Archives for April 2017

I remember my mother always telling me that compassion is as much of a blessing as it is a curse. To be able to feel for others means being able to feel everything … the good, the bad, and the painful. It is difficult sometimes, oh who am I kidding, ALL of the time, to look at this world, at its suffering, and not feel too much. The anger, the poverty, the very essence of all those who are lost. It is overwhelming. But as Andrew Boyd said, “Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it.” This year, the kids in Mrs. Salvador’s Spanish One class decided that they would not be crushed – not by the barriers of time, or space. Becoming a global citizen begins with caring about the people and the issues that are not directly related to you necessarily, but that wear on your heart to the point of changing it. In an effort to make her students more globally aware, Mrs. Salvador opened their hearts to the possibility of a beautiful relationship. Below, two students share their experience.

“Spanish 1 wrote letters to the children in the Dominican Republic where the seniors were going for their missions trip. We were all very excited to write to these children and hear back from them. When the seniors got back from their trip they had the letters that the children had written back to us. We were all super happy to hear back from these children and read what they had written us. The children who wrote to us were third graders and they went to school at Freedom school. We went to their school’s website and got to see pictures of them. Their website is www.itisforfreedom.com.” - Kenzie DeReus
“Our Spanish class recently wrote a letter to the Dominican Republic. We didn’t really know who would be receiving the letters. We wrote letters asking them many questions and telling them a little bit about ourselves. A third-grade class ended up receiving our letters and they wrote back to us. A 9-year-old girl named Rosa wrote me back. She was so sweet and told me so much about herself. I think that it is so cool that we got to communicate with a group of kids far away that we probably would have never been able to meet otherwise.” - Abigail Taylor

Mrs. Salvador had the amazing foresight to connect potential mission students of Mr. Flemming years ahead, with students they will actually have the opportunity to meet when they are seniors. “This way they will be able to build relationships,” she said. Not only is this lesson interdisciplinary and multi-aged, but authentic in investing in cultivating a global conscious and cultivating an open heart. What a blessing to Westlake that we have teachers who care so much that they are literally willing to stretch their compassion around the world.

Okay, we all know that isn’t true … but he did create the plant that started it all! Marshmallows date back all the way to ancient Egypt, where it is believed that a wild herb was discovered in a wetland from which a “sweet substance” could be taken. The sap of the marshmallow plant was combined with honey to make a sort of desert reserved for only the most royal and noble.

By the 1800s, the confection industry found a way to replace most of the “natural” ingredients to create what we commonly know of as our delicious, synthetic, treats. Marshmallows have been in mass production ever since, gracing campfires and delighting every age wherever and whenever they’re served. From their illustrious history, it cannot surprise anyone that marshmallows also find themselves in a high ranking status in education! Used as natural pillows of adhesion … they are the perfect, safe, scientific snack!

Alfred Mercier is quoted as having said, “What we learn with pleasure, we never forget.” How fortunate for the second graders at Westlake that this past week, Mrs. Krass decided to teach a math lesson with the aid of marshmallows! Blending geometric vocabulary and architecture, Mrs. Krass delivered delicious instruction on how to create three-dimensional shapes using lines (toothpicks), vertices (marshmallows), and a whole lot of creative engineering energy! Little by little, the obscure pieces became miniature prisms, cubes, and more complex structures. The children were able to translate something they knew (building) to something they needed to know (geometric patterns).

As we all know, we remember best, that which leaves an impression on us. We recall with the fondest of memories, that which was fun. It was such a delight to witness the second grade’s “hunger” for knowledge, and even sweeter to witness their reward of a job well done … delicious demolition of their figures!

C.S. Lewis once said, “Be weird. Be random. Be who you are. Because you never know who would love the person you hide.” Well today, as we kick off our week of Standardized Testing, I know I speak for all of fourth, fifth, and sixth grades when I say how grateful we are that Mrs. Coombe was living proof of C.S. Lewis’ wisdom.

In acknowledgment of the cultural phenomenon of “emojis,” and realizing how stressed some young people feel about test-taking, Mrs. Coombe had the foresight to head off anxiety through laughter. Administering her special #2 pencils, has been the highlight of a day that might otherwise have made kids feel, “down the drain.” (Pun intended!) What a blessing to instead be vindicated as a child – to hear your teacher say, “I get that this is difficult, and it might feel crummy, but I want you to know I’m on your side, and here’s a little something to keep your spirits up.”

According to science and psychology research, laughter has numerous benefits, a few of which are:
- Reducing the level of stress hormones in your body such as cortisol and adrenaline
- Distracting the mind from negative focuses such as anger, guilt, stress, or fear
- Reframing one’s perspective from “threats” to “challenges”

Another recent study at California’s Loma Linda University found that between a test group asked to sit quietly and do nothing, as opposed to a test group allowed to watch funny videos as they waited, “… the ‘humor group’ performed significantly better when it came to memory recall. Participants who viewed the funny videos had much higher improvement in recall abilities, 43.6 percent, compared with 20.3 percent in the non-humor group,” (Shah, The Huffington Post: New Study Proves that Laughter is the Best Medicine).

So while we as teachers and parents know that Standardized Testing is a great snapshot of where our children and school rank among national standings, we also acknowledge that they are cumbersome and exhausting. Level with your kids and give them a little extra love and freedom on testing days, as I am sure you remember well your days with a scantron form and a number two pencil … even though I guarantee it wasn’t as uplifting as Mrs. Coombe’s!