Dear Nikki,
I really value this opportunity of exploring an excellent school in such depth, and at the same time, felt welcomed there. Thank you for planning this trip.
New City School is like a melting pot of all the things we read and learned in the past seven weeks. One of my favorite classrooms was the 5th grade reading class. I can see a few of Doug Lemov’s techniques used in the classroom. One is “cold calling.” I noticed she called on someone who did not hold hands. Another one she used frequently is “stretch it.” She kept asking questions to make students think more critically and deeply. She shared the connection she made from her own experience to scaffold students sharing their own in their reflection paper. On the other hand, she doesn’t speak for students. I noticed every opinion was heard and valued in the class. Even though the learning feels very vigorous, students were eating snacks and asking questions freely. The whole classroom feels very open and safe. They talked about how abolition affects their own life today. The classroom reminds me of Rafe’s room 56. “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible.”
I really value this opportunity of exploring an excellent school in such depth, and at the same time, felt welcomed there. Thank you for planning this trip.
New City School is like a melting pot of all the things we read and learned in the past seven weeks. One of my favorite classrooms was the 5th grade reading class. I can see a few of Doug Lemov’s techniques used in the classroom. One is “cold calling.” I noticed she called on someone who did not hold hands. Another one she used frequently is “stretch it.” She kept asking questions to make students think more critically and deeply. She shared the connection she made from her own experience to scaffold students sharing their own in their reflection paper. On the other hand, she doesn’t speak for students. I noticed every opinion was heard and valued in the class. Even though the learning feels very vigorous, students were eating snacks and asking questions freely. The whole classroom feels very open and safe. They talked about how abolition affects their own life today. The classroom reminds me of Rafe’s room 56. “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible.”