Live Blog of MJGDS EdCamp 2014

edcampmjgdsWelcome to our Second Annual Martin J. Gottlieb Day School EdCamp!

You can review what an “EdCamp” is and relive last year’s “Live Blog of MJGDS EdCamp” if you would like extra context…

…when we entered the Library today:

9:00 Blank Board

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9:30 EdCamp is Ready!

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Session #1

Task Authenticity

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The conversation is centered around our Learning Target’s domain of “Task” and defining what “authentic task” really is and how it looks in our classrooms.  There is consensus that this is amongst the most significant challenges of our target.  Some subjects may lend themselves to greater authenticity than others, but it is a challenge all teachers of all subjects of all grades have.  For example, our Middle School Mitzvah Trips – each Friday our Middle School students go out into the community to do social action in lieu of their Jewish Studies block – provide authentic opportunities to put what they learn academically in Jewish Studies into practice in an authentic, real-world way.

What about 1st Grade Math?

What about 5th Grade Social Studies?

I hate to leave the convesation, but I am anxious to see what is going in the other sessions!

 

Session #2

Math Games

2014-01-17 09.52.40One of our Middle School Math Teachers shared examples of games that she has made – digital and hands-on – that work for her in the classroom.  And after she shared her examples, teachers had an opportunity to make their own games for the classroom!

One great outtake – she shared her firsthand experience of growing a Professional Learning Network via Twitter thanks to her coach and is encouraging her colleagues to do the same.  Hooray Instructional Coaching!  Hooray Amplification!

 

Session #3

Tiny Tap for General and Jewish Studies

2014-01-17 09.59.20This is being facilitated by our Jewish Studies Coordinator!  What a wonderful example of 21st century learning not being bound to any part of the curriculum!  Our Jewish Studies Faculty has come a long way and I am so proud that many of our EdCamp facilitators today are JS Faculty presenting to GS Faculty about how to incorporate 21st century learning pedagogy.

Our first round went by so fast!  Time for a quick break and then it will be time to begin the second round…

 

10:20 AM

Session #4

Bringing Out the Best

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Our Middle School Vice Principal is using our example of caring who our students are outside of school, to start a conversation about how to bring out the best in our students.  The common denominator in well-behaved students?  Parents who expect well-behaved children!

How can we build a true Community of Kindness when we only have control over what happens in school?  How do we provide parent education to help increase healthy school-parent relationships?

One place to start?  ALL teachers and staff have to share similar high expectations for student behavior and the school has to be willing apply adequate consequences and incentives for student behavior.

How do we do that when all our students share so many different teachers?

Session #5

Readers Theater

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Our First Grade General Studies Teacher (an alumna of the school!) is sharing the concept of preparing students to better integrate public speaking skills and drama into Language Arts instruction.  What I like about this conversation – besides the topic – is that the audience is made up our Assistant Teachers.  Assistant Teachers in our school may not have lead teaching responsibilities, but they are qualified teachers who contribute so much to our ability to personalize learning.

Where does she get resources?  From a blog she follows, by Skyping with other teachers…another example of using social media to develop a Professional Learning Network!

 

Session #6

SMART Board

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Who is teaching?  Our 2nd/4th Grade Jewish Studies Teacher!  Again, a Jewish Studies teacher sharing 21st century learning pedagogy with General Studies colleagues.  They are sharing SMART Board games that they have made and other tricks and subtleties of using the SMART Board for instruction.  Another great conversation!

Can the second round be ending already!  Time flies when you are learning from your colleagues!  One more rest break and on to the third and final round…

Session #7

Behavior Consistency

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Not a direct follow-up to Session #4, but connected.  What I like about this conversation is that it is being facilitated by one of our Assistant Teachers, who is an experienced teacher in her own right, but by sharing the perspective of an assistant, it will hopefully help us be consistent across subjects, between classes, in the lunchroom, on the playground, etc.

This conversation is trying to dig deeper into recognizing the source of children’s behavior it helps figure out how to correct it.

Teachers are expressing the need to see our school evolve into a more consistent program of behavior management.  Building on a “Caught Being Kind” with real carrots…I think this session and this topic will have real legs post-EdCamp.

 

Session #8

There was supposed to be a “Session #8”, but the beauty of an EdCamp is that people “vote with their feet”.  And their feet have spoken!  Only two teachers turned out for Session #8 and they decided to have the conversation during free time and joined one of the other two sessions…

Session #9

Integrating Centers with the Daily 5

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A very popular session because we  have made the decision after piloting the Daily 5 for two years that we plan to adopt it as our Language Arts philosophy for the Lower School.

Our Grade 2 General Studies Teacher, who is one of the teachers who piloted the program, is leading the session.  We have a range of teachers in the room, some who have been piloting it also, some who will be responsible for it soon.

One great outtake: We have Jewish Studies Teachers in the room.  Why?  Because they want to see if there are principles from the Daily 5 that might apply to Jewish Studies.  No one prompted or suggested that to them…it comes from them.  I love that about where our faculty culture has evolved to…

…can MJGDS EdCamp really be over for 2014?

Sadly, yes.  But another great year, another great set of conversations, another great opportunity to learn from each other, and time will tell which conversations will lead to changes or improvements or initiatives for the school.

But experience teaches that it surely will!

The Transparency Files: Teacher-Led Evaluation

MJGDS-LearningTargetWe are into the second year utilizing our school’s new learning target.  I blogged last year, as part of “The Transparency Files,” about why and how we created the target and how it would guide important decisions about how the school runs, what programs the school invests in, and about anything and everything central to questions of teaching and learning.  And so far it has.  Our decision to move to a 1:1 BYOiPad pilot for Grades 4 & 5, helps move us closer to the target.  Creating a “Community of Kindness” position and utilizing the 7 Habits to develop the program, helps move us closer to the target.  Our work in Middle School, developing a new app that will become commercially available in time for Purim, helps move us closer to the target.  Our decision to expand the use of “Student-Led Conferences” to Grades 4-8, helps moves up closer to the target.  Our move to Singapore Math, expansion of the Daily 5, use of blogfolios, our current conversation about homework, increasing the amount of immersion in our teaching of Hebrew – all of these decisions are framed by whether or not it will bring us closer to the target.  That’s the power of having a clear and shared vision for what teaching and learning ought to look like in our school.

So it should have been so surprise that when it came time to re-imagine what teacher evaluation ought to look like…we looked to the target to guide us.

We realized last year that with the success of student-led conferences, that we are actually treating our students with greater ownership of their evaluation process that we were our teachers!  If our students are supposed to own their learning, then our teachers ought to own their professional growth.  And if our students can collect artifacts of their growth, organize them on their blogfolios, reflect on their growth and present to their teachers and parents…

And so we charged our faculty to form a “Teacher Evaluation Committee” to re-imagine the evaluation process for teachers and what they came up with is our new “Teacher-Led Evaluation”.  It reflects what we believe is the most authentic way for teachers (and teaching assistants) to document, reflect and share their professional growth while still allowing for the accountability necessary to ensure expectations are met.  In the spirit of transparency, I would like to share the process and briefly reflect on how it working out so far…

This is what teachers received a couple of months back:

Dear Faculty:

For the fall evaluation, please schedule an appointment with Jon before Winter break. You will need the following:

  • A completed self-evaluation packet (checklist plus narrative)
  • Be prepared to discuss your self-evaluation with Jon
  • Not required at this time: A presentation, artifacts, a video-recorded lesson or peer observation

For the spring evaluation, please schedule an appointment with Jon in April. You will need the following:

  • A completed self-evaluation checklist (narrative not required)
  • A presentation aligned with the Learning Target documenting your professional growth during this school year in a format of your choice, including the following:
  • Artifacts to show evidence of growth
  •  A reflection of your video-recorded lesson
  •  A reflection of your peer observation
  • Goals: Where do I go from here?
  • Be prepared to discuss your self-evaluation with Jon

Teacher Evaluation Committee

The self-evaluation comes straight from the target:

TeacherEvaluationTool-Shared_docx

 

And the narrative prompt:

Please reflect in writing on your growth as a teacher at this point in time. Your reflection should be directly related to the Learning Target. Make sure to address your professional development goals and offer an evaluation of your progress to date. Also consider the following questions: What are my successes? Is there room for improvement? Do I have artifacts as evidence of my learning? What tools or resources do I need to continue my professional growth on the Learning Target continuum?

I have made my way through about a half to two-thirds of the faculty and I am enjoying it immensely.  The conversations have been more focused on growth and less focused on what I (or others) feel is lacking.  The conversations are led by teachers who are experts in who they are and not guided by me who, in the past, would have to play detective in order to have what to present.  The artifacts are fabulous, the discussions are rich and – most importantly – what teachers are working on is astounding.

The accountability is still there – teachers are required to demonstrate growth in areas mutually agreed upon by them and me – but the shift in emphasis has brought a shift in attitude that brought a level of professional development we have never seen before.

All in all, this first go around has been a true success.  I can’t wait to see the fuller presentations in the spring and see how much more growth there is to come!

The Transparency Files: Homework Wars

home-work-close-up-1-1126726-mThis is the 150th (!) blog post of “A Floor, But No Ceiling” and amazingly, to me, in a search of all my blog posts, I cannot find one that deals with “homework”.  I guess denial is not just a river in Egypt…it is a river in Jacksonville, Florida!

Disclaimer: In addition to being the head of school, I am married to a public school teacher and am a parent of a 3rd Grader and an Kindergartner.  “Homework Wars” do not describe my parental situation with homework.  Whether that is a function of my children, their particular teachers, our particular family dynamic, or blind luck, I couldn’t say, but “homework” is not a daily or any other kind of struggle in my household.  (Knock on keyboard.)

Why the disclaimer?

I guess because I want to be sensitive to any unconscious biases I may bring to the table in this conversation.  We have excellent teachers who do not have children of their own.  But I think it would be dishonest to suggest that lacking a parent’s perspective never has consequences for teachers who have not lived at home the impact of schooling.  There are some things you can only learn through experience and if not through experience, through the willingness to learn from other’s experiences.

So I admit that as a parent, I am presently satisfied with the amount and the quality of homework being brought home by my children.  That does not make it objectively true.  As a head of school of a K-8, however, I am well familiar with concerns and complaints about both the amount and the quality of homework.  And the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School is in an excellent position to tackle the subject…

Important Segue:

I have used this blog to document our school’s 21st century learning journey and all the associated initiatives we have taken on to get from there to here to the future.  For anyone who has not been along for the ride, in celebration of my 150th blog post, here is my starter’s collection to be fully caught up with who we are and where we think we are going:

The MJGDS 21st Century Learning Journey in 13 Blog Posts

Transparency
Standardized Testing
edJEWcon
Inclusion
Financial Sustainability
Gaming Theory
Habits of Kindness
Reflective Practice
EdCamp
Learning Target
Second Language Acquisition
Experiential Education
Blogfolios

…here in year four of our work together.

It is reasonable to conclude that there are various philosophies about what the purpose of homework ought to be and that there is ample research to be found supporting just about them all.  For our school, however, the conversation comes with a context.  Considering who we are and what we believe to be true about teaching and learning, what ought to be the role of homework here?

Like all preceding vital conversations, this one has begun with our 21st Century Learning Team and will continue on with our teachers, parents and students before being concretized in final form.

 

What is our current policy?

We have a simple 10 minutes per grade level (outside of reading) formula for estimating the appropriate time it should take a typical student to complete his or her homework.

Part of the impetus for taking this on is that not only does that policy seem not to hold true often enough, it fails to address the why’s and what’s of homework.  It only speaks to, “how much?”  We can do better.

 

The purpose of the MJGDS Homework Policy, once re-imagined, will be to provide guidelines for teachers, provide for consistency through the grades, and to educate parents who have questions about homework.  A school policy regarding homework, along with clear expectations for teachers as to what constitutes good homework, can help to strengthen the benefits of homework for student learning.

This policy will need to address the purposes of homework, amount and frequency, and the responsibilities of teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

The MJGDS Homework Policy will be based on research regarding the correlation between homework and student achievement as well as best practices for homework.

Without having had all the conversations we will be having, I do think based on the conversations we have had, that there are philosophical conclusions consistent with who we are that we can put up front that will inform the policy once complete.

The philosophy at the Martin J Gottlieb Day School regarding K-8 homework is that homework should only be assigned that is meaningful, purposeful, and appropriate. Homework will serve to deepen student learning and enhance understanding.  Homework should be consistent with the school’s “Learning Target” and strive to incorporate creativity, critical thinking, authenticity, and student ownership.

We understand today’s busy schedules and demands on parent and student time.  Most learning is done in school, but as is the case with our learning of a foreign language and learning to read, reasonable and age-appropriate practice and repetition is exceptionally beneficial in other certain subject areas.

There are also some commonsense practices we believe will help to increase the benefits of homework while minimizing potential problems.  Homework is more effective when:

…..the purpose of the homework assignment is clear.  Students should leave the classroom with a clear understanding of what they are being asked to do and how to do it.

…..it does not discourage and frustrate students.  Students should be familiar with the concepts and material.

…..it is on a consistent schedule.  It can help busy students and parents remember to do assignments when they are consistent.

…..it is explicitly related to the classwork.

…..it is engaging and creative.

…..part of the homework is done in class.

…..it is authentic.

…..feedback is given.  Follow-up is necessary to address any comprehension issues that may arise.

…..it is differentiated.

…..it reviews past concepts to help retention over the course of the year.

 

This is not to suggest that we are not presently trying to live up to the above in our current practice.  But it is to suggest that our written policy fails to provide teachers, parents or students with sufficient guidance to insure that all students in all grades are doing appropriate homework – appropriate quality, appropriate content and appropriate length.

As with every other initiative or project we undertake at MJGDS, our conversation and conclusions about homework will be done collaboratively and transparently.  We look forward to our local conversations, to doing the work, and to sharing it out when done.

Another Trip Around the MJGDS Blogosphere

It is that time again!1206712_digital_world

How about this week we take a trip through the MJGDS Blogosphere and kvell about some of the excellent projects our students and teachers are engaged in. Perhaps it is too much to expect folk to check all the blogs all the time – especially if they are not parents in a particular class AND with our new website still under construction.  So allow me to serve as your tour guide this week and visit some highlights…

From Our Kindergarten Blog:

Our Latest Creation – A Book!

In conjunction with our literacy program, we have been discussing “settings” for books by comparing one book to another. In this case, we discussed the various settings of the “Miss Bindergarten” series books. Each student created the setting for his/her imaginary Miss Bindergarten book! We have compiled all of these “settings” into our 1st ebook.

Check out our latest creation:

photo    Miss Bindergarten

If you own an iPad or iPhone, you can download the epub file and directly drop it into your iTunes library. Once you sync your device with iTunes, you are able to read our book.

If you are reading this post on your iPad, simply click on the epub link and choose to open in iBook.

If you do not have a device to read our eBook, you can download the pdf  Where Is Miss Bindergarten? , but the children’s voices will not be audible. :(

 

From our Community of Kindness Blog:

Advisory Lunch Groups

Advisory lunch bunch groups have started.  The feedback from the advisors and the students has been extremely positive!  While discussing how they have become more proactive this year, one student  expressed that he does his homework FIRST when he gets home from school.  He said he hasn’t been late on any assignments this year, which he explained is a HUGE accomplishment for him!  WOW!

Most classes have started to talk about Begin with the end in mind, the second habit. During October, the classes will be working on class mission statements and developing personal goals for each child.

The middle school students  wrote down the things that they have started doing this year to be more proactive….

 

From our Fifth Grade Blog:

New Jobs for Kids

This week in fifth grade there are….. New Jobs for Kids!  Mrs. Hernandez looked at our applications online.  After she looked, she picked which person deserved which  job.  I got Official Scribe (by the way, I am Arin).  Emily and Zach got Documentarian.  Ariella, Eliana, and Josh are the Global Connectors.  Ayden is Librarian. Elad and Griffith are the Researchers, and Evan and Jagger are the Kindness Ambassadors. Mrs. Hernandez hasn’t figured out who the graphic designers are yet.

photo 3

Now I’ll explain what all the jobs mean.  Official Scribe writes the blog posts, takes notes, and really anything that has to do with writing.  Documentarian is taking pictures and videos.  The documentarians send me some of the pictures they take so that I can put them in the posts.  Global connectors will tweet, put our Skype calls on our map and a lot more.  Librarian puts some of the new words that we learn on our word wall, updates what we are reading on the wall, and straightens the books.  The designers will sometimes draw visual notes and will do other design projects. Researchers look things up when we have questions. Kindness ambassadors make sure everyone is being kind to one another and don’t leave anyone out.

Meanwhile, we have been reading Out of My Mind.  We are now on chapter twelve.  We just read about how Melody went into a “normal” classroom.  To her a “normal” classroom is a classroom with kids that don’t have disabilities.  She got to sit with one of the only nice kids in that class.  She sat next to a girl named Rose every Wednesday.  Now she can’t go to sleep on Tuesday nights because she’s so excited.

On whole different note, we have picture day today. We took a whole-school picture, a class picture and individual pictures.  Earlier today we had a school picture.  Everyone was smushed into one little area.  The photographer had to take a picture when no one was really ready. I wonder if that picture will be good.

Well, have a great Friday!  Have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom! :)

photo 1 photo 2

photos and photo collage by Emily

 

From our Third Grade Blog:

Skypportunity… a job they’ve never heard of…

It’s a mystery indeed!

She has patients…

they are not sick…

she is not a doctor or nurse…nor does she work at a hospital…

her patients are women only…

when she is working she has to be on call 24 hours a day…

photo-5

photo-2

3rd graders worked SO hard to figure out this mystery…

but it just wasn’t on their radar… but they will learn about the long history of midwifery while studying the Torah with Morah Liat!

SHE IS A MIDWIFE!

Special thanks to Sharon Schmidt, a Florida Licensed Midwife and a Certified Professional Midwife at Fruitful Vine Birth Center  for this Skypportunity!

 

From our Art Blog:

First Grade

0 1,224×1,584 pixels

 

Color wheel art project from criscoart.blogspot.com

 

Amazing stuff, no?

Why not more from Jewish Studies Teachers?  Why nothing from Middle School?  Why nothing from our student blogfolios?

Got to leave something for the next tour!

To everything there is a season…

 

Life does move on…

A friend who came last week to pay a shivah call who had recently lost a parent of his own, shared with me that although you would think the goal of shivah is to provide the mourner with ample quiet time to grieve, reflect and reminisce; that, in fact, it is to exhaust the mourner to such a stark degree that any return to normalcy is welcome.  I do not believe that explanation is sourced in Jewish tradition, but I do second the emotion.

And so I have returned to school, to work, to synagogue and to life.  Return is bittersweet – I am glad to be home and welcome the opportunity for meaningful work to fill the void grief left behind.  But it also makes it way too easy to forget that I am still grieving.  I am embracing Jewish grieving rituals – continuing to wear the keriah after transitioning from the shivah to the sheloshim, attending minyan daily to recite the Mourner’s Kaddish, refraining from participating in overly social or joyous occasions, etc., – because they provide opportunities to remind me that I did, indeed, lose my father and to reflect upon all that that means.  And after sheloshim comes the rest of a year of mourning…and I will explore how I intend to commemorate that phase when I enter it a few weeks hence.  But now it is time to turn my attention back to matters at hand and what is at hand is the beginning of an exciting school year at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School as faculty and staff prepare to return on Monday (!) for an action-packed “Pre-Planning Week”.

 The Transparency Files: Pre-Planning Week

At the beginning of the summer, I blogged about our expectations and plans for faculty to use their summertime for professional growth.  I blogged about my summer reading and how it has impacted my thinking heading into another year.  In the spirit of transparency, I would like to share with you what we will be thinking about and working on next week – a week dedicated to ensuring the first day, week, month, etc., of the 2013-2014 school year is full of wonder, discovery, meaning and success for our students.

Here’s the scoop:

Monday, August 12th

9:30 – 10:00 AM                                 Continental Breakfast & Welcome Activities

10:00 – 11:00 AM                                Team-Building Activities – The Transition Cafe

11:00 – 12:30 PM                                Work in Classrooms

12:30 – 2:00 PM                                  PTA Preschool & Day School Lunch & Teambuilding

2:00 – 3:30 PM                                    Lower School & Middle School Faculty Meetings

 

Tuesday, August 13th

8:45 – 9:00 AM                                    IT

9:00 – 9:30 AM                                    Student Advisory

9:30 – 11:30 AM                                  “7 Habits”

11:30 – 12:30 PM                                 Student Advisor Meeting & New Faculty IT

12:30 – 1:30 PM                                  Lunch & Learn w/Rabbi Olitzky

1:30 – 2:00 PM                                    HR w/ DuBow Preschool Faculty

2:00 – 3:30 PM                                   Work in Classrooms

 

Wednesday, August 14th

8:30 – 9:30 AM                                   Brunch & Learn w/Rabbi Lubliner

9:30 – 10:30 AM                                  Summer Book Club Groups

10:30 – 11:30 AM                                “Square Peg” Alum & Mom

11:30 – 12:30 PM                                 Lunch [JS Faculty Working Lunch]

12:30 – 3:00 PM                                  Hebrew Faculty Webinar  

12:30 – 3:30 PM                                  Work in Classrooms

 

Thursday, August 15th

8:30 – 9:30 AM                                   How to talk to parents about “Square Pegs”

9:30 – 10:15 AM                                  “Wonder”

10:15 –12:00 PM                                  Work in Classrooms / MS Faculty Meeting

12:00 – 1:00 PM                                  Lunch

1:00 – 3:30 PM                                    LS “Meet the Teachers” & MS Work in Classrooms

 

Friday, August 16th

8:00 – 9:00 AM                                    Final Nuts & Bolts

8:30 – 11:45 AM                                  Middle School Orientation

9:00 – 9:30 AM                                    Final Fine Tuning

9:30 –12:00 PM                                   Work in Classrooms

 

A few things jump out at me…

You can see that Square Pegs has taken on a life larger just one of the books from the Summer Book Club.  A number of teachers and administrators have read it and we believe its message has great resonance for our school.

You can see our belief that the 7 Habits may provide a common language for students and teachers to continue our 21st century learning journey .

You can see in “Student Advisory” the first tangible fruit of having an in-house Community of Kindness Coordinator.

You can see our ongoing commitment to Jewish learning through our “lunch and learn’s”.

 

But more than anything, I hope you can see our dedication to lifelong learning, our desire to be our very best, our devotion to our craft, our love for children, our passion for education, our acknowledgement of our sacred responsibility to teach, our respect for the whole child, our emphasis on personalized learning, and our promise to deliver “a floor, but no ceiling” for each child we have been entrusted with.

I say it each year, but only because I sincerely mean it.  This year is going to be our best year ever.  And that is because of who comes walking through the door Monday morning.

Welcome back MJGDS Faculty & Staff.

Why Experiential Education Matters

How is it possible that this guy…

UAHC Camp Swig Maccabiah 1996

 

…is old enough to be taking his soon-to-be 8 year-old daughter to her first Jewish summer camp experience on Monday?

I don’t know either.

But somehow life happened and Eliana and I are off on Monday to Atlanta, Georgia where I will hand her off to the good people at Camp Ramah Darom for her one-week “taste”.

As we have been dutifully putting her name in and on everything she owns, I have naturally grown nostalgic thinking about my own experiences.  The impact of Jewish camping on me is indescribable and undeniable.  It is not hyperbole to suggest that I am neither the Jewish person nor the Jewish professional am I today without having spent my formative years as a camper and staff person at a variety of Jewish summer camps and on numerous Israel experiences.  There have been lots of studies documenting the tremendous power of informal Jewish education or experiential education.

Timing, as always, is everything.

As I am living through this family transition, here at the Jacksonville Jewish Center we are going through a directly related professional transition – namely welcoming Ezra Flom, our new Director of Experiential Education.  As it says in the article introducing him (pg. 12),

The Center understands that meaningful, formal classroom educational experiences are essential, but recognizes that for many, it is the experiential educational moments that occur in camp and youth group settings that leave a lasting impact. With that in mind, the Center has hired Ezra Flom as its first Director of Experiential Education.

As the director, Ezra will spend his time working with the Center’s youth groups, Camp Ki Tov summer day camp, and scouting programs.

I have blogged about some of the pedagogical implications of experiential education for Jewish day school in the past.  I think in many ways there are confluences between “21st century learning” and “experiential education” – the most important of which, to me, is an emphasis on authenticity.  Students learn best when engaged in tasks they perceive to have real-world meaning.  That can be building a real game or mitzvah trips that make the work a better place.  It can take place within the walls of a school or out in the world.  As an academy housed at a synagogue, we have unique opportunities to not only “learn Jewish” but “do Jewish”.  We don’t just learn about Shabbat; we experience Shabbat.  We don’t just learn about tikkun olam/social action; we go out and fix our community.  We don’t just go to school; we go to camp and youth group.

Most importantly we encourage our student to be their authentic Jewish selves as they carry their experiences from context to context.  To me that why experiential education matters.  It brings with the promise of making real what, in some cases, can only be simulated or sampled within the walls of a classroom.  Those are often the most important experiences of all…

And so as I am presently feeling the impending impact my daughter’s first taste of Jewish camping will have on her and on our family, and as I think back on the impact my experiential educational experiences have had on me, I look forward to working with Ezra to re-imagine the walls and boundaries within our academy so that we may provide our students and their families the full richness of what Jewish living has to offer.

 

Pre-Pre-Planning

Empty SchoolSo this is what our building looks like on the very first day after school lets out…

We may be missing two key ingredients – students and parents – but we still have one key ingredient…teachers!

Our 2012-2013 Faculty & Staff are spending this Friday cleaning, boxing and otherwise wrapping up their responsibilities for this terrific school year that was.  But here at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School we don’t just disappear into summer…on Monday, the 2013-2014 Faculty & Staff will report for two days of important “Pre-Pre-Planning”.  We will spend two days together planting the seeds that will bloom this August into an amazing 2013-2014 school year.

Let’s take a look at what we’ll be doing:

Monday, June 17th

9:00 AM   Opening Activities

9:30 AM   “Pre-Flection”

11:00 AM  Summer Book Club

12:00 PM  Reinvigorating “Community of Kindness”

12:30 PM  Team Planning/Working Lunch

2:00 PM    Spiritual Check-in

3:00 PM   Wrap

 

Tuesday, June 18th

9:00 AM   The K-5 iPad Classroom & Middle School Planning & Collaboration

11:30 AM  Faculty Speek-Geeking

12:30 PM  Lunch

1:30 PM   Accelerated Reader & Jewish Studies Faculty Meeting

3:00 PM   Wrap

 

The goal of “Pre-Pre-Planning” is to allow faculty to best utilize their summer “vacations” [Yes, teachers do in fact work year round!] for professional growth towards our school’s learning target.  It is both a time to dream and a time to plan.  One item that we are bringing back from last year is the Summer Book Club.  I think it is nice for parents and students to know what books we think are important enough to ask our faculty to read over the summer (they all choose at least one).  When we meet together next at our August Pre-Planning, we will share with each other what we learned and how we think it will impact our practice.  What will we be reading this summer?

Connected from the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades by Kathy Cassidy

In her new book, Connected from the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades, primary teacher Kathy Cassidy makes a compelling case for connecting our youngest students to the world, using the transformative power of Internet tools and technologies. Her well-balanced text presents both the rationale for connecting students “from the start” and the how-to details and examples teachers need to involve children in grades K-3 in using blogs, Twitter, Skype and other social media to become true global learners.

 

Dream Class: How To Transform Any Group Of Students Into The Class You’ve Always Wanted by Michael Linsin

In Dream Class, you will learn the 15 keys that make the greatest difference in the classroom and exactly how to implement those keys simply and effectively. The goal is for you to become an extraordinarily effective teacher. Written from the unique perspective that everything you do affects classroom management, Dream Class will help you create the class you’ve always wanted and enable you to become a happier, calmer, and more confident teacher.

 

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson

The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. When people arrive at the Element, they feel most themselves and most inspired and achieve at their highest levels. With a wry sense of humor, Ken Robinson looks at the conditions that enable us to find ourselves in the Element and those that stifle that possibility. Drawing on the stories of a wide range of people, including Paul McCartney, Matt Groening, Richard Branson, Arianna Huffington, and Bart Conner, he shows that age and occupation are no barrier and that this is the essential strategy for transform­ing education, business, and communities in the twenty-first century.

A breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement from one of the world’s leading thinkers on creativity and self-fulfillment.

 

Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children’s Learning by Peter H. Johnston

In productive classrooms, teachers don’t just teach children skills: they build emotionally and relationally healthy learning communities. Teachers create intellectual environments that produce not only technically competent students, but also caring, secure, actively literate human beings.

Choice Words shows how teachers accomplish this using their most powerful teaching tool: language. Throughout, Peter Johnston provides examples of apparently ordinary words, phrases, and uses of language that are pivotal in the orchestration of the classroom. Grounded in a study by accomplished literacy teachers, the book demonstrates how the things we say (and don’t say) have surprising consequences for what children learn and for who they become as literate people. Through language, children learn how to become strategic thinkers, not merely learning the literacy strategies. In addition, Johnston examines the complex learning that teachers produce in classrooms that is hard to name and thus is not recognized by tests, by policy-makers, by the general public, and often by teachers themselves, yet is vitally important.

 

Square Peg: My Story and What It Means for Raising Innovators, Visionaries, and Out-of-the-Box Thinkers by L. Todd Rose

In the seventh grade, Todd Rose was suspended—not for the first time—for throwing six stink bombs at the blackboard, where his art teacher stood with his back to the class. At eighteen, he was a high school dropout, stocking shelves at a department store for $4.25 an hour. Today, Rose is a faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Square Peg illuminates the struggles of millions of bright young children—and their frustrated parents and teachers—who are stuck in a one-size-fits-all school system that fails to approach the student as an individual. Rose shares his own incredible journey from troubled childhood to Harvard, seamlessly integrating cutting-edge research in neuroscience and psychology along with advances in the field of education, to ultimately provide a roadmap for parents and teachers of kids who are the casualties of America’s antiquated school system.

With a distinguished blend of humor, humility, and practical advice for nurturing children who are a poor fit in conventional schools, Square Peg is a game-changing manifesto that provides groundbreaking insight into how we can get the most out of all the students in our classrooms, and why today’s dropouts could be tomorrow’s innovators.

 

Happy Start-to-Summer!  Feel free to read along with us!

The Transparency Files: MJGDS 2013-2014 Faculty, Part I

It has been a VERY busy week!

We were very proud to honor Liat Walker this week at our annual PTA Teacher Appreciation Dinner with the Jacksonville Jewish Center’s Men’s Club Martin J. Gottlieb Brit Hinukh Award, “given each Spring to one Teacher in the Center schools who best represents the life commitment necessary to bring a quality learning experience to Jewish children.”  It was a well-deserved honor and a fun evening.

I am very appreciative of all the kind words and warm wishes I have received about my future plans.  I have been thinking and reflecting about it all week and when I am ready, I will share my thoughts and feelings here in this space.

This weekend we are celebrating our annual L’dor V’dor event – this year honoring our retiring Youth Director, Gayle Bailys with a special Shabbat morning service and a Sunday event during which she will receive the 2013 Rabbi David Gaffney Leadership in Education Award.  We are looking forward to an incredible weekend!

 

In the spirit of transparency, because we are a small community prone to well-meaning whispers and whatnot, I decided to split my my annual “Transparency Files” blog post with next year’s faculty assignments into two parts because I do want to make transparent a few issues of import that have become final and public this week.

As you may have already heard, MJGDS will be saying goodbye to a few veteran teachers this year.  We have already publicly acknowledged that Silvia Tolisano, Susan Burkhart, Deb Kuhr and Jo-Ann Kagan will be leaving at the end of this school year.  We are also saying goodbye to Cathleen Toglia, Marissa Tolisano, Megan DiMarco and Sara Luettchau.  Each has contributed much to our school and each will be missed.

We have filled almost all the lead positions and are working to fill the assistant positions as well.  I will lay out the entire new structure and composition of the faculty once it is complete, hopefully next week.  But suffice it to say, that this has presented us with an opportunity to re-imagine our entire staffing structure in order to best meet our school’s needs.  And I would like to take this opportunity to share a few key changes.

Stephanie Teitelbaum will be moving to the Middle School where she will become our new Middle School Language Arts Teacher.  Having successfully introduced elements of the Daily 5 in Grades 4 & 5, as well as important advances in how to integrate 21st century learning into language arts instruction, she will now stabilize and secure excellence in Language Arts instruction for our Middle School.  In addition to her new teaching responsibilities, she will join our 21st century learning team, providing coaching and support to our faculty, focusing primarily on our “Community of Kindness” initiative. We are confident that this is an important long-term decision which will benefit our entire school community.

When faced with the task of replacing Mrs. Teitelbaum, we were very cognizant of the high expectations she has left us with, as well as the new expectations we have created for pioneering 1:1 iPad usage in class.  This is why, after having reviewed a number of resumes and having met with select candidates, we decided that the only way we could responsibly fill the position was to transition Andrea Hernandez back to the classroom where her successful career began.  We have the Daily 5 because Mrs. Hernandez brought it to our school.  We have become a leader in 21st century learning because Mrs. Hernandez pioneered the path.  We would not be ready to go 1:1 with iPads if not for her expertise.  If we can’t have Mrs. Teitelbaum, who better to jump in than the teacher who has been coaching her?

Mrs. Hernandez, having been a highly successful classroom teacher prior to coming to MJGDS, is very excited about returning to the classroom and being able to work more directly with students and parents to implement the creative and innovative programs she has been introducing through our faculty these last years.  She is also excited to partner with Mrs. Zavon in this different structure, having worked with her as a coach.

These decisions have only become clear and final this week and this is the first opportunity I have had to share them publicly.  I recognize that change – even positive change – can cause anxiety and that parents may have questions.  I welcome those questions.  Please feel free to email, call or drop in.  We want you to be as excited about these changes as we are.

And we will share the rest of our faculty news next week.

 

journey thru jewish holidays2.pdf

As mentioned last week, we have now tallied the winners of our first (annual?) “Journey Through the Jewish Holidays” and would like to take this space to congratulate them.  We will be handing out the Adventure Landing passes next week and the Jaguars tickets next fall.

We hope this incentive program was meaningful for the families who participated and, perhaps, could inspire more families to participate in the future.  We would very much like to have your feedback on this program and whether or not it inspired your family.

 

The following students attended 5 out of the 10 days school was closed during the Pilgrimage Festivals (Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot) and will receive a free pass to Adventure Landing:

  • Kitah Gan: Morgan N.
  • Kitah Alef: Lily D., George S., Jacob M. & Maya L.
  • Kitah Bet: Aleeya S. & Saylor S.
  • Kitah Gimmel: Samantha L. & Isa Z.
  • Kitah Dalet: Samantha Z. & Arin N.

The following students attended 8 out of the 10 days (including 1 day of each holiday) and will receive a free pass to Adventure Landing and 2 free Jaguars Tickets:

  • Kitah Gan: Zach H. & Sadie H.
  • Kitah Alef: Hallel S., Lucy G. & Evan W.
  • Kitah Bet: Eva G., May A., Moses J., Daisy H., Alon S., Ariel O., Anna F., Eliana M. & Yisrael A.
  • Kitah Gimmel: Lial A. & Benjamin D.
  • Kitah Dalet: Elad O., Zach M. & Eliana J.
  • Kitah Hay: Elior L., Itamar L. & Benjamin C.
  • Middle School: Jake G., Josh F., Lily H., Max M. & Ryan M.

Congratulations to all!  (And if there are any errors, please do let us know!)

 

 

The Transparency Files Bonus Edition: Head of Academy Self-Evaluation

First a little housecleaning…

Thanks very much to EJewishPhilanthropy for publishing this week an article I wrote entitled, If We Can Do It, So Can You!  One Small School’s Journey to the Center of 21st Century Learning.  And thanks to everyone who commented, tweeted, liked or otherwise made mention.  It is a great credit to the faculty and staff of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School that edJEWcon was born from our pioneering work.  And it is an even greater credit to our stakeholders for giving us the trust, space and resources to do it!

Our “Journey Through the Jewish Holidays” was completed on Shavuot.  We are in the process of tallying the data and look forward to announcing the names of students who earned prizes for excellence in synagogue attendance as well how and when those prizes will be given out.  There is no question that it had some impact – especially on Sukkot. We had increased attendance and, as a result, increased programming on these special holidays.  It takes time to change culture, so we will evaluate this year and decide whether or not to continue, expand, tweak or adjust this program for next year.  We would love feedback from parents as to whether or not these kinds of incentives are meaningful for you and your children.

 

We are not only finishing up the school year at MJGDS, but celebrating the successful close to the first year of Galinsky Academy!  Here are some of the big accomplishments from Year One:

  • Creation of “Community of Kindness” Initiative – although there is LOTS more work to do, we did take important first steps.  I will have an important update on this in the next few weeks!
  • Extension of 21st Century Learning to all Academy Schools.
  • Consolidation of LDVD Annual Campaign & hiring a Development Director.
  • Establishing clear and consistent Parent Communication vehicles.
  • Branding Initiative for the Academy and all its Schools.
  • Rebranding of DuBow Preschool
  • Better integration between Academy and the Center/between our educators and our clergy.

In the ongoing spirit of transparency, I would like to share my self-evaluation of my first year serving as “Head of Academy”:

As Head of Academy, I have the responsibility for performing evaluation of school heads each November.  I also have responsibility for all Academy governance, marketing, budget and development activities.  Much of my work in these areas has been led by the Three-Year Strategic Plans that govern all the standing committees and communities of the Academy: Preschool, Religious School/Makom, Day School, Budget & Finance, Development, Marketing, Committee on Trustees, and Head Support & Evaluation.

We have had tremendous success with governance.  All of our committees and communities have been profiled and we have begun to address gaps as we finish the process of fleshing out all the committees and communities for the next two years.  Strong chairs are in place as well strategic plans, governing principles, and a strong Committee on Trustees to manage the system.

Goal: In 2012-2013, I attended each meeting of each committee, community, Cabinet and JJC Board.  While it was a necessary and worthwhile investment to get off the ground, it is not healthy (for anyone) for the big picture.  I will be looking to strategically draw back next year so that I may place my time and energy in other areas of need.

 

We have professionalized our budget oversight and completely revised our Financial Aid process.

Goals:

  • Feedback from committees requires us to ensure all committee members are aware of how the budget works and are updated more frequently throughout the year.
  • I would like to find ways to move the financial aid process up a couple of months so that we can assess our maximal need before drafting our budget and to ensure that the process can be as compassionate and customer-friendly as possible.

 

We have dramatically increased annual giving through our L’Dor V’Dor Annual Campaign for Galinsky Academy.

Goals:

  • With a new Development Director we have an opportunity to better steward donors, maximize the Head of Academy’s role in development, motivate volunteers, etc., and create new benchmarks for annual giving.
  • Explore all aspects of development beyond annual giving, including endowments, capital giving, naming opportunities and planned giving.
  • Work to pool Admissions and Development to maximize strengths and opportunities – move towards an “Advancement” model.

 

We have spent 2012-2013 on a Branding Initiative for the Academy.  We have created all new collateral, a new brochure, and an MJGDS curriculum guide and are finishing up on new websites.  We developed a new social media strategy and employed parent ambassadors.  Besides what has already been stated about admissions, one goal for next year is to ensure our new marketing plan comes to life.

The most significant challenge of this new position is assuming responsibility for the supervision of the heads of the other schools that make up the academy, one goal for next year is to create an assessment tool that measures the impact of leadership on the schools including how to factor in all the variables that determine whether a school is “successful” – especially when the normal variables don’t apply.

 

Overall, I believe it has been a very successful first year with a whole new paradigm.  There is a lot of work to do and a long road ahead.  Our strategic plan provides a roadmap.  I look forward to coaching and mentoring from the Head Support & Evaluation Committee, and to working with all our lay leaders, senior leadership of the Center, my fellow school heads, colleagues and the entire faculty and staff of Galinsky Academy to help get us there.