Principal/Parent Coffee

1. Principal/Parent Coffee November 20, 2009

2. Agenda • What Does Technology Integration Look like? • Kuddos to our FSES faculty • Examples of instructional methods • The Global Achievement Gap introduction • Book discussion group details • Q & A Reading What does Technology Integration look like? Language Arts After reading Rosie’s Walk, Mrs. Cole uses the SMART board as one of the centers to help her kindergarten students learn the meaning of positional words. Mrs. Jacoby’s class read The Great Graph Contest. These 1st and 2nd graders created a class graph as part of their morning meeting. Students were eager to add their data to the graph.

3. Mrs. Brownley uses a digital camera to record her 4th graders performing Reader’s Theater. What does Technology Integration look like? Language Arts

4. Mrs. Jacoby’s class read The Great Graph Contest. These 1st and 2nd graders created a class graph as part of their morning meeting. Students were eager to add their data to the graph.

5. Ms. Smith uses a custom designed website to get students excited about reading. Students have been challenged to read 100,000 pages. This site tracks individual and class totals as well as the number of pages left to reach their goal.

6. After reading Rosie’s Walk, Mrs. Cole uses the SMART board as one of the centers to help her kindergarten students learn the meaning of positional words.

7. Writing Mrs. Ferek’s 3rd graders spend the year writing to their penpals in Georgia. At the end of the year, they use a webcam and Skype to finally meet each other. What does Technology Integration look like? Language Arts

8. The students in Mrs. Gallagher’s 2nd grade class make Wordles of their spelling words during a Word Study center.

9. In Ms. Birnbaum’s 1st grade math class, students use the interactive hundreds chart in SMART Notebook. They notice patterns as they skip count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. What does Technology Integration look like? Math

10. The students in Mr. Ginsberg’s math class learn to have fun with fractions. With the aid of the SMART board and a variety of interactive websites, students practice recognizing equivalent fractions.

11. What does Technology Integration look like? Science Students in Mr. Solsberry’s 5th grade class study the concept of refraction. The webcam and SMART board are just a few of the tools that are used.

12. Mrs. Wilson’s 1st graders use Pixie 2 to demonstrate what they know about trees.

13. Mrs. Crandall takes advantage of the resources posted in the Elementary Instructional Gateways to broaden her 6th grader’s understanding of Mali. What does Technology Integration look like? Social Studies

14. The 2nd graders in Mrs. D’Ermes’ Social Studies class are studying what it means to be good citizens. Mrs. D’Ermes uses a clip from Discovery Education to help get the point across.

15. Kudos to Franklin Sherman Staff We salute all the activities and teaching strategies that our students and teachers are using… • Smart board • Discussion boards • Blogs • Playaways • Laptops • Digital Storytelling • Online research—database use

16. Thank you Technology advances from 2005-2009 include a marked increase in laptops, smartboards, projectors, blackboard use and digital learning… THANK YOU for • FCPS renovation funding---2005 School Bond • PTA continued financial support

17. Global Achievement Gap Link to Did You Know?video Library • Ask questions • Know where to find answers • Learn how to function in any library • Practice Internet Safety • Understand responsible use of information

18. Global Achievement Gapby Tony Wagner

19. Tony Wagner has served as Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education since its inception in 2000. An initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CLG is an "R & D" center that helps teams to be effective change leaders in schools and districts. He is also on the faculty of the Executive Leadership Program for Educators, a joint initiative of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Business School, and Kennedy School of Government. Tony consults widely to public and independent schools, districts, and foundations around the country and internationally and served as Senior Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 1999-2008. Tony has worked for more than thirty-five years in the field of school improvement, and he is a frequent keynote speaker and widely published author on education and society. Prior to assuming his current position at Harvard, Tony was a high school teacher for twelve years; a school principal; a university professor in teacher education; co-founder and first executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility; project director for the Public Agenda Foundation in New York; and President and CEO of the Institute for Responsive Education. He earned his a Masters of Arts in Teaching and Doctorate in Education at Harvard University.

20. Questions explored in this book include… • What are these new skills, and why they have become so important? • Why don’t our schools—even the best ones—teach and test them? • What are the best ways to hold our schools accountable, and how do we need to differently prepare and support educators to meet these new challenges?

21. Questions explored in this book include… • How do we motivate today’s students to want to excel in this new world? • What do good schools look like that are meeting these challenges and getting dramatically better results? • What can and must we do as citizens about this growing global achievement gap? • Pp. xxii Introduction

22. Three fundamental transformations • The rapid evolution of the new global “knowledge economy” with profound effects on the world of work---all work. • The sudden and dramatic shift from information that is limited in terms of amount and availability to information characterized by flux and glut. • The increasing impact of media and technology on how young people learn and relate to the world---and to each other. • ---Tony Stead, The Global Achievement Gap, pp. xxvi

23. We will explore these ideas • Through an ongoing parent, teacher and principal discussion group… I hope you will join us for several opportunities for further discussion • Next steps… • Purchase a copy of the book • Read the preface, introduction and Chapter 1 • Blog discussion of the book will begin February 3rd