Opportunities to work with teachers through grade level meetings to build a professional learning community have been replaced by preparation for the oncoming PARCC test. The meetings have begun to resemble typical grade level meetings that address day to day matters rather than take the opportunity to further professional learning.
The meetings themselves continue to demonstrate a change in the way we work. A consistent increase in the number of teachers using laptops to access content for the meetings is an encouraging sign. The biggest obstacle will have to be addressed and that is to familiarize teachers with the google suite. I have been aware but unable to address this issue since most of the teachers in need of help are those least likely to have a laptop during the meeting. The computers made available to these teachers are older laptops that are generally unreliable and slow to transfer data from the internet.
As for the DreamIT project, the turn to the afterschool program to create and demonstrate units is underway. I have recruited teachers from the school to fill the afterschool positions in each grade level. The teachers have been willing to use a project based curriculum but none have volunteered to help develop or research possible projects.
Using common core math and next generation science standards to determine academic content, the following themes were selected:
Third grade: use area and perimeter to measure space around the school with the goal of selecting an optimal location to establish a school garden. The right conditions have to be researched then identified in the area around the school. This combines both math and science with a real need expressed by both parents and school personnel.
Fourth Grade: Use geometric solids to design and model a playground.Choose a location on school grounds to place the playground, then design the playground with a fixed budget and safety considerations. The school of almost 900 students sits in an area that has no parks nearby for children to play. A playground would be a useful addition to the school and community.
Fifth Grade: Create a multi-use plan for the entire area around the school. This group of students will also use measurement as an important component to the academic content but they are also thinking about what makes sense for land use in their community. They can also use the work of the other grade levels to integrate into their overall plan
Sixth Grade: Create a recycling plan for the school. This involves data and measurement of both liquid and solid volumes to collect before and after data.. Environmental science is a big part of the academic content as well. Students will learn why recycling is important and how to recycle. They will also consider other environmental issues regarding school operations (water and energy use).
A key part to the success of this idea is teacher buy in. I’m already skeptical that these projects will actually be realized because of the amount of preparation involved in these lessons. It is like a second job in that the planning involved is equal to the investment of time during regular school day instruction. Once the units are established it becomes much easier.
The meetings themselves continue to demonstrate a change in the way we work. A consistent increase in the number of teachers using laptops to access content for the meetings is an encouraging sign. The biggest obstacle will have to be addressed and that is to familiarize teachers with the google suite. I have been aware but unable to address this issue since most of the teachers in need of help are those least likely to have a laptop during the meeting. The computers made available to these teachers are older laptops that are generally unreliable and slow to transfer data from the internet.
As for the DreamIT project, the turn to the afterschool program to create and demonstrate units is underway. I have recruited teachers from the school to fill the afterschool positions in each grade level. The teachers have been willing to use a project based curriculum but none have volunteered to help develop or research possible projects.
Using common core math and next generation science standards to determine academic content, the following themes were selected:
Third grade: use area and perimeter to measure space around the school with the goal of selecting an optimal location to establish a school garden. The right conditions have to be researched then identified in the area around the school. This combines both math and science with a real need expressed by both parents and school personnel.
Fourth Grade: Use geometric solids to design and model a playground.Choose a location on school grounds to place the playground, then design the playground with a fixed budget and safety considerations. The school of almost 900 students sits in an area that has no parks nearby for children to play. A playground would be a useful addition to the school and community.
Fifth Grade: Create a multi-use plan for the entire area around the school. This group of students will also use measurement as an important component to the academic content but they are also thinking about what makes sense for land use in their community. They can also use the work of the other grade levels to integrate into their overall plan
Sixth Grade: Create a recycling plan for the school. This involves data and measurement of both liquid and solid volumes to collect before and after data.. Environmental science is a big part of the academic content as well. Students will learn why recycling is important and how to recycle. They will also consider other environmental issues regarding school operations (water and energy use).
A key part to the success of this idea is teacher buy in. I’m already skeptical that these projects will actually be realized because of the amount of preparation involved in these lessons. It is like a second job in that the planning involved is equal to the investment of time during regular school day instruction. Once the units are established it becomes much easier.
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