Not Quite Night School

by Sarah Fary, Upper Elementary Teacher

This past Friday, January 29, was the night of CFMS’s annual Not Quite Night school.  It was my fifth year attending this event, and my first in the capacity of classroom teacher.  I had the pleasure of observing students patiently shepherd parents through several lessons, and it was enlightening to see which works they chose to share.

One student had a work in progress from the school day, a huge square root problem that she had been focused on for many hours Friday morning.

  This work is done on a pegboard, and her goal had been to find a number so large that the the answer broke the bounds of the materials and required her to spread over the edges of the pegboard and onto the table.  She sat with her father and brother, explaining how the work was done.  Then they were put to work.  When she had finished, it still fit on the board.  Answer in hand, they continued on to complete another, smaller problem, start to finish.  She left the material on the table to revisit on Monday.

Another child spent time placing the country pins in the map of Africa, and conversing about each country.  Some children chose to show their parents lessons they received early in the school year, or even as far back as lower elementary.  Ultimately, I observed children showing their parents work that gives them joy - either joy in their own confidence, joy in new discovery, or joy in an old and familiar friend, revisited.