I don't know about the kids, but my hands hurt when all was said and
done. We had celebrated 16 people -- a combined 260 years of service.
There was even one standing ovation (Hey! We get out of our seats for
retirement!). There is a lot of good will in this place because everyone
works hard and we all appreciate the efforts of our colleagues and of
our students. As Lucille Payne received her certificate, I thought that
every student who was applauding and cheering for her had certainly
indulged in one of the cookies on the platter on the cart that she
wheels all the way from Yardley to the Arcade every Wednesday. By senior
year, everyone will have taken a class with Geoff Braun, Dennis
Reichelderfer, and Cheryl Haymes. Everyone has been overcome by the
sheer beauty of this campus and by all the work that is behind that
beauty. A year from now, as this year's recipients move into their sixth,
eleventh, sixteenth, and so on, years of service, we will meet again,
overflowing into the choir loft, to recognize a new group who has
achieved the "years ending in five and zero" milestone. And kids will
clap and cheer. And not because this next crop will be all of their
favorites…because it is not about favorites. It's about a community and
the important work that everyone does to make Chatham Hall the school
that it is. (Standing ovation!)

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The last third of the year is underway; everyone seems to have returned
from Spring Break in one piece. In doing so, we have all hit the ground
running. In our first year of a switch to semesters, we returned in late
March to courses that had already been going since January and did not
have the luxury of those few days of new course, clean slate, easing
back into our work. We headed back into courses with notes already
taken, projects already begun, and homework expected that very first
night. By the end of last week (our first week back, remember), it was hard to
fathom, on Friday, as several faculty shared a lunch table with me, that
we had, indeed, only been back for five days. We had had classes, a
concert by musician Tiff Merritt, preparations for Revisit Weekend,
meetings, tornado drills, a fire drill, seated meals, and on top of all
that, that first week back was the week when most students heard back
from most of their colleges. And to add more depth, the weather,
normally "Virginia-like" was more "New England-like" -- hot one day,
cold and raw the next. Happily, we are in an upswing regarding the
weather, and have had several glorious days in a row where students
plead for "class outside," and sweaters necessary in the early morning
are doffed by lunchtime. The birds are alive and well; the flowers are
bursting with color. And joy just surprises us sometimes. In the past few days, there have
been a few events which, in very visible ways, are the answers to the
question, "Why would anyone want to go into education as a livelihood?"

On Saturday, a group of students addressed accepted students and their
families at a session during Revisit Weekend. One to four students were
present at this session to let the audience know something of the
curriculum from their point of view -- projects tackled, challenges
surmounted, progress made. As the students, many of them first year
students, moved through the program, I felt joy because these girls were
doing this job better than any adult in the room could have -- and
that's the point. Sort of like parenting, a teacher's job is to make
students not need us anymore. At 11:00 a.m. last Saturday, those
students did not need us. They were poised, spoke eloquently about their
learning and their passions, and demonstrated the power of leaving the
words to the kids. Their mission, which they had all chosen to accept,
was accomplished with great energy, spirit, and intelligence.

Yesterday, in Chapel, joy overtook us again. To being with, there are
not enough jobs where one can interrupt the flow of work to gather,
contemplate, and sing in as beautiful a setting as St. Mary's Chapel.
Secondly, there are also not enough jobs where one is able to witness
what we experienced yesterday in chapel. One of our seniors, Siyi, delivered a chapel talk in which she
established a very moving cadence of "Happiness is…" phrases, some
surprising, some funny, all heartfelt from a student who moved 15,000
miles from home to attend a boarding school…a new place to be. As is
typical at the end of chapel talks, friends or family will sing a song
for the speaker. Yesterday, two of Siyi's friends stood up, and,
atypically, began to sing a song in Chinese to a track accompaniment (We
usually have live music…tracks are frowned upon. And rules are made to
be broken. Music Director David Grimes, who approves all post-chapel
talk music, said, "This was too good!"). The song, "Love-ing," was
bouncy, happy, loud, and perfect for the kind of day that was happening
outside the chapel -- bouncy and happy -- just ask the birds! Back in
the chapel, a minute or so into the song, four more friends stood up and
took on the role of backup group. They danced, they sang, they formed
the letters L-O-V-E with their arms and legs. They got us clapping. They
formed a cha-cha line into which they drew Siyi. They moved up the aisle
and back to the front of the chapel. They included other students who
held up signs with L-O-V-E spelled out. They smiled. They laughed. They
enjoyed themselves.

And so did we. We all took note that one of our quieter students…also
having moved 15,000 miles to attend Chatham Hall, was right up there
setting a new standard for backup dancer…with enthusiasm, obvious
talent, and courage. These unexpected moments of sheer happiness (Note
to Siyi: Happiness is seeing a group of students do something for a
friend that was so darned over-the-top with love for that friend!) had
us all smiling at the content (fun song, lively music, excellent backup
energy!), but also at the players. They had found their power. They had
found their voice. And that is joy.

Martha Griswold
Academic Dean

Martha A. Griswold, Academic Dean
Chatham Hall
800 Chatham Hall Circle
Chatham, VA 24531
434.432.5617

Chatham Hall is at the forefront of all-girls education. We value
academic excellence, inspire integrity, and instill global
responsibility in tomorrow's leaders.

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This group, Chatham Hall's first Robotics Team, would know that in Shaw
Science building, in the physics room, they would be able to grab all
of the listed items (Photo of Justin Bieber? Just grab the mobile with
his photo that hangs from the ceiling! Christmas tree? Decorated with
physics-related decorations made by students.) Well, the bowling ball
might be hard to get a good purchase on, but these girls could probably
figure a way to employ the ramp to move the ball in a forward direction
using their knowledge of momentum and slope.

Senior Meredith Lee, who has a strong interest in things robotic,
created a Discovery Challenge for herself last year, the focus of which
was robotics. Part of that Discovery Challenge involved doing the
research regarding the steps necessary to start a competitive robotics
team here at Chatham Hall. Thanks to her and to her faculty sponsor,
physics teacher Molly Thomas, a group of students now meets regularly to
design, build, program, and learn how to manipulate a 17" x17" x 17 inch
robot, complete with arm and the eventual ability, when all the bugs are
worked out, to roll the bowling ball and pick up some small small
plastic milk crates.

On a recent Wednesday night, the group gathered around a table in the
physics classroom. Three adults were present as a support system: Molly
Thomas, and two current parents, both with vast experience coaching
successful, local robotics teams -- Dan Waters and David Wilton.

On the evening that I was able to observe, there was excitement over
the fact that at the previous meeting time, the robot, silver and shiny,
much like an overgrown erector set model, but with wires and and
receivers and transmitters, had had a successful foray across the floor
of the physics room. In the intervening time, however, difficulties had
occurred, necessitating some reprogramming. Meredith and Mr. Waters were
at the computer as Meredith worked through some of the issues. At the other table, Antoinette Flowers '14, Rocío Rodriguez '12, and
Amy MacDonough '13 (Kathryn Waters '14 is also a member of the team,
another duty calling her away), skillfully tossed around allen wrenches,
grabbed ratchet tools, and added necessary nuts and bolts to secure the
construction. Three to four heads, at any one moment, bent and huddled
around the robot, building, speculating, figuring out what, in order to
balance the robot, taking into account the eventual movement of the arm,
had to be moved or adjusted.

Time was something of an issue because the girls will have their first
FTC FIRST (First Technical Challenge -- For Inspiration and Recognition
of Science and Technology) competition on December 17, in Richmond. They
will get up early (very early) and make the trip to the site where they
will be paired with a group unknown to them. The two groups will work
together to complete the challenges (bowling ball roll and crate
pick-up). The robot needs to be up and running soon. Recently, the group
was having to rethink the arm and the overall balance of the robot.
Hopefully, there will be resolution to that issue quickly.

Girls and tools. My dad always says, "You can't manage people if you
haven't held a tool." Having worked side by side with him on many
different projects involving power and hand tools, I feel that there is
something to this. When you use tools, you have to make decisions about
what works, what doesn't, and while the tool does not talk back the way
a person does, if the tool is not the right one for the job, you know
pretty quickly. The casualness with which this robotic team would look
at one tool, set it down, and reach for another speaks of a level of
comfort with the materials at hand. It speaks of collaboration and
knowledge coupled with the ability to make a decision, and see that
something else would work better. It is problem-solving at its best.
What these girls learn here they will take, of course, to robotic
challenges, but also to work they will do with other people, with those
they will support, work with, and even befriend. For some, these lessons
will support their future job and career choices and also help them in
ways that will not be restricted to the laboratory. It is about taking
risks…risking to see what will work, and the courage to change stream
mid-course.

So, with two competitions in the near future (the December one and then
a second in January), the team has some good work to do in order to
prepare. It can be tough, dealing with a machine that seems to have a
mind of its own, but these girls have built something from the ground up
and are unrelenting in their desire to figure out and resolve any
problems, and to learn how to make things work while working
together…girls against(?) machine.

Martha Griswold
Academic Dean

Martha A. Griswold, Academic Dean
Chatham Hall
800 Chatham Hall Circle
Chatham, VA 24531
434.432.5617

Chatham Hall is at the forefront of all-girls education. We value
academic excellence, inspire integrity, and instill global
responsibility in tomorrow's leaders.

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The past week has offered a wonderful look at the talents of the
Performing Arts and other performance groups at Chatham Hall. As someone
who knows how participation in the performing and fine arts can support
other academic pursuits, I love any chance to see students perform. Our dance classes and Panache, Chatham Hall's select dance troupe,
performed on Wednesday, October 26, in Dutch. Panache performed a piece
entitled "Tightrope," choreographed by Lauren Wilson, our dance
instructor. The girls were precise and fluid in their movements; the
extensive rehearsal time is clearly paying off. As this piece finished
and the entire body of dancers took the stage for the next part of the
evening, I noticed some faces that were unfamiliar to me. I learned that
they were students of the Community School of Davidson and the reason
for their presence among the Chatham Hall dancers became apparent. As
pen pals, the Chatham Hall and Davidson dancers had acquainted
themselves with each other through letter-writing and the creation of
collages. They then developed dances based on those exchanges. The back
and forth was powerful, as students worked in teams to present the short
and numerous dances that they had choreographed from a distance. This
unique experiment played right into two of the ways through which girls
tend to learn well: connection and collaboration.

On Sunday, October 30, Chapel was dedicated to Halloween and how this
celebration developed. As an anthem, St. Mary's Choir performed the
Benjamin Britten piece, "Ride by Nights." This piece showcased the
talents of this group as you could hear all the voices that combined to
bring us this eerily enchanting song. A short piece, I wish it would
have gone on longer as the sound was magnificent. St. Mary's has really
come alive this year. Just shy of thirty members, voices blend well.
They have been a constant presence in our chapel services. This piece,
on the night before Halloween, reminded me of the "Something Wicked this
Way Comes," from Harry Potter III (The Prisioner of Azkaban), I told my
husband on the phone that night. Halloween dawned bright and a little brisk. I taught my first class and
then headed up from Wilis to the Well, where Assembly was taking place.
My students and I arrived just in time to hear Sextet, the
student-directed senior a cappella group. They began to sing and I could
not believe my ears! They had clearly listened in on my phone call to my
husband the night before, because they were performing "Something Wicked
this Way Comes," from Harry Potter! It was a pleasure to listen to these
voices directed by Senior Rebecca Oh. The Sextet stood around the Well
on Second Pruden and their voices drifted down to us, making the effect
even more eerie than it might have been. The piece was a perfect for the
time and place. Many of these students have taken or are currently
taking voice lessons with our Director of Music, David Grimes. It was
wonderful to hear these girls putting their musical knowledge to good
and much appreciated use -- and doing this under their own direction.

That is a week in the life of performing arts at Chatham Hall. On any
other given week, we might be treated to a Senior Chapel Talk featuring
singing or instrumental music. You might hear the Chatham Hall Ukelele
Orchestra (we have a lot of uke players!) or the NIche, a rock singing
group, performing in Chapel, or you might hear a group of students
hoping to be selected to perform in the musical harmonizing together as
they sit behind you on a bus to an activity. No matter where you are, it
is apparent that the performing arts are ever-present on campus. Confidence, the ability to stand in front of another group of people
and perform, and the knowledge that hard work and practice achieve great
results are are among the skills and lessons that Chatham Hall students
gain from their involvement in the performing arts. This melds with
Chatham Hall's Writing and Speaking Across the Curriculum initiative,
and indeed, with all of Chatham Hall's academic goals. Working hard to
perfect a grand jeté and then nailing the move in performance may be
easier to see than how working hard to understand quadratic equations
brings satisfaction and reward because the grand jeté is viewed by many.
It's all the same thing. Hard work and commitment to a movement, a
song, or an equation brings about success.

Martha Griswold
Academic Dean

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I was seven years old when I began to think that I had ESP. At that time, my older brother was fascinated by the Amazing Kreskin, the only person whom I knew of who had ESP. To those of you here who are too young to know of Kreskin, he was kind of a modern-day Houdini -- cheesy and dramatic. He could read peoples minds, hypnotize, and always find his paycheck hidden somewhere in the audience (or the performance was free). My brother read books about Kreskin, acquired the Kreskins ESP board game, and we even attended a show at Springfield, MAs, Storrowton theater. I knew at the time that I did not want to be like Kreskin, he came across as a little supercilious and kind of nerdy, but I was convinced that I could read minds and predict the future as Kreskin could. This feeling of having ESP persisted until I was about 44 when the head of school where I worked at the time decided, in a truly genius move, to invite the entire faculty to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a psychological assessment which helps to show how people perceive the world and make decisions, the results of which are used to help determine career paths and other future endeavors. This assessment identifies people as introverted or extroverted, intuitive versus sensing, which identifies how they take in information, thinking or feeling, based on how a person makes decisions, and judging or perceiving, based on how they use their thinking and feeling characteristics. We found out later that we were taking the test because there was some discord between one faculty member and what seemed to be the rest of us. We all sat down at our computers, answered the questions, waited the few moments, and were assigned the four letters that described what kind of people we were. What we learned was earth-shaking for me, as well as professionally meaningful.

That, as an INFJ, I fell heavily in to the introverted, intuitive categories, was not a surprise. I have always needed to restore alone, with a good book, after spending time with people and I have always taken great store in my hunches -- because I am frequently right. Because humans tend to think of introverts as being shy, I was much comforted to learn that both are just other ways of being. Shy, introverted people sometimes feel that extroverts are more highly valued than introverts. As an introvert, I sometimes thought that extroverts had things easier than I...everyone loves that person who charges into the room and who gets the party started -- and stays for more than an hour. If you are shy or introverted, you sometimes find yourself wanting to be that person. What I learned next, however, made me value myself more.

What shocked me, as I read through the explanation of my INFJ character type, it explained that many INFJs think they have ESP. They do not. What they do have is a super-sensitivity to the thoughts and actions of those around them, and a great ability to predict outcomes based on what they know about people. At once I felt validated and a little disappointed -- visions of the Amazing Griswold board game selling used for $1.99 on eBay went right out the window, but this seemed to be a reasonable explanation of what I had been feeling for most of my life. I also felt a sense of undeserved pride because it turns out that INFJs are a rare commodity, making up only 1-3% of the population.

What I learned about teachers, was most astounding. The person who was leading us through this exercise and its debriefing, told us that everything says that extroverts would make the best teachers, but that, strangely, most teachers are introverts...and many are INFJs...that rare commodity. At my former school, this was driven home by the scattergram we did of our typologies...33 people in the lower left quadrant of the scattergram...and, way, way up in the diametrically opposed corner, was the dot representing Barney*, the colleague who drove us all crazy. A plethora of INFJs. So basically, anytime you are in a room full of teachers, there is a very good chance you are in a room full of know it alls -- people who think they can read peoples minds, have a significant depth of knowledge, and who know whats best because of the strength of their intuition. And those are the people who are teaching the students of Chatham Hall.

So what do all those INFJ teachers provide their students? They do tend to read a lot. Settling down with a good book, after a long day of working with people is one of the best ways for them to refresh -- a benefit of which is their keeping current with their disciplines...broadening and, most importantly to them, deepening their knowledge. Teachers tend to be up on what is going on in the world...especially at as global a school as Chatham Hall. INFJs also seem to intuitively know what will work for certain kinds of students. They adapt, they try different ways of presenting material, and they know the best ways to push their students to move beyond their comfort zones and to achieve.

And that is what much of Chatham Halls new strategic plan is about -- student achievement. As we move into the second year of our new strategic plan, academics and the technology to support that program are two of the primary foci. Over the summer, we made great strides in updating technology. All teachers have received or will receive shortly a new computer in order to keep up with those skills that students will need as they move on. The computers are put to good use every day as many teachers use Edmodo and Dropbox to communicate with students and create assignments. We are constantly striving to make our teaching more student centered, with students motivation at the root of what we do. One teacher I can think of is having students direct literary discussions based on what they found to be important while reading. This teacher was pleased, at the end of one particular class, to discover that students had brought up just about all of the passages she would have chosen. And this manner of teaching gave students voice, motivation, and power. The chair of the math department spent time last year researching best practices in teaching math and in teaching girls math. Why is this so important? My Ethics students have learned about priming...subconcious influences that guide decision-making, actions, and emotions. Research has shown that girls are primed by having to indicate their gender on math tests such as the SAT. The mere action of having to fill in a bubble letting the College Board know they are female primes them to do worse on math tests. Ouch. The same is not true for boys.

The strategic plan asked that Chatham Hall begin to offer non-Western languages -- something which makes good sense based on the world shrinking every day and the simple fact that a good portion of our student body comes from non-Western countries. Why not offer a language that expands the curriculum to other areas of the world. We are in our second year of Chinese instruction; it is so exciting to pass through Holt during E period and hear Spanish, French, and Chinese emanating from three different classrooms. And teacher intuition would predict that some students would learn a language based on characters more readily than another. Not only has Chinese begun to fill the classroom, but we have a teacher from China who freely shares information about her land and culture, as well as her teaching skills.

All of those INFJ teachers who need their summers to regroup, spent time either preparing to teach using the iPad or planning how they could incorporate it into a unit or two over the course of this year. This was no short order. For some of the people sitting behind me, this meant getting to know this iPad inside and out. It meant developing new ways of producing work, submitting homework, commenting on that work, and sending it back to students. For others, it meant developing a new textbook (and saving students hundreds of dollars). Many figured out how to best us e-books, how to teach annotation and note-taking. And they continue to learn. Students are using iPads in their photo classes because their teacher spent time investigating the iPads photo-taking and editing abilities. Our Science Department Chair was explaining to a group of people last weekend that he had found an on-line chem textbook that could be altered...adapted, to include exactly the chapters that he wished, and to which videos of long-deceased chemists such as J. J. Morton, who discovered electrons, could be inserted. A member of the audience asked, Isnt that a lot of work? Yes! But what better way to bring some of the chemists who made startling and important discoveries which guide doctors, researchers, and scientists now, into the lives of students learning chemistry today? Yes! It is a lot of work. It is not easy. Teachers live for this kind of thing though...making learning more accessible and real. Time for a sidebar...we all know that people do not go into teaching for the money, but they also do not go into the profession because its easy.

Two skills that have remained consistently important as they control so much of how we present ourselves, and indeed, in many cases are that first impression upon which everything depends, are writing and speaking. The importance which Chatham Hall attaches to these skills is evident in their inclusion in the strategic plan. Writing and speaking across the curriculum will be a focus in the years to come. Whatever career paths students choose, they will have written and spoken in English classes, history, foreign languages, science, math, and art, by producing work appropriate to each discipline. Introverts and extroverts alike will use voice to leave Chatham Hall with strong speaking and writing skills. No amount of intuition can predict exactly what our graduates will be doing soon after graduation or 25 years from now. Technology, how we receive information, and how we produce, are changing at such a rapid pace that much of what we do may seem like our best guess, or hunch about what will work best and what will provide students with the skills they will need in order to be successful in their near and distance future endeavors.

Could the Amazing Kreskin have predicted way back in 1967, when I was 7 years old, that our students would be using iPads so extensively that some teachers have not made one photocopy this year? That all of their work would be safely stored in dropbox? That students would study the first book printed by Gutenburg in the 1400s in e-book form in order to fulfill their religion requirement now? Could Kreskin, however amazing, have predicted that a boy, 11 in 1967, would have grown to become the Einstein of his generation, and that that boy would have had the impact on education that Steve Jobs had? That having used an iPad, it would seem criminal to go back? I googled Steve Jobs intuition, because in the eyes of many, he took great risk in following his intuition. I was taken to his 2005 Stanford Commencement Address, which in the past few days has been referred to as the Gettysburg Address of our times, and in which Jobs asked graduates to not let the noise of others (those loud extroverts who were supposed to go into teaching) drown out their own inner voice, heart, and intuition. And when he said those words, he was talking about what teachers do every day, and do best -- engage their students and reach them in the most meaningful way possible...drawing on their inner voice and intuition to shape the learning experience for their students, and on their heart...what dedicates them so passionately to their students and their profession. Thank you.

*Not real name!

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This morning, the entire school made its way out to the front lawn
during our monthly fire drill. This was the first time in a long time
that the Rector and I had not sprinted from our offices down to two
buildings that were not connected to the main alarms -- just to make
sure that no one was left in those two buildings. As I said this
morning, fire drills will be much less aerobic now that the fire alarm
now extends to the Chapel.

In any case, lack of aerobic activity aside, these fire drills give
faculty a chance to visit…and those visits, at least today, centered on
teaching. Not a surprise, as we talk a lot in small groups, on the fly,
about our classes -- things that worked well, and activities that will
be benched until further notice. What Shep Morrison and I talked about
was my homework assignment for my French II class. During class, we did a listening activity that demonstrated students'
familiarity with new vocabulary and their ease at using their iPads. We
also discussed people's health, as La Santé is this chapter's theme. We
are apparently heading into cold season, as several kids played right
into my class plan…there was coughing, and sneezing, and one student
even arrived in class with her knee wrapped. We did a reading the
highlighted two important cultural differences between the United States
and France: health care and home visits by doctors. Later, the girls
began a vocabulary quiz. At some point, the bell rang and I told them
that they should check Edmodo, our online social/educational networking
site, for their homework. Once back in my office, I refreshed my memory as to what the next
grammar point was in French II, and made, using my iPad, computer, and
hands, a video that would "flip" the girls' classroom and homework
experience. Flipped classrooms are becoming increasingly prevalent among
those who want to do other, more productive things than "explaining"
during the time that students are in class. As a foreign language
teacher, I want to use class time to speak, not to explain the
fascinating intricacies of the imperative. So, I made a video that
explained how to form it and how it is used, loaded it on YouTube (in my
own, private account, so you will not find it there!), and embedded it
in Edmodo with directions, told them where to find the accompanying
worksheet, and sent off the assignment. I know there will be laughter in class when my students comment on the
low-tech (no extra lighting, no costuming, no stunt work -- except for
having to type with my hands on either side of my iPad) video. What will
be apparent though, is, barring a technology issue, after a quick
reminder of what the imperative is and how it is formed, we will be able
to move right into bossing each other around…which is the fun of the
imperative. We give commands to roommates, to friends, parents, and
even the teacher. We play "Simon Says," we make posters similar to those
found around pools (Don't dive! Don't run!) and come up with rules for
the school. I would much rather use time in class thinking in and
speaking French.

Other teachers are using the flipped classroom technique. In chemistry,
students watch Kahn Academy lectures and are able to more activity
applying newly-learned information in class. Shep Morrison, who teaches
Latin, has made use of flipping assignments and listened patiently as I
expressed how proud I was of this newest development in my teaching.

Back to the fire drill. After a few minutes, we were told that we
could head back into the building, which we always do more slowly than
we egress. As I looked around the lawn, I saw small groups of teachers
make their way back into the building speaking animatedly about what we
love to do…and always want to do better -- teach.

Martha Griswold
Academic Dean

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The iPad Pilot Program is very exciting. There is a great amount of
collaboration occurring between teachers and among students - and most
excitingly, among teachers and students. In my French II class, when a
student had a question about saving a quiz to Dropbox, our on-line
storage spot, another student piped up with, "I know how to do that,"
and went on to explain, clearly and precisely, how to change the name of
a file so as not to replace an existing file.

But life here at Chatham Hall is not all about iPads. They are a tool
-- a tool that I would have a hard time setting aside, but a tool none
the less. I took a stroll through school today to see what other tools
students and teachers were using as they went about the business of
pushing themselves and growing in this academic environment. My dad
always says, "You cannot lead people until you've held a tool in your
hand and used it." I get where he is coming from. Comfort in using
tools, making decisions about which tool to use for which job, and just
the courage to pick up a tool and use it does push people toward a "take
charge role" in a very powerful way.

In the Art Building, I found students using paint brushes, palette
knives, potters' wheels, leaves, ink, acrylic gel, and a brand new
printing press that is allowing students in Susan Morley's classes to
explore texture and depth in a way that they had not previously. Making
decisions about what to print, how to print it, and what the results
might be have students solving problems in ways that they do not in
history classes or foreign language classes.

A quick look in on the Physics 9 Honors class made it clear that voice
and projector were helping Dennis Oliver convey his lesson today -- his
voice and students' voices. In the short time I stood outside his class,
I heard numerous girls' voices answering questions about changes in
acceleration.

In the math area, I saw projectors warming up, the bright white square
of a SmartBoard waiting to be used, computers warming up and a student
finishing up a quiz with a pencil. Yes, we still use pens, pencils, and
even chalk.

Geoff Braun's history classroom featured a stack of…books on the table
right in front of him. As we introduce the iPad to classes, some classes
use e-books and some use the old-fashioned yet modern, traditional
book.

Botany, a new class this fall, is making good use of a community garden
that an Environmental Science class and sustainability group started
last spring. Shovels, hoses, rakes and wheelbarrows await D period and
the students who will put them to use preparing a fall crop.

Back in my office, I know that other students and teachers are
incorporating these and other tools into their learning and teaching
experiences. I know that Mary Lee Black has a full kitchen in her
classroom and that wonderful aromas will waft from that room as students
use cuillères, saladiers, casseroles, et four to learn something of
French culture and food. I know that in history classes, students are
learning how to make movies and presentations using iMovie and Keynote.
From touching a pencil to paper or finger to iPad, all Chatham Hall
students put tools to good use as they stretch and challenge themselves
in the classroom every day.

Martha Griswold
Academic Dean

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