Flow of the Day

Informed by the diverse developmental levels found in the children in addition to expectations and values framed by the educators, the flow of the day shapes the experiences of Blue School from arrival until departure. Meeting and greeting, routines and rituals, planning and action, reflection and closure are all planned aspects that make possible experiences, relationship building, thinking, learning, and discovery.

Blue School’s day begins with a Community Meeting, a short get-together of all except the youngest children, which sets the tone for everyone present. Activities here range from singing songs as a group to viewing a presentation by fellow students; from a visiting artist to taking stock of timely events. Community Meeting helps us to realize why we come together at Blue School as an extended network of individuals, families and communities.  From there, Classroom Meetings focus on relationships and culture within the homeroom. We look forward and discuss the agenda for the day or examine prior learning experiences and goals so that decisions can be made about where to go next and why.

Time Blocks and Routines

Blocks of time are organized throughout the day at Blue School in order to plan for and rotate the use of spaces the environment offers. Planning in time blocks takes into account human rhythms and the culture of routines. As the day progresses, children prepare for future activities, act upon initiatives, and work through transitions that culminate in reflection and closure.

The time given for the planning of experiences follows the developmental scope and personality of different age groups and classroom identities. The youngest children are afforded the fewest transitions, whereas the oldest children help in planning the schedule of the day and week. Learning to track and carry out schedules gives opportunities to connect research processes, hypothesis, and projection to daily life and learning objectives while at the same time mastering the mechanics and processes of creating goals and setting agendas.

The flow of the day also serves to integrate different intelligences and academic content by connecting similar ideas and concepts to different learning environments. Simultaneously, it offers a structure for classrooms to coordinate and share experiences, manage resources and work as a community.

Following the planning meetings, every classroom posts a curriculum plan that reflects the intention and goals for each area or initiative. This communicates the intention and objectives for the week, and projects how plans and ideas might come together over time.

Planning, the Flow of the Day, and Blue School Lenses

By exploring and applying one concept in more than one environment with different tools or provocations,

children are offered different ways of understanding ideas and integrating content. This also supports children and adults in seeing diverse ways to create and think with concepts and materials and apply learned skills.

For example, a Community Meeting that focuses on everyone singing a song in unison emphasizes the role of the Innocent and Group Member. On the other hand, if students are asked to plan for, practice and present a performance at the Community Meeting, the Artist, Scientist, Trickster or Hero may become the predominant lens from an authorship or leadership perspective.

Reflective Meetings/Planning Meetings

REFLECTIVE MEETINGS: Teachers, the curriculum support team, and at times, family members, meet to reflect on documentation and the work of the children. Together, they uncover concepts, reveal the complexities and mechanics of learning processes, and determine ways to go forward to scaffold the children’s learning and development. These weekly meetings also form the backbone for embedded staff development at Blue School that brings together theory and practice through action research while at the same time provides the next steps for curricular planning.

WEEKLY PLANNING MEETINGS: Following Reflective Meetings, Teaching Teams use the insights, perspectives and thinking that have emerged to plan and organize next steps that will be shared and conferred with the children the following week. As children become aware of this way of working, they too become involved in supporting the overall co-construction process between adults and children.

A general flow of the day at the Blue School:

MORNING

AFTERNOON