Giving Thanks for the Simple Things

As we return from the Thanksgiving holiday and rededicate ourselves to school, it is important to remember that in the midst of the current financial turmoil and political change, we have much to be thankful for.  As Albert Einstein said, "A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"  Having spent a long weekend with family and friends, I would respectfully add these two to Einstein's list.

More and more frequently I meet people who are struggling financially; one of their greatest concerns is providing a bountiful holiday season for their children.  I spoke recently with someone who is on the verge of losing their home, yet their most pressing concern is not being able to purchase the latest game system for their children.  

When I finally had a chance to slow down enough to reflect over the holiday, the word 'simplicity' kept coming to me.  It seemed even more relevant when I read a terrifying national news story about a store employee trampled to death by a crowd of would-be shoppers at a prominent chain store.  Was Black Friday really worth getting up before sunrise to wait in line to save money on disposable electronics?  Was it worth risking life and limb?  How many people woke up early on Friday simply to watch the sun rise?

One of my commitments over the holiday was to an "electronic vacation."  This meant that I did not use email for five consecutive days; I also encouraged teachers to treat themselves to a similar respite.  Admittedly, the first day or so was tough.  I found myself instinctively reaching for my Blackberry whenever there was a lull in conversation or a break in activity.  However, the longer I went without being connected to my digital leash, the more liberating the experience.  I found myself more able to concentrate on conversations around me, more predisposed to just sit, read, or simply reflect.   I will definitely be taking similar tech-free holidays in the near future.

The IB learner profile includes critical thinking as a central component.  According to the IB, "To think critically means students reflecting on, thinking about, and analyzing a text, argument, or opinion so that they do not just accept what is stated but form their own judgement." (Towards a Continuum of International Education, 2008.  http://www.ibo.org)  I often wonder how students (or adults for that matter) are able to truly reflect on an idea or an argument while juggling the myriad interruptions caused by text messaging, mobile email, cell phones, etc.  From my own experience I certainly feel that limiting and controlling these influences will allow me to do my job more effectively without dividing my day into disconnected slivers of time.  It will certainly allow me to be more present with my family.  I know it isn't always easy to disconnect, and I certainly won't be perfect.  I am committing myself to the goal, however, of using technology as a tool for productivity rather than as a means to occupy time.  We'll see how it goes.

So, in conclusion, I urge the AEA community to find value in simplicity, and seek balance between instant information/communication and meaningful human interactions.

Dr. Muhammad Delivers Powerful Presentation

This year AEACMS has subscribed to an exciting lecture series through University of San Diego's School of Leadership and Education Science (SOLES).  This series features a monthly lecture delivered by a leader in the field of education.  The October lecturer was CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell; the November 20 lecturer was Dr. Anthony Muhammad.

I have decided to invite a different teacher to attend the lecture with me each month.  This not only provides us a chance to discuss school issues away from the often hectic campus environment, but it also allows us to network with educators from across San Diego County.

Mr. Prouse attended the October lecture, and Ms. DeRosier joined me for the lecture by Dr. Muhammad.  Ms. DeRosier and I were fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Muhammad during the pre-lecture social hour.   We discussed issues related to charter schools (he co-founded a nationally-recognized charter school in Flint, Michigan) as well as general themes in education.

Dr. Muhammad's lecture was powerful and engaging.  His strengths lie not only in his dynamic presentation style but in the solid empirical research basis for his arguments.  Now a researcher and consultant, Dr. Muhammad works with helping schools and districts across the country eliminate the achievement gap.  He is the founder of New Frontier 21, an educational consulting firm.  The following is an excerpt of Dr. Muhammad's bio from the New Frontier 21 website:

Anthony Muhammad is one of the most sought after educational consultants in North America. As a practitioner of nearly twenty years, Dr. Muhammad has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, middle school principal, and high school principal. His tenure as a practitioner has earned him several awards as both a teacher and a principal.
Dr. Muhammad's most notable accomplishment came as principal at Levey Middle School in Southfield, Michigan, a National School of Excellence, where student proficiency on state assessments was more than doubled in five years. Dr. Muhammad and the staff at Levey used the Pro­fes­sional Learning Communities at Work (PLC) model of school improvement, and they have been recognized in several videos and articles as a model, high- performing PLC.

Part of last Thursday's talk dealt with a label Dr. Muhammad uses to indicate teachers who are fully on board with the school mission and vision, and who truly believe that all students can learn.  He calls these teachers "Believers."  I feel that the success of AEACMS is due in large part to the fact that we have many believers on our staff who work tirelessly for solutions that benefit all students rather than falling back on excuses and the status-quo.

When we finished chatting with the presenter, I had him sign a copy of the book "The Collaborative Administrator," which Dr. Muhammad has co-authored.  His inscription reads: "To Albert Einstein Academies—keep up the good work and keep creating geniuses."

Practical Applications of Math

I just left Mrs. Small's 6th grade classroom and was very pleased with the hands-on learning I observed. One of the greatest challenges in teaching math to middle school students is making the content relevant and meaningful in a practical sense. How many times do math teacher hear students question why they need to learn math? How often do we hear adults profess their ignorance of math above very basic levels? For many, math is an abstract subject with little or no practical application after graduation.

For these reasons as well as others, I was excited and heartened to see the 6th graders engaging in an activity that required them to create rolls of pennies and then calculate mean, mode, median, and range using the tallies for each group. Additionally, groups multiplied and divided using decimals in order to arrive at the average amount of money rolled by groups and individuals.

You may have noticed from an earlier posting here that we are in the midst of the Pennies for Peace initiative, so we have plenty of pennies to be rolled and tallied. Rather than having a select group of students roll pennies Mrs. Small has managed to engage the entire class in useful activities that are also tied to CA content standards.

Check back soon for photos of this activity.

Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)

On November 13 and 14 I had the privilege of attending an administrator training for the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model, held in Anaheim, CA.  This model has been implemented in all 50 states as well as internationally, and aims to benefit English Language learners (ELs) as well as all students.  The SIOP model is research-validated (Guarino, Echevarria, Short, Schick, Forbes, & Rueda, 2001) and has been deemed a "highly reliable and valid measure of sheltered instruction."

During the training we relied on the text, Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short. Pearson, 2008).  According to the authors, SIOP "is grounded in the professional literature and in the experiences and best practices of the researchers and participating teachers who worked collaboratively on developing the observation instrument that codifies it.  The theoretical underpinning of the model is that language acquisition is enhanced through meaningful use and interaction." (p. 16) During the training, we learned that SIOP is not another method to be learned and applied; rather, it is an umbrella that gathers together the various initiatives a school may be undertaking (in the case of AEACMS these would include IBMYP, the Nurtured Heart Approach, etc.) and focuses them on improving the achievement of all students.  While the observation protocol includes a checklist for administrators to use in classroom visits, our presenters were quick to emphasize that SIOP is not an evaluative tool but rather should be used in the spirit of support and collaboration to improve teaching practice.

AEA (both elementary and middle schools) began our SIOP journey at the start of last school year (2007/2008), with EL Coordinator Libby Krueger attending trainings along with several faculty members from the elementary and middle grades.  These teachers in turn conducted several on-site training sessions for all teachers.  As our percentage of ELL students continues to grow, and given that this subgroup of students has struggled academically relative to the school as a whole (for example, one of the two areas in which the middle school did not make Annual Yearly Progress under NCLB in 2007/2008 was ELLs), the SIOP model will become an increasingly visible presence in our overall academic program.

The first two features of the SIOP model include content objectives and language objectives being clearly defined, displayed in classrooms, and reviewed with students.  Visitors to many middle school classrooms (at least those teachers who were at AEACMS in 2007/2008) will see these two types of objectives clearly posted and incorporated into the classroom vernacular and teaching practices.

The distinction between these two types of objectives is the following:

CONTENT OBJECTIVES are firmly tied to the content area and identify what the student should know and be able to do in the specific content area; these are tied to CA content standards.  SIOP suggests teachers write content objectives in student-friendly language in order to make them accessible to all.  

LANGUAGE OBJECTIVES refer to specific usage of language, and can range from process to performance.  Examples might include  "recognize similes in text, discuss the function of similes, write three similes, write a paragraph that describes a setting using similes" (p. 25)

As we continue down the implementation road for SIOP (which is a multi-year process), I will continue to provide updates here as to our progress and the impact on student achievement.

AEACMS Student Recognized for Political Activism

Regardless of the way we voted on Proposition 2 in the recent elections, we should be proud of our student Ben Byrom for his political activism.  Though he is not nearly old enough to vote, Ben nonetheless committed himself to sharing his views on voter Proposition 2 which was related to animal rights.  Ben, who is an active member of the middle school and a reporter for AEA TODAY, has been profiled by humaneteen.org.  Congratulations to Ben for exemplifying the IB ethic of making a positive contribution to his world.

Student Reporters Profile Pennies for Peace

Ms. Peters (7th grade English) and her middle school journalism elective work hard to stay abreast of campus events and programs.  The following is excerpted from the student newspaper AEA TODAY:

Pennies for Peace Launches at Einstein

By Mileena Rogers and Jonese Watson

Albert Einstein Academy is participating in the Pennies for Peace program, to help children in Pakistan and Afghanistan raise money to build schools.  Pennies for Peace is a program where schools collect only pennies to build schools, and to prove that pennies can go a long way.

Our teachers, Ms. Krueger and Mrs. Burnham, found out about this program by reading the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson.  They thought that the program sent a powerful message to the world that education is the pathway for peace.  The hoped that the students would be highly involved by recognizing that their small efforts can make a big difference.

To read the full story click here...

Sharing Our Humanity

The AEA school community has thrown its considerable energy and resources behind two meaningful k-8 initiatives as part of the IB theme "Sharing Our Humanity"--Pennies for Peace and Books of Hope. Pennies for Peace is an effort to gather pennies in support of Greg Mortenson's Central Asian Institute work in Afghanistan building schools for girls in rural mountainous areas. This initiative is in full swing on campus--jars of pennies can be seen in all classrooms and many common areas.  The middle school ASB, led by Mr. Prouse, is putting in extra time counting and rolling pennies, maintaining a bulletin board to track our progress, and visiting classrooms to emphasize the importance of this effort.  A single penny can purchase a pencil for a girl in Afghanistan; our collective pennies can purchase school supplies and even build a school facility. To learn more about this effort I highly recommend Mortenson's bestselling book Three Cups of Tea.

Books of Hope will involve many classes at AEA creating academic books to be sent to the Lungula School in Uganda.  The Lungula School is in desperate need of learning materials as well as an adequate school building.  Through the experience of creating books in the areas of English, Math, Science, Social Science, Culture, Art, Music, and Health Education, AEA students will raise their awareness of international issues and live up to the IB emphasis on service to our world.

The first books will be shipped to Uganda in May, 2009.

WASC and IBMYP

Western Association of Schools and Colleges:

This past week AEACMS played host to a visiting team from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The purpose of the WASC visit was to begin the process of accreditation for the middle school. According to the WASC website,
"WASC values accreditation as a process designed to strengthen schools in the delivery of quality educational programs. Accreditation is important to schools as it impacts students’ access to colleges and universities and career opportunities in a variety of ways. An effective WASC self-study review is a powerful tool for schools to improve the quality of education and more effectively serve staff and students."


The visiting team met with students, parents, teachers, and members of our School Site Council and Board of Trustees. I did not attend any of these meetings, and all interviewees were encouraged to express their honest viewpoints on the school, its strengths and areas of need.

I am pleased to report that the WASC team members told me they thoroughly enjoyed their time on campus. They will provide me with a list of strengths and areas of need for the school soon; I will share this information with the school community when it becomes available. The official report from WASC headquarters should arrive within the next two months or so; this will either designate AEACMS as WASC-affiliated or WASC-accredited. Both designations would bring with them requirements for additional ongoing work that is needed to improve our school. I would like to thank the students, parents, teachers, and members of our SSC and Board of Trustees for contributing to the success of the WASC visit. Expect updates here as more information is forthcoming.

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP):

AEACMS is proud to have received the status of "IB Candidate School" in Spring, 2008. Teachers are now working diligently under the leadership and guidance of our IBMYP Coordinator Libby Krueger, to develop IBMYP course outlines and units of study. Each teacher will create two IBMYP units over the course of this school year, according to established IB parameters. In addition, the IB leadership team is developing written policies in three areas important to the success of the school: student assessment, special education, and language.

We have been quite fortunate to benefit from the services of our IB consultant Lisa Nicholson. Lisa is assisting Libby in guiding the teachers' work; she has visited classrooms, met with the entire teaching staff as well as with individuals, and reviewed course outlines and units.

Our goal as a school is to complete our next step in the application process by June, 2009, and we hope to have an authorization team visit our campus some time in the first semester of the 2009/2010 school year.