When The Alexander Dawson School moved to full virtual learning in March for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, our faculty and staff continued to work remotely.
Just as our classroom faculty pivoted to distance education, Dawson's administration staff found alternative ways to share our story and expertise. Through Zoomcasts, we continue to bring educators and families together as a global educational community to support students and the school communities we serve.
Just as our classroom faculty pivoted to distance education, Dawson's administration staff found alternative ways to share our story and expertise. Through Zoomcasts, we continue to bring educators and families together as a global educational community to support students and the school communities we serve.
Watch the Latest Episode
Zoomcast: Discover Your Voice
In this Zoomcast episode, Assistant Head of School Andrew Bishop is in conversation with Head of School Roxanne Stansbury about Dawson's school-wide throughline, Discover Your Voice.
Topics include:
- What is a throughline? And why is it important?
- The history of throughlines at Dawson
- Our 2020-2021 throughline: Discover Your Voice
- Incorporating faculty voice
- How parents can use the throughline at home
- Dawson's goals for our diversity, equity and inclusion work this year
Read more about our throughline on our blog.
Zoomcast: New Faculty
To open up this season of the Dawson Zoomcast, Assistant Head of School Andrew Bishop is joined by three new faculty - Rachel Pruitt, Rachael Stratmeyer and Lee Shurtleff - during Teacher Academy. You'll hear their unique stories and experiences that they bring to our School,
Topics Include:
- Why they chose this profession and the lessons they love teaching
- What drew them to Dawson
- The interview process
- First impressions of the School
- Highlights of Dawson's Teacher Academy professional development week
- Their goals for the school year and advice for students
Topics Include:
- Why they chose this profession and the lessons they love teaching
- What drew them to Dawson
- The interview process
- First impressions of the School
- Highlights of Dawson's Teacher Academy professional development week
- Their goals for the school year and advice for students
Zoomcast Episode 4: Authenticity & Collaboration in Online Learning
In this episode of The Alexander Dawson School Zoomcast, Dawson educators join Assistant Heads of School Andrew Bishop and Roxanne Stansbury to discuss how Dawson maintains authenticity and collaboration in an online setting.
Discussion Topics Include:
- Authentic learning and assessment in an online learning environment
- How to model and provide opportunities for application and measuring competencies within a digital space
- Leveraging open-ended tasks, complex instruction, and write-to-learn activities through distance learning
- Student-reflection and feedback in distance learning
- Dawson's collaborative COVID-19 empathy art project in partnership with our sister school, Dawson in Colorado
- How Dawson is using this experience to deepen our teaching and learning into the future, and how we want education to transform because of what we're learning throughout this journey
Online Resources Mentioned:
Guest panelists: Matt Reynolds, Nikki Baker, Hung Le, and Simon Hunt
Read more about authenticity and collaboration in Dawson's distance learning program in our latest blog post.
Zoomcast Episode 3: Introducing Dr. Brandon Wiley
In this episode of The Alexander Dawson School Zoomcast, Assistant Heads of School Andrew Bishop and Roxanne Stansbury introduce our community to Dr. Brandon Wiley, Dawson's new director of teaching and learning.
Dr. Wiley most recently served as chief program officer for the Buck Institute for Education in Novato, California, overseeing program areas that included strategic partnerships and professional development services for teachers, as well as innovative project-based learning initiatives for students.
In addition to learning about Dr. Wiley, you'll gain insight into Dawson's goals as the School enters a new era of modern learning.
Link Mentioned: PBL Works Blog
Read more about Dr. Brandon Wiley in our latest blog post.
Dr. Wiley most recently served as chief program officer for the Buck Institute for Education in Novato, California, overseeing program areas that included strategic partnerships and professional development services for teachers, as well as innovative project-based learning initiatives for students.
In addition to learning about Dr. Wiley, you'll gain insight into Dawson's goals as the School enters a new era of modern learning.
Link Mentioned: PBL Works Blog
Read more about Dr. Brandon Wiley in our latest blog post.
Zoomcast Episode 2: Student Wellness
In this episode of The Alexander Dawson School Zoomcast, Dawson educators join Assistant Heads of School Andrew Bishop and Roxanne Stansbury to discuss the importance of student wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ll explain Dawson’s definitions of climate of care and social-emotional learning, our investment in student wellness, and how that work continues through distance learning. We also provide lots of resources and strategies to support adults as they navigate these important conversations at home.
Discussion includes:
- Defining student wellness as a priority
- Climate of Care: Our climate of care is really getting students comfortable with identifying their emotions and think about other people and what they're doing to get outside of themselves
- SEL: Social-emotional learning is the understanding of the importance of self-awareness and how you're regulating emotions and code-switching; plus social awareness, understanding one’s impact on others so that I can regulate words that I'm using or adjusting based on the impact of my interactions. It’s the responsibility as a community member.
- Marc Brackett
- The students' point-of-view
- Our biggest worries we need to name in regards to student wellness
- HBR article, That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief
- Strategies for supporting students talking about their emotions and how to help them cope
- Helping middle school students maintain independence
- Keeping students connected to their peers and teachers
- How this pandemic will transform us as educators and as people
- Challenge Success
Guest panelists: Teacher Mike Buchmiller, Student Services Coordinator Nissa Pearson, Counselor Asti Ptak, Counselor Melissa Robinson, Teacher Beth Vineyard
Read our complementing blog post by Director of Student Life & Diversity Meg Aumann about wellness at Dawson at on our blog.
Zoomcast Episode 1: Distance Learning - A Journey of Discovery
In this episode of The Alexander Dawson School Zoomcast, Dawson educators join Assistant Heads of School Andrew Bishop and Roxanne Stansbury to discuss what school looks like today and what’s happening in the world of education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since moving to a full virtual learning model, they’ve learned a lot and are excited to share with others. Topics include:
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Going slow before we go fast. Defining distance/virtual learning, what that means to us in relation to self-directed learning, and hybrid synchronous and asynchronous teaching.
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How Dawson teachers and staff transitioned so quickly to an online model and use an effectiveness rubric and effectiveness coaches
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Challenges teachers have faced in the transition and how they continue to adjust
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Technology tools that Dawson teachers have integrated and how they’re using them, including: Nearpod, Google Suite, Screencastify, Flipgrid, Jamboard, Wacom
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Maintaining personal connections with students and colleagues
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Creating space for social-emotional check-ins online
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Maintaining individualized education and authentic feedback loops
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The future of education and how teaching and learning continues to evolve at Dawson
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Making education mobile and moving toward an open-source educational economy.
Guest panelists: Peter Benitez, Kelly Gooden, Shane Marsan, Chrystal Miller and Dana Walton
Read more about distance learning at Dawson on our blog.
Mission Statement
The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain is a nurturing learning community for boys and girls in preschool through grade eight that challenges students to achieve excellence in mind, body and character.
The Alexander Dawson School
The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain, an independent school located on 33-acres in the community of Summerlin, is Nevada’s first Stanford University Challenge Success partner school for students in early childhood through grade eight. Utilizing the unique Challenge Success framework, Dawson uses research-based strategies and programs that emphasize student wellbeing and a healthy school-life balance to create more engaged, motivated, and resilient learners.
Students achieve their individual potential while savoring life and meeting the challenges of the world.