The Heart of Teaching

Dr. Suzuki

The principal and teachers should perceive themselves as generalists first (scholars in the art of teaching) and specialists second (experts in one particular discipline). Each staff member should have a sense of commitment to the entire school. April’s CES Principle

One late afternoon I sat at watching my five year old’s piano lesson. Her teacher was trained in the method of Dr. Suzuki, a musician and master teacher who wrote: "Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart. "

My daughter was having a hard time with a particular passage in the piece she was learning. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her hand to play the notes smoothly with the right fingering. The more frustrated she became, the harder it was for her to play. “Here,” said her wise teacher. “Put your hand on top of mine while I play it.” I vividly remember the sight of my young daughter’s small hand on top of her teacher’s older one, feeling the correct rhythm and notes. She immediately was able to play the passage on her own.

At the time I was a High School English teacher, struggling to help my 11th graders combine logic, language, and personal voice in their persuasive and analytical essays. In a flash, I realized that I could guide my students intellectually as writers just as Mrs. Schweiger had guided my daughter. The next day in English class with a laptop and a projector I modeled the writing process word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence, for my students. They watched and listened as I wrote, and they developed a stronger feel for the steps they needed to take themselves as writers.

This month’s common principle speaks to the importance of teachers being “generalists” first and foremost, practitioners in the art of teaching. This does not mean that teachers shouldn’t be skilled and knowledgeable in their particular disciplines, but it does mean that the best educators prize the craft of teaching. They seek out new ways to teach and coach students, and find inspiration all around them. My daughter’s piano teacher was and continues to be a model to me of excellent teacher craft. She is patient, exacting, and intuitive. She has a passion for the music that inspires her students. I still sit each week and watch her teach my children, and I continue to learn from her.

Great teaching is all around us at Nathan Hale. In the Ceramics classroom, a patient teacher models the techniques of slipping and scoring. In the Math classroom, a skilled teacher gives just the right amount of wait time so that her students have time to reason through a problem. In a Science classroom, a creative teacher creates a model to show the results of a meteor impact with flour, cocoa, and different shapes, weights, and sizes of “meteors.” In a Social Studies classroom, students engage in a Socratic Seminar focused on an article they’ve read about appreciation vs. appropriation in preparation for their Harlem Renaissance projects. In each case, students are developing “sensitivity, discipline, and endurance.”

Thank you for your support, and most of all for sharing your students with us—and happy spring!

Marni Campbell, Principal

Raiders Connect With the Wide World!

Renowned author Laurie Halse Anderson visited Nathan Hale, and shared her journey as a writer, as well as her insights about adolescence. We love Laurie! See here for more information about her work.





Nathan Hale AP Environmental Science students take time out of their mid-winter breaks to lobby in Olympia on Environmental Lobby Day:

Harlem Renaissance Exhibition Night

Music, fine food (thank you PTSA), visual art, and poetry combine to create an inspiring celebration of the artists and acitivists of the Harlem Renaissance. Thank you to our 11th grade Language Arts and Social Studies teachers, and Mr. Linett for his inspired and illuminating tech support!

A Busy Spring Week!

Here are some studies in shade and color, created by Mr. K.'s art students and displayed in our Southeast hallway:


In Raider Rebuild news, we have just removed the large planters from the parking lot by our football field. This area will become a new drop off and turnaround area for our fitness center, and will make access to our athletic facilities much safer and more convenient. Next year, there will be temporary portable classrooms sited here.



Here is some student work on display from a beginning Spanish class. Students used each other's verb projects to conduct a verb scavenger hunt.



Chilly runners get a tutorial from our own Matt H., who served as starter and teacher of track protocol, as they prepare to run a 400 m race.



Here is a great example of the critical thinking in Horticulture class. Click on the overhead guidelines for the class. The DE is a "daily engage" question for conversation and journaling: "How can you subdivide your project topic?"



Here are some instructions for a long-term landscape design project:



And finally, here are some new spring plants in our greenhouse:

Students at Work~Mid-March Edition

Students apply the Pythagorean Theorem in real-life scenarios:



Students apply Geometry concepts in a game of "Geo-pardy":



Student hands at work in the Ceramics studio:




The "College Board" in the Counseling Center is filling with exciting destinations for our graduating Seniors:

Pi Day (3/14)

Thirty-five Nathan Hale students were correctly able to recite pi to at least 15 places!

Top performers:

David Lien recited 303 places for a new school record and a whole apple pie.

Nicole Gray recited pi to 82 places

Aurora McCone made 54.

In a first, Connor Vidmar (a 6th grader at Summit and brother of a Nathan Hale student brother) recited 251 in our "open" category.

Happy Pi day everyone!

Raiders at Work: Form and Balance

Our new addition is starting to look like a learning space! I was mesmerized by the abstract ballet of the crane gracefully lifting a ton of steel to balance on concrete pillars.



Raiders in vocal jazz work on intonation, enunciation, rhythm, and dynamics--the fine and subtle components of true artistry. These guidelines were written by a student musician as a reminder to the group!



Singers work together to learn the structure of a jazz arrangement. Once they have mastered the outline, they can improvise freely within the form.

Nathan Hale Supports Summit K-12 Families

This past Thursday (2/26) Nathan Hale hosted a special event for Summit families to let them know that we support them. Nathan Hale and Summit share similar philosophical visions, and it was a pleasure to have them in our school. Thanks to Nathan Hale staff member Tina T. and PTSA president Melissa L. for creating such a great event!

Helping Students Show What They Know

Nathan Hale students recently had a chance to reflect on the following question in their writing journals:



I listened to and learned from their insights and conversation!

Our Women's Varsity Basketball team takes a final time out at a crucial playoff game at Mt. Si High School. Coach Jones gives them the fire they need to finish with a win!



Men's Varsity Basketball gets ready to start a heart-pumping, action-filled game at Mt. Si High School:



Way to go Raiders and Raider teachers/coaches!