An Open Message to Orange's Graduating 6th Graders

About two weeks ago, in a conversation with Mrs. Murray, Principal at Turlkey Hill,  I mentioned my excitement about the upcoming 6th grade graduation and told her my 'speech' was almost finished.  She gently told me, 'You don't speak at graduation.  They all take place at the same time.'   That certainly burst my bubble.  However, I quickly regrouped and let the principals know I wanted to speak to their 6th grade graduates at one of their rehearsals.  That's what happened. Each visit was very informal; I gathered them on the floor and here's what I said:


"First, I want to tell you that I’ve only had a chance to get to know you for five months, and I wish the time had been longer.   Even though we don’t know each other well, I want to wish you a happy and relaxing summer and a great start in Orange Middle School next year.   It’s important to me that you do very well there.

"Now I want to tell you a little story and the theme of this story is ‘out-of the box’ thinking – do you know what that expression means?  [They did, of course, but I wanted to hear it from them!] 

"I grew up on a dirt road in Massachusetts kitty-corner from my Uncle Ernie’s farm.   My Uncle Ralph’s farm was just a little way down the street, too.   It was a great childhood because there was so much land; and in the summer, my sister and I could run all over the place, doing all kinds of interesting things – there were honey bees and lots of clover, cows and cow paths, chickens, horses, and activities like haying and milking and playing in the hay loft.  

"However, sometimes, even with all of that adventure around us, we got bored; and when we did and we started complaining there was nothing to do, my mother would tell us this story that I’m going to tell you.  She would use our real names, Lynn and Janet, and give the other people in the story the names of people we knew.   My mother would say:

“Once upon a time there were two girls who were tired of everything. They were bored… bored…. bored… and complained to their mother there was nothing to do.   Their names were Lynn and Janet.   Their mother, who was always very wise and knew what was important in life told her daughters, 'I know what you can do. You can go on a journey and try to find the little red house with a brown chimney on top. It has no doors and no windows and a star inside.'    

"The two girls thought this idea was very strange. 'Which way should we go?' they asked their mother. 'Anyway you want!' she said.

"The girls went everywhere on their road, up and down, and in between.   After a few hours, they realized they knew every house on the street, and there was no little red house with a chimney on top with no doors and no windows and a star inside.  'Let’s ask somebody,' they decided.

"The girls had not gone very much farther when they came to their cousin playing jump-rope in the road. [In my mother’s story, this cousin had the same name as our real cousin 'Charlene.'] 'Do you know where there’s a little red house with a chimney on top and no doors and no windows and a star in inside?' L ynn and Janet asked their cousin Charlene. 'Let’s ask Uncle Ralph,' Charlene said. 'He knows everything.'

"So, Lynn and Janet and their cousin Charlene went into the orchard where Uncle Ralph was up on a ladder, pruning branches. 'Do you know where we can find a little red house with a chimney on top and no doors and no windows and a star inside? the girls asked. Uncle Ralph laughed.  'It’s right there at your very own feet!' he said.

"The little girls looked down, and at their feet lay about a dozen red apples.  They picked one up.   [At this point I showed the 6th graders an apple.]  Sure enough, the apple was as red as nature had painted it, and the brown stem was as straight as a chimney.   It certainly had no doors and no windows.  But, was there a star inside?

"The two sisters and their cousin went back and gave the apple to their mother.   Their mother took a knife and cut the apple crosswise through its center, and what they saw inside was surprising! There was a star inside! [At this point, I cut the apple crosswise.. or horizontally, through its center and showed it to the students.]

"Their mother said, 'Everything in life is ordinary and boring, unless you think about it differently and try to find the magic inside.'

"My mother probably told my sister and me this story once or twice a month during the summer, whenever we complained there was nothing to do.   She told us the story to remind us that it was how we looked at something that made it either boring or interesting.   It was up to us. And then she would cut us each an apple -- always cutting it differently than other mothers I knew.

"There’s a reason I’m telling you this story. You’re leaving elementary school and you’re moving on. Soon, you’ll start making more and more decisions.  First about new friends... and then boyfriends and girlfriends... and then part-time jobs and going to college... and eventually you’ll find a career.   And all of those decisions will bring you closer and closer to being grown-ups.   But I want you to remember that a book or a classroom lesson in school or a day on the job or a day in your life … or your whole life for that matter … will not, all by itself, be either ordinary or boring.   It will be how you look at it that will make it interesting.  

"Whether something is boring or interesting is completely up to us, and when we are interesting and think out of the box, something as plain and ordinary as an apple, can have a star inside.  As you go forward in your life, always try to think about things a little bit differently; and, as often as you can, cut your apples crosswise!"

You Know It When You See It

As you know, this month we’ve been immersed in hiring our two new principals. One of the questions the committees have asked every candidate is to describe a good performance assessment.   We’ve expected our candidates to provide an example -- which they should be able to do because quite frankly ‘you know one when you see one.’ 

Unlike ‘one right answer’ assessments, performance assessments require both process and product. Students need to think through a realistic scenario and produce something that demonstrates what they can do with what they know. To paraphrase a really good analogy I read somewhere: It’s more like playing a game of baseball, the unique coming together of skills, concepts, rules, and attitudes… than playing a game of catch.

Race Brook’s 4th Grade ‘Yankee Doodle Travel Agency’ is an excellent example of performance assessment. However, I would predict the kids didn’t know that. They only knew that they had worked collaboratively together and worked hard. They only knew that, for their final showcase in the Race Brook gym on Tuesday, June 12th, they were excited when someone stopped for a ‘tour’ and immensely proud to show-off what they had accomplished.

This year-long language arts and social studies project was initiated in the fall with each student picking a Connecticut city or town. Families were encouraged to take the time to visit their child’s community and to see the sights.   By January, the students began searching the Internet for additional landmarks and pictures, and they wrote to the first selectman or mayor requesting postcards and additional information.  Each group of three students then created a travel agency identity with a logo and a motto. The Garnet Group Travel Agency, for example, claimed, ‘We are like gems when it comes to traveling.” The Amistad Travelers promised, “Your mind will sail away on a Connecticut Adventure.” They made up addresses, phone numbers, and web addresses for their ‘published’ business cards.

Each newly-formed travel agency decided how to map out its three Connecticut towns for potential tourists. They used technology to produce tri-fold brochures and business cards. They collaborated on the creative elements of their display and practiced their sales-pitch presentations together, planning their speeches for their captive audiences. (The audience was not only their parents and grandparents, but upper-class students who needed to collect a business card from at least one agency to fulfill their obligation. They had to listen to the entire presentation to receive a card.)

The project is aligned with more than a few state standards. The students research and consolidate information through note-taking and analysis. They make maps. They read informational and non-fiction texts and write persuasively. They also write narratives and letters. They use technology.   And they practice their public speaking and ultimately get a chance to demonstrate their presentation skills.

I realize Yankee Doodle Travel Agency isn’t a new performance assessment in Orange, but it was new to me!   And I really enjoyed listening to the kids and asking them questions at the ‘travel agencies’ I had a chance to visit.   I had to smile at their grown-up, professional use of laser pointers and enticing sales pitches.   I took in their serious voices and heartfelt recommendations for sights most of them had actually been to visit. 

And I learned something in the process: I want to go to the Sportsplex in North Branford, Eisenhower Park (in my own new town of Milford), and the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. My youngest grand-daughter would love the Carousel Museum in Bristol. The best omelets in North Haven, according to one young tourism guide, can be found at State Street Café. This summer, I’ve resolved, I need to make more of an effort to “Experience Connecticut like a nutmegger!”