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04/21/2020 12:00 AMStarting at 7:45 a.m Monday – Friday students gather, joining our Zoom meeting to answer the “FunCash question” of the day. Something we had done in-person and continue now as a familiar start to our online meetings, this “question” varies each day, from telling a good joke to finding an answer based on academic research - all in good fun and a way to keep normalcy for CELCers to remain engaged and motivated. After the question, “FunCash” is distributed, millions of dollars during each trimester that is then “spent” on prizes at the end-of-trimester CELC auction! It is quite a tradition. This is followed by a morning read-aloud, just five minutes of an ongoing book, currently The Giver by Lois Lowery.
Regularly scheduled classes commence. Our day continues, with breaks for snack, lunch, outside time, some individual or small group work sessions, all until about 2 p.m.
Although we are not in-person, the use of breakout rooms lend themselves to smaller discussions, project work, and collaborative activities. CELC already has, for the past couple of years, been working with a teacher who lives in Antigua, Guatemala, so students are used to seeing Professor Billy online via Skype twice/ week. Now, instead of Billy being projected onto a screen, he teaches Spanish class in a Zoom room, from his Guatemala home.
Even with a total of eight students, CELC teachers conduct five separate math classes! Students continue to receive personalized attention from a teacher and work together to share ideas and problem solve. In science, the study of astronomy has students each creating travel brochures to learn about other planets; student-created brochures highlight what conditions would be like for visitors from Earth. As well, students are involved in creating (on a sunny day) from each home location a “human sundial” by marking and measuring one’s shadow during the course of a day.
CELC alumnus Jakob now “Zooms in” weekly from California to work with the Literature Circle classes. The two groups are each reading and discussing their assigned books: James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small and A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park. Jakob also assists students individually with research-report writing. As part of this year’s thematic study of Exploration and Discovery, each student has chosen to study a person who has made a significant impact in the world, in any field. These become the topics of focus in learning to write formal research papers; skills include outlining, note taking, writing and revising, and use of MLA format. Each student also will construct interactive displays to share what has been learned. The plan is to display these for the public at some point in the future, once we are able to gather.
Outdoor Education brings students on out-of-doors “assignments” that involve exploration and observation of the natural world, as well as physical activity. We also appreciate Ranger Russ at Meigs Point Nature Center for broadcasting on Facebook each week, live from the beach and water rooms. CELC’s monthly Mindfulness class and
bi-monthly Yoga class continue online.
While this new way is not something we would have anticipated, CELC as a small school remains sturdy and able to keep students connected, engaged, learning and growing both individually and together.
We invite prospective students and parents to please visit our online classroom! While admissions season is challenged, we encourage interested families to be in contact. Openings are available and applications are being accepted for 2020-21.Contact mandm@CTEXperiential.org or 203.433.4658 to schedule a “visit” and for more information.