Class 8 - Standing at the Edge of a Story

It is always marvelous to me as a teacher to observe the gesture that lives in the journey through the Class 8 school year. Students in Class 8 seem to have a way of living right at the edge of everything: emotion, humor, questions, moods, insight. One moment they’re laughing together or making jokes so sharp they surprise themselves by their wit, and the next moment they pour that awakening thoughtfulness into a question that makes the entire room pause in the weight of its seriousness.

In our recent Seasons of Seven work, we’ve been moving through history, revolutions, biographies, and many of the big ideas that come with them. What strikes me most isn't the content of the curriculum (although it is so deeply and beautifully aligned with this developmental stage), it’s the way the students meet it and find themselves within it. They feel parts of themselves and their world experience in the stories. When we talk about the stories from history, I can see something light up as the students one by one find their inner sense of courage to not only think about ‘big’ topics, but to also ask questions, and speak their thoughts. From there, it is so wonderful to invite them to look at scientific breakthroughs in history and to see their mind and courage expand as their hearts feel that the world can be questioned, respectfully, thoughtfully, and led to meaningful changes.

Their main lesson book and math practice pages tell just as much of a story as their watercolor and drawing artwork. They’re negotiating complexity, shaping ideas, and learning to trust their own thinking. And for me as a teacher, it’s such a privilege to witness the moments when they suddenly realize they’re capable of more than they thought.

“Education is not a matter of adding information; it is a matter of leading the human being to the experience of truth.”
 —The Study of Man, GA 293

That’s the work of eighth grade: helping them sense truth, not as something handed to them, but as something they can explore, discover, and understand through effort, wonder, and perseverance.
Teaching eighth grade is wonderfully humbling. There’s beauty in watching them step toward themselves, even when the steps are uneven. This year feels like a chrysalis cracking open, and I’m grateful and honored to walk with each student as they stretch their wings.

Ms. Daniela 
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