Day 108 - Mrs. Weinberg, Memorial School Grade 4

Nick, Khalid, and the Harlem Superstars!:

"Showboat" and "Jumping Jack"

  Nick is called up to "show his skills"!!

"Showboat says..."

Day 98 - Patrick Larkin, Assistant Superintendent

But How Will Their Students Pass The State Assessment?:

As our students in Massachusetts settle in for their annual round of "high-stakes" testing, I think it is the perfect time for people to take a few minutes to watch the video from TEDxCreativeCoast titled The Future Will Not Be Multiple Choice.  The presentation by Jaime McGrath (an elementary school teacher in Savannah, GA) and Drew Davies (a web designer) was posted on Mind Shift's blog about a month ago and I forgot about it until I saw a tweet last night with the link. It really is a must watch for anyone who thinks that our current educational structure is adequate.

It's no newsflash the current structure of most classrooms is unchanged from the structure that was created to educate students for an industrial society back in the 19th Century.  At one point in our history fitting the right piece in the right hole as quickly as possible and being able to retain large amounts of trivial information in order to regurgitate it or draw from it quickly may have actually been useful. However in a day and age where asking the right questions is of more value than providing a quick response to a multiple choice question, we are past the point of needing a change.

In fact the findings of educators like McGrath, who stray from the current script and look at problem-based education and a focus on "design thinking" are clear.

"All we did was give them the challenge, point them in the right direction and give them the space to be creative," noted McGrath.  

Here are a few of my take-aways made by the co-presenters Jaime McGrath (an elementary school teacher in Savannah, GA) and Drew Davies (a web designer):

• Reports predict that 65% of our students will be working in jobs that don't exist yet.

• "Such simple tasks as manipulation of blocks helps infants and toddlers develop early skills, including math literacy - the language of numbers." Huttenlocher, Jordan, and Levine 1994

• Don't need students skilled in picking A, B, C, D 

• "A true understanding of reality is not possible without a certain element of imagination..." Lev Vygotsky 

• Design in education compliments all learning styles 

• Will it be messy and risky? But what is the reality we are trying to prepare our kids for? 

• The future is not a multiple choice test, it is a design challenge

So my question about the state assessment (or a national assessment) posed above was - "How will these students pass the state (or national) assessment. Here's my answer -  "Who Cares!"

I think the bottom line is that students who are being taught in classrooms where they are being taught to think will be successful on any measure.

Day 50 - Catherine Han, Burlington High School Student

BHS English Department Profile

The English Department at Burlington High School wants to provide students with the  best learning atmosphere, so there have been changes and will be future improvements within the department.

The English Department focus is to “unify what we teach in our writing component, increase our grammatical study in grades 9 and 10, introducing new texts across all four years at BHS, and providing better support for students who request more assistance with reading and writing” stated Department Head Mr. Lally.

 With a new school year, there is always a change. Mrs. Ford and Ms. Graham have returned from their maternity leave absences. Unfortunately, Mr. Field, a Public speaking and Creative Writing teacher, retired at the end of last year. After the long use of Word Wealth and the Sadlier Oxford books, this year freshmen are being introduced to an online vocabulary textbook.    Also, the vocabulary textbook in in the process of being translated into an iTunes app was released called Exploros, and this text will be extended to the sophomore classes starting next year.

 Also, there has been a variety of books added to the core classes. Some of the books included are Hamilton’s Mythology ( gr 9), The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (gr 10) and Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck and Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer (gr 11) as well as units on Media Literacy and Eastern European Fiction to our British and World Literature class (gr12).

The core courses offered at BHS is Introduction to Literature I during Freshmen year, Introduction to Literature II during Sophomore Year, American Literature or AP Language & Composition during Junior Year, and British and World Literature or AP Literature & Composition.

 The English Department is the largest department at BHS. The Department itself has 16 teachers. Also, it is one of only two departments that requires all  four full years to graduate. The first two years focus on a broad range of literary styles, with a greater stress on grammar and vocabulary acquisition, while the last two years are studies in American Literature during junior year, and British/World Literature during senior year.

There will be two new classes in January, Young Adult Fiction and Creative Writing: Poetry. The Creative Writing Course has existed at BHS for many years, but it has never had a class dedicated entirely to writing poetry.

If students want to focus their studies in the subject of English, they can take electives or clubs along with their current English course. The English electives and clubs offered here at BHS are Collab, Idle Hands, Poetry Club,Debate Team, Future Teachers of America, and Factahalon.

Collab is a national award-winning literary magazine published by the students of BHS, Idle Hands is BHS Improv Club, Poetry Club is where students can make poems and recite them, Debate Team is where students prepare for and participate in formal competitive debates and sponsors forums and open discussion to the student body, Future Teachers of America is where students explore careers in education , and Factahalon is where volunteer students make teams of four to compete, using a quiz show format.

The upcoming events for this year is Poetry Out Loud, and Collab writing contests for seniors “For the first time, the Poetry Out Loud finals will be treated as an in-house field trip for all seniors,” explained Mr. Lally, the head of the English Department. In the past, a lot of seniors were not able to see the entire final round because of schedule conflicts. This year, BHS will invite all senior down to watch the finals in their entirety.

Overall, the English Department is creating new changes to improve students here at BHS, Lally states “ The English Department is a pleasure working with such a dedicated and energetic group of peers.”

Day 43 - Burlington Science Center Staff

The Gutterboat Challenge

Every year, Burlington fifth graders put their engineering skills to the test in “The Gutterboat Challenge,” a friendly competition between students (and classes!) to see who can build the fastest styrofoam-hull boat. While the type of fan varies from school to school, all students must design and construct a boat that can travel the distance of a plastic gutter, much like the one you might find on a home!

The Design Process

All students are provided with a block of styrofoam and the instructions that they may use any materials available to them at home or school. They are also instructed on the design or engineering process through an introductory lesson by Mr. Musselman before being left to their own research on boat design and collaborative brainstorming.

Gutterboat Challenge introduction by Mr. M.

The entire challenge takes between one to two weeks with an opportunity to do a “test run” in between the introduction and final testing phase. It is here many students find flaws with their boats (too light, unable to catch wind, unbalanced, etc.) that they are then expected to redesign and adjust.



On the final day anticipation builds as each student gets the chance to race against the clock on the main stage. Not all boats are successful but all present a learning opportunity. The winning time of Pine Glen’s Gutterboat Challenge this year 07.05 seconds. Can’t wait to see if that time will be topped at another school!

Day 6 - Adam Chiocca, BHS and MSMS ELL Teacher

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.

Nice to meet you!

Mr. Chiocca

ELL Teacher, grades 6-12

Burlington High School

Marshall Simonds Middle School

Day 3 - Robert Cunha, Systems Administrator

Today in Burlington, I learned that technology does not always work the way you want it to. Sometimes, you have those great weeks when everything works like its supposed to, while other days you spend pulling out whatever hair you have left. I guess that is to be expected when you are trying to be on the forefront, and always have the latest and greatest. The new version of software X, doesn't seem to play well with your current system, so what do you do? 

Fortunately, I am surrounded by extremely smart and creative people, and have access to online resources and communities, all willing to share their knowledge. As with most things in life, it’s not about knowing everything, but understanding it enough to ask the right questions and not being afraid to make a mistake. You might be surprised that sometimes “2 wrongs do make a right.”