Empress of Everything: Messages from a Master Teacher

The documentary film Empress of Everything–Messages from a Master Teacher is about the final school year in a unique, mixed-grade primary classroom in the home of Denise Dee Haines (Dee), who says, “In the first class meeting I introduce myself as ‘Empress of Everything’ in this corner of the universe.” CHAPTERS 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:48 Children 00:08:33 Circle 00:12:19 The Daily Routine 00:23:28 Math 00:27:18 Reading 00:33:06 Animals 00:35:34 Break 00:36:53 Class Meeting 01:00:01 Cultivating a Sense of Right & Wrong 01:05:22 Secrets 01:15:08 End of the Year 01:16:52 How to be Empress of Everything The CLASSROOM ON CARPENTER LANE was a little school in a big stone house in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. It opened for the 1988-1989 school year and closed at the end of the 2004-2005 school year, a 15 year run. My hope for Empress of Everything: Messages from a Master Teacher is that teachers and teachers-in-training can use this glimpse of CCL as a point on their compass, a direction to head in while refining their own artistry. Designers of primary schools might notice how the structure and routines in each school day can build a supportive community of learners. In more grandiose moments, I hope that the model provided by the Classroom on Carpenter Lane encourages administrators and governing bodies of educational systems to see benefit in small class sizes for children during their early years at school.