I am currently at a superintendents’ summit in San Antonio, Texas that I was nominated to attend, at no cost to the district, sponsored by the District Administrative Leadership Institute. I am here with 64 superintendents from across the country and it has been an excellent opportunity to share and get new ideas from colleagues from many different states.
Last evening I was part of a small roundtable group that included a superintendent from Connecticut utilizing online resources for an elementary STEM initiative that he will share with me for our own elementary science curriculum exploration. This afternoon I participated in an exciting Google presentation that provided rich resources and ideas to explore for our own district’s use.
At the Nov. 4 board work session we presented the draft of the five-year strategic plan which included exploration of shared collaborations with neighboring districts for advanced opportunities and increased access to AP courses for our students utilizing online and blended courses (combination of online and classroom learning). As a result, I was most interested to attend the roundtable discussion on “Why Online Learning Programs Fail and Why They Succeed.”
Below are some of the activities that took place on Superintendent’s Conference Day.
The fifth grade continued work with the literacy consultant from LitLife as they continue to implement a reading and writing workshop classroom format for literacy instruction. This approach focuses on providing students with authentic and in depth literacy practice in reading and writing. Just like the musician becomes a stronger player by practicing, students become stronger readers and writers the more they practiceactually engage in the act of reading and writing.
As part of a year-long curriculum that balances fiction and non-fiction, the fifth grade students are currently engaged in a Fantasy unit. On Superintendent’s Conference Day their teachers prepared for the upcoming non-fiction unit, reading and writing evidence based editorials, which will start during the month of December.
Along with Principal Stephen Kimmel and Director of District Curriculum Information Services and Middle School Life Danielle Gately, I had the opportunity to spend the day working and learning alongside our committed and caring fifth grade team. At the elementary school, teachers focused on the elementary portion of our academic vocabulary list, identifying grade level specific words. Classroom and special area teachers collaborated on a master list. Activities, creation of charts and posters were worked on to immerse our students in an environment rich with these words. I will let you know when a final list is ready for posting on the district website.
North Side’s mathematics portion of the day focused on continued in-depth study regarding the Engage NY math modules currently being implemented in the elementary school and how these math modules directly support the Common Core Standards. The importance of students developing fluency, focus and perseverance in the Common Core Standards was a point of emphasis.
Among other staff development opportunities, some art and music teachers attended a conference at Molloy College dedicated to looking at the Common Core as it relates to their arts content area and/or attended workshops given by the Art League of Long Island. The physical education, health and family consumer science staff attended various workshops at Hofstra University and Adelphi University. Our own physical education teachers, Herman Lim and David Burke, were presenters at one of the workshops, “Use of iPads and Smart Technology.” Lim and Burke demonstrated many ideas they utilize in our district to promote physical education.
Middle and high school math teachers’ work included new math vocabulary, curriculum mapping and the development of formative assessments to benchmark student learning and guide instruction.
Among their activities, the middle and high school social studies department worked on developing and improving teacher websites in an effort to further utilize technology for student learning and improve student, parent and teacher communication. The department collaborated on specific student skills in research and writing to support student success on the 10th grade English research paper and the 11th grade social studies research paper.
Science department grades 6-12 work included course sequences, AP opportunities, new inquiry based labs and common core literacy in science. Work in the 6-12 English department included a continuing crosswalk between common core goals and department mission as well as ways to successfully monitor student performance in both. Work also continued in aligning the structure of the 10th grade research paper to reflect new Common Core requirements.
The foreign language department worked across grade levels 3-12 to articulate expectations at each level of foreign language instruction through the Common Core standards. Department members also worked collaboratively to create authentic lesson modules on thematic topics. In support of the Common Core and district curriculum alignment, foreign language activities and lessons being designed require students to engage in critical thinking and utilizing information from more than one source when writing essays or creating presentations.
The board of education work session scheduled for Dec. 4 will include a Common Core Workshop. This should be an informative session given by administrators and teachers. Come and ask everything you always wanted to know about the Common Core Curriculum and state assessments.
Unfortunately I was at the Superintendents’ Summit in San Antonio and I was unable to attend this week’s Parent University. By all accounts it was a resounding success as described below by guidance counselor Lauren Silverstein, who helped coordinate this important district event.
“Parent University 2013 fall semester was a huge success. Overall, we had 119 students (aka parents) in attendance. Once again, the workshops and presenters received positive reviews. A very special thank you to our committee, our parent members Nancy Williams and Jamie Cutinella and to our wonderful presenters, Karen Bartscherer, Dr. Justine Golden, Lisa Ganz (LICADD), Sherwyn Fullington (AList Educational Services) and Phyllis Greco (Adelphi University).
The evening workshops included: “How to Listen So your Kids Will Talk,” “Financial Aid – Meeting College Costs,” “College Testing Overview,” “Stuck in the Middle: Raising Healthy Kids Through Divorce/Separation Process,” “What’s the Latest Rave?,” “To Help or Not to Help, that is the Question.”
We thank everyone for all of the support and interest in parent education and we are in the process of planning Parent University spring 2014 for March 6. If anyone would like to join the Parent University planning committee or has suggestions for potential workshops, contact Ashley Gleeson (gleesona@ewsdonline.org) or Lauren Silverstein (silversteinl@ewsdonline.org).”
The girls’ varsity soccer team captured the Nassau County Class B championship and will be playing for the Long Island Championship. The boys’ varsity soccer team fell a point short of winning the Nassau County Class B finals. They played a great game and had a great playoff run and season.
The following Willets Road students were honored with All-County Music recognition: From the orchestra: Amanda Kim (cello), Eliana Li (violin), Eric Ness (cello), Grace Xu (violin), Elizabeth Yuen (violin) and Brandon Zhu (violin). From band: Jacob Mohebban (trumpet) and Zach Schloss (bass clarinet). From chorus: Emily Gothelf, Jacob Kaufman and Susan Kim.
Congratulations to the newest Wheatley Idol, senior Ghazal Mizrahi. The event, sponsored by Wheatley’s Tri-M Music Honor Society, had 10 performers: Morgan Misk, Michaela Balboni, Lauren Bennis, Ally Levy, Alex Boubour, Anthony Graffigna, Josh Dinetz, Jaclyn Mellone, Ghazal Mizrahi and Taylor Brahms. When the votes were tallied, Ghazal Mizrahi was the new Wheatley Idol. Congratulations to all who participated. A thank you as well to our faculty judges: Ashley Rogala, Brian McConaghy and Greg Wasserman for being terrific judges, the hosts: Jillian Gothelf and Chelsea Wolgel and faculty advisor Angela Luftig.
Have a Good Weekend
As always, please e-mail me at kanase@ewsdonline.org or call me at 333-3758 with any questions, suggestions, and or any topics you would like to see for this newsletter.
