June 2013
“The lasting pleasures of contact with the natural world are not reserved for scientists but are available to anyone who will place himself under the influence of earth, sea and sky and their amazing life.” -Rachel Carson
Dear Families,
When Wayland graduates reunite and reminisce about their glory days, the topic of the Wayland Middle School trips is a consistent refrain. There is something special about an entire class biking to Walden Pond,exploring ecosystems on Cape Cod, and considering justice in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. These whole grade treks are transformative, allowing for new bonds to form among students and their teachers, experiential learning to take place out in the field, and students’ comfort zones to be stretched in surprising ways. Most recently I joined the 7thgrade adventure to Cape Cod with my bus group, the Razor Clams. We reveled in Carson’s words placing ourselves under the influence of the earth, sea, sky and so much amazing life. I offer a few reflections on the many ways students grow on such a journey.
Relationships are a priority for students on the Cape Cod trip. In the weeks leading up to our departure many students fret about the social side of the experience. Creating cabin groups takes hours of careful planning and social engineering. Despite these careful efforts, the announcement of cabin and bus assignments brings both whoops of joy and inevitable disappointment. Most students are able to work through these emotions and make the most of the hand they are dealt,while some need a little more support to do so. One year a student insisted on staying home from the trip because she was not slated to be in a cabin with the majority of her “BFFs,” and her discomfort with not knowing most of the students on her bus was significant. After a few tears had been shed and much encouragement offered, the counselor and I convinced her to keep an open mind and give the trip a shot. We checked in throughout the journey and were relieved to see many more smiles than frowns. Two weeks later I was delighted to read in her Cape Cod memory book about the amazing time she had with the new friends she’d made. Versions of this story play out time and time again as students’ resiliency is strengthened. Kids who don’t run in the same circles often find themselves spending lots of time together and delight in making unexpected connections. A new sense of belonging emerges as the grade gels. In girls’ cabins, common ground often comes in the form of styling hair for one another. After an evening at Bass River Sports it is fun to come back to the cabin, sit around playing cards and watch the brushing, combing and twisting commence. Braiders share hidden talents, weaving connections along the way. Watching students expand their social circles never fails to make me smile.
In addition to the ever-important social scene, the trip is certainly an academic endeavor.Our 7th grade scientists travel to the Cape in the spirit of Rachel Carson to explore two essential questions - what is environment and what is our relationship to it? For three days we are immersed in a variety of ecosystems that comprise our natural world. Out on the water we travel by boat to explore the ocean’s treasures with naturalists. We cast for plankton and then observe the catch under microscopes. I love the excited “aha’s” I hear as students identify various microorganisms, matching a picture and a name with areal life creature they’ve discovered in the sea. The favorite activity on board is, without a doubt, the touch tank that holds an aquarium of snails,clams and an assortment of different crabs. Many students are eager to get their hands wet and explore creatures’ features. I am sure at least one marine biologist is born each year aboard the Naviator or one of Captain John’s cruises. On land we hike, bike, and paint. A favorite walk takes us through a variety of ecosystems to reach the lush green cedar swamp trails. Wild blueberry bushes line the path, and we pass through pines and oaks before coming to the swampy marshes of the cedars. It is a serene stop for journaling as we take pause to admire these ancient, unique trees and their surroundings. Carson’s words are apt, “It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.” The mosquitoes can’t undermine the splendor of such a vista. This year the Razor Clams also visited the Audubon Great Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary in Barnstable and learned about all things horseshoe crab. Students traveled from station-to-station,exploring shells and molts and examining the various anatomical features and their functions. The science was tremendous. It was fascinating to deeply consider this organism that has been around over 450 million years and even more fun when we walked down to the tidal flats fun to find them amongst many other marine organisms in their natural environment. Our guides shared how fishermen’s reliance on horseshoe crabs as a source of bait has endangered an organism that has been around for millennia. We reflected on the potential negative impact humans can have on a species and our responsibility to consider the consequences and protect it. In the words of Rachel Carson, “One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, ‘What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?’” This journey lets students grow their thinking skills as they wrestle with the complexity of human-environment interaction and expand their scientific knowledge base.
For many of our 7th graders this trip falls right in their wheelhouse. Several have explored the Cape for years with their families. Others are veterans of sleep away camp, and have no problem slumbering in bunks with relative strangers. But for some of our students,the Cape Cod trip is a journey into the unknown that taxes them emotionally. It may be the first time a student has traveled so far from home. Sleeping in cabins with classmates and the occasional arachnid can create a good bit of angst for some. Others may never have been to the beach before and hold a fear of sea creatures. Some students must overcome significant worry to take this risk to learn. I am impressed by how many persevere in overcoming these challenges. Countless personal victories are won on a trip like Cape Cod. For some it may be meeting the physical challenge of a bike ride or a long hike. For others it is speaking on a microphone at the front of the bus to share their new found expertise of a site on Cape Cod, such as Nauset Lighthouse. Finally, others struggle to unplug from instant electronic connection to parents and friends. I am thankful for the many caring teachers,teaching assistants and counselors who work behind the scenes to coach students through anxieties, help them negotiate social angst and find success, growing their risk-taking skills. As Carson astutely points out, “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder,he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it,rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”
Our grade level trips are a big part of what makes Wayland Middle School such a special learning community. I know all too well that these trips do not happen without the dedication of teachers, who are willing to leave their own families to spend 24 hours a day in the same challenging conditions as our 7th grade students. And as this year’s Cape trip proved, we go rain or shine. I thank our staff, who believe in the educational value of such experiences and are committed to the resulting academic and social growth. Our teachers appreciate the enhanced relationships with students, the new things they learn from students and colleagues and seeing students overcome personal hurdles on this journey. One of our Razor Clams said it best in our reflective appreciation circle we held overlooking Marconi Station, “I appreciate the teachers who make a trip like this possible for all of us.” Thank you Cape Cod staff.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron
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May 2013
“I believe arts education in music, theater, dance, and the visual arts is one of the most creative ways we have to find the gold that is buried just beneath the surface. They (children) have an enthusiasm for life, a spark of creativity, and vivid imaginations that need training – training that prepares them to become confident young men and women.” ~ Richard W. Riley, Former US Secretary of Education
As MCAS season is upon us once again and the national conversation in education remains focused on assessment and accountability, I take pride in the fact that our combined arts and wellness programs have remained vibrant, critical components of our work with middle schoolers. There we aim to nurture creativity, engage the senses,challenge our bodies, and perform for an audience. Our specialty subject teachers unearth and develop students’ talents, challenging them to stretch outside their comfort zones as they create and take risks to learn. In concert with feeding the mind,we work the body in wellness and through the arts we touch the heart to provide a comprehensive well-rounded program for our students.
Creativity is an asset in today’s world and one that is purposefully cultivated through our combined arts offerings. In applied science, Mr. Rivera introduces complex theories through hands on experiments. For example, our 6th graders explore aerodynamics using a wind tunnel to investigate how air flows over and around various shaped objects. Students study the factors and forces that impact speed prior to creating CO2 cars for racing. As they begin the planning process students ask themselves, do I want to design the fastest, sleekest, or most creative car I can? Based on individual priorities students develop a plan and then design, build, test, and adjust their cars - drawing,cutting, shaping, sanding, and painting their creations. Creative juices flow as they work to realize their visions. At times, however, creation can be a messy, frustrating process. Our art teacher, Ms. Ryan, describes the challenges of bringing ideas to fruition. “During this ‘creative process’ we learn to know and expect that we are going to feel frustrated and discontented with the early stages of our creation. This is a very necessary part of the creative process. We may feel like failures and want to give up and may judge ourselves, compare to others, feel inferior and want to quit. We learn that we all do this and the next step is to just keep on going.We learn to be resourceful, resilient and persistent.” Through compassionate guiding and skillful coaching, teachers encourage students to persevere, make the necessary adjustments, and see a project through to completion.
In addition to inspiring creativity, the arts have the power to heighten our senses, particularly sight and sound. Just walking into the art room activates the senses. Soothing classical music plays in the background and the hum of artists creating buzzes throughout the room as 6th grade students are engrossed in mask making. Ms. Ryan inspires her artists to maximize that powerful sense of sight, compelling them to focus on the details. Asking a student to carefully study a photograph of the creature he is modeling through her papier maché mask project, Ms. Ryan inquires, “When you compare it against your visual reference, what do you see?”She urges students to “spend 80% of your time looking at your visual reference. With your fingernails make that look like the upper bill. That’s it. Make it look real.” Persistence pays off as students mold and shape features, bringing conception to reality as toucans, giraffes and pandas emerge from what was once a pile of paper towels and glue. Down the hall, the senses come alive through music as well. Our performing musicians hone their sense of hearing as they learn to pay careful attention to the details of the music. How do melody and harmony layer together? What is the interplay between the instruments? When should the trumpets punch out the accents and immediately quiet the dynamics to reveal the whisper of flutes? In band rehearsal, Ms. Wellons knows the recipe for success as she compels her musicians to pay careful attention to their breathing. “Everyone give me a sizzle. Eight beats of pressure cooker. Now play at 2A with the same energized air stream. Could you hear the difference? I heard the difference.” Musicians listen, listen,listen to skillfully integrate tempo, rhythm, and dynamics. “I need everyone to be thinking about this in order to sound great. Everyone needs to be thinking about the dynamics. We talked about the dynamic elevator. Start loud. Go all the way down to the second floor, and then crescendo.” As students train their ears they unearth their ability to make glorious music together.
Just as we stretch our senses to new heights, we also stretch our bodies and harness the physical dimensions of wellness. We are fortunate to have a robust set of wellness offerings taught by Coach Cav, Coach A, and Ms. Riddle. In addition to weekly lessons in the gym and outdoor classrooms, our wellness program extends beyond the school day to provide before school AM Wellness outlets and After School Intramurals. One parent recently shared with me how AM Wellness has positively transformed her son’s outlook on middle school, enabling him to motivate in the morning. The hard exercise grounds him so he is settled and more focused during his academic classes. Through Intramurals students engage in sports and activities that run the gamut including fishing, biking, golf,badminton, basketball, Project Adventure, volleyball, team handball, archery,rollerblading, soccer, and touch football. Students learn athletic skills, team play, and strategy. In recent years the emphasis in wellness class has shifted and teachers spend more time promoting lifelong wellness activities such as fitness programs, rollerblading, hiking, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and yoga. Our staff inspires students to find joy in physical activity and helps students commit to developing a long-term plan to care for their hearts and bodies. Our wellness teachers challenge all students to see themselves as athletes, whether they wear team jerseys or not.
Additionally, at a time in life often defined by awkwardness, we call on kids to cast aside their self consciousness, take to the stage, and perform. Taking risks to learn is a tenet we hold dear at Wayland Middle School and drama class provides a perfect venue for doing so. While some students are at home on the stage, exuding an inner spotlight, others would prefer to wait in the wings and avoid public speaking completely. Regardless of one’s mindset, however, Mr. Large skillfully creates safe spaces for students to confront stage fright and find their inner thespians. 7th graders learn to stage and perform a Shakespearean play, no small feat to accomplish in a ten-week course. There are roles to accommodate all and sword fights with sound effects to boot. When reflecting on theater performance one student recently told me, “I was nervous at first, but getting up on stage actually turned out to fun.” Performance is not isolated to the theater, however. In the general music classroom Mr. Murray also embraces a performance component as students compose and play rhythmic creations. Building on this accomplishment, students then develop a repertoire of pieces they’ve mastered on mandolins, guitars, and keyboards, performing for teachers and classmates along the way. Smiles are the telltale signs of pride and accomplishment.
Wayland Middle School is a highly academic environment and we take learning seriously. The community’s continued support of our school has allowed us to keep combined arts and wellness thriving and central among our priorities as we maintain a vibrant palette of offerings. Valuing combined arts ensures that we dedicate time in the day’s busy schedule for nurturing a sense of wonder. Time in the "artistic process" can provide space to be quiet, still and feel connected to one'sinner self as well as the world around us. Conversely wellness classes thrive on movement and energy. In both arenas we capitalize on creative sparks within our students and look to uncover that promised gold that Richard Riley assures us lies beneath the surface. The research is clear that these skill sets lead to better emotional, mental and physical health as our abilities to find contentment, relaxation and happiness increase. Be assured that in our eyes educating the whole child requires a delicate yet deliberate balance between the heart, body, and mind.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron, Principal
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April 2013
Dear Families,
Wayland's
commitment to the METCO program was an important factor which helped me
decide that Wayland Middle School was where I wanted to establish my
professional home. To me participation in METCO along with Wayland's
robust partnership with Empowering Multicultural Initiatives (E.M.I.),
whose stated mission is "to improve the academic achievement of students
of color while nurturing the growth and development of all students,
and to promote systemic anti-racist practices and culturally relevant
teaching through staff training and leadership development," meant that
my values aligned with those of Wayland. Our METCO program benefits all
students at Wayland Middle School, creating a richer, more racially
diverse learning environment. Multicultural classrooms compel educators
and students to confront biases and prejudices and incorporate varied
perspectives as students explore curriculum and develop critical
thinking skills. It takes purposeful thought, effort, and commitment to
effectively bridge two communities. In order to realize the potential of
METCO it helps to understand its history, recognize the unique
challenges Boston resident students face, and develop comprehensive
systems of support to help mitigate these challenges.
Metropolitan
Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has been around for decades.
METCO is the voluntary busing program that transports children of color
from Boston and Springfield to suburban school systems - one of the
oldest most successful programs of its kind. The program was first
conceptualized in Boston during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's
when a concerned group of African American parents raised questions
about the disparity between the quality of schools in Boston's black
neighborhoods relative to those in its white neighborhoods. When their
criticisms went unheeded, parents took matters into their own hands and
organized a voluntary desegregation program called Operation Exodus,
bussing 400 African American students to an under-enrolled white
neighborhood school in the Back Bay. The success of the experiment led
to a meeting between the Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and
Equal Rights group and leaders from twelve suburban districts who agreed
to voluntarily enroll students of color from Boston in their schools,
and thus METCO was born. In 1968 the Racial Imbalance Act was passed and
with it came state funding for METCO. Wayland has been a proud member
of METCO since 1968 and this spring we celebrate 45 years of
partnership.
Participating in
METCO is a huge commitment for Boston resident students and their
families. There are wonderful educational benefits and also a myriad of
challenges that include lengthy days, geographic hurdles, cultural
differences, and stereotypic assumptions that many Wayland resident
students and their families don't have to confront. School days are very
long for our students who live in Boston. They must wake at about 5:30
AM in order to arrive at the bus stop on time. Then, they ride
45-minutes to Wayland. Our Boston resident students know all too well
that home is not right around the corner, when an issue arises during
the school day such as getting a fever at 10 AM. Students who remain
beyond the 2:20 bell to work with a teacher or stay to participate in
WMS' extensive extra-curricular offerings including sports, music,
drama, and clubs catch a late bus home at 5 PM arriving back in Boston
close to 6 PM. Geography provides an additional challenge for our
Boston resident students given the wide area of neighborhoods in which
students live including Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and
more. A WMS student from Boston is often the only one in his or her
neighborhood who travels to Wayland daily, making carpooling and play
dates more difficult. In coming to Wayland, Boston resident students
learn to accept and adhere to the norms needed to succeed in a
predominantly white environment where they are the minority - all while
trying to value, celebrate and be true to their own cultural norms. It's
a very tall order. "Where do I fit in?" is a relevant question that
arises particularly during the middle school years as students are
entering puberty and wrestling with the many facets of their identity,
including race. I often try to put myself in my students' shoes,
imagining how it would feel to walk into a classroom day after day where
so few of my classmates looked like me and could relate to my
experiences. Occasionally our Boston resident students are confronted
with hurtful comments from Wayland resident peers that emerge from
stereotypic assumptions. For example some think that living in Boston
means a student must live in an apartment in a dangerous neighborhood.
Even when there is no malicious intent the impact of comments born from
such assumptions can leave painful scars. To better understand the
experience of Boston resident students, you might check out Far from
Home, which is an eye-opening documentary about METCO that provides a
window into the world of one African American high school girl in
Wellesley, highlighting both the opportunities she finds in her suburban
school district and the isolation she felt as young black woman living
in another community.
Mabel Reid
Wallace, Wayland's astute METCO director recognizes the additional
challenges students face as minorities schooling so far from home. One
way to improve the experience is to surround students with support. This
year Ms. Reid Wallace began the Wayland METCO Men's Mentoring Group
(WMMMG) calling on all fathers of our Boston resident students, who
personally know the unique challenges boys of color face, to offer their
guidance in a substantive way. Ms. Reid Wallace launched the
initiative with a day-long retreat for fathers to come together to share
their stories with one another and discuss the ways that they might
guide all the young men of color in the program. The fathers shared the
outcomes of that retreat at a recent parent meeting at the Epiphany
school in Boston. It was standing room only as over 90 people showed up
to hear four of the father leaders explain their vision for addressing
the academic and social needs of the boys. The sense of community and
empowerment from parents to collectively make a positive difference in
the lives of students was palpable. As one father said to me, "Before
we'd see fellow fathers wave, say hello, and keep going. Now we really
know one another." From that new sense of community and urgency to help
grew a collective vision to connect with and mentor the boys. Through
outings (fishing, bowling, hiking) and workshops to network boys with
successful men of color who are leaders in a range of professions, our
Boston resident fathers aim to help boys envision what is possible and
recognize the effort and stamina needed to support those goals. Every
boy in the program is invited to participate whether they have a father
present in their lives or not. This program has the potential be a model
for all METCO programs. It is an exciting endeavor that Ms. Reid
Wallace is planning to replicate with a parallel experience for mothers
and girls.
In one month's
time we all have an opportunity to come together at the annual Florence
Adler Walk/Run to offer support for the METCO program. On May 11th I
invite you to join me at from 9:00 to 2:00 at Wayland Middle School
(race time is 11:00) in participating in a 5K to support METCO and help
close the fiscal gap that comes with budget cuts to state funding for
this important program. If you are unable to run or walk, consider
sponsoring a student or neighbor to do so or offering a donation at the
Wayland METCO Donation Center. https://unipaygold.unibank.com/Default.aspx?customerid=638
Together we can ensure the viability of METCO, knowing the program will remain strong for the next 45 years.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron
Principal
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March 2013
Dear Families,
Driving
well is really about seeing well. This is a tidbit I took away from a
compulsory parent workshop I participated in to enable my son to fulfill
his driver's education requirements. There my instructor encouraged me
to help my son look about a quarter of a mile down the road rather than
directly around the car in order to really see the road and its
surroundings. Following the class, I found myself noticing precisely
where I focused my own line of vision when driving. I realized that I
don't look directly at nearby obstacles in the road to avoid hitting
them, such as cars parallel parked on the side. Doing so actually led me
to veer towards those obstacles. Rather, I concentrated my attention
far beyond the parked car and let my peripheral vision take in the rest.
Learning this enabled me to share this insight with my son. As I'd
drive down the street or highway with Kyle, I'd find myself explaining
to him where I was looking. In doing so, I unpacked what is an otherwise
internalized, automatic process for proficient drivers and explicitly
taught him where he should center his visual attention while driving.
In education-speak we call this process "think aloud." Think aloud is
one of the most effective instructional strategies for impacting student
learning. Research shows that when we slow down and explicitly share
the steps of what we do automatically as proficient readers, writers,
thinkers, problem solvers, (and drivers :)) we
empower students to develop effective strategies for learning. Here, I
will give you a window into the think aloud through the work of reading
education researcher Ellin Keene. I'll also share how this strategy
might play out in a math classroom, and finally help you consider how
you as a parent might try out this strategy to support your child's
learning.
Last
month we were fortunate to have nationally renowned author, reading
comprehension guru, and expert think aloud specialist Ellin Keene spend
two days at Wayland Middle School working with our students and staff.
Keene promoted the explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies
such as determining importance in a text, inferencing, and synthesizing
to help students become more capable readers. During her visit she
offered model lessons to our students followed by lengthy debriefing
sessions where our teachers could consider and debate the deliberate
instructional choices Keene made to help students become more effective
readers. In lessons we saw Keene share her metacognitions with students,
modeling for us the power of an effective think aloud. It was notable
how dramatically she slowed down the reading process to give kids time
to think and to model how to take time for thinking herself. In one
class Keene explained to students that thinking aloud during reading is
like wandering through the woods on a path. "When you come to a tree you
turn. You don't walk into a tree, right? That's the same thing with
text, right? If there is a tree, your thinking changes." Authors write
so that something in the readers' hearts or minds will be different as a
result of reading their work. Keene modeled for us how good readers pay
attention to how their minds, hearts and beliefs take twists and turns
as they read. Here is an excerpt from her think aloud of Way Home, written by Libby Hawthorne and illustrated by Gregory Rodgers:
"So
in those first few pages I hear this bravado, and I see this dense,
overwhelming setting where people are just feeling like they're crammed
in and things have been let go. But it is interesting now because the
illustrator, look what he does with that light. Don't you think that's
interesting? These words, you know the kid is showing bravado again,
right like Mr. Cool, but then look at what the illustrator does with
that light in the upper right hand corner. See what I mean? There is
softness to it. That yellow is warm. There's this very pampered little
kitten in there. I think the author wants me here to see this contrast
between this boy and his bravado - his Mr. Cool - and this sort of
comfort, softness, warmth maybe inside and a very pampered cat, which of
course he's making fun of because he's Mr. Bravado. But there is
something about that kid that isn't all bravado. Did you see the way he
put the cat there? Did you notice that illustration? Look at the light
there, the way the illustrator has used light. I mean I think they want
us to think about almost a tender side to this kid that certainly you
don't hear in his words, right?...I mean I just love the way the
illustrator is telling you a different story. I mean the words are
telling you one story and the illustrator is telling another. You see
what I mean? So that's how my thinking is changing so far."
Through
think aloud, Keene tracked how her thinking evolved while reading,
giving students a window into the mind of a proficient reader. She
purposefully slowed down and noticed. Keene was clear that there was not
one right way to think about the text and encouraged students to
articulate what created shifts in their own thinking as they read.
Through discussion and sharing, understanding of the text grew deeper.
It's
important to note that reading does not hold the exclusive rights to
the think aloud strategy. There are far reaching applications. For
example, in math instruction thinking aloud can be used to map effective
problem solving techniques. As a teacher, I can articulate my thought
processes for students as I solve. I might begin by noticing aloud how
the problem I'm working on reminds me of a similar problem I have solved
before - thereby establishing familiarity. I might mention which words
in the problem are most important and how I know that. I might then
share how I organize information from the problem, perhaps in a table or
a graph, to help me identify patterns. Even when my first attempt is a
dead end, I might model how I continue to persist, retrace my steps,
and consider an alternative strategy. Finally, I might talk through how
I review my work to double check my answer and finish by answering the
most important question in mathematics - does my answer make sense?
Thinking aloud helps students see where on the problem solving road they
should focus their vision so they can see their way to a solution.
Think aloud enables one to highlight effective problem solving
processes. It may take many renditions before students begin to
internalize effective thinking practices and generalize to use
strategies independently. Explicitly articulating thinking step by step
can demystify complicated processes, however. By thinking aloud we
actively teach students how to be good thinkers.
You
don't need a master's degree in education to capitalize on the power of
the think aloud. Nor do you have to wait until you are teaching your
teen to drive. Think aloud has a place in everyday life. When you play
card games with your kids such as cribbage, you might think aloud about
how you decide which cards to keep in your hand and which ones to
discard into the kitty, helping your child become more strategic. When
you cook dinner you can think aloud about how you plan and time out the
meal, knowing when to prep the veggies, start water to boil for the
rice, and commence stir frying so that everything is hot and ready at
once for the family dinner. You can think aloud how you decide how to
organize your time for the week so you get the many tasks of life
accomplished - lawn mowed, bills paid, crossword puzzle done (hey we all
need "me time") and get kids to their carpool destinations. So don't
hesitate to give your kids a piece of your mind. I think Keene would
agree - it is a wonderful gift.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron, Principal