Learning -- the gift that lasts a lifetime
Posted: 12/30/2009
By Duanne Puckett
Tis the season when children cannot wait to see what gift they will receive from Santa Claus. A bike (that they may outgrow in a year). A video game (that may lose its attraction in a few months). A puppy (that may not be as exciting within a matter of weeks).
They also hope to catch a glimpse of the jolly ol' man with his fluffy beard and dressed in his red suit trimmed in white fur.
Yet, they may not realize they are face-to-face with a form of Santa Claus several months throughout the year. He may be only 5 feet tall with blonde hair. Or he may tall and thin without that belly that shakes like jelly. Or he may even be decked out in a business suit with high heels.
A teacher is Santa Claus, since the gift he or she provides lasts a lifetime.
At least that is what Superintendent James Neihof sees when he makes weekly classroom visits throughout Shelby County Public Schools. He sees teachers unloading a huge bag of "toys" that meet individual student needs.
"It can certainly be compared to a shopping list for holiday gifts," he said. "Not everyone may be able to ride a bike or have access to a computer or have the skills to care for a puppy. It is the same with learning. Every one receives information differently so teachers must check their lists twice before handing out the so-called gifts when they teach."
Academic data helps determine what gifts should be distributed and that distribution comes through Intervention and Enrichment activities in every school.
At Painted Stone Elementary, those sessions take place every morning from 7:40 until 8:10.
Some may think Intervention and Enrichment may not be needed on Painted Stone's gift list. Santa Claus delivered good news earlier when the school earned a state academic index of 107 -- the first in the district to pass the goal of 100 -- plus content scores that passed the Proficient mark as well: science: 120; math: 109; and reading: 104.
However, Principal Michelle Shipley and her staff -- and students -- have set goals to go even higher so the time spent concentrating on math should help them attain that wish.
So, if you are a kindergarten student struggling in math, what do you do?
Play Bingo.
Or if you are a third-grader who has grasped most concepts, what do you do?
Roll a trio of dice.
That is how Intervention and Enrichment works at Painted Stone. The hands-on projects engage students to help them understand what they might not have mastered the day before or in the most recent classroom assessment. In another room, lessons are under way to move students beyond their potential.
Shipley worked with third-graders on a "function machine" as an example of the intervention class in which she was involved. The curriculum standard teaches that a function machine behaves when it:
-- receives an input number
-- operates on the number
-- gives an output number.
Shipley showed an empty Pop Tart box that had been redesigned to serve as a "function machine" -- a piece of cardboard was inserted midway through the opening. She had a stack of index cards with one number (45) on one end and a different number (25) on the other end. She slipped the end through showing the 45 and pulled it out showing the 25. The students create an Input and Output chart in a T-shape to list the variations of what number goes in and what number comes out. "It's a form of algebra but in a fashion they can understand," she said.
Teacher Laura Lee Samples used board games and die for the enrichment piece with third-graders. Heads huddled together as the die hit the table and Christian immediately whooped, "That's 13," as he moved his board piece 13 spots. The first student to reach 110 wins, according to his classmate Carter. The skill level is to prompt students to practice counting by 1s and 10s and identifying place-value patterns. Yasua said, "Place-value is 1s, 10s, 100s, 1000s," as Christian added, "It is also millions and zillions."
Samples prodded the students to consider a different option of moving their board piece, rather than one block at a time. "A row equals 10, so what if you drop down an entire row?" she asked.
Carter looked and saw he had rolled a 7, so by rounding up to 10, he figured out dropping back 3 would put his piece on the right block.
Samples explained, "The game prompts them to calculate math facts faster and gives them an association to what the facts mean."
In Kim Smith's first-grade class, math was being taught through words. On the whiteboard was written "I have (blank) (blank). (Blank) gave me (blank) (blank). How many do I now have?"
Smith modeled the lesson by inserting her answers: "I have 26 gloves. Mrs. Fallen gave me 40 more. How many do I know have?" Underneath, she had written 26 + 40 = 66.
Adam was diligently writing in "6 cars" as he drew six cars at the top of his paper.
Beside him, Chaili wrote in "1,000 cats" and was proud to say, "I know what 1,000 plus 1,000 is -- 2,000. But there is no room to draw 2,000 cats!"
The discussion about counting made Kristin Winiecki use her own name as a math lesson, "I have five I's in my name!"
Down the hall in kindergarten, teacher Michele Bates had Bingo cards with numbers and rubber teddy bears for the children to use to cover the numbers when they were called. One child needed coaching to say the numbers out loud after yelling "Bingo!" The child quickly read off "7 ... 18 ... 6 ... 14" before stopping and Bates provided the clue, "What comes after 8?" to which the child said, "9."
The final phase of the Bingo was silent as Bates simply held up the card showing the number. The room full of youngsters studied their cards closely to match the number and smiled from ear to ear when they could cover a row and shout, "Bingo!"
Shipley smiled as well at the end of the morning session recently. She said immediate rewards are sometimes given for a job well done -- like a visit to the math lab to play computer games. However, she knows the long-term gift impacts everyone in the building.
"The entire staff has a group of students so it helps us take ownership of all the kids here, not just those in a grade level," she said. "Plus, building those relationships helps all students believe we want them to succeed in math."
They also hope to catch a glimpse of the jolly ol' man with his fluffy beard and dressed in his red suit trimmed in white fur.
Yet, they may not realize they are face-to-face with a form of Santa Claus several months throughout the year. He may be only 5 feet tall with blonde hair. Or he may tall and thin without that belly that shakes like jelly. Or he may even be decked out in a business suit with high heels.
A teacher is Santa Claus, since the gift he or she provides lasts a lifetime.
At least that is what Superintendent James Neihof sees when he makes weekly classroom visits throughout Shelby County Public Schools. He sees teachers unloading a huge bag of "toys" that meet individual student needs.
"It can certainly be compared to a shopping list for holiday gifts," he said. "Not everyone may be able to ride a bike or have access to a computer or have the skills to care for a puppy. It is the same with learning. Every one receives information differently so teachers must check their lists twice before handing out the so-called gifts when they teach."
Academic data helps determine what gifts should be distributed and that distribution comes through Intervention and Enrichment activities in every school.
At Painted Stone Elementary, those sessions take place every morning from 7:40 until 8:10.
Some may think Intervention and Enrichment may not be needed on Painted Stone's gift list. Santa Claus delivered good news earlier when the school earned a state academic index of 107 -- the first in the district to pass the goal of 100 -- plus content scores that passed the Proficient mark as well: science: 120; math: 109; and reading: 104.
However, Principal Michelle Shipley and her staff -- and students -- have set goals to go even higher so the time spent concentrating on math should help them attain that wish.
So, if you are a kindergarten student struggling in math, what do you do?
Play Bingo.
Or if you are a third-grader who has grasped most concepts, what do you do?
Roll a trio of dice.
That is how Intervention and Enrichment works at Painted Stone. The hands-on projects engage students to help them understand what they might not have mastered the day before or in the most recent classroom assessment. In another room, lessons are under way to move students beyond their potential.
Shipley worked with third-graders on a "function machine" as an example of the intervention class in which she was involved. The curriculum standard teaches that a function machine behaves when it:
-- receives an input number
-- operates on the number
-- gives an output number.
Shipley showed an empty Pop Tart box that had been redesigned to serve as a "function machine" -- a piece of cardboard was inserted midway through the opening. She had a stack of index cards with one number (45) on one end and a different number (25) on the other end. She slipped the end through showing the 45 and pulled it out showing the 25. The students create an Input and Output chart in a T-shape to list the variations of what number goes in and what number comes out. "It's a form of algebra but in a fashion they can understand," she said.
Teacher Laura Lee Samples used board games and die for the enrichment piece with third-graders. Heads huddled together as the die hit the table and Christian immediately whooped, "That's 13," as he moved his board piece 13 spots. The first student to reach 110 wins, according to his classmate Carter. The skill level is to prompt students to practice counting by 1s and 10s and identifying place-value patterns. Yasua said, "Place-value is 1s, 10s, 100s, 1000s," as Christian added, "It is also millions and zillions."
Samples prodded the students to consider a different option of moving their board piece, rather than one block at a time. "A row equals 10, so what if you drop down an entire row?" she asked.
Carter looked and saw he had rolled a 7, so by rounding up to 10, he figured out dropping back 3 would put his piece on the right block.
Samples explained, "The game prompts them to calculate math facts faster and gives them an association to what the facts mean."
In Kim Smith's first-grade class, math was being taught through words. On the whiteboard was written "I have (blank) (blank). (Blank) gave me (blank) (blank). How many do I now have?"
Smith modeled the lesson by inserting her answers: "I have 26 gloves. Mrs. Fallen gave me 40 more. How many do I know have?" Underneath, she had written 26 + 40 = 66.
Adam was diligently writing in "6 cars" as he drew six cars at the top of his paper.
Beside him, Chaili wrote in "1,000 cats" and was proud to say, "I know what 1,000 plus 1,000 is -- 2,000. But there is no room to draw 2,000 cats!"
The discussion about counting made Kristin Winiecki use her own name as a math lesson, "I have five I's in my name!"
Down the hall in kindergarten, teacher Michele Bates had Bingo cards with numbers and rubber teddy bears for the children to use to cover the numbers when they were called. One child needed coaching to say the numbers out loud after yelling "Bingo!" The child quickly read off "7 ... 18 ... 6 ... 14" before stopping and Bates provided the clue, "What comes after 8?" to which the child said, "9."
The final phase of the Bingo was silent as Bates simply held up the card showing the number. The room full of youngsters studied their cards closely to match the number and smiled from ear to ear when they could cover a row and shout, "Bingo!"
Shipley smiled as well at the end of the morning session recently. She said immediate rewards are sometimes given for a job well done -- like a visit to the math lab to play computer games. However, she knows the long-term gift impacts everyone in the building.
"The entire staff has a group of students so it helps us take ownership of all the kids here, not just those in a grade level," she said. "Plus, building those relationships helps all students believe we want them to succeed in math."
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