Thank you for stopping in to see what is going on in our classroom. The Diner is a special place where a group of second and third grade children call home. It is the place where we are all learning and growing together. We have a lot of fun in the Diner each day. Please take some time to look around our website and check out what is going on.
Who am I?
I am the teacher of this Diner establishment. I have had the opportunity to teach elementary students for the past 26 years. Yes, this is my 27th year of teaching. My adventure has been quite interesting and I simply love teaching.
On a personal level I love to spend time with my family (sons: Brent and Alex and Husband: Mike), friends, reading, writing, sewing, gardening in my greenhouse, baking bread, developing exciting curriculum for kids, and enjoying a good cup of black coffee. Did you know my favorite coffees come from old diners, Panera, and Kitchen Art? Sadly, I don't like Starbucks coffee at all. If you know me at all you would know my favorite color is black. Also, I am concerned about the carbon footprint I will be leaving behind. With that in mind I am working on a sustainable garden in my greenhouse, recycling, and I like to shop for my clothes at used clothing shops. Sewing and hand making gifts out of used materials is all a part of this.
Yes, I am a very unique part of the Diner and I welcome you to come and join in the fun!
What Are my Core Teaching Values?
Comfort and creating a love for learning are my first two Core Values. In the Diner the daily goals are to make learning meaningful and to find those pathways that allow students to grow. The fun is that each child is so very different in all aspects. I have designed a learning environment that supports these Core Values. The Diner has an open policy in terms of seating with couches, large shag carpet, a huge pillow, and comfy diner seating. Taking your shoes off and curling up on a pillow with a good book happens daily in the Diner. The ultimate goal is that I developed an environment that enhances the love of learning. Comfort is the backbone of growth, my next Core Value.
Recently I heard someone say that all Mrs. Pinto is worried about is growth. What an interesting comment that immediately made me burst out in a big smile. Yes, GROWTH is one goal I have had with students for the past 26 years. Growth in all areas of a child has been my focus each and every year. I have spent a good deal of time talking about it with students and adults. Shouldn't that be the goal of a teacher and a person that is focused on instilling the love of learning? Isn't learning measured by the amount of growth a child makes in all areas? Clearly, growth is another Core Value I hold very dear to me.
Yes, I totally understand the apprehension adults have with the push involved in achieving growth with a child. Ultimately taking each child out of their comfort zone and placing them at their level is different for the Diner Kids. In a High Ability Classroom each child is starting at a higher level. Of course, it is "their" level. Adults want to fix the problem when a child is uncomfortable or unsure. Haven't adults been fixing children's problems since they were very young? My goal is that adults will not look at this as something to fix but rather something to support and encourage. Moving roadblocks that students are hitting either behaviorally or academically because of this paradigm shift is the goal. Growth can be such a rewarding experience. Your parent relationships may need to grow and change with your child.
What does all of this mean in terms of each Diner child? Keep the positives flowing and set positive, realistic limits home the home front. Conversations about how video games work truly lit up some light bulbs with the class. In video games you get to the next level by winning a battle, getting to the other side, or collecting things. In every instance it is difficult. There is something difficult you have to attain to go forward. What happens when you get to the challenge is key. One strategy is to get online and find cheats. It takes time to get to the next level in a video game if you can't take a shortcut. The need to be done takes over. The other path is to keep pushing your effort and refuse the cheats. This is where you simply get to the next level by showing great effort and doing the work. This is just like in life. This is where the challenge of learning is the same. Yes,a video game as an example, but it does mirror learning. Everyone needs to come together to avoid the cheats. Taking valuable time talking adults out of doing something, avoiding work by doing nothing, saying that we can't do something, or just sitting and melting down aren't going to take a child to the next level.
The rigor, effort, and excitement involved with growth is something adults have spent a life time experiencing. Why wouldn't everyone want to teach societies most treasured gifts "how" to handle this push in a positive exhilarating way? As the Diner continually tries to build in positive choices and solutions to struggles and remove roadblocks parent support is essential. Together this can be such a positive way for each child to learn. Each Diner child is a "difference maker" in this world....I am confident of that.
More Thoughts on the Design of the Diner
As I write this I realize the faith you all place in me each day in the Diner. Not only do you bravely send your child to a classroom that looks like a diner, but you also send them to a classroom with a very unique teacher. Steven Johnson (he studies where good ideas come from) frames my philosophy of the design of the Pinto Diner even further. He looks at the spaces that have historically led to unusual rates of creativity and innovation. He notes that this creativity and innovation usually start with a hunch. Hunches come together when you provide systems for those hunches to collide.
He points out that things like Coffee Houses were engines of creativity because they created a space where ideas could mingle, swap, and create new forms. He also points out that the historic increase in connectivity has truly been the one overriding factor that has and will allow people to pull their "hunches" together. That is where the Diner comes in. My goal is to create an environment where these creative hunches will collide. But my Diner goes beyond the stage set of looking like a diner. My goal is develop the historical community diner environment. The place where you sit and chat, hunker down with a book, pull up a chair and share an idea, and ultimately experience the comfort that is necessary to openly travel safely down a new educational road and take a hunch to the next level.
Allowing students to sit wherever they want each day, read authentically, write authentically, solve real world problems, and learn independent/group researching skills are all a part of the environment I am developing in the Diner. Then with a huge focus on effort, work ethic, and growth you have all of the necessary ingredients.
The History of the Diner
The Pinto Diner really does have a story. In fact, many people stop in and ask how it all began. Outside of the Diner there is a whole area devoted to this. Here is the writingframed on the wall next to Maxine's kitchen table. There is a picture of Violet (my Grandma) and Maxine.
A Special Video of the Kids
This a very treasured gift the Ross family created for our class at the end the year a few years ago. Here is a copy to download: Pinto Diner Video or one to just view on Youtube: View Video only. Again, what a WONDERFUL tribute and treasure of the heart. Thank you!!!
President Obama's Message for American Students
The President of the United States had a special presentation for the students of our great nation. President Obama spoke directly to the overriding goals I feel you have for your child's education. In fact, it is supportive of the foundation you are building for your children by placing them in this Diner class. An articulate young man from a high ability class starts the speech with a heartfelt introduction. Here is the link to the video: President Obama's Message for American Students.
