Opening 2011 1. Pledge 2. America the Beautiful 3.

Remarks If you stand on Pondfield Road our school, with its brick, stained glass, gargoyles, and classic proportions, is a monument to continuity and stability. Yet we know much has changed inside the building. In the same way, we value the continuity of seeing colleagues year after year. Yet we change inside, too, and since we were last together in June, we have all had experiences that make us different in various ways. Some have been saddened by death in the family; others are greeting new babies. Some have traveled away and returned with a transformed perspective on the world around us. By coming together each fall we benefit from the continuity that comes with support from valued colleagues, old and new. There is power and resilience that comes from belonging to a community, and as we all know, crisis sharpens our awareness of interdependence. Crisis often brings out the best and on occasion the worst in us. We prepared for this event four years ago by restoring our walls, floors, and cabinets with water resistant materials, by moving our electrical and boiler equipment above the flood plain, by moving whatever functions we could upstairs, by taking precautions the week before Irene hit. A tour of the ground floor since the flood taps powerful emotions and a keen sense of loss. The books and papers, just objects, nevertheless are integral to our daily work. And let us acknowledge that this the second such devastation for a good number of us our kindergarten team, nurses and special education teachers, physical education staff, the athletic department, Middle School math and exploratory subject teachers, and foreign language. This double sense of loss is felt keenly and irrevocably. Still, the river did not stay away from our door. The flood did its awful work, yet we stand, ready for school. That kind of resilience only occurs when many people band together with a common cause. There are so many people to thank that perhaps it is better to say that all of us have been touched and we will need all of us to recover. MOMENT OF SILENCE SLIDE SHOW Our perspective on the past reminds us that some good eventually came out of our last flood. We made some building improvements that would otherwise have been beyond reach. The loss of space led to more sharing and collaboration. So, though it is too early to either reflect or predict, we can entertain the question: How can we use adverse circumstances to advance what we value most through creativity and adapting to changed reality? And that is a segue to learning and teaching. With that question in mind, let us think of the flood as a metaphor. Not in the Pat Robertson biblical way, as if external natural disaster somehow reflect inner moral failings. Instead, how about the fact that we are

experiencing a flood of new regulations that govern our work, regulations that place more weight on standardized testing and formulaic approaches to professional growth. Such regulations, however well meant, derive from a simplistic cause and effect view of how learning takes place and at the end of the day reduce students and teachers to numbers. The size of our school gives the advantage of knowing each other as people, and as it turns out, that is a vital component of effective teaching. So, without going into the technical details or the related research, let me touch on two simple ways to promote successful learning in a personal way. The first is formative feedback. When a student receives a grade, a number or a letter, it does not tell that student what he or she needs to learn next. Coaching through verbal or written comments or demonstrations tailored to a particular students needs can help him or her do better next time or stretch to a new level of learning. So assessment can have the purpose not of ranking students but of substantive feedback about performance. A closely related concept is asking the student what he or she has learned. Self assessment and reflection on how or why metacognition, if you will turns out to be a key step in what a student retains and how they are able to apply what they know to other contexts. Formative assessment. The second simple way is to express your belief that the student can succeed. I often quote Mary Budd Rowes statement that the teacher needs to convey three things to their students: You can do it. I wont give up on you. Im here to help. The attitude of joint commitment to success is more important than the existence of extra help periods at the end of the day, and when students that attitude they will bring out the best in themselves, not just comply with a particular assignment. But they need to know you care. Formative assessment. Personal commitment to the success of each student. These are integral aspects of our interest in raising the level critical and creative thinking. These are two simple ways that dont rely on high technology or additional coursework. They come instead from we are as people. And if we ask How can we use adverse circumstances to advance what we value most? it turns out that while our school may forever stand inside a floodplain, we can still strengthen our resilience and improve our ability to anticipate and respond. And if a flood of regulations threatens to wash away what we know about teaching, we can still reclaim the higher ground by connecting with our students one by one and help them find their own voice as independent thinkers, dreamers, and doers.