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Health & Fitness

Museum Experience

Museum Experience

Posted: 02/06/2014 By Linda Witzburg, Middle School Teacher 
January and February are my favorite months of the year at New Morning School.  No, it is not because of the possibility of lots of snow days, which have certainly been plentiful this year.  January and February mean working on Museum! Sure, museum is a great deal of work for teachers and students alike.  All of the teachers will admit that it is difficult to keep track of what each student plans to do and where all the various parts of everyone’s museum project are stored.  It always seems like some kids are slower than others to complete the various parts of their projects, and we all worry about getting everything done.  Sometimes the vision is larger than the amount of time available to complete the task and compromise is necessary.  Those papier-mâché projects and models especially cause a lot of anxiety. Often children and teacher are working hard the Friday afternoon before Museum to finish painting or putting together a model or answer board.  There are also the display boards that are completed, only to discover an incorrectly spelled title or name and corrections that need to be made. But despite all the pitfalls, Museum time at New Morning School is exciting, creative, and just plain fun. It allows our students to enjoy all the benefits of an individualized program.  While there are some requirements, particularly for older students, each child chooses what they specifically want to learn about.  While teachers sometimes supply direction and help narrow broad topics a little bit, each student roams freely through books and around the internet learning about something new or learning more about a favorite subject.  A lot of learning takes place through museum projects.  Students learn research skills, internet search skills, how to take notes and make outlines, formulate questions, and organize information into charts and graphs.  They practice their writing and presentation skills.  They learn to display information in visual formats and use their creative energy to create drawings, models, and games.  I have a chance to assess the growth of these skills when I compare how each student approaches and completes these tasks and note improvements.  Museum study projects are collaborative efforts.  Parents, teacher, and child all work together to complete the project.  This means that as a teacher, I learn a lot while children are working on their projects.  This year I am learning about snakes, football, Walt Disney, dinosaurs, Chinese mythology, magic and magicians, the Green Bay Packers, big cats, and space exploration. I also have an opportunity to learn more about my students’ interests and creative skills.  Because museum utilizes such a broad range of skills, I can assess how a student is integrating skills to complete a project which requires research, writing, speaking, and creating a visual display. Museum also requires students to utilize their abilities to prioritize tasks, manage time, and meet intermediate deadlines. Museum lets me peer into the future for many of my students, since their project choices often point to future careers or areas of interest in college studies.  Once you recover from helping you child plan and prepare their Museum project and pause to reflect about everything you’ve learned about their topic and their skills, I think you will agree that Museum time is one of the best times at New Morning School.  See you Sunday, February 9, 2014!
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