2012

As 2011 comes to a close, I'm once again thinking about how fortunate I am to be working with the Nesters.  I learn new things every day.  Students share science experiments, art projects, history reports and so much more and I get to discover right along with them! Some of the Nesters are getting close to finishing their first projects, while others may be working on one project all year long. One of my goals is for Nesters to be able to self assess their work and determine for themselves what they need to research and share in order to complete a project.  This concept can be tricky for many Nesters.  These kids are great at assessing what a teacher wants and giving back the correct information, but having to figure out what questions to ask for themselves can be tricky.  Our conversations often go like this...
Nester: "What should I do next?"
Me: "Hmmm, what do you think?"
Nester: "What do you want me to do next?"
Me: "Well, what kind of information do you still need?"
Nester:  "I need to find out..."
This kind of conversation can sometimes go back and forth for a while but inevitably the Nester will come up with a great idea and next step. It is so much fun to watch.
Thank you for allowing me to investigate, discover, create and toil with your kids.   I look forward to the new adventures with the Nesters in 2012! Happy Holidays!

Lunch Club

Falcon's Nest Lunch Club is a great time for any student in grades 3-6 to come to the FN room and work on a project.  It is always a nice mix of kids who come and share ideas and interests. Each week a few new students try out Lunch Club and often become regulars. Sometimes Falcon's Nest students come to Lunch Club to work on their projects or to start another project. It seems that some Nesters are just not satisfied with only one project at a time! Every Friday we have game day during Lunch Club.  Kids can choose to play one of a variety of board games (Blockus, Jenga, Chess, Battleship, etc.)  Friday is a very popular day!  So if you know a student who is curious about Falcon's Nest, or who has an idea for a project that they are eager to work on, send them to Lunch Club!

Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers

Yesterday, I showed the Nesters some videos made by PBS NOVA called "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers".  These 6-7 minute videos are geared towards kids and highlight individuals who work in the science or engineering fields.  One of the great thing about these videos is that they show how a passionate interest, often found early in life, can lead to a satisfying career.  They also feature people who have multiple interests such as an architectural engineer who also rock climbs, or a rapping botanist.  The kids really enjoyed seeing these videos which make science and engineering look fun and cool. Check out the PBS website if you want to watch them at home.
Here is a short clip from one of the videos.

Projects

      

Here are just some of the exciting things kids are studying in Falcon's Nest:

Chemistry

Owls

Electricity
Greek Gods
Pointillism
Comics
Renewable energy sources...

As always, we have a very interesting group of kids with lots to share.  I'll keep you updated.

We are off to a great start! I am so excited about working with your kids and helping them discover new passions and interests.  The Nesters are full of great ideas for individual projects and they should be narrowing in on a topic to study.  The kids will be working on both individual projects and group activities during Falcon's Nest.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or information that may help me have more insight into what makes your child tick!

We're Back!

The 2011-2012 Falcon's Nest is about to begin at last! I hope the start of the school year has been good to you and your family. I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of the enthusiastic Nesters later this week. We will begin the year going over the Falcon's Nest program guidelines. We will talk about why a student is selected for FN and what is expected of a Nester. Soon our sessions will be filled with researching, making and presenting work that reflects the passions of each Nester. So much fun and hard work to come! I will keep you posted.

The Worst Part

Today I say goodbye to the sixth grade Nesters. This group has been terrific. They are a diverse group of kids. Each possessing skills and talents unique to them. We have engineers, artists, scientists, dancers, scholars and athletes among us. They have all contributed their unique world view to make the time in FN so interesting. This final day they requested we spend sometime debating philosophical questions. These Nesters are curious and thoughtful. I know they will go on to make our world a better place. I was recently at a graduation at which Alan Alda was the commencement speaker. One of the many inspiration things he said was that it is not enough to just have a dream, you need to work at making your dream come true. These sixth graders have big dreams and they have the ability and drive to make them come true. I can't wait to see what they do!

I will see the rest of the Nesters next year. I hope to find them relaxed, refreshed and ready for a challenge. Have a great summer!

The Home Stretch

I hope you had a chance during the Arts Night last week to stop in and see some of the projects the Nesters have been working on. It always amazing at the diversity of interests and passions the Nesters possess. This time of year is always exciting with student work coming to fruition. Although I have to admit it is bittersweet to know we are in the home stretch. Our sixth graders are moving on to new adventures! But we still have a few weeks to cram in as much research, creativity and fun as we possibly can!

Spring has Sprung

At last spring is here and the Falcon's Nest students continue to produce new ideas and creations. We have had recent presentations on Benjamin Franklin and the History of the Soccer Ball. Some of the kids have been exploring online tools that may help them organize and present future projects. They have discovered Remember the Milk an organizational tool, Prezi for interactive presentations and Timetoast to create time lines. We also have been looking at some of the amazing tools Google makes available for creating websites, research and sharing information. It is so much fun to explore technology with the Nesters because they are so adept at navigating the web and so open to trying new things.

Theo Jansen Creation

Inventions and Presentations

This past week the Nesters watched a short video about artist/engineer Theo Jansen who makes kinetic sculptures of creatures out of lemonade bottles and plastic tubing. Mr. Jansen's work bridges art, science, and engineering. We then spent some time designing inventions of our own. Some kids made functional objects designed to send messages and ease laundry chores while others created beautiful sculptures to please the eye. The Nesters regularly combine areas of study in creating their projects. We have had some presentations this past week that combined sculpting and academics. One student studied the history and architecture of the Tower of Pisa and another Nester presented a full scale model of a person made out of recycled materials. It is always so much fun to see the kids translate their academic studies into a creative product. And the creativity is bubbling over at the moment in the Nest. Zach is writing and performing a song based upon a sports figure he has been studying, another student is choreographing a dance, Laura is making a video highlighting the many talents of the HES student body, and Stephanie is designed and building a model of a house. The Nest is an exciting place to be!

Snow

The last few weeks have been trying to even the most avid snow lover. In between snow days the Nesters have continued to work on their projects. We have had a few more projects shared and once again the range of topics is amazing. In the past few weeks Nesters have completed projects on The 39 Clues book series, chem trails, and mummies! I hope this will be a full week of school with plenty of opportunity for the Nesters to make progress on their terrific projects and do some creative group activities. We will see if the weather cooperates! Also, keep an eye out for FN progress reports that will be coming in the kids report cards.

2011

Happy New Year. We are welcoming a few new students to the Nest this month. I love to see our group expand and absorb new people and ideas. The Nesters are remarkably open and supporative of each other. We will continue to do group activities on Wednesdays and individual projects the other schedule periods. The Falcon's Nest kicked off the new year by watching a terrific video of eleven year old Birke Baehr presenting his research on our food system. This video is part of the TED speakers series http://www.ted.com/. If you get a chance to check it out I think you will be impressed with Birke and the many other speakers. I wanted the Nesters to see the video and discuss Birke's remarkable presentation skills. He demonstrated a mastery of both his subject matter and presentation. As I told the Nesters I have great confidence in each of their abilities to research, organize and present their work just as effectively as Birke did. The possibilites for 2011 are endless!