Updates on Current Projects

As I write this post, it is a rare and quiet moment in the Light Lab.  Lower School classes are rehearsing their songs for the upcoming Winter Showcase, preventing them from filling the Light Lab Studios with cheerful voices and busy hands.

Not surprisingly, I haven't had much time to document since my days are full.  I've been facilitating classes, offering workshops for faculty and helping individual students and teachers carry through project ideas. In an effort to update you, I'm offering brief descriptions and pictures of just a few projects that are currently happening.

 1A has measured, sawed, and hammered together the bodies of their covered wagons with the assistance of our very own handymen, Glenn and Jerry.  After the bodies were together I helped them attached two axles.  They loved using the power drill to screw in their wheels.  Some students looked in disbelief when I asked them to pick up the drill and try it. Later today, they will attached the support and cloth covering to complete their model.  The finishing touch will be adding their custom cargo created with Ms. Exeley's guidance in Art.  This project was a part of this class' Journey theme while studying Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Both first grade classes have been exploring Stop Motion Studio in order to create animations of changing trees as a part of their Science curriculum with Ms. B.  Ms. Kirk has also been collaborating as the students begin filming. They chose to animate one action like falling leaves, taking in water, changing colors or growing.  Their animations will be combined with a soundtrack of the children reading a beautiful poem about trees.  

Ms. Parris has been in and out of the Design Studio with many Art classes utilizing the large space and extra functions the room has to offer. The pull down electrical outlets on the ceiling made using glue guns during mask-making a lot easier!  4B made stunning depictions of civil rights leaders pictured below using the open floor space. 

Pre-K B started their Journey project by transforming ordinary cardboard boxes into the wearable bodies of cars.  They've already painted a part of the body and wheels.  Next they will add brads to the wheels to make them spin, paint their windshields and work on building simple circuits to make working headlights and car horns.  

As we reflect while using the Light Lab, I continue to make changes to the physical spaces to improve function.  More materials and furniture are being added slowly in response to student and teacher needs.  I spent some time after Thanksgiving assembling DIY acoustic panels to hang in Fabrication and Design Studios to cut down on background noise.  I'll keep you posted on how they work.

A variety of teachers attended one of three workshops offered this past month: 3D Design & Printing, Stop Motion Animation, and Little Bits.  Our teachers love to play as much as the kids.  It's wonderful to see how much enthusiasm and curiosity they are modeling for our students.  

Our new spaces and tools provide students opportunities to do projects in their own ways.  I had several visits from a fifth grader who was working independently to design Roman coins and print them out using the 3D printer.  He chose this way in order to demonstrate his learning for a culminating project.  So much fun!

Best wishes for a happy holiday season.  See you in 2017!

Classes Started in the Ulmer Family Light Lab

Now officially open and ready for business, the studios have been full of enthusiastic kids and collaborating teachers since Friday.

KA bounded in on Friday afternoon to use the Solarium's gorgeous views and natural light to sketch the changing fall foliage.  Their pictures are simply beautiful and entirely unique - a perfect example of how we each can see the same thing so differently.

Yesterday both first grade classes visited the Fabrication Studio with Ms. B. to begin an exciting construction and animation project which will demonstrate their learning about how trees change throughout the seasons.  Using a beautiful poem to evoke imagery of a tree's life cycle, classes brainstormed how trees change and then how they could build a dynamic representation that could be photographed and turned into a simple animation.

KB and 3A came together in the Design Studio to measure, paint and cut out their gigantic 30 ft. boa constrictor in conjunction with their combined study of rainforests for our fall Journeys theme. Having this enormous flexible space allowed them to easily accomplish the fun task with everyone painting at once.

At the same time, 1B and 4A used the Media & Computing Studio to record their Cinderella Puppet Stories which they've been working on as book buddies.  Watching students of different ages pair to share an experience is always so touching.  It really helps build community in the Lower School - just one of the many benefits of having these special spaces for our students.

What a Day!

Friday was a day of celebration from start to finish.

The Lower School community gathered at 1:30 p.m. in front of the new Ulmer Family Light Lab on what seemed the most beautiful fall day possible.  The joy was palpable - little feet swinging in chairs and fingers energetically pointing towards the big blue ribbon stretched in front of the building.

Inspirational words were spoken by our Head of School, Craig Sellers and our LS Director, Kelly Pierre. Check out the video to hear some highlights and the gallery to see the whole event.

We were treated to a moving thank you from Rich Ulmer, Class of 1960, on behalf of his family.  Rich and Bev's extraordinary gift made possible the building of the Ulmer Family Light Lab.  We are so grateful for their generosity and eager to share the amazing work our students will produce.

Tours of the Studios followed along with time for our community members to make their discs together.

The Ulmers had front row seats while watching our little ones bring their personalized discs into the courtyard to add to the collaborative LS sculpture.  They smiled watching children puzzle over what animal it most resembled or to gasp as they added a piece that threw the structure out of balance.

As we hoped, this project gave each student the opportunity to show their individual talent while utilizing the strength of classmates and teachers to build a final unpredictable and interesting piece of art.  More classes added their pieces on Monday.  I will post a final picture in the coming weeks as we keep the structure up for classes to visit in the Light Lab.

As we ready ourselves for the work ahead, I remind myself of Maria Montessori's belief that a child's work is play.  Let the play begin!

14 Days

We're almost there as we prepare to cut the ribbon at the Grand Opening of the Ulmer Family Light Lab on October 21st.  All community members are welcome to join us at 1:30 on the Lower Campus for the festivities, a fun collaborative maker project and refreshments.

Michael Darfler, US Makerspace Director, spent a fun afternoon helping me prototype the building pieces which will be used to construct a collaborative sculpture for display in the Light Lab courtyard.  It never gets old watching the laser cut run.  I cannot wait to have one in the Fabrication Studio!

Each student will take time to personalize a piece.  Classes will make their own structures together before sharing and connecting them all for display in the courtyard.  Eventually the pieces will return back to each child to take home as a reminder of this exciting day.

The Light Lab Committee very intentionally planned this first division-wide maker project.  We wanted it to reflect the importance of process over product - a tenet of Maker Education. While the final structure will hopefully add beauty and intrigue to the courtyard at the opening, the process of creating it alongside our friends will be far more meaningful.

14 days!

Anticipation

As the opening approaches, we're getting ready for an exciting visit on Monday.  FCS will host maker author, Jack Challoner, for a morning of fun experiments with Grades 2-5.  Challoner will share maker activities from his book, Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects: Build, Invent, Create, Discover.  

This visit was the perfect opportunity for me to share updates on the Light Lab studios with students and to help build anticipation and excitement for what's to come. I visited library classes in the first weeks to brainstorm ideas for the Light Lab and to share highlights from Challoner's book.  They loved speculating about what tools would be found in each studio and what unique things could be made with them.  The excitement was palpable as they imagined creating of a motion-triggered alarm system to protect their bedroom, experimenting with food chemistry, or recording a piece of music they composed in a sound-proof studio.

Along with the phenomenal team of special teachers in the Lower School, we identified a few projects from Maker Lab that fit in with the curriculum taught this fall.  Projects are underway and are certainly generating anticipation for the Light Lab opening.  At least a handful of kids ask me daily if today is the big day or stop me in the hall to remind me that it's only a few weeks until I'll see them in the Light Lab.

Projects in process:

Grade 1 gathered living and non-living materials in order to make sunprints with light-sensitive paper.  These beautiful creations will be elaborated on in art with the use of metallic markers.

Grade 2 is in the process of setting up their plant mazes.  As they study soil, composting and worms this fall, students reviewed the needs of plants by setting up a fun experiment in phototropism.  If all goes as planned, their little pea plants will grow through the dark maze toward the sunlight, weaving beautifully through the interior they custom designed with partners.  In music, students will even use creative movement to demonstrate their understanding of phototropism.  It will be a sight to see!

Grade 3 used plaster of paris to make quick fossils from shells, rocks, plants and other found materials.  The results are texturally stunning.  Watching them remove the clay to reveal the imprints today was so exciting!  Next, students will learn about fresco painting and apply this watercolor technique to their fossils in art.

Grade 4 learned how to identify common local birds and put these skills to work out in the bird blind while sketching what they observed.  In art, students made beautiful cardboard birds with pinwheel wings to capture the wind - a perfect collaboration between art and science.

Grade 5 is learning all about sound.  They will begin prototyping simple speakers for iPads, attempting to solve some design challenges that will allow their speakers to work with the protective cases on the devices.  Students will generate their own music using Garage Band and use an app to measure the amount of amplification the speakers produce.

For me, personally, it is a gift to work with all these grade levels and the special teachers.  I was especially excited to see their willingness to persist when construction was difficult or failure seemed likely.

I most love this bi-product of maker education.  Resilience develops naturally from consistently allowing children to do challenging yet engaging work.  The more attempts, redesigns, and effort invested, the more pride a child feels in the result - even when it doesn't turn out as planned.

More to come on the other grades maker projects as they develop.

What's in a Name?

Welcome to the Ulmer Family Light Lab at Friends' Central School blog.

As I begin to document this journey, I think it is only right to start with The Light Lab naming and its significance.

Being new to a Quaker school, I am learning just how much careful reflection goes into a decision like this.  I have truly loved the conversations I've since shared with community members about the Light and its role in our lives as well as how it will influence our students' everyday use of The Light Lab.

Quakers believe in something referred to commonly as the "Inner Light" or simply "The Light."

I heard it referenced in numerous ways, most impactfully in an internal email informing community members about a death in the family of one of our faculty members.  The email gave service details and then asked that we hold this family in the Light.  Although I had some idea of what this probably meant, I was curious to learn more.

My next learning experience came during FCS' new employee orientation when Robyn Richmond shared the basics of Quakerism with the fresh crop of faculty and staff. I was struck by the purposeful simplicity of Quaker worship - based on the belief that everyone has equal access to this Inner Light and the capability of sharing wisdom with others.

So what does this mean for The Light Lab?

Simply put, our littlest community members possess wisdom which we will encourage them to share through projects they feel connected to emotionally and empowered to lead.  The Light is present in each of our students, enabling them to be agents of change. The Light Lab will be a space in which FCS students explore real problems and create new solutions while moving toward fulfillment of our mission and vision.

Beyond being a beautifully simple name for our new makerspace, The Light Lab's moniker is deeply meaningful and reflective of the work our students will do in these new studios.

We invite you to watch and see.