used milk cartons, yogurt containers, spice bottles, salt containers, berry boxes, dental floss containers and wires from old calendars.  They held these things together with masking tape and old playdough.  Then they covered them with metallic paint and added beads for decoration.  Each child told a story about what their alien will do to help people on Earth when they come to visit our planet.  These delightful aliens have been on display at the Orcas Library for the month of February.  The class paid them a visit and then shared story time with Nita Couchman, the Children’s Librarian.  At the end of the month the aliens will make their way back to Salmonberry School and then on home with their respective children

Here are the stories of how these friendly space aliens will help beings on Planet Earth:

“My Alien will help people and animals.  She will build houses for the people and bring more food for the animals.”

“My Alien is named Fuzzball and she is 109 years old.  She brings some of the extinct animals back and tells the people who are killing animals to “Stop killing animals!”
She brings money to the poor people so they don’t starve to death.  She makes seed pods grow, but not in the winter.  She stops the war – she gives the confused people love in their hearts so they don’t want to fight anymore.”

“My Alien can create more jet packs out of his own.  He gives the jet packs away to people so they can enjoy flying, too.  The jet pack doesn’t use oil so it won’t pollute
the Earth.”

“My Alien will bring more penguins to the Earth.  He also brings more ice and snow for the penguins to live on.”

“My Alien brings food for the horses because they need food to be healthy.”

"I'll see you in a few weeks, buddy!"

“My Alien lives on the sun.  She brings sunflower seeds to the Earth because there aren’t enough sunflowers on Earth.”

“My Alien brings horses to people who want horses and don’t have any.”

“My Alien helps animals.  She teaches people how to take good care of their pets.”

One student chose to create a planet instead…

“My planet is called Imaginative.  It is beyond Pluto, and it is a Gas Giant.  The ring is the gas circling the planet.
All the different colors swirling around on the right side are gas. The splotches on it are stars. The shooting of yellow is a comet. The last thing on the picture is a space ship.  All of the darker splotches on Imaginative are gas circling it, but the rings are the gas most far out.  There are no people on Imaginative because there is too much gas. And there are no Martians, because it is even too gassy for them.  The brown splotches, by the gas swirling out, are a little solar wind.”

KUNOMOKST

by Salmonberry School’s Elementary Students

Salmonberry Elementary students in grades 1-4, recently completed designing and sewing this original “Button Blanket,” entitled “Kunomokst” inspired by the traditional ceremonial blankets of the First Peoples of the Northwest Coast.  The colors, and certain  forms are based on traditional designs, which the class studied.  The title Kunomokst, translates to “together” in the Chinook Jargon – the common trading language of the Northwest in the 19^th century.

The creation of this blanket represents the culmination of a six-month long integrated thematic study that has included the natural history of the Salish Sea as well as the First Peoples’ history and culture from this region.  The integrated thematic approach brings students into deep subject-centered study, which unifies the various disciplines and otherwise isolated subject areas and skills that the students learn in school.

The blanket itself was the product of a six-week process, guided by Salmonberry’s art teacher, Andrea Cohen.  The students selected animals indigenous to the Northwest.  They sketched these animals, and then learned about the difference between drawing and design.  They each designed a 12×12 inch square featuring a graphic depiction of their animal.  They traced their paper designs onto red felt and then cut out the images and overlaid the red felt onto a black felt background.  They each sewed buttons on their squares, with an eye to enhancing the visual impact of the animal figures.  Finally, the squares were joined together, and borders were added.  In all, 1,881 buttons adorn the quilt, each one sewn on to the surface by the skillful hands of these 6-10 yr old students.

The word, Kunomokst, or Together, was chosen by the class as it represents the need for beings who share a physical environment to live harmoniously together.  Simultaneously, Kunomokst, expresses the process of the quilt-making project itself, as the work of these 16 young individuals came together to create this beautiful whole.  Finally, Kunomokst represents the Salmonberry School’s emphasis on learning community, and the mutuality and reciprocity inherent in the learning process.

The blanket is now on display at the Orcas Public Library in the meeting room.  Please visit!

Sewing on the final button!

Presentation at the Library

Salmonberry Elementary students took advantage of an opportunity to view the collection of contemporary art at the Seattle Art Museum with a special focus on the temporary exhibit Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act.

The class spent time with their art teacher, Andrea Cohen preparing for the visit.  They did some projects in the classroom and discussed some of the elements of art, for which Calder became famous as a twentieth century American sculptor.

6:30 AM and ready to roll!

When the day finally arrived all seventeen students along with twenty parents and eight siblings woke up early and met at the ferry well before dawn.

The group reconvened at the downtown museum and proceeded to follow a docent led exploration of line, shape, color, and balance.  They discussed several focus pieces, before entering the Calder exhibit itself.

The museum does not allow photography of the exhibits, so we can’t show you the sculptures, but the kids were duly impressed by both the enormous and minute sculptures and mobiles.

Busy hands

Then the group spent an hour in the SAM classroom, where they got to try their hand at some Calder-inspired wire-based art.  They each made a circus character in response to Calder’s famous Circus.

Finally the class headed to Seattle’s Olympia Sculpture Park for a bit of lunch and time to play!

A few of the circus figures

Most students returned later that evening, others stayed overnight in Seattle.  All returned tired but well satisfied!!

Kick the can with Uncle Paulie

Wishing Jamie a bon voyage! Off to Australia.

That's all folks!

No, I’m not going anywhere.  But I have been recently asked to serve as a “Contributing Editor” for the journal Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice.

Salmonberry School's Program Director, Paul Freedman

This magazine was founded in the 1980’s as the Holistic Education Review and was retitled about ten years ago.  As many of you know, I have contributed manuscripts to Encounter over the past several years.  I continue to be so impressed with the quality of scholarship displayed quarterly in this publication, and have been flattered to be included.  Now I am thrilled to join a team of three editors and nine other contributing editors, including some very distinguished authors and educators.  Over the years Encounter has moved from the initial editorial leadership of Ron Miller to that of Jefferey Kane and for the past eight years has been led by William Crain.  Now the magazine, which continues to stand alone as the leading holistic educational journal in the United States is moving to a new editorial leadership model that will feature a broader structure than it has previously enjoyed.

Over recent years I have found my work in holistic education strengthened by following a three-fold path of  practice, study and reflection.  This triangulated approach is akin to what radical Brazilian educator Paulo Freire termed “praxis.”  Of course my day-to-day work with the children and parents at Salmonberry School combined with the leadership and visioning work with the Salmonberry faculty and Board are the heart of my work in education.  I have found it immensely important, however, to ground my work in serious study.  This has included a great deal of reading about the theory and practice of  progressive educational alternatives, networking with other educators and school leaders, visiting a variety of schools across the country and studying philosophical and theoretical foundations of holistic education.  Writing for me, has served as a focal point for my own reflection.  As I seek to integrate the heady theory with the demanding present reality of my work at Salmonberry, I often notice points at which the theory comes to life, where these real living children, our classroom relationships and community flesh out the philosophical musings of great contemporary and historical thinkers.  Each of the three aspects of my praxis, theory, practice and reflection strengthen the other two.

My work as a writer does nothing to detract from my focus on my Salmonberry work.  Rather, if anything it coalesces and crystallizes my focus on the important work with the children.  I always seek to include student voices and perspectives in my essays.  In general my writing is intended to help elucidate the often esoteric pedagogical theory that floats around the field of holistic education.  My study and reflection helps me to remember why Salmonberry School is so important, and it helps me to articulate the school’s mission and vision.

I am so excited to accept this new challenge with Encounter and delve even deeper into the holistic education community.  As contributing editor I will continue to regularly submit original manuscripts as well as solicit and review the submissions of other writers.

If you want to stay in touch with Encounter check out their website: https://great-ideas.org/enc.htm You might even want to get a subscription or sign up for the e-newsletters and see all the other amazing work in the field of holistic education.

On Thursday, November 19, Two Samish elders, Rosie Cayou and Bill James spent the day with the 1^st through 4^th grade children at Salmonberry Elementary School.  They taught lessons about Samish cultural traditions, songs, stories, rituals, language, clothing, and much more.  With great sensitivity to the children’s young age, they helped the students to think about some of the difficult issues that can arise when two very different cultures encounter one another.  They taught and embodied a spirit of forgiveness, of healing, and of mutual respect.

Rosie and Bill in the back center "Hysh'que."

Rosie Cayou is a direct descendent of Louis Cayou, who is widely recognized as the first Anglo homesteader on Orcas.  Cayou settled in Deer Harbor is the1850’s and married a Samish woman.  Rosie is now the cultural coordinator for the Samish Nation and she is very involved in education and outreach within the Anacortes School District.  She is very interested in connecting with children in all the traditional homelands of her ancestors, including all of the San Juan Islands.  Bill James is a master woodcarver in the Coast Salish tradition.  He has carved traditional poles and canoes as well as smaller pieces.

Following a season-long study of the geology, ecology and natural history of the islands within the Salish Sea, the Salmonberry students are now embarking on a thematic unit of the First People’s cultures who inhabited these islands.  This firsthand connection with the Samish elders, served as an important kick-off to these studies.

“As evidenced in this experience, Salmonberry strives to teach children to respect multiple sources of wisdom, and to look to build cultural bridges whenever possible,” said Paul Freedman, Salmonberry School’s Program Director and elementary teacher.  “This was a deeply moving presentation, and the presenters touched on many ideas that have been important parts of Salmonberry’s identity over the years.  They talked about the integration of art and academics, of heart, head and hands.  They spoke of multiple ways of knowing, of the importance of oral traditions, and maintaining a sense of reverence for nature and humanity.  Actually, a lot has been written regarding the alignment between traditional indigenous education and holistic education and these consistencies were quite obvious on Thursday.”

Salmonberry students shared a lunch of soup, salad and bread with the presenters, which the students had carefully prepared in advance.  This offering of a meal added an important opportunity for more informal connections between the students and their esteemed guests.  Over lunch the students showed Rosie a very old photograph of the Cayou family, which, among a wonderful collection of artifacts, Salmonberry had on loan from the Orcas Island Historical Museum.  Rosie was quite moved by seeing the photo and will be receiving a copy for her own archives.

“First-hand experiential learning like this is part of what makes Salmonberry School unique, said Freedman.  “We pursue a strong and rigorous academic program but we also take time for real live encounters.  Learning is a living process at Salmonberry.  We breathe it in; we taste it; we savor it.  This kind of learning is personally relevant, meaningful and whole for the students.  These are the kids of experiences, the students will remember for a long time, and that you just can’t get out of a textbook.”

The Salmonberry class plans to continue to study with Rosie and Bill and hope that their next visit will be on Fidalgo Island, later this winter.

To Rosie and Bill, for their great wisdom and boundless generosity, the students and faculty at Salmonberry School want to say a most sincere, “Hy’shqe.”  Thank you.  We will see you again in the near future.

Food Bank or Bust!

On Monday, November 16, Salmonberry School students age 3-10, participated in a unique sort of Wagon Train.  The students pushed and pulled a procession of large wagons through the driving rain, to deliver hundreds of donated food items to the Orcas Food Bank.  Once there, after a well-earned cup of cocoa, the students helped to sort and shelve many of the items.  This was the culmination of a sustained community service project, which included collecting food at the school, and raising awareness about the diversity of needs within our community.

Loading the Wagons

“Service Learning is such an important part of Salmonberry’s Mission,” said Salmonberry’s Program Director, Paul Freedman.  “We are often looking for ways to connect the kids with the larger island community in hands-on and caring ways.  It simultaneously meets critical community needs, and satisfies our children’s inherent desire to nurture others.  Projects like this also speak to our belief that education is not a preparation for life; it is life.”

Ready to Roll

This project began as the brainchild of Salmonberry’s Early Childhood Teacher, Linda Ellsworth.  As a long time progressive-minded early childhood educator, Linda has been particularly committed to creating educational experiences that are meaningful and relevant to the lives of children as well as the community in which they live.  When Linda learned of the hugely increased number of families seeking assistance from the Orcas Food Bank this season, she immediately designed the core elements of this project.

At 3:00, on the 19^th, students returned to school, a little soggy, but feeling quite proud of their efforts.  “That was great!  Let’s do it again next week!” said an anonymous student.  “It’s important to help people when you can, ‘cuz someday you might need help too.  And, it’s fun. It just feels good.” said another.

Salmonberry School would like to express our deep and sincere gratitude to all the volunteers who are involved in the Food Bank project, as well as to all those community-minded folks who are able and willing to donate to the Food Bank each week.  After seeing all the good work that is going on behind the scenes with this endeavor, Salmonberry would like to encourage all those who are able to continue to support the Orcas Food Bank, in their quest for new facilities, and to continue their important work, providing food to families in need.

Almost there!

Unpacking at the Orcas Food Bank

This is a bit of a longer posting, which I hope you will take the time to read.  - Paul

As a teacher looking to create meaningful learning experiences for my students, I am a constant observer.  My goal through careful observation is to try to understand and experience the cognitive, emotional and physical perspective of the learner.  By understanding this perspective, I am much better able to design experiences, or create learning encounters that are accessible and meaningful to him/her.  This learner-centered approach has been espoused by many pedagogues over the twentieth century.  It was underlying the work of cognitive scientist, Jean Piaget, and his stage theories of learning.  It is at the heart of the humanistic psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.  More recently intentional observation, followed by careful reflection and subsequent planning is a cornerstone of the broad movement toward developmentally appropriate practices and the pedagogy of Reggio Emelia education, among others.

In a recent chat with author and educator Ba Luvmnour (Natural Learning Rhythms and Optimal Parenting), Dr. Luvmour explained, “This is the fundamental and foundational shift.  The teacher must always strive to see through the learner’s eyes, walk in the learner’s shoes, experience the world within his skin.  This is the mandate of the holistic teacher.  Let get of our adult perspective and live in the world of our students.”

However, in trying to make this shift, we face huge obstacles.  It can be very challenging to not only experience the perceptual realities of young children but also all the social, and emotional contexts that envelop these perceptions.  It is the rare occasion when, as adults, we can do more than observe the children learning but actually experience the same process fully and wholly.

So over the last two weeks when I had the following frustrating learning experience, I reveled in it.  I bathed in it and immersed myself in all its gloopy, sticky mass.  I have been reflecting on my own process, and using it as a new lens through which to view my observations of student learning.  Here’s the story:

Our class has been interested in reducing our use of resources.  One desire has been to limit our use of electricity.  We decided that it would be a good idea to first monitor our usage for a period of time and then try to reduce our usage through simple conservation practices.  We discovered the location of our electric meter and began to take daily readings.  This turned out to be not so simple.  There were two meters, one for each of the buildings on the site.  One had an easy to read five-digit number.  The other was an odd-looking series of analog dials.  Each dial had a single, clock-like hand surrounded by 10 digits 0-9.  This meter proved more challenging, much more challenging.  While the hope was that student meter-readers could record our data each day, we quickly discovered that reading this meter would require adult support.

I went out each morning to read the meter with student helpers.  At first we simply wrote down the number each hand pointed to and created a five-digit number.  After a couple of days, I realized the numbers were not progressing in regular intervals as expected.  I took a closer look at the dials, and surmised that they must work like a five handed clock, but with each hand on its own face.  Thus if the hand of one dial was almost at nine, but still between 8 and 9, then it should be read as 8.  I tried to confirm this assumption by looking at the dial prior to some of these “nearly there” readings; and, as I suspected, the dial prior was usually (though not always) pointing to a high digit – much like the minute hand would point to 11, just before the change of the hour.

Yet the following two days’ readings still did not produce the expected progression of data.  I returned to a close inspection of the dials and realized, that some of the dials’ numbers proceeded in a clockwise direction but others were written in a counter clockwise progression around the hand.  In fact this confusing discrepancy occurred in an alternating pattern so that every other dial was to be read counter clockwise.  (Who thought of this system??)  Now, mystery solved, I proceeded to collect my data.  Yet again the data did not produce anything like expected results.

Finally, I called the power company where a patient “ remedial tutor” for the learning impaired meter reader told me that you must read these dials from right to left.  Start with the dial on the right and then move towards the left to create your five digit reading.  “You’re kidding?”  I said.  “Why?”

“That’s just the way they’re made,” was the response.  “You know it would be much easier just to look at the reading on your bill at the end of the month.”

“Thanks.”  I said.

So I returned to my daily recording and I still got confusing data.  Maybe at this point it was my errors in reading, but honestly I was so frustrated and disheartened by the whole process, by the myriad of apparently senseless rules that I have quit trying.  Now we read the easy-to-read meter only.  And I’m not sure how I feel about this choice.

What has been fascinating for me though, as I reflect on my attempt at learning the process of “learning to read” anew, has been my progression through the many stages I often see in my students, including all of the emotion, angst, and compensatory cognitive strategies that all too often accompany the process of learning, especially when the task or skill is not “developmentally appropriate.”

When I first struggled with the meter reading, I simply felt confused.  Yet I fell back on my own strong self-concept.  I know I am capable and literate.  I must be doing something wrong.  I will investigate deeper, figure this out, and try again.  This self-concept was extremely important in allowing me to make subsequent attempts.

I experienced embarrassment as I publicly, with kids at my elbow struggled to read the numbers.  It was humiliating to struggle with what should have been such a simple skill, in front of those whom I needed to hold me in high esteem.  The embarrassment was heightened as I would return to the classroom and have to explain to the whole class, as I struggled to enter the obviously inaccurate data onto a large chart at the front of the room.  I found myself resorting to humor and distraction to save face, and make my obvious confusion seem excusable.  I blamed others a lot, the power company, first and foremost, for creating such obstacles to my reading.

Often I experienced added pressure associated with time and time became my enemy.  I felt confident that if I had adequate time to puzzle this out, to sit and watch the dials move, or check on them more frequently I could be successful.  But each morning at the prescribed time, I would have only seconds or at best minutes to decode this cryptic nonsense, and this again was a public process.  I felt anxiety build as the prescribed time approached each day, and this anxiety proved to be another hindrance to my learning and problem-solving process.

Most interesting, I found myself resorting to all kinds of dysfunctional strategies to avoid the painful learning encounter.  I would delay meter-reading time, or even skip days – until the students called me on my negligence and poor work habits.  I would dismiss the inaccuracies in any way that would allow me to escape personal accountability – the dials were screwy, the glass was smudged, the meter was broken, etc.  Ultimately I began to devalue the importance of the task at all.  It really didn’t matter if we ever read this meter, maybe we should just read the other easier one.

Every part of this process, the fear and anxiety, the pain and embarrassment, my initial resiliency and determination, and eventual frustration, and resignation are things I witness every day in the emerging literacy of the students I teach.  The slow and unsteady progress, that seems to come in fits and starts – breakthroughs followed by backslides.  The amazing resilience and steadfast willingness to try and fail again and again.  And the endless accumulation and refinement of coping and avoidance strategies.

Learning any new skill is so full of confusing rules, bits and pieces, that all seem to have exceptions and odd meaningless quirks.  Nowhere is this more obvious than in decoding our written language.  There are so many rules, that the reader just accepts on faith, but then dozens if not hundreds of exceptions that make the whole process so muddled.  Why does the letter “c” sometimes say “S” and sometimes”K?”  What does it mean “y” is “sometimes” a vowel.  Speaking of vowels…don’t get me started.

I guess the strongest lesson learned for me, for the moment is to keep striving to ensure that the whole process of emerging literacy is a joyful one.  Let’s collectively commit to building our kids’ self concept, as this is the essential foundation for any learning or risk-taking.  Let’s keep celebrating accomplishments and approximations towards conventional accuracy.  Let’s recognize effort.  Let’s allow time, privacy, and dignity to be always present in the process.  Let’s be mindful of kids’ anxieties, fears, pressures and self-doubts.  Let’s always keep a sense of humor, joy and fun as an integral part of the wonder, mystery and adventure of learning.  Perhaps more than anything, let’s respect each individual’s unique trajectory.  Literacy or any new skill, might come fast and easy, or more slowly.  Let us notice when a perceptual ability or neural pathway, may not be in place to allow a certain step to occur in the process.

When I struggled with the counterclockwise dials or the fact that the whole meter was meant to be read from right to left, I was reminded of those kids who at age 5 or 6,  or even 7, do not yet have predictable directionality in their perception of the written text.  In demanding accurate decoding and fluent reading we are asking them to perform a meaningless circus trick that makes no cognitive sense, given their perceptual reality.  Add our impatience, the internal peer pressure from the growing group of readers around them, embarrassment, humiliation, etc etc.  How might forcing them through this process affect them in their long-term relationship to learning or reading?  How might it be different if we turned the heat down from an angry rolling boil to a gentle warm simmer, and allowed the gift of time and biological development to work its magic?

I encourage you, adults, parents, teachers, to try to learn something new.  Preferably a skill that you have never tried before.  Ideally one, that you might be afraid to try, one for which you have little background knowledge.  Watch yourself learn.  What helps you, what impedes your progress?  See the world through your child’s eyes.  You will learn much more than the skill!!

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.  Thanks for your children’s patience and support.  They are great teachers!!!!

Corn husk dolls

Salmonberry’s annual Fall Festival went on despite the stormy conditions.  Great fun was had by all.  Kids made traditional corn husk dolls with elementary teacher, Paul Freedman.  There was beeswax candle dipping, which took a lot of patience to create beautiful organic-looking tapered candles.

Candle dipping

Towards the end, kids and adults alike dipped fall leaves, flowers, and other natural objects in the hot wax.

There was cider pressing, which many kids helped with.  The apples were gathered on site, as well as brought in by various families.  The traditional hand press was donated from the Bullocks’ Farm.  The cider was yummy and provided a week’s worth of classroom snack time beverages, as well as gallons to take home.

Cider press

There was a good deal of fall bulb planting, led by Early Childhood teacher, Linda Ellsworth.  We’ll enjoy the beautiful blooms in the early spring.  The kids loved the donkey rides provided by the Lum family’s two sweet grey donkeys.

The old grey mare

There was a bountiful potluck, and an overwhelming spirit of community fun.  These annual homespun events help to punctuate the year with rituals that all the kids, parents, siblings and friends look forward to throughout the year.

Pink Lady, Marika, and a caravan of kids