a book to read. The verb tense may be incorrect, but the message is clear. With this concept in mind, he explained, Bullis faculty members have made a shift in the teaching of World Languages. Assessments and rubrics allow for errors if the meaning is maintained; this is true even at the highest levels. “If you are not making errors, you are not growing,” Rich explained. The new approach is working; we had 19 seniors earn a certificate of Global Bi-literacy last year and already have 18 students who have earned it this year. Our students are enjoying the experience as they move away from memorizing vocabulary terms and conjugating verbs to speaking in and listening to the target language. Lastly, Upper School English teacher, Kerry Hosmer and Upper School Social Studies teacher, Patty Topliffe, discussed their approach to guiding our Advanced Humanities Seminar which combines AP Language & Composition with AP US History into a single course. Students have an opportunity to see history through a different lens. As they read Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, they begin to develop a clearer understanding of the risks Huck takes in befriending Jim. They are learning about the run-away slave law and about the reach and depth of literature. When looking at the historical relevance of Dr. Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham jail, students can see the various literary techniques he infused into his writing. Students begin to realize a historical connection with their own writing. This combined class challenges the way our students think and asks them to look through a different lens than previously thought. The above examples represent approaches that are repeated in other classrooms across the Bullis campus. The need to work through problems and the opportunity to reflect on that struggle are more important than ever as Bullis embarks on an extended remote learning program due to the impact of Covid-19. Students are being asked more often to work independently and to develop
“As parents and teachers, we do just about everything we can to make sure that children don’t struggle. It turns out we are making a terrible mistake. Research shows that struggling is absolutely critical to mastery and that the highest achieving people in the world are those who have struggled the most.” — Jo Boaler, British Educator their own systems for approaching the work. They are being guided in this by their teachers through various online platforms such as Google Meet, Pear Deck, and Haiku (PowerSchool) as the role of mentors and teachers in the learning process will always be essential. Today at Bullis, before teachers jump in to solve the problem for their students, they want to know what the students have already done. In an ever-changing world, it
is increasingly important in education to rely on core values and a mission as timeless as the one Commander Bullis instilled in the school he founded 90 years ago, updated in a way that he would wholeheartedly approve: There is always a place at Bullis for a young person who is willing to work hard. That legacy lives on with each passing year as new students enter our gates and our graduates head off to test these skills.
From left, students Jacob Sanders ’21, Brock Priddy ’21, Ava Nunes ’20, and Roman Kelly ’20 work collaboratively.
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