Slowing down, paying attention, noticing what is around us... stopping to “sit and smell the roses” … to think, to reflect, to feel…is not what school, as it mirrors our frenetic world, is about these days–and we all pay the price. This hyperactive pace negatively impacts our physical and emotional well-being. This school year, we are introducing an observation period to our daily schedule–a time for students to experience a little piece of the world that they have chosen and to reflect… through words, drawings, photographs how they are affected by the changes they observe in themselves and their private chosen space as each new day and season transforms it.