Our Newest Experts - Kindergarten's First Celebration of Learning
A Celebration of Learning (COL) is an important part of the DAA experience. After students complete their high quality product from their expedition, we (as a DAA students, staff and family community) come together to speak to the new experts about what they have learned since the start of the school year.
This year, our kindergarteners studied the concept of community. They learned about the DAA community by observing and interviewing staff members. They took notes they interviewed and learned from each staffer. The kids were excited to learn that they shared the same “favorites” as some of the teachers at DAA. Additionally, the students studied the Metro Foodland Community to learn about communities that exist outside of their own.
The COL allows the students to show everyone all the hard work that went into the creation of their end-of-expedition high quality product. We began the COL with a video of the process and students narrated the video. After the video, we presented Metro Foodland with our community posters, so that they can hang it up in their store. The finale to our COL was our Artifact Museum. The Museum included four stations, two to three students at each, where parents could ask questions about the process and what the experts learned. It was beautiful to see (and hear) the conversations between the experts and the community. Our kinders took autonomy of their learning and wanted to share it with their families.
My favorite part of DAA is the moment when our students become leaders during the COL. Our students demonstrate so many of our habits of character and their new found knowledge to the world—this visual is a sight to see.
If you are ever in the area for a DAA COL, then you must stop in and hear our experts speak and share their learning. The COL makes me excited to teach! It empowers me to never stop giving my kids the best education. I can’t wait for our next COL in June because our kinders will be even more “first grade-like”.