Hear from our Faculty!
Our teachers were asked “Considering the nearly innumerable ways in which we all contribute to our unique learning community, please share your personal reflections: how did you help to prepare students to lead the 21st century with an authentic sense of self this year?” during a reflective professional development meeting in May, 2016.
“I invite an
d challenge students to grow mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and socially. It takes a whole human being to function and thrive in this crazy world, and our job is to do our part in preparing them for lives of meaning and purpose.”
—Andrew Saldino, High School Social Studies
“I think our mentoring program is one of the most important things we do in Odyssey High School, to guide students towards academic and personal success. I feel like I contributed a lot of time and energy to help my students overcome their challenges in personal life and at school. I also tried to connect with my students in every way I can and help students realize that they are unique and different from others and still a part of community like odyssey school is a important feeling to have when they go out in the real word.”
—Minal Sonigra, High School Mathematics
“I have created a daily practice for students to connect to the inner world and tune into what they are passionate about. I have students set daily goals. I hold a container for students to explore their passions and move through their individual experiences safely. I have prepared students academically to be ready for what is ahead of them.”
—Samata DeCori, 4th and 5th Grade
“I helped prepare our students to lead the 21st century with an authentic sense of self by engaging students in various relevant and hands-on learning opportunities. For example, through growing and maintaining plants in the outdoor garden and aquaponics lab, making and selling smoothies, attending several performances, and going to museums, my students participated in real world experiences that provided many opportunities for problem solving and collaboration. In my classroom, I cultivated an environment of compassion and self awareness to provide a safe place for students understand themselves and others.”
—Ellen Boyle, 4th and 5th Grade
“My students are able to make decisions about their day and about their actions in my classroom. They are able to reflect on their feelings and listen and respond to the feelings of their peers every day in class meeting. They get to choose what they are writing about each day and what they are reading about each day. I even watch their interests carefully and write thematic units based on their interests. They get to explore math in many different forms while also interacting with peer and using self-regulation skills. Students are encouraged to think of mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow and to find solutions to all kinds of problems. They are able to find themselves and be who they are because they are accepted as themselves. Finally, they are inventors. They create businesses and creations to sell to each other. They see themselves as creators of their own success.”
—Robin Skeen, 2nd and 3rd Grade
“I help prepare students by encouraging their independence. I often asked students for assistance and allow them to take risks: physical, emotional, and academic. This included doing things their parents would usually do for them. Each early k student was celebrated for his or her uniqueness. I made a point to notice students who stepped out of their comfort zone to try something different or new.”
—Craig Deutsch, 1st Grade
“I think that we support younger students in interfacing their ‘wild imaginations’ with simple research skills. Our students have many opportunities to experience the natural world, the invisible world, the historical/cultural world, the human community, and their interior sense of self throughout the day. Using tools like the Hero’s Journey, social cues, developmental play frames, and the arts; students are able to reflect on how they use their personal power, their critical thinking, and their creativity to support themselves and others. Students learn to use their imagination, creativity, and innovation in pragmatic ways that support their learning, personal reflection, and community relationships.”
—Mary Virginia Bunker, Kindergarten
“As a teacher, I have provided a loving and nurturing environment to our preschool children. The love and nurture I have shared with the children have enabled them to become self confident in all the different developmental domains. As a result of that nurture and love the children have learned to be individuals with an authentic sense of self.”
—Shirley Rotolo, Preschool
“They learned how to calm themselves down by taking a breath and then express their feelings with words, using a calm, assertive “important voice” to communicate with peers when the tension is high as an essential skill for leadership. I also taught them that everyone’s voice is important and should be heard, everyone’s body is sacred and should be respected, and everyone’s feelings are to be taken care of by all of us as a community.”
—Grayson Morris, Preschool