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.