Spring 2011 - Manlius Pebble Hill School

Academicsin ActionWe determine age-appropriate skillsbased on what the students havemastered in their younger grades atMPH and what the Middle Schoolteachers hope to see in them as Sixth,Seventh and Eighth graders. We alsorefer to national and private schoolstandards. However, we are not drivenby standards to a point where thecurriculum is suffocated. We’re notplanning or functioning under pressureto “teach to tests”, so the learning inour classroom is always based onwhere the students are and wherethey’re able to go.Recently, Amy Abdo, one of our FifthGrade teachers, shared her teachingexperiences at an MPH Open House.We were so inspired by her words, wewould like to share them with you.Mrs. Abdo has taught fourth and fifthgrades for 12 years; this is her secondyear at MPH. Previously, she taught atThe Dalton School in New York City, acompetitive and progressive private schoolwith a philosophy of education similar tothat of MPH. Amy says, “The transitionto MPH felt comfortable and like theperfect match for me.”Welcome to MPH. I’d like to sharea little of what we are doing infifth grade here at MPH.My colleague, Sarah FrazziniKendrick,and I had the opportunity to spendseveral weeks this summer developinga curriculum tailored for our FifthGrade students. We reviewed whatMrs. Abdo (on farright) poses withfifth grade EarlyAct officersthey had been taught in prior years inthe Lower School, talked with theirpast teachers, and even surveyed thestudents as Fourth Graders about theirpassions and interests. From there, weexcitedly worked to weave together acurriculum that overlaps and complimentsitself across the disciplines ofLanguage Arts, Social Studies/History,Science, and Math.Since Sarah and I teach all four subjects,we’re able to manage the skills that wewant the students to master, as well asthe content and process by which theseskills are introduced, taught, andreinforced.We’re able to set multiple and diverse“benchmarks”…. assessing each studentrelative to his/her own progress, as wellas in relationship to the rest of theFifth Grade class. In this way, eachstudent is given the opportunity to growand advance within his or her ownpersonalized learning environment.Our current Lower School curriculum isrich with diversity of opportunity andexperiences. In a project-based environment,students are given a choice andencouraged to research, investigate, andexplore topics that are interesting tothem. From there, they often presenttheir findings to other students (withintheir class or across the grades), as wellas to parents and teachers. Thisapproach allows the students to becomethe experts and teacher. Their understandingof a topic extends well beyondmemorized facts copied from a teacher’s“I have the freedom to do and try all of the ideal lessons that I learnedabout in my teacher’s education programs at the University at Buffaloand NYU. I can read about a new study, hear about cutting-edgeeducational research on the news, or discuss lessons and curriculum withcolleagues and then immediately apply those ideas in the classroom.”blackboard and moves into a placewhere they’re able to both connect withthe material and their own experience asa learner and teacher.(Continued on page 21)18 MPH REFLECTIONS 2011