The View From Here: Experiment, Assess, Reiterate
by Janet Durgin, Head of School
One of the things I miss most about being in the classroom every day is the ways in which the classroom is a perfect laboratory. You hypothesize about how your students learn best, you choose your content and your approaches, and you experiment. And you see almost immediately what works and what doesn’t. You see it on your student’s faces. You see it in the quality of the homework. And of course on tests and quizzes. And then you get to make changes, sometimes even within the same school day if you have another section of the same course. Teaching is a constant iterative process. And the feedback loop is short and quick.
One of the things I miss most about being in the classroom every day is the ways in which the classroom is a perfect laboratory. You hypothesize about how your students learn best, you choose your content and your approaches, and you experiment. And you see almost immediately what works and what doesn’t. You see it on your student’s faces. You see it in the quality of the homework. And of course on tests and quizzes. And then you get to make changes, sometimes even within the same school day if you have another section of the same course. Teaching is a constant iterative process. And the feedback loop is short and quick.
I find as Head of School that I’m planning and implementing programs, ideas, and approaches, and the feedback loop can be months or even years, depending on the nature of the project. One of the ways that we try to tighten up this feedback loop is asking for your input in our annual parent survey. I’m pleased that this year’s survey garnered the highest level of participation thus far.
As soon as school lets out in June, I’ll be digging into the data, both quantitative and qualitiave, looking for themes and trends, both in areas you report we’re doing well and in areas where you may have let us know we need improvement.
I will be following up with you about the insights gained and the actions we plan to take at Back to School Night on September 13 at 6 pm. Please do plan to attend.
Sonoma Academy Is...
...the only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, our students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.
Sonoma Academy admits students of any race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability, to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnicity or national origin, citizenship, gender or gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and tuition assistance programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
