Today the teaching staff at Community Nursery School joined together for a day long retreat.  The intention of our time together was to being again – a new year stretching out ahead of us.  Part deep think, part reflection, mixed in with practical dusting off of intentional practice and some much needed purging of the old unused – we gathered and reconnected and got started.

Up first was an introduction to the work of Carol Dweck. Her most recent book:  Mindsets:  The New Psychology of Success, should be required reading for all parents.  As teachers, we used her work to not only reflect on how we praise and interact with children – but also how we ourselves perceive our very own abilities and gifts.
Watch:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ&feature=youtu.be

After watching Dweck speak on mindsets, and “not yet…” we then took a mindset inventory on ourselves to help each one of us reflect on our own bias.

This discussion led to the next part reflection – on girls and bravery.  This is vital information for all of us who work with children or who are parents.  Please take the time to watch this Ted Talk – https://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tedspread

The rest of our day was spent directly on program enhancement and improvement.  Topics like “environmental print” and “making learning visible” rounded out most of the morning, before we got inspired by the work of Marie Kondo, Spark Joy .  We used this as a platform to reconsider the objects and materials that we have carried with us for the past six years at new CNS.  What do we use?  What inspires us?  What brings joy?

Closing out our session, Heather created opportunities of movement and meditation that allowed each of us to connect with each other nonverbally.  It was the perfect end to a most wonderful beginning.