Liz's Senior Learners

We are beginning our Senior Learner Projects this month. It takes time to narrow one's interests, and we've spent time discussing and refining our thinking about possible topics. Here are this year's projects: Phoenix will research the effects of positive and negative reinforcement on skills progression in video gaming, Eve will develop the drawing techniques of realistic life drawing, Leo will study sea turtles and observe them first hand on his upcoming trip to Costa Rica, Sarah is learning about the stoic philosophers and the philosophical school of Stoicism, Tower is learning about jewelry design and jewelry making, Aspen is learning all about neutron stars, CJ is endeavoring to learn about the Crab Nebula, Charlie is deepening her knowledge of interior design by designing one room, two ways - with a high-end budget and a more economical budget, Opi is learning all about sleepwalking and sleep paralysis, and Kodak is learning computer animation. The topics are as interesting and varied as the kids. The presentations are scheduled for March 30th, and l'll have more information about them in the coming weeks.

We completed our read-aloud, Rolling Warrior, the memoir of disability activist Judy Heumann. Her story is a story about civil rights, and the kids learned a great deal about the struggles of people with disabilities.We are beginning book groups this week. The book group selections came from the kids, and after a couple of rounds of voting, we have three groups, and the kids will enjoy gathering with their groups to discuss all aspects of their reading.

On Wednesday, we are Zooming with Peter Topping about his conservation science work with the PeconicBaykeeper and his oyster project in Southampton.