Miller Middle School eighth graders became the teachers last week, leading younger classmates in lessons based on Leonardo da Vinci’s seven principles.
English language arts students have spent several weeks studying the principles from the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” by Michael J. Gelb. They then presented hands-on lessons to sixth and seventh graders based on their assigned principles.
Josephine Evans, 13, presented her project with classmates Jack Schowalter and Gianna Serrarese. The principle they covered was sfumato – meaning becoming comfortable with ambiguity, the unexpected and the concept of things “going up in smoke,” said English teacher Jenny Fitz Reynolds.
The group’s activities include decision-making riddles, like the classic train dilemma – whether to steer a train toward one person they care about or flip a switch so it goes toward several strangers.
The six other principles are curiosità (insatiable curiosity), dimostrazione (testing knowledge through experience), sensazione (refining the senses), arte scienza (balancing art and science), corporalità (cultivating balance and fitness), and connessione (recognizing the interconnectedness of all things).
Fitz Reynolds dreamed up the project when she first joined the district 11 years ago. It has been going strong ever since, with a few tweaks here and there.
The project is a part of a human intelligence unit, Fitz Reynolds said. Each group reads a chapter and then journals on the subject – something da Vinci was known to do – and then putting together a 30-minute lesson for younger students. Each group presents their lesson to two different advisory classes.
Fitz Reynolds said she came across the book when she first began teaching at Miller. After seeing another teacher use it for a short assignment, she was inspired to build the larger project.
“I was like, ‘Ooh, how can I turn this into a project? How can I make this more important? What can I do to really make this hit home with the students?’” Fitz Reynolds said. “And then, when we got these new textbooks a couple years ago, there's a whole unit on human intelligence. And I was like, ‘Well, that’s a no-brainer:’ the idea of da Vinci – who’s one of the smartest people (who has) ever walked our planet – fitting right into human intelligence.”
Josephine said she appreciated the teamwork and group effort aspect of the project.
“(My favorite part) was working with my group members,” she said. “I thought that was really fun. It wasn't individual – it was a partner thing.”
Eighth graders Hudson Hughes and Arlo Unterreiner also focused on the sfumato principle.
One of their activities involved presenting an unsolvable puzzle – made from two different puzzle sets and painted gray – to illustrate the sfumato fundamentals of ambiguity and the unexpected.
Another had students put their hands into a box without knowing what was inside – another sfumato exercise in embracing the unknown. In one instance, the box held a piece of coral; in another, the box was left empty.
Hudson said the project helped him develop leadership skills and gave him a new appreciation for preparation – and homework – ahead of high school.
“We learned a lot about how to present to people, and kind of how to teach a little bit,” he said.
Arlo said the project emphasized teamwork.
“You had to really work together (in) this group, because if one of you didn’t like an activity you were doing, it wouldn’t really work out because you all have to present it,” Arlo said.
Miller Middle School Principal Vernadette Norman said the project gives students perspective on the difficult job of being a teacher.
“They’re doing a lot of collaboration and working together as they’re developing those lessons, doing a lot of research, showing a lot of mastery and patience, some of those skills that they see teachers doing all of the all the time,” Norman said. “They’re learning like, ‘Gosh, man, kids don’t listen.’ All those things that we’re always saying they’re now noticing. And sometimes, I think that they’re coming out better students, because they’re putting themselves in our seats.”
Norman said the project has relevance to several school subjects and life lessons.
“They go into this deep exploration and every time they come out with a different nugget, and they’re sharing that deep knowledge, they’re taking it outside the classroom and they’re putting it inside the classroom,” she said. “They’re connecting it across content areas. I was in music production (class), and one of the kids was talking about da Vinci, and some of his creations, and some of the things that he invented. It’s really fun to see how they’re making connections and (how that) learning is truly going everywhere.”
Fitz Reynolds said she hopes students take away a heightened sense of awareness.
“When you’re doing this journaling, you’re really digging into yourself,” she said. “... All of the things in the book are really (meant) for you to think about your practices and your habits and just yourself and the way you view the world. And so, even if (students) don’t take away anything else, it would be really cool if they walked past a flower garden, and then went, ‘I’m going to go back and smell those flowers.’”
epond@durangoherald.com
