Principal. Mother. Tired.: If you dream it...

Today marked the last of our "Enrichment Showcase" for the year. Parents, teachers and students roamed through the hallways enjoying the projects that our 4th and 5th graders had created over the past 6 weeks. Everyone enjoyed photographs taken by 4th and 5th graders, knitting projects, Minecraft challenges, stop motion videos and coding challenges such as "Sphero Chariot Racing" and a synchronized dance with two Bee Bots. There were smiles all around and students were so excited to show off their creations.

I really stopped to sit back and try to take everything in. Last year, 4th and 5th grade didn't even exist at my school. It was simply a plan. Last summer, our school coordinator collaborated on a Google doc with the new 4th and 5th grade team imagining every possibility. Nothing was off limits and there truly were no bad ideas to be found. Even the idea of an enrichment time was part of our crazy brain storm.

It was based off Google's 20% time and passion projects. Essentially, we wanted to allow time for students to really engage in what interested them or even try out something new that they might want to explore.

said Google doc.

Final knitting projects

As we put together our 4th and 5th grade daily schedules, we committed to carving out 45 minutes at the end of each day in which our students could choose a subject to study that was interesting to them. Starting out, the teachers chose topics that we were passionate about: play writing, speech & debate, engineering and cultural art.

When we first proposed the idea to our 4th and 5th graders, they were so enthusiastic! Throughout the first eight week session, kids were always excited to head to enrichment, ready to work on new skills and talents that may not have been explored before.

During the second round of enrichment, after the 4th and 5th graders knew what enrichment was all about, we began asking them what they might be interested in. One Google Form and 121 responses later and we were off with a fresh round of enrichments: Minecraft, school newsletter, Zumba, Photography and Knitting! The excitement was so much greater than even before. Our team of teachers couldn't stop talking about just how engaged kids were in these enrichment classes.

Student created game of "Bee Bot Sorry!"

Finally, in our last round of enrichments, as students became more comfortable with the use of tech in their classrooms throughout the day, they were asking for more tech enrichments! For our last round, we offered Minecraft, Photography, Coding Challenges, YouTubing and Knitting again.

I was reluctant to take on the coding enrichment since I had no experience with it before. But I knew our kids were so bright and super motivated, so I allowed them to take the lead. I offered a few tools I knew of such as: Bee Bots, the Hour of Code, Hopscotch, Spheros and MaKey MaKey (not a coding tool, but still awesome). We played with them and then the kids actually came up with their challenges and final projects.

Showing off Minecraft projects to peer and families

In reflecting on this year's enrichment exploration, I am just truly amazed at how powerful this 45 minutes per day has impacted our students. There are some things I will never forget seeing during this sacred time of the day. One thing that truly astounded me was that every student was truly engaged. Students who are typically reluctant to engage during math and language arts instruction are completely different kids when in enrichment. They are focused, engaged, passionate, and curious. In this arena, these students feel successful. They are leaders. They are validated through their passions. They create. And they are proud.

Sphero Chariot Races

I am also blown away at the acceptance these students have for the passions of others. When a number of 5th grade boys proudly showed off their creations from knitting, no one blinked an eye. When girls talked me through their lines of code, I was so proud. Everyone cheered others on. It was truly a positive experience for students and teachers alike. For whatever reason, enrichment just kept getting better.

I was approached by one of our 4th graders this afternoon during our showcase and she asked me, "Will you be offering coding again next year? I want to take it right away because this is awesome! There is just too much to choose from in enrichment."

And isn't this what every child deserves...too many good choices to choose from?

I am so looking forward to another year of enrichment with my colleagues next year. I am so lucky and proud to work with such a phenomenal team of teachers, students and admin who support our crazy Google doc dreams.