Transitioning into 4th Grade

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." - John Dewey

If you are unfamiliar with John Dewey he was a very influential philosopher, psychologist, social critic, educational reformer, political activist, and much more. Born in 1859, his ideas are still regularly discussed in universities across the nation and world. Above is one of my favorite quotes of his. It strikes out against the notion that what we do in the classroom is to prepare for some future life rather than to prepare for the ways in which we live right now. I also believe it speaks against the notion that we should be doing things in third grade for the sole purpose of getting ready for fourth grade. Did you ever have a teacher say: "You guys better get this down because when you get to --th grade those teachers are going to expect you to be able to do it." Or..."Next year you're going to be in middle school/high school so you better get used to this now or else you'll ((fail, get beat up, get into trouble, etc))."

I truly believe each and every thing we do in the classroom should be about growing as a learner, friend, and citizen of the world. Not that we don't spend time talking about the upcoming PASS test from time to time or think ahead to what 4th/5th grade will be like, but on the whole we are concerned with much more meaningful work and curiosities.

That said, we did begin a discussion today about what the kids' roles as students in the 4/5 loop should be and the sorts of behaviors and responsibilities they should posses to be best prepared for this status as the older kids in the school. This will be a conversation we will build on over the coming weeks as we really focus on becoming increasingly responsible and mature. While we joked a bit about how cool it would be if driving ourselves to school could be one of these responsibilities we realized we were bound by both the law and common sense. Here are the first few items we discussed today that will begin a list that will grow throughout the remainder of the year. Many, if not all, are probably things your child is already doing. If not, think about ways you can scaffold him or her into taking on these responsibilities for themselves. If you see something we have missed pass it along with your child to share at morning meeting.

"During our final nine weeks together in third grade we will...

1. ...take responsibility for our own homework. This means getting it home, completing it, and getting it back in on time. If we need help we will ask but should not assume this is the responsibility of our parents. We know best what our needs are and should seek out help (and expect it) when need be. Our parents might ask us if we have each assignment packed up and ready to turn in but they should not pack our folders or our bags for us. We can take care of this on our own.

2. ...solve our own problems. If something is bothering us we will talk to the other people involved or find an adult at school to help us with this issue. If we forget an assignment we will let Mr. Hass know ourselves. If we have a tough schedule on a given night that will make it difficult to complete our work we will talk with Mr. Hass about it ahead of time, not the next day. Planning our time wisely is an important skill for now and forever. Should something come up suddenly or a paper get lost we will let Mr. Hass know and present a solution for the problem. There's no need for mom or dad to do this for us. We can take care of it on our own.

3. ...walk into the classroom, unpack our things, and begin our day all by ourselves. Of course, our parents are always welcome to duck in from time to time to check in on things or say hello.

4. ...set a good example for the rest of the school with our behavior in public spaces - no matter what we see others doing.

5. ...help out the kids in K, 1, and 2 when we see they need help. We will also offer hellos and hugs to remind them how welcomed and loved they are in the building.

As I mentioned above, we are very successful with many of these items already. Someone asked today, "Mr. Hass, when we get older does something change to make us act differently?" This question was prompted by earlier discussions throughout the year about how the "older" kids sometimes act as though they are more important or immune to the rules the rest of us are expected to follow. That was a bit tough to answer. I think I finally said something along the lines of: "Well, nothing has to change. You'll still be the same person but maybe some people will begin to get the idea that being older means acting differently. Maybe our job could be to help them reconsider this." This was certainly not the best answer but so much of parenting and teaching is like that...if only we had more time to craft a careful response that might be more meaningful. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.