Last night, in my graduate course, on "Data-Informed Decision Making," I learned about topics related to how schools and districts can better make decisions, with the help of data. I learned about different kinds of information systems such as MMS, PowerSchool, x2 (Aspen), iPASS, PLATO, CCC, and SOCRATES. It is interesting how school districts have lots of data but it is all over the place, and there is often not much integration. Some programs do integrate all systems, as well as data from sources like enrollment data, SIMS, Curriculum and Instructional data, Finance and Personnel Management, library cataloging and check-outs, standardized test scores, and other testing (like Dibels). Socrates and COGNOS are examples of such integration programs, but they are very expensive and require a high skill level to fully integrate and use. What am I talking about? Basically, I'm talking about integration across data sources.
Okay, well, enough of the data talk; let me introduce myself. My name is Adam Chiocca, and I'm the ELL Teacher for Burlington High School and the Marshall Simonds Middle School. This is my 9th year in education, teaching ELL students and I really like my job! In Burlington, most of our new ELL students come from either India, Brazil, or Uganda, but we also get new ELL students from a wide variety of other nations.
In our ELL classes, language skills are of the utmost importance. Knowledge gained is evident in the increased vocabulary students enjoy; as well as new knowledge in grammar, written conventions, reading comprehension and academic content. Most of the content in ELL is relevant to real life situations, such as: finding a job; describing people, places and things; getting around town; buying food; shopping for clothes; expressing past, present and future events; and describing plans and intentions. Other topics include: expressing time, duration and opinions; describing accomplishments; reporting household repair problems; reassuring someone; describing actions that have occurred and actions that haven’t yet occurred; career advancement; asking for and giving advice; medical symptoms and problems, as well as many other topics.
In our ELL classes, language skills are of the utmost importance. Knowledge gained is evident in the increased vocabulary students enjoy; as well as new knowledge in grammar, written conventions, reading comprehension and academic content. Most of the content in ELL is relevant to real life situations, such as: finding a job; describing people, places and things; getting around town; buying food; shopping for clothes; expressing past, present and future events; and describing plans and intentions. Other topics include: expressing time, duration and opinions; describing accomplishments; reporting household repair problems; reassuring someone; describing actions that have occurred and actions that haven’t yet occurred; career advancement; asking for and giving advice; medical symptoms and problems, as well as many other topics.
Nice to meet you!
Mr. Chiocca
ELL Teacher, grades 6-12
Burlington High School
Marshall Simonds Middle School
I frequently run into Mr. Chiocca and his students at the high school down the Science Center hallway. During my first year at BHS he welcomed me and introduced me to a number of our fellow faculty members. If this is any indication of how Mr. Chiocca helps integrate his own students into the Burlington student body and culture our ELL department is in good hands!
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