Chunking

Tomorrow, we start the second trimester of the year, and we will return to school for 18 days of classes before the start of our winter break.  As we return, my thoughts turn to chunking.  Chunking is a concept which suggests that there is utility in breaking down something into smaller units or groupings to lead to a better outcome than looking at the whole.  This concept can be used to help memorize names or numbers, and many of our students will utilize this technique when pi day rolls around to help them memorize well over a hundred digits of pi.

There was a time when I used to run marathons, and chunking was a useful way to think about the race.  Although I have never broken 4 hours, it was always my target.  To give me a chance at hitting my target, I would break the race down into smaller chunks and try to keep a certain pace per segment.

It is easy to see the similarities between a school year and a marathon.  They both seem to be very long, daunting, and full of challenges.  As we return, however, I am going to ask the faculty and students to focus on 18 days.  I believe that if our students and faculty can put forth their best effort for this finite and manageable period, they may surprise themselves with what they can accomplish.

I am excited to return and to see what we can do in next 18 days!

Time

The saying goes – if you love what you do, then you will never work a day in your life.  Well, I know that the faculty at BHS certainly love what they do, but I believe that they are working quite hard at it.  In fact, I was struck by the significant amount of time that our teachers so freely give.  They go well beyond the expectation, and in turn the students get an experience that goes well beyond expectations.

Just a few days back, Mr. Holt and Ms. Marklin took the 5th and 6th Grade students for a three-day, two-night trip.  Were we a boarding school, this would all be part of the job.  We are not, however, and both Mr. Holt and Ms. Marklin spent all that time making sure that our students were safe, engaged, and happy.  At the same time, Mr. Arruda was holding extra rehearsals after school and on weekends.  Hopefully, you were all able to see the fruits of the cast’s labors; as the students put on a tremendous show.  At the same time, Ms. Fries was also holding extra practices for the school’s First LEGO League Robotics teams.  As I write this, the two teams are spending their Saturday competing in Wolfeboro at a Regional Qualifier Competition, which typically starts at 7:30AM and extends well into the afternoon.

During this season of Thanksgiving, I wanted to use this opportunity to thank our faculty for always going the extra-mile.  Their dedication to the students’ well-being and their desire to create and cultivate meaningful co-curricular activities is truly extraordinary and I am so grateful for the selfless way our faculty provide opportunities for our students.

Lessons

Lately, Dr. Dienes has been teaching our 7th Grade history class about life in Colonial America.  As part of the unit, the class made soap by hand from animal fat and they made bees wax candles, with the tutelage and assistance of Ms. Marklin.  As is generally the case at The Beech Hill School, our students love the chance to actively learn.  I had the good fortune of observing some of these classes, and every student was fully engaged.

As part of this unit, Ms. Marklin’s father  - a candle maker and beekeeper – came by campus with a hive of bees.  Again, the students watched in awe as he handled the hives, showed them the bee’s wax and the honey.  They eagerly stuck their fingers into the warm honeycomb to taste the fresh raw honey.

If you ask the students, they would all tell you how cool this was and how much they liked making the soap and candles and handling the bees.  In my opinion, however, the best part of the unit occurred while the students were making the candles.  One of the students observed how long it took just to make one candle.  Then the other said, yeah, and then they had to make the soap, too.  One by one they all started to realize how hard colonial life was and how much we take for granted in our modern world.

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, I am so thankful to have dedicated and creative teachers, like Dr. Dienes, that allow our students to engage, observe, and discover. 

Takeoff

I lived in Philadelphia for seven years and loved it.  So, when I saw that Rocky was on the other day, I could not help but watch it.  I was especially excited to see the scene when Rocky triumphantly ran through the city and bound victoriously up the Art Museum steps.  This had to have been nearly the hundredth time that I watched this film, so I was not expecting to be struck by something new or different.  Of course, I was.

Soon after Rocky agrees to fight Apollo Creed, he is confronted in his South Philly apartment by Micky, and at that moment, Rocky begins his ascent from journeyman boxer and mafia muscle to heavyweight champion of the world.  The next scene is one of the famous city jogging scenes, but unlike the triumphant bounds up the Art Museum stairs, Rocky is laboring and his anguish shows in his face and his every stride.

This scene had never really impacted me, but this time, I was struck by the way that this scene depicts the pain it takes to make a change.  While we all aspire to jump in the air triumphantly, as Rocky eventually does after working extremely hard – and believe me, everyday hundreds of people, myself and my family included, recreate that scene on those steps.  I would guess that the first scene, of simply getting out and going, should be the real triumph.  Few people publicly mimic Rocky lumbering up the steps and wincing from a side stitch, but that is the hardest part to overcome.

At The Beech Hill School, we hold an all-school road race twice a year.  We just held our fall race this past week.  For me, I was wincing in pain throughout, as I have been nursing a sore glut for several weeks.  Many of the students too, could have done better.  And that is why we run twice – so that we can set a goal of improvement and work steadily toward it in the spring race.

Whether running, training for a heavy weight boxing match, or simply trying to understand how to divide fractions, one must start somewhere.  Getting out there – engaging – is the real work of a champion!

The Little Things

Last week I was touring colleges with my son, and we visited a school that had a thing called a “Speaking Tradition.”  Simply, there is a tradition that people will say hello to one another as they walk about the campus.  We walked about the campus quite a bit throughout the weekend, and it was not just some tour guide chatter, students were not buried in their phones or gazing at their shoes, they would greet others – almost always by making eye-contact, and with a smile.  It may not be a grand gesture, but it was enough to make clear that this college valued community.

Whenever I experience something I really appreciate at a different institution, I always try to imagine how I can implement something similar in a way that fits BHS.  While our campus is far too small to implement something like a “speaking tradition,” we can always try to be aware of how the small things really matter.  Things like holding doors, saying please and thank you – in other words, consistent, authentic gestures of thoughtfulness go a long way in making a community truly inviting and inclusive.

I shared this idea with the community this past Friday morning.  To help make my idea stick, I brought a 50 pack of Dunkin’s Munchkins in, and following Community, I let students take one – just one.  I asked them to consider how nice it was to get just that little taste of sweetness.  I asked them to consider that every time that they do little things like holding a door or saying hello, they are providing just a little bit of sweetness in the lives of others – like the little joy of a munchkin.

Not a single student asked if they could have more, and after they made their way to class there were a handful of munchkins left in the box. Several thanked me, and I watched as kids held the door.  I know that The Beech Hill School is a very kind and warm community – hopefully as we continue to work being consistently thoughtful, we too will have a community that others will emulate.