Fawns
1st Grade
Welcome to the Fawns Classroom
1st Grade
The Fawns class children range in age from 6 to 7.
Age six represents a time of intellectual growth for children. They are
beginning to use logical reasoning as they explore their world and themselves
. This makes six-year-olds uniquely open to new learning. They are able to use
their imagination, curiosity, and enthusiasm to become better readers, writers,
mathematical thinkers, scientists, artists, citizens, and friends.
The Fawns classroom will support the growth that six and seven-year-olds
experience by allowing them to create meaning through play and open exploration of the world around them. Their exploration of numbers, shapes, letters, sounds, words, places, people, problems and solutions will guide the learning in the classroom. The Fawns classroom will have a substantial weekly block of outdoor learning time to allow students to explore their immediate natural surroundings, make seasonal observations and create meaning tied to our rich environment.
Growth, of course, cannot happen without appropriate risk-taking. The first weeks of the Fawns classroom will focus on creating a safe, supportive, collaborative classroom culture that allows each student to feel comfortable engaging in ways that helps them stretch and grow. The class will work to come together as a team while also learning to value each other's unique talents and contributions. Learning routines that will carry throughout the year will help each student to feel safe and trust in consistent systems of support.
Fawns Educator: Nikki
Nikki grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Bemidji State University in 2004. She student taught in Australia in a small school with multiage classrooms. Since then she has taught in several charter school classrooms ranging from first to sixth grade. Most recently she was fortunate to be a teacher for six years at Oshki Ogimaag Charter School in Grand Portage. She has also worked as a science specialist at a science museum and led teenagers on wilderness expeditions with Voyageur Outward Bound School. Through all of these educational experiences, Nikki has developed a love of teaching in and through the outdoors that she brings to the Fawns classroom at GES.
Outside of school, Nikki is building a tiny house on wheels and lives in it with her partner Adam and their dog Mick. She enjoys dog mushing with Adam and his 37 sled dogs as well as canoeing, foraging, hiking, and cross-country skiing.