Day 11 - Andrew Dexter, Marshall Simonds Library/Media Specialist

The year has certainly started off with a bang. Marshall Simonds Middle School has nearly completed a massive renovation / addition project. It has also taken huge strides in educational technology, providing students with a richer, more engaging kind of education. As the Library Media Specialist, I have an important interpersonal position. It is my role to pair the teaching challenges with the resources and technology that could aid in the learning, by both teachers and students.

As with any group of professionals (and students), I assist a diverse set of learners. Trying to understand personalities and learning styles is critical (and often times fun). I have always been a creative person. I was always the student who would think of all of the obscure answers to problems and then finally arrive at the obvious ones last. It is wonderful to use my creativity and sometimes "obscure answers" to assist the full-spectrum of learners that I have before me every day.

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