Guest Post: Cosmo Tells Us About Being Long-View's First Student

I was the first student at Long-View Micro School. Now that I am finishing 8th grade and going off to high school, I have been looking back on my time at Long-View and what these 5 years have meant to me. I have grown so much academically and just as a person. I have learned how to be a problem-solver, and how to push myself to solve a challenge even if I don't have prior experience on that topic. For example, I might push myself in math to solve a problem the teacher didn’t tell me how to solve. I also learned how to manage time and multitask better. As a person, I have learned to be myself, and not care about what other people say….

Guest Post: Updates From The Long-View Gazette

You may have read about The Long-View Gazette on our blog in February after this student run-organization published its second edition. During this unprecedented time, like many great organizations, this newspaper has adapted its work and story coverage. Read their guest blog post below to learn more about their current projects.

The Long-View Gazette is the main student-initiated, student-run newspaper for Long-View Micro School. We provide news about Long-View Micro School itself, the coronavirus, and whatever big global event that is happening at the current moment. The Gazette writers’ ages range from nine to eleven.

GeneralLisa ZapalacMay 11, 2020Long-View SchoolLong-View Gazette, Guest Post, Podcasts

Tips for Supporting Young Scientists

At Long-View, we don’t just seek to teach science, we strive to engage students in the learning process as scientists. From formulating testable questions with accompanying research to understanding safety protocols, learners don’t just act like scientists, they ARE scientists. Getting learners to engage in investigations of their own design, with thoughtful data collection and analysis, is the goal and we understand that these skills will develop over time. Teachers offer the opportunity to inquire about the natural world, access to high-quality learning experiences, and intentional feedback, but we seek parental support in this endeavor. Depending on your own background knowledge in science and your level of interest, it may seem daunting to support this area of your child’s academics. Regardless, you can play an important role in your child’s development as a scientist. Below are 6 easy ways you can support your young scientist….

ParentsLisa ZapalacMay 1, 2020Long-View Schoolscience, scientific thinking

The Backyard Ecology Content Stream Continues to Deepen

This is now the fourth week of Long-View@Home and our three science strands are deepening their work. For Strand 1: Biogeographic Survey, Ms. Swanson gets into the distinction between nature journaling and field guides. Learners are now shifting away from nature journaling (which is how the unit started) to creating field guides that help us identify things in nature. If the kids want to keep up their nature journaling, Ms. Swanson encourages them to do so by studying The Laws Guide To Nature Drawing and Journaling (John Muir Laws). She noted that this book is more focused on the art than the science of nature journaling, but it's a really great tool for any naturalist who wants to build on this skill set….

ScienceLisa ZapalacApril 23, 2020Long-View SchoolLong-View@Home, Backyard Ecology

Backyard Ecology through Long-View@Home

As schools around the country work to figure out how to support students in learning throughout the rest of the school year, Long-View science teachers have enthusiastically taken on the challenge. They’ve designed a creative and accessible solution to keep kids engaging in the practices of actual scientists, a key goal in the Long-View science program no matter where our learners are. Rather than resorting to worksheets or apps or other inauthentic online options, our young scientists are diving into a study of ecology. What’s the setting? Their backyards, of course! Front yards will do, too, as well as any patch of land or greenery they can find — the point is that kids are studying organisms, the relations to one another and to their physical surroundings, getting outside, and doing authentic science work while engaged in the Backyard Ecology Content Stream….

ScienceLisa ZapalacApril 15, 2020Long-View SchoolLong-View@Home, Backyard Ecology, inquiry

In Response to Quarantine, Long-View@Home Launches

The banner photo on this page was taken on what we now realize was the last day of school for the 2019-20 school year. It was an idyllic spring day in which we enjoyed time outside, skyped with an archaeologist, celebrated the writing of a group of our young poets, worked on mathematics in groups at whiteboards, presented biomimicry design challenges to a panel of scientists, ate lunch by the creek, had a discussion about what we learned about magical realism during a field trip to UT’s Harry Ransom Center, and ended the day all together talking about some of the things we really appreciate about our community at Long-View.

Like so many schools in the world, Long-View had to pivot to ensure that our students continued to learn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our virtual learning launched on March 23 and is called Long-View@Home….

7th & 8th Graders Attend The Teton Science School

In early March, Long-View 7th and 8th graders had the opportunity to spend five days at the Teton Science School in Grand Teton National Park. They were treated to immersive learning about the park’s ecosystem and the organisms living there. Learners and guides traversed the park on snowshoes and cross-country skis, a test of humor and humility for young people and adults alike. Skilled instructors from the Teton Science School guided the learners through experiments and observations in snow science, animal identification, geology and other facets of the natural systems….

Student-Initiated, Student-Run Newspaper Publishes Second Edition

As printed newspapers throughout the country struggle and even die out, one newspaper at Long-View Micro School is thriving. Founded and entirely run by a group of learners, The Long-View Gazette published its first edition in early January of 2020. Many of us were excited, eagerly diving into the paper and reading it in one sitting; we were not only impressed with the excellent writing, but we also got caught up in the flurry of something new. But would it last? Indeed, it would. Last week, on February 17, 2020, The Long-View Gazette published its second edition, which was as popular as its first….

GeneralLisa ZapalacFebruary 24, 2020Long-View Schoolwriting, journalism, Long-View Gazette, student-run newspaper

Writing for Change: Jade Band Learners Tackle Complex Social Issues in Investigative Journalism Unit

It’s not exactly news: nonfiction writing can be less than thrilling for many learners. But in Jade Band’s recent investigative journalism unit, these middle-school learners discovered new ways to deeply invest in finding and telling the true stories lying hidden all around them.

Long-form journalistic writing, a type of narrative nonfiction, is a tricky genre. To pull off an article of the sort one might read in The Atlantic, learners had to draw on and synthesize skills from many genres they’d practiced previously…

LiteracyLisa ZapalacFebruary 10, 2020Long-View SchoolJournalism, Social Studies

Jade Band Learners Create Documentaries

At the end of October, Jade Band embarked on a historical research unit in Literacy Block. In this rich unit the learners completed in-depth research on historical periods and trends — with a focus on comparative analysis and the understanding of patterns rather than the acquisition of facts. For many of the learners, their substantial research was in the form of print sources, online sources, and interviews. The kids also got to practice the archival detective-work that professional historians conduct…

LiteracyLisa ZapalacNovember 12, 2019Long-View Schoolfield experiences, documentary

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