« Printable version | Main | From the Lower School Dean and Librarian 6-6-2008 »
June 06, 2008
Curriculum Spotlight: Middle School Math and Science
Friday Letter
June 6, 2008
Todd Ditto
It has been a wonderful adventure being new to the Presidio Hill community! I have been thrilled to be witness to our students eagerly building and strengthening community, developing and honing skills, and solidifying their personal characters.
I had the pleasure of accompanying each grade on unique journeys, each journey resulting in significantly greater trust and connection within the student body. Each journey afforded students opportunities to develop enduring friendships, to meet and learn about new people, and to work on the skills required to work/succeed as a team.
The Class of 2008 ventured to Lands End to take on low ropes and high ropes initiatives and returned to PHS to lead the entire middle school in low ropes initiatives demonstrating real leadership and powerfully sharing their learning and experiences with the entire middle school.
The Class of 2009 journeyed to Yosemite for 3 days packed full of outdoor challenges. All students took on leadership roles as well faced the risk of completely trusting their teammates. Trust was always the key to safely achieving their goals. The Class of 2010 traveled to Pt Reyes to get to know all the new faces, to challenge their creativity, to fully connect to their biology, and to become conscientious stewards of our precious planet.
All the evidence is in! PHS students love learning and take on every activity and concept being presented as if it is their very favorite! My favorite concept to teach is always the one being explored and conquered now!
The scientists of our class of 2008 are exploring the phenomenon of motion and are deep in the process of designing and building motion carts as teams. Their designs must meet three challenges, to be fast, to be strong and durable, and to be beautiful. Students are experiencing success and the overall joy of seeing their motor designs and carts in motion!
The mathematicians of 2010 strive to keep their learning connected to the real world! Recently they skillfully applied their understanding of metric measures, scale and proportions to create models of viruses, bacteria and blood cells!
At the end of each day I come to the same conclusion; PHS is a community of big hearted, happy young people, who care deeply and who love learning!
« Printable version | Main | From the Lower School Dean and Librarian 6-6-2008 »