At Classroom on Carpenter Lane,  “messages” were shared at the end of each daily morning circle, at each weekly class meeting, and almost each time the children gathered. Messages were given after each student read and showed work in Writers’ Circle, and after each poem was read on Poetry Day.  When someone gave a message to someone else, the receiving person listened and said “Got it.”  If others agreed with the message or comment, they raised a fist.  If they disagreed with a message or comment, they lowered a fist.  If they had something new to say, they raised a hand, index finger up.

“Commendations” are special messages at the beginning of each weekly class meeting, about something really special that a child or teacher did, or a really special quality of character that a person showed.

I launched the blog Messages from a Master Teacher yesterday, July 20, 2016.  I was delighted to receive this Commendation from my friend Rabbi Phyllis Berman:

“You talked about this film with me (in 2008)…and now you’ve taken the steps to bring it into existence.  Kol HaKavod  (congratulations) to you and to Greg!  It sounds like such an important film now, at a time when neurologists are saying that one out of five children in our country have some sort of mental illness, to learn from the Empress of Everything who ran a school that went far beyond the ABCs to the U of Uniqueness, the R of Respectful, the L of Loving, and the E of Empowered.  I can’t wait to see the completed film.  My Aunt Tillie (Margulies) of blessed memory, who was a consummate preschool teacher in Great Neck, NY for many years, educating hundreds of children and their inexperienced parents, would have recognized a colleague in your beloved Master Teacher.”

Here is the link for the Blog Home, where you can view the trailer, and previous posts:

Introducing Empress of Everything– Messages from a Master Teacher