The first trimester under our new schedule, house system and one to one apple macbook laptop program are now history. It has certainly been an adventure for our staff, students, and families but the results are very interesting. One of the most surprising features has been a large drop in discipline referrals. Detentions are down 44.4% over last year for the same number of weeks. With our later start time of 8:30 AM tardies are down 30% and school absences are down 30%.
We expected the decrease in tardies and the increase in attendance but we are left scratching our heads a bit with the decrease in discipline referrals. There were no major reclassifications of offenses in the handbook. Our theory we've been kicking around the hallways and lounge has been tied to the ability of effective technology integration to lead to a more engaged learning environment. When the default setting switches from students as passive learners (sitting and listening) to that of an active learner (creating, collaborating, sharing) school becomes a more enjoyable and authentic experience. Appropriate technology use leads to a richer more stimulating learning environment.
Our staff continues to work through the process of effective technology integration. Our professional development continues and our early success seems to be encouraging more creativity with our staff. We've learned a number of things along the way and will have some new strategies in place for the start of the winter trimester in terms of moderating some of the potential distractions the laptops can cause. We plan to keep supporting our teachers and providing them with all the professional development they need to excel in this enhanced setting.
All in all as we enter fall break we are happy to see the number of changes implemented this year producing solid results. We're proud of our students ability to thrive in this new environment. We'll continue to do our best to work on the problems that arise and provide our students with the best learning environment for the 21st century.
Posts
8 comments:
I'm curious... has this trend continued? Normalized? Still moving? In which direction?
Hi Charlie
I write to you on behalf of The Viewspaper (www.theviewspaper.net) which is India's largest youth paper and the 5th largest media company on Facebook.
We are organizing the World's Largest Tweet-A-Thon! and would like to invite you as a panelist for the same.
From American political journalists in the 1950s, to The Economist magazine not so long ago; speculation has run rife about India and whether we will survive as a nation.
Poverty. Corruption. Terrorism. Disease. Currency woes. We’ve got it all, and more. We’ve been written off, doomsdayed, delegitimized – but we keep coming back! What is the root of this appetite for adversity, this solid resilience?
It is our nation’s optimism. No matter how much you bring her down, India feels up!
A first of its kind initiative, the #IFeelUp Tweetathon is a 3-day virtual conference, which delights in the irrepressible state of the nation, in spite of its laundry list of issues. Over 72 hours, we’ll be bringing in 400 panelists for non-stop discussion, and that’s where you come in.
We would like to invite you as a panelist for a 30 minute session wherein you can participate from any part of the world.
If you're interested, kindly email us your contact information so that we could provide you with more details about the event.
I look forward to hearing from you.Please mail us at garima@theviewspaper.net if interested.
Regards
Garima Obrah
The Viewspaper
However, frankly speaking I would readily move westward, far to the Prairies to escape from this war, which has already taken so many lives of friends of mine, who were ordinary American soldiers as I am. custom essay writing service
This is a wonderful post.
nice post
Reminds me of my Catholic background. Important to inculcate the faith at that teenage level where the youth are vulnerable to the many voices of the world.
I wonder how i would react if i was a teenager at all these new developments?
Very interesting
Post a Comment