Between a Rock and a Hard Place . . .

Oftentimes, in the process of designing curriculum, choices have to be made as to which materials, ideas, or skills must be addressed. Such decisions may be influenced by the length of the school day or year, whichever applicable state or recommended standards may apply, as well as by the individual strengths and knowledge of the teacher involved. This latter concept of proper teacher preparation and a suitable knowledge base, is an often-overlooked area - particularly for lower school or elementary school - where one teacher is expected to be the "expert" on all topics and subjects.

One of the many positive aspects of a private school education is the ability of teachers to freely draw upon the expertise of others - colleagues, parents, or outside experts - to supplement and enhance the education of their children. Whether the topic may be beyond the ken of a particular teacher, or simply presented in a more complete and unique fashion, such outside classroom assistance can be an extremely valuable resource for students and for the school community.

Global School students were the enthralled recipients recently of two such uses of outside expertise. The first involved our fifth and sixth graders experiencing an in-depth series of lessons about geology from a practicing geologist - from New Zealand no less. It seems that Mercedes Jordan, our fifth/sixth grade teacher, had a cousin visiting the states recently. Simon Carryer has been a practicing geologist since 1964 in such far away places as Antarctica, Spain, and Canada. Currently a consulting geologist in his home country of New Zealand, Mr. Carryer spent two days sharing his knowledge of the earth's geology with our students. As a seasoned world traveler and active mountaineer, he was able to share numerous first hand experiences with the students that many may have read about, but few have ever experienced first hand as he did.

The second expert to visit Global School was John Crump from the Tech Academy of Silicon Valley, founded by Dr. Jay Pinson, father of our second grade teacher, Debbie Leveridge. This was his first visit of a series of supplemental science teachings

on a thematic basis to all grades in our school. This month, the topic was our fragile ecosystem and the critical ingredients for life. Mr. Crump had the somewhat daunting task of teaching in one day, our full range of students - from the endless questions of an interested first grader (not always on topic of course), to the often obvious skepticism of the more "mature" fifth graders. To his credit, Mr. Crump handled it all with great skill and aplomb, albeit suffering a tad more exhaustion at the end of the day. Students at all levels walked away from his presentations with a keener understanding of the building blocks of life, as well as a better perspective of our role as humans in this infinite circle.

The ability to learn from a student's classroom teachers on a daily basis is not unique to any one school. Nor is it an earth shattering event when an outsider or two is brought in to supplement regular classroom work - after all, that's what school assemblies are for . . . What is unique, is Global School's commitment to making sure that our students are exposed to a variety of teaching styles, perspectives, and first hand experiences that will provide each of them with the proper tools to move forward and grow into the challenges of our ever-changing world.

You'll have to excuse me now, I'm off to memorize the three types of rock and the three necessary ingredients for life. I never know when the students will spring a pop quiz on me . . .