Anonymous wrote:Did you read the post that I did? She didn't say that she was a puppeteer at Glen Echo. She said that she was in a line of work where she saw many kids of the same age group and used that as an example. I'd guess that it's something quite different and from what she said in her post, will guess that it was a math or science related demonstration. So she probably does have more info from which to make her generalizations.

Anonymous wrote:I recently had the opportunity to work with an early grade from Stokes. In my line of work -- let's say I'm a puppeteer at Glen Echo -- I work constantly with this same age group from many, many different schools.

Here are some cool things that about the Stokes group, RELATIVE to other same-age groups of kids from other schools:

it was pretty diverse, in terms of skin color, national origin, religion, SNs, and (suspected) SES.

the many parents in attendance seem engaged and on the ball.

the parents seemed like kind people.

Most of the kids seemed like they'd grow up to be kind people.

HERE's what wasn't so great, RELATIVE to all the other same-age groups of kids I regularly deal with from other schools:

- the kids were, as a group, hyper, inattentive and generally not well behaved. I had to repeat myself constantly and could tell, based on experience, that not much was sinking in.

- The range of apparent ability within the same class was much wider than many (not all) other classes of kids I deal with. I could see where this would be a potential problem in the hands of a less-experienced or less-skilled teacher. (Or not -- do they track in math and separate by ability? IDK. It would be hard to craft 18 different science plans each week to "meet these kids where they are," that is for sure.

- the teachers struck me as being really, really young. Again, relative to most (not all) of the other teachers I meet accompanying groups of same-aged kids.

OK. There are my observations. Read what you will into them or nothing at all. But do believe that I deal with many kids that age from many schools all over the metro area. (though, less so Virginia).

Anonymous wrote:I recently had the opportunity to work with an early grade from Stokes. In my line of work -- let's say I'm a puppeteer at Glen Echo -- I work constantly with this same age group from many, many different schools.

Here are some cool things that about the Stokes group, RELATIVE to other same-age groups of kids from other schools:

it was pretty diverse, in terms of skin color, national origin, religion, SNs, and (suspected) SES.

the many parents in attendance seem engaged and on the ball.

the parents seemed like kind people.

Most of the kids seemed like they'd grow up to be kind people.

HERE's what wasn't so great, RELATIVE to all the other same-age groups of kids I regularly deal with from other schools:

- the kids were, as a group, hyper, inattentive and generally not well behaved. I had to repeat myself constantly and could tell, based on experience, that not much was sinking in.

- The range of apparent ability within the same class was much wider than many (not all) other classes of kids I deal with. I could see where this would be a potential problem in the hands of a less-experienced or less-skilled teacher. (Or not -- do they track in math and separate by ability? IDK. It would be hard to craft 18 different science plans each week to "meet these kids where they are," that is for sure.

- the teachers struck me as being really, really young. Again, relative to most (not all) of the other teachers I meet accompanying groups of same-aged kids.

OK. There are my observations. Read what you will into them or nothing at all. But do believe that I deal with many kids that age from many schools all over the metro area. (though, less so Virginia).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently had the opportunity to work with an early grade from Stokes. In my line of work -- let's say I'm a puppeteer at Glen Echo -- I work constantly with this same age group from many, many different schools.

Here are some cool things that about the Stokes group, RELATIVE to other same-age groups of kids from other schools:

it was pretty diverse, in terms of skin color, national origin, religion, SNs, and (suspected) SES.

the many parents in attendance seem engaged and on the ball.

the parents seemed like kind people.

Most of the kids seemed like they'd grow up to be kind people.

HERE's what wasn't so great, RELATIVE to all the other same-age groups of kids I regularly deal with from other schools:

- the kids were, as a group, hyper, inattentive and generally not well behaved. I had to repeat myself constantly and could tell, based on experience, that not much was sinking in.

- The range of apparent ability within the same class was much wider than many (not all) other classes of kids I deal with. I could see where this would be a potential problem in the hands of a less-experienced or less-skilled teacher. (Or not -- do they track in math and separate by ability? IDK. It would be hard to craft 18 different science plans each week to "meet these kids where they are," that is for sure.

- the teachers struck me as being really, really young. Again, relative to most (not all) of the other teachers I meet accompanying groups of same-aged kids.

OK. There are my observations. Read what you will into them or nothing at all. But do believe that I deal with many kids that age from many schools all over the metro area. (though, less so Virginia).

I am very impressed. Not many people can discern children's SES status, or their math skills while performing with puppets on a stage. I think there is a great future for you. Perhaps if there were enough people with your skills we could replace the new Common Core assessments with a system whereby students are assessed during a puppet show.

Anonymous wrote:I recently had the opportunity to work with an early grade from Stokes. In my line of work -- let's say I'm a puppeteer at Glen Echo -- I work constantly with this same age group from many, many different schools.

Here are some cool things that about the Stokes group, RELATIVE to other same-age groups of kids from other schools:

it was pretty diverse, in terms of skin color, national origin, religion, SNs, and (suspected) SES.

the many parents in attendance seem engaged and on the ball.

the parents seemed like kind people.

Most of the kids seemed like they'd grow up to be kind people.

HERE's what wasn't so great, RELATIVE to all the other same-age groups of kids I regularly deal with from other schools:

- the kids were, as a group, hyper, inattentive and generally not well behaved. I had to repeat myself constantly and could tell, based on experience, that not much was sinking in.

- The range of apparent ability within the same class was much wider than many (not all) other classes of kids I deal with. I could see where this would be a potential problem in the hands of a less-experienced or less-skilled teacher. (Or not -- do they track in math and separate by ability? IDK. It would be hard to craft 18 different science plans each week to "meet these kids where they are," that is for sure.

- the teachers struck me as being really, really young. Again, relative to most (not all) of the other teachers I meet accompanying groups of same-aged kids.

OK. There are my observations. Read what you will into them or nothing at all. But do believe that I deal with many kids that age from many schools all over the metro area. (though, less so Virginia).