The Amazing App Expo

Even though I am off today, I just had to comment on the third-grade App Expo today at Jackson Avenue. I visited the students in the morning and as I toured their expo – which ACTUAL representatives from most of the organizations attended, as well – I could not believe that these projects were completed by third graders. It was truly amazing how Mrs. Killian gave these students an idea for a project and the kids just ran with it and made truly elaborate projects through the use of their iPads and the resources available to them. I share only two photos with you here really quick, but you had to be there to appreciate how truly knowledgeable each of the students were on their organization and their evident passion in the project.

2014 Art Show

Last night my son James and I happily attended the Mineola High School Art Show.  We should probably change the name to Art symposium or gallery walk- “show” just doesn’t do it justice.  The talent is remarkable.  Kudos to Art teachers Gina Buongiovanni and Kathy Loughlin.  Here are some pieces that spoke to me-  (Last one was James’ favorite)

Common Core Standards are NOT curriculum

I am still surprised how many people mistakenly believe that the Common Core Standards and the State’s Common Core Curriculum are the same thing; they are not.  The State has provided a curriculum guideline that may be followed to help children reach the Standards.  Districts may or may not decide to use these curricula material; it is completely a local decision.  Mineola has used a combination of State materials and our own teacher created materials.

I analogize the standards and curriculum to Equestrian show jumping.  In show jumping the course is comprised of a set of obstacles that every horse must complete; the obstacles are not moved, lowered or changed to accommodate the horse.  The common core standards were created with the same premise; a universal set of requirements that every student should meet.  Obviously there are many other factors that determine whether those standards are met.

The most important ingredient to successful show jumping is the horse, followed quickly by the rider.  Not every horse can be a show jumper.  You wouldn’t ask a Clydesdale to jump fences (although some do in commercials).  Grooming and training the right horse to jump is critical to successful completion of the course.  In teaching, the horse is the curriculum, and the rider is the teacher.

Not only do you need the right horse you need significant time to develop the relationship between the rider and the horse.  The most successful equestrians have a symbiotic relationship between rider and horse, each knowing how the other will react to a given obstacle.  Teachers and the curriculum are no different.  Teachers need to be comfortable in the content they are teaching- but more importantly need to know if the curriculum is meeting the standards.

Sometimes, no matter how well trained, a rider can be thrown by a horse.  The horse believes that the obstacle is too hard to overcome.  In these cases the rider’s patience and experience is most crucial.   It is imperative that our curricula address the students that may have difficulty meeting the standards.  In these cases our teachers are the most important.  We need to develop appropriate materials that enable our student to progress and exceed the standards.

Starting now and continuing throughout the summer we will provide time and opportunities for teachers to work with his/her grade level curriculum.  We are committed to making sure the materials we teach are engaging and appropriate.  Most importantly we want our daily assessments to measure standards and track student growth in the standards.  We have helped develop a software program that will allow us to do this electronically.

We are convinced that all our students can meet the standards.  We will continue to modify and refine our curriculum to make sure our students are properly prepared. Our teachers and administrators will continue to be a vital part of developing curricula that is appropriate and challenging to help students meet and exceed the standards.  I am confident that our teachers and administrators are up for this task.

Research Rock Stars

Second graders at Meadow Drive School are presenting research projects today to family and peers. After spending countless hours researching  for their final projects on ecosystems and habitats, the kids each prepared a formal paper and slide for a PowerPoint presentation.  These stars are from Missy Uryevick’s class.

In the world of technology the consumer is the best designer!

Sometimes we forget that our best resources are our students.  Recently our seventh graders expressed a dislike for the work we require on eSpark.  Mr. Gaven held some meetings with students and asked for suggestions on how to make the work more engaging and appealing.  He received more suggestions then he could handle.  We called the CEO of eSpark and requested a meeting.  He flew in from Chicago and heard an earful from our students and teachers. He is committed to fixing the problem, but how?  Our solution is to let the kids help design a new interface on the app.  Yesterday the eSpark team visited the MS to kick off the “eSpark design challenge”.  Fifth grade students will work in teams using the format below.  Winning teams will be hired by eSpark to design the new interface over the summer!  In the world of technology the consumer is the best designer!  I am excited to see the results!

The eSpark Design Challenge

You will work in groups of up to 4 students to solve a design challenge for eSpark.

You will hand in:

● A keynote presentation showing your progress throughout the design process

○ Your teacher will give you the Keynote template to work from.

● Your best representation of your final idea to recommend to eSpark

Your project is due by Wednesday June 11, 2014. Your teacher will give you instructions on

how to submit your presentations.

Decide on the problem

Pick one of these four problems:

● How can we give students more choice?

● How can we make eSpark videos and games more fun and exciting?

● How can we track our progress?

● Or, choose your own improvement to eSpark

Do Research

Determine why this is a problem

● Why do YOU think this is a problem?

● Ask three students why THEY think this is a problem

● Write down what you learned your research? What was surprising?

● Decide what you think is the main cause of this problem

Brainstorm Ideas

● Show three examples of games or apps that have solved this problem.

● Which one do you like best? Why?

● Think of five possible ways to solve the problem for eSpark

● Sketch out the two you like best.

Test Your Ideas

Explain how you know your idea will be successful and be accepted by students AND teachers

● Show your ideas to 3 other students

● Write down their reactions to your ideas

● Make at least one change to your design based on the feedback.

● Test again by asking the same people what they think. Is the response better?

Share Your Best Idea

● What is the best way to share your best idea with eSpark? Drawings, a video, an essay,

a monologue…?

● Take as much space as you need to illustrate your vision of eSpark.

Good luck, designers! The eSpark Team.

Mulan!

I had the great pleasure of attending the Friday night performance of Disney’s Mulan Jr.; yet again the talent left me speechless. Erin Talty has found a place on the HS stage. Her voice anchored the show.  Zach Sloan followed his performance of Kenickie in Grease with a great job as Shang.  I particularly liked the unique set design that depicted the “ancestors” in high towers on the side of the stage.  Harrison, Jillian and the 3 Sara(h)’s anchored the show, they did a fabulous job playing off one another in some tricky dialogue and songs.  Raquel Galan was an excellent choice to play Mushu, the wayward dragon.  David Lee had me smiling the whole time he was on stage as Chi FU and I couldn’t stop laughing at Chloe’s face at the end of the show.  The ensemble did a fantastic job bringing the Huns and Emperor’s soldiers to life.   Congratulations to Don Carreras and Sarah LaSorsa on an excellent production.  Kudos to Vinny Tunkel, Paul Sommer, Melissa Fusco and Aislinn Oliveri for great work on the production.  Can’t wait for next year!

Mineola Senior in the New York Times

Congratulations Clare Connaughton.  First on your acceptance to U Penn, second on being part of a feature story in the NYT entitled “Four stand out college essays about money” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/your-money/four-stand-out-college-essays-about-money.html?_r=0

Lastly sharing a video story that inspires! The fact I watched the video on Mother’s day was even better!

Technology does increase student achievement

Congratulations Dr. AJ Hepworth.  Our very own HS Science Instructional Leader has just defended his doctoral dissertation.  The study focused on whether or not eSpark increased student achievement.  The results were a resounding yes.  Here is the Abstract of the study:

The purpose of this study was to investigate how engagement, mood and number of assignments completed on computerized differentiated homework using an iPad in a one-to-one mobile device environment influenced the growth index and normalized gain in reading literature benchmark assessments of students in grades five, six, and seven.             Furthermore, this study investigated if gender or special education status influences the growth index or normalized gain in reading literature benchmark assessment scores when using an iPad in a one-to-one mobile device environment on computerized differentiated homework.

Data from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) fall Measures of Academic (MAP) Progress assessment was analyzed for students’ areas of weakness in reading literature. Using assessment results, students were assigned differentiated homework to complete on an iPad, while reporting their level of engagement with the app and present mood. Growth and normalized gains were calculated following the spring administration of the NWEA MAP. Five hundred-twelve suburban public school students, grades five, six, and seven were given iPads containing differentiated homework assignments during the 2012-2013 academic year.

A one-way group analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was a statistically significant difference for level of engagement with iPad applications among students in grades five, six, and seven. An independent t-test showed that special education students were significantly more engaged with their differentiated homework than students not classified as having special education status. An independent t-test showed that students with a positive mood had a statistically significant higher growth index and normalized gain than students with a negative mood.

The findings in this study revealed that when using an iPad to complete differentiated homework, student assessment scores in reading literature were influenced by grade level and mood. The findings in this study revealed student grade level and present mood influenced their growth on reading literature assessment scores when completing differentiated homework using an iPad. Additional findings indicated that as they got older, students reported less engagement with iPad assignments. The study concluded with recommendations for improving; engagement level, percentage of assignments completed and teacher awareness of student mood.