Yes Day - The Education Version!

 Principal ponderings...

My daughter woke up Sunday morning and declared that it should be Yes Day!  I countered with...well why don't you write a list of what you would want to do on a Yes Day and then we could think about some of those choices.  She was very excited to crack open her new journal from the book fair...complete with a fur cover and totally unnecessary lock and key.  The picture above is her list.  I will decipher it for you:

Zoo

Playground

Ride bikes

Go swimming

Bake some food

Play games

Go to somewhere you never "goed" before

And apparently later in the day she added more!  So when she asked about a yes day, it got me thinking about what if we had a yes day in education.  What would it look like for students?  What would it look like for teachers?  What would it look like for parents?

Student yes day requests...

Can we have a full day of play day instead of a half day?  

Can we have a day where we don't use any worksheets or paper?

Can we have a day where we get to learn about whatever we want to learn about?

Can we have a day where we get to read all day?

Can we have a day where we do science experiments all day?

Can we trade classes or teachers for a day?

The list could go on and on, but imagine if we decided to say yes to all of those questions or even to at least one of those questions?  What would school look like and feel like for our students on a yes day with any of those above questions?  What are some other yes day questions that you think students would ask for?

Teacher yes day requests...

Can we have time everyday with our teams to plan?

Can we teach kids about a hobby or an activity that we are passionate about?

Can we go off script from our curriculum guides and do what we know our kids need?

Can we build a schedule that works for our students and not be forced to fit things in?

Can we have our own brain breaks and movement breaks?

Can we spend a day observing our peers and learning from each other?

Can we buy all of the materials that we want and that our kids need?

Again, the list could go on and on, but imagine if we could say yes to any of these questions?  What would your day look and feel like on a yes day with any of these questions?  What are some other yes day questions that you would put on the list?

Parent yes day requests...

Can I see what my kid looks like in class?

Can we have parent conferences throughout the year instead of just for 10 minutes maybe once a year?

Will you love and care for my kid like he or she is your own?

Will you make sure my child has friends at school?

Can you help me have conversations with my child about what they are learning and what they want to learn about?

Can you make sure my child is happy?

As a parent, there are lots of questions that I could add to this list, but imagine if we could guarantee a yes answer to any of these questions for all of our students and their parents?  What are some other yes day questions that you think our parents would add to the list?

I will let you know that while we didn't entirely agree to a full yes day, Emerson was able to check many things off her list yesterday.  While I was at the book fair, my husband took the kids on a bike ride to not one, but two different playgrounds.  And when they came home, they played wall ball.  Three things checked off her list.  Then we surprised the kids and picked up my niece who is a freshman at Providence College.  We went to a restaurant.  Another check off the list.  And we all went to the Roger Williams Zoo to see the Jack O'Lantern walk through event.  So we managed to check off zoo and "somewhere we never 'goed' before."  I guess we will save baking some food for another night this week.

Emerson was so excited to come up with her list and then be able to check things off.  And I know she is going to be writing about and talking about her "mostly yes day" in school today.  I think it's worth us thinking about how to create "yes days" in the education world.  We have had too many "no days", both during the pandemic and before the pandemic.

Time to make a new list.

What's going on your "yes day" list?

Currently reading:

I finished listening to The Midnight Library...so good!  I also finished reading Willowdeen, another great book by the author of The One and Only Ivan.  I saw several students purchase it at the book fair.  I started reading Finding Junie Kim.  This book starts right off with some difficult topics...a school starts their school year off dealing with racial slurs being spray painted on the walls of the school gym.  The book is told from the perspective of an Asian American student who is entering middle school; she learns of her grandfather's story and strength when he was experiencing the Korean War.  Can't wait to read more of this book!

I also read a new picture book called Maryam's Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani. It's the true story of a girl who grew up in Iran and loved stories and art, and her love of creativity helped her see math in a whole new way. 

Events this week:

Monday -New building sub starting - Welcome Gabby Daniels!, Liz in MSAA Board Meeting (virtual) from 11:30-2:00

Tuesday - 5th Grade Student Council Meeting @ 8:00am in Mrs. Olson's classroom, Chess Club @ 3:30 in the library

Wednesday - Staff meeting @ 8:00 in the library

Thursday - Liz in virtual Curriculum Admin Meeting from 8:00-10:00, Rock Your School Day - Get Your Teach On Movement - how can we think outside of the box and engage our kids in different ways?

Don't forget ... Literacy Parade in one week, Friday, Oct. 29 at 2:00 and Spirit Week next week!

Great things I noticed last week:

• We had a surprise visitor at arrival...Trax from the Worcester Railers!  Saturday is opening night and Wachusett students get free tickets with adult ticket purchases. 
  
  
  
• Caught these two boys doing some great buddy reading in 3rd grade. 

  

  
  
• Thank you Andy, Jenna, Kate, Peg, Kristin B and many parents for coming Saturday morning and helping us clean up the garden area!  There might have been a principal on a tractor. :) 

  

Check it out:

I saw this great idea on Twitter.  A quick, easy check in to see what kids learned or understood from a lesson.  Each student puts a sticky note on their number.