Denise Coffin

Donate - Chicago Friends School

Dear friends, join me in making sure that children in Chicago have the opportunity to attend the city’s only Quaker school. Chicago Friends School is an amazing independent school committed to academic engagement, service, peace, justice, and community. Donate here (my deepest gratitude):

Marigolds and Dandelions in #kindergarten... Why my class is named after two flowers. #QuakerEd #Quaker

Adventures Teaching in a Quaker School quakered.blogspot.com/2025/10/marigo…

We did some close looking at #Archimboldo Autumn in #kindergarten and then we created our own versions using watercolors and stickers (yay fine motor control bonus) denverartmuseum.org/en/object/2009…

Once a Marigold & Dandelion, always a Marigold & Dandelion (my kindergarten class name)! I received a hand stitched gift from a former marigold. (Our school mascot)

How are you feeling at the start of kindergarten? #paintedreflections #visiblethinking #kindergarten

Meeting for Worship 101

Quaker School - getting ready for Meeting for Worship 101 #QuakerEd #Quaker
quakered.blogspot.com/2025/07/meet...

Opinion | José Andrés: The World Cannot Stand By With Gaza on the Brink of Famine

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/o...

A walk can be an opening...

Reflections on my journey to 1652 Country and the birthplace of #quakerism #quakered #friendscouncil
quakered.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-wa...

I highly recommend this summit. Mark your calendars now. Inspiring ideas. Inspiring educators. Inspiring location. #kindergarten #quakered #aimschat

People packed the streets across the U.S. on Saturday to protest against President Trump, his administration's cutbacks, financial turmoil and more. nyti.ms/43GRvS7

Found an old treasure that belonged to my mother. It’s her autograph book from the 1950’s. Lesson here is don’t bother Raymond. #springcleaning

Quaker Parents Were Ahead of Their Time The nearly 375-year-old religion’s principles line up surprisingly well with modern parenting research.

“Infused in all of these practices is the conviction that children are not lesser proto-adults, but fellow beings worthy of respect and agency regardless of their behavior.” Gail Cornwall #quaker #quakered www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

can't believe it's 2025 and i'm stressed about tariffs and measles, like am i a character in an american girl book

Snow day vibe

Great questions to reflect on at the starting the school year - our classroom expectations too often have a narrow focus.

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: Thank you! Follow @casieonline.bsky.social and @ronritchhart.bsky.social so that you don’t miss the summit next year. (If you’re on other social media spaces, find Jim Reese as well ☺️)

*I’m not going to give you anything I don’t think you’re capable of doing.
Or
*I’m not going to give you anything I don’t think you’re capable of grappling with?
#culturesofthinking

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: something I’m wondering… in my planning for thinking, are these two ideas the same? Does one matter more? Who might it matter to or for? (or am I just too deep into my February teacher brain 😉)

And ask yourself why that might be…

7. Challenge can feel/be practically inefficient and we only have so much time 😉
10. We mistake compliance with engagement… “Just because they are happily doing the task, doesn’t mean they are engaged and learning deeply.” @ronritchhart.bsky.social

2. We want everyone to be successful. This idea is still something I’m unpacking in my own practice around scaffolding, differentiation, engagement, productive struggle, rescuing, etc.

Some of the ideas that were presented and explored: 1. We don’t see the benefits of our mistakes.

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: Learning occurs at the point of challenge (this plenary from @ronritchhart.bsky.social really sang for me - make sure you join next year’s summit to get the whole story/research/learning because it’s powerful) Why do we avoid challenge?

A culture of thinking isn’t something to be done, it’s something we become… we work on it… it’s ongoing… #culturesofthinking

“What kind of thinking moves do we wish students to become so good at that they routinely bring it their learning and use to build understanding?” #culturesofthinking

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: what are the messages we send to our learners about learning? About thinking? About what learning is and how it happens? Great questions for reflection from #MarkChurch

#DanielPink & @ronritchhart.bsky.social Agency & Belonging… When people have more agency, they tend to feel a stronger sense of belonging.

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: belonging & agency… students learn best when they feel valued. When we feel a sense of belonging, we have entered a space where we are more likely to take risks & try things out. @ronritchhart.bsky.social

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: What was one of the moments that was key in deepening and developing a culture of thinking? (For me, it involves making the way open for my young (and small) learners to be big.

#culturesofthinking Leading a Culture of Thinking Summit: the most beautiful setting & weather for thinking and talking about thinking Del Mar, San Diego, Pacific Sky Elementary School