Welcoming Area Teachers

The buses pulled in after the entire FCS student body was dismissed at noon. They carried not students but teachers from other D.C.-area independent schools, arriving for a symposium on progressive teaching methods.  Over 200 teachers attended from local progressive schools that belong to the Capital Area Progressive Schools network: Lowell School, Capitol Hill Day School, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, and Green Acres School.

The topic was “Visual Learning and Collaborative Assessment,” which translates to helping children show the meaning behind their work. Steven Seidel, Faculty Director at Harvard Graduate School of Arts in Education, presented findings from his 20-plus years of research, and then the K-8 teachers divided by grade level for related break-out sessions.

Complementing the message in Seidel’s presentation, the FCS hallways and classrooms provided many examples of visual learning in practice. The guest teachers could be seen studying FCS students’ posters, essays, and art in the hallways and classrooms.

Yesterday was the first time most of these teachers had visited FCS, and it was a proud moment for the school. “I was asked if FCS could host such an event,” says James, the 7/8 science teacher who is the FCS representative on the CAPS steering committee. “I thought, our school is small. I’m not sure if we can have so many people in our building at one time. I also thought about the working relationships we have with each other. I knew that with the experience and camaraderie we have as a school, we would rise to the occasion.”