The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Curriculum

District Parents Weigh in About iLearning

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Feedback from Chappaqua Central School District parents about their experiences with iLearning during what may be a much longer stretch of cyber-schooling than anyone could ever have predicted. 

Comments received April 1 – April 2, 2020

“I am an educator and parent of a student in the first grade at Grafflin. I am so pleased with the lessons that his teachers provide including all core subjects and specials such as gym, music, and art. The platform is easy to use and very interactive. You feel as if your teachers are there with you as they have video recorded the lessons and clear directions. The directions and lessons can easily be played multiple times if a student needs extra support.  The lessons are multi-sensory, not just all online and the child can submit answers through a chosen method.  For example, they are asked to build things and take pictures of what they have built, engage in scavenger hunts; they record themselves singing, and dancing.  As my son needs a lot of writing practice, rather than typing, during his writers’ workshop projects, he can use a drawing tool to write his paragraph and illustrate it all on paper. He can choose to just take a picture of his work and submit it or he can even do a video showing his story and reading it to the teacher.  It’s very easy. Having options for “type of response” is a very useful tool in supporting all types of learners. Additionally, the supplemental activities provided are websites and passwords set up on very worthwhile educational sites. Lastly, his teacher has started Zoom hang outs where the kids are just so excited to see their wonderful teacher Ms. Schassler and each other. She gives each student a time to share and read a story to them. Lastly, the teacher is available all the time through email and allows students to pace themselves through the work.  I could go on and on, actually. I’m very pleased and feel very grateful to live in such a wonderful community.  We are very fortunate as it is not like this throughout the country and the world. Thank goodness kids are resilient!” — Karalyne Sperling

“I have two boys – a sophomore and a 8th grader. They both have positive feedback regarding it. According to my sophomore (his words): “With all the things that are happening, a few glitches in iLearning is insignificant.” It has been a learning curve for both the students and the teacher and the experience has been really good for both my kids.”  — Madhumita Guha Thakurta

“My son has been doing iLearning and I couldn’t be more impressed.  He and I both have been able to independently communicate with his teacher whenever we need to,  and he is currently working on a group project online that looks like it’s done by middle school kids (he’s in the third grade).  I think this particular teacher has incorporated technology throughout the year, so the transition was much more seamless than I would have expected.” — Jessica Postrygacz

Comments received between March 30th and April 1, 2020:

“The first few days of iLearning  were by far the most stressful. We were in a transition and my kids, mainly my spunky 7 year old, highly resisted it. There was a lot of fighting with her in the beginning.  The older kids complied with the process more easily but quickly became frustrated when several assignments they thought they had submitted didn’t go through. There were misunderstandings about this and the two of them (separately as they are in different grades) became very stressed about having grades penalized because of misunderstood technical difficulties.  Meanwhile, my priority as a parent has been to keep the “vibe” in the house as calm and positive as possible during these strange and stressful days. The way I see it, these kids just had their entire world turned upside down; suddenly they weren’t allowed to see their friends (only virtually), their activities had come to an abrupt halt and they could most definitely sense the stress my husband was feeling about the state of the economy and everything else going on out there.I wanted to shield my kids from any further stress. I was trying to look at the bigger picture and prioritize their mental wellness over grades. At the end of the first week of iLearning I emailed several teachers asking them to be mindful that the kids were going through a lot of changes and might not be able to get all assignments in on time. I told them that my kids were experiencing a lot of stress around being penalized for late assignments. The teachers and administration responded reasonably to my email. I also have had the “pass/fail or grades” discussion with many people; this seems to be a big question out there right now. I personally prefer the pass/fail grading for the rest of this school year because I am prioritizing my family’s mental health and stress management, but I realize there are many opinions on this. As of last week grades were still being given out by some (not all) of my kids teachers. From my perspective full compliance with the official policy* (below) would smooth things out. I am hoping the issues we have had are because we have all been in a transition and the big bumps in the road are now behind us. iLearning does seem to get better day-by-day.”— Sabra Staudenmaier

“The curriculum for middle school is great- it’s just the right amount of work. My first grader who needs the most has over 90 assignments this week;  granted they don’t take too long but I do have to sit with her to do them, and then,  my 4th grader who is less motivated, requires me to also be on top of her. While the iLearning initiative is great, it still can’t replace the talented teachers we have in the district.”  — Stacey Pfeffer

“I have two kids – a 5th grader at Seven Bridges (7B) and a 9th grader at Greeley. I think it’s going okay for them. They’re occupied pretty much all day with work they’ve been assigned. I think the teachers have been working hard to follow their curriculums, although I’ve been disappointed at the lack of live instructional time for my 7B student. So far, only one teacher is using Zoom daily to meet with the students as a group, and it has worked very well to keep the class connected, engaged, and learning in a classroom-like setting. I think more teachers will need to do group face to face instruction if they’re doing remote learning the rest of the school year. My high schooler seems to be having an easier time engaging on a regular basis with her teachers and classmates. Canvas is a fine LMS, but it’s a horrible remote learning system, and it’s made worse by how the teachers use it inconsistently. The notices posted in different areas, the assignments that don’t show up on the calendars, Zoom for conferences, flip grid for videos, YouTube for other videos, etc. It’s a nightmare, and I would be happy to blow Canvas up entirely. LMS software in general is a really user-unfriendly landscape for which many schools pay significant sums though, so I don’t fault the district on this one. There aren’t significantly better platforms yet. I know from previous experience that remote/iLearning/online learning is a very difficult environment for students to feel engaged. It’s also an incredible amount of work for instructors, so I feel for these teachers and appreciate their effort. Overall, I’m impressed with how quickly the District was able to move to this model. Moving forward, I’d like to see the District put in place a week of remote learning every year to keep this emergency plan tuned up and ready to roll out at any time.”  — Kate Brady

“This is a challenging and isolating situation for our teachers and children. I think that greatest gift the teachers could give their students is to make sure that the kids are connecting with them and each other. I think this program will be considered a success if the teachers do everything in their power to continue to make learning interactive every class day.”  — Deb Notis, co-owner of GAMECHANGER

“I have a son in Freshman year and honestly iLearning for us has been great. Before i get into my opinion I do want to say these are crazy times…we are in unchartered territory here…no one prepared for this. Given this, I think the teachers are doing as good of a job as they can. My son is decently busy, is learning and most importantly, he is busy. The school work is also making him interact with his friends which is predominantly on video calls. This has helped deal with isolation so he doesn’t miss his friends as much. The teachers for most part have been great. I know there have been zoom calls with teachers to talk through any issues/ concerns. The funniest is the PE (physical education) homework…I almost didn’t believe it that the PE teachers are also taking this so seriously. My son has to send in every Friday what he did. I am truly grateful to the teachers and the district.” –– Swati Bhargava

 

In case you missed it, our interview too with Chappaqua’s School Superinendent, Christine Ackerman:  https://www.theinsidepress.com/learning-how-the-kids-are-doing-with-ilearning/

 

Picking a Pre-School For Your Child

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Courtesy of Bet Torah Nursery School

When it comes to making a decision about where your child will attend preschool, there are many factors that are part of this first school experience. Visit the places you are considering. Talk to other families who have attended the program. Here are a few things you and your family may wish to consider:

1. Your first impression of the school

2. Referrals and recommendations and the reputation of the program

3. Qualified, experienced and caring staff

4. School accreditation

5. Changing and stimulating curriculum

6. Clean and safe facilities

7. Indoor and outdoor play spaces and afterschool enrichment programs

8. Signs of community, parent and family engagement as well as children’s programs

9. Are adults talking to students in warm, welcoming and nurturing ways?

10. Inviting and exciting programs, happy staff and active and happy students

Visit us at bettorah.org.

‘Say Something’ Curriculum at Seven Bridges Promotes Young Advocates Voices

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Pauline Daglio, 6th Grade Teacher at Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua, here together with ‘Say Something’ letter writers Natalia Kochut (left) and Grace Nocca. Laura Triglia (not pictured), also a teacher at Seven Bridges, collaborated on the project. 

 

 

“A recent project-based learning initiative called ‘Say Something’ at Seven Bridges Middle School centered around the notion that while everyone has a voice, it is critical to teach kids how and when to use theirs. Say Something was born from the lessons  learned while reading the novel The Giver. The story teaches that our voices help to shape the communities we live in and if we do not speak up, as was the case in the novel, our world will become a colorless if not meaningless one to live in.

“Through classroom investigations and parent/child conversations, students uncovered that they do have opinions and ideas that are worth sharing on a wide variety of issues. To that end, each of them learned features of argument writing (the focus of the unit) to develop a formal letter to an individual or agency regarding a concern or a change that might be worthwhile. 71 letters were sent!  While the students’ ideas are wide reaching and varied, their intent was the same. I celebrate their efforts and assure them that even if they do not hear back, they made a difference because they took the time and effort to Say Something!”  — Pauline Daglio, 6th Grade Teacher, Seven Bridges 

Editor’s Note: The two letters below, for example, were sent here to The Inside Press to address, and we plan to! Dozens more letters have been sent to: Andrew Corsilia, principal; Greg Steifel; assistant principal-Jason Semo, director of physical education, health and athletics;  Josh Block, director of technology and innovation; Dr. Christine Ackerman, superintendent; Chappaqua School Board; Chappaqua Town Board; Robert Greenstein, Town Supervisor; Senator Kristen Gillibrand; New Castle Parks and Recreation;  President Trump; Mayor DeBlasio; Senator Chuck Schumer; Maria Ferrari Children’s Hospital; Norwalk Hospital; Yorktown Parks and Rec and to several government agencies in Washington DC including the Children’s Bureau and the Department of Public Health, and to several other local business owners as well.

“If nothing else, each student hopes to receive a response that acknowledges his or her request and that provides some form of feedback about his or her cause,” said Daglio.  (The Inside Press plans to answer these letters too!)

How Can we Help Families Struggling with  School Supplies?

By Natalia Kochut

School supply shopping should be fun and carefree, but not all kids have this experience. Some families don’t have enough money to buy pencils, pens, and textbooks and kids need these necessary supplies. Many people aren’t aware of this problem and we need to start making a change. On the other hand, we can ignore this issue but, what if we take a moment to think about the children’s futures? Do you really want them to live difficult lives? We need to call attention to this issue because, without basic school supplies, kids aren’t able to learn. Families in poverty can barely provide food so most times they aren’t thinking about school supplies. Old school supplies can also cause embarrassment to the child.

About 15 million children in the U.S.A live in poverty. Families who live near or below the poverty line usually struggle to get basic items such as soap, food, or clothes and most times they don’t focus on getting their children new school supplies. If we add more organizations that will donate free supplies to families in need, then children won’t have to worry about saving the one pencil they have. Furthermore, parents won’t have to worry about not being able to provide fundamental objects to their child’s learning. It may be a bit embarrassing going back to school with old, used backpacks and pencil cases. This can also lead to teasing and bullying and no child should have to go through that.

Moreover, kids have trouble learning without proper supplies. The average price for middle school supplies is $520-$1,000. Most families in poverty can’t afford this. For instance, most districts require textbooks which are around $60 each. Without this it is difficult to complete homework assignments and study for tests. Calculators are also another expensive thing on the list. The TI-84 plus CE (usually the one preferred for school) is between $115.59-$150 on Amazon. Above all, kids may suffer and get worse grades because they don’t have good supplies. This can hurt their future of getting into a good college. More donations for necessities in school will make students in poverty feel much better. We need to help their futures and make a change.

Actions need to be taken for kids to have school supplies and people need to become more aware of these issues.                     

What Can we Do about Girls Being Treated Differently than Boys?

By Grace Nocca

Girls have not been treated the same as boys in sports. This treatment against women who cannot play in the MLB and NFL has to stop. In other words, clearly women have not been able to live up to their full potential, and that is because they have been told they can’t.

Aside from the fact that women are technically allowed to be in the NFL, people keep telling them they cannot. According to the article “An Equal Opportunity League,” Greg Easterbrook said that he checked with the league spokesman Greg Aiello who said, “The NFL has no male-only rule.” That is to say that women are eligible as long as they are three years out of high school and have a usable skill set. So even though women can play, they are not encouraged to do so.

Despite the fact that there has never been a woman in the NFL, Becca Longo could be the first. She is already the first to get a football scholarship to a university. Besides Becca Longo, not every woman has the courage to stand up and take charge, so we need to encourage them. While it may seem like a different approach to professional sports, empowering women to try would make a positive difference.

Caitlin Gailagher, author of “Can a Woman Play in the MLB? Fox’s ‘Pitch,’ “ examines the history that women were once banned from being signed in 1952. Then in 1992 that rule was overturned. In addition, Frances Melissa Mayeux became the “first known female on the MLB registration list” which shows that it is possible to break the chain that has kept females from some professional sports.

In contrast to boys, girls have been told that they are not as good or as talented as boys in some sports. This has to stop! With attention given to this matter, we clearly need to do something about it. Thank you for considering sharing my ideas so that I can help to promote this thinking.