January+27,+2011+Presentation+Descriptions

//**"PLUGGED, UNPLUGGED.... WHATEVER!" **//
 * TEACHERS HELPING TEACHERS: WHAT WORKS IS WORTH SHARING **

[|**Chase Collegiate School**]
 * January 27, 2011 **
 * 9:30 - 3:00 (includes continental breakfast and lunch) **


 * SESSION DESCRIPTIONS (Register for the conference on the CAIS website) **

YOU WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND FOUR 30 MINUTE SESSIONS DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY. EACH SESSION WILL BE OFFERED TWICE -- ONCE IN THE MORNING AND ONCE IN THE AFTERNOON

**CANCELLED The Art of Geometry/The Geometry of Art** (Frann Ravid and Madeline Smith, The Independent Day School) GRADES 6-8 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM **CANCELLED**  This session has been cancelled

**Literary Sign and Symbol in the Information Age** (Bill Hunter, Hamden Hall Country Day School) GRADES MS/US / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Literary archetypes, many of them based in deep cultural memory and myth should, one thinks, gain in currency because of the new information age. After all, what communicates more deeply and more quickly at the same time than symbols and other cultural signifiers such as are easily trasmitted in a few words or, indeed, in a figure such as an astrological sign or religious symbol? And, yet, one senses that online communication favors immediacy and brevity of thought over rumination and relational thinking. In this workshop, we will attempt to puzzle out new modes of personal discourse that will carry literary symbols and signifiers into the information age and plan a Wikipedia page that will advocate for a new transmission of "cultural meaning" in the world of online communication.

**A Flickr.com Photo Project: Learning Through Photos** (Laura Bridges-Pereira Chase Collegiate School) GRADES 6-8 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Photos are great way to motivate and engage students. More than ever students have access to a wealth of images on the internet. Online photo management and sharing applications allow students to organize, preserve, and share their photos and captions with a community of learners. As a way to teach culture outside the classroom, frame the internet as cultural resource, and promote fluency with technology, students take photos or use existing photos to illustrate communicative and cultural concepts in Spanish and French. Though originally done with foreign language this type of project has applications beyond the foreign language classroom.

**Blogging to Think and Collaborate** (Dana Johansen, Maureen Mooney, Jeff Schwartz, Greenwich Academy) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRCULUM How does blogging change the context of writing in the classroom? How does it provide unique ways for students to collaborate and learn from each other? How can it get our students to be better thinkers and writers? Since 2008, we have been meeting with other teachers across K-12 grade levels at Greenwich Academy to share ideas on how students learn to read and write. Over the years, we have observed how blogging works to free our students’ voices and to collaborate. Blog writing paradoxically personalizes writing and heightens awareness of audience. It can help create communities of learners who are more engaged in the processes of creating, sharing, and reflecting on writing. In this presentation, we will report on how we use wikis and blogs in 4th, 6th and 9th grade classrooms and also how students—and teachers-- have learned with and from each other across the grade levels.

**A Professional Development Model for the 21st Century** (Marek Beck, Greenwich Country Day School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM In order for schools to become successful with implementing curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices reflective of a 21st century teaching and learning model, the whole school needs to be actively involved in the process. How does this happen? What do teachers need to know? Explore ways in which professional development goals are set and met by getting everyone involved from the most digitally literate teachers to the technologically challenged faculty members.

**The Vocabulary of Creativity** (Francis Patnaude, Rumsey Hall School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM This presentation will explore the relevance and necessity of establishing and using language to understand, access, and better utilize our natural creativity. The presentation will also include not only the perspective of the arts, but also a view through an interdisciplinary lens which, in this case, would be in conjunction with the English Department.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Wikis for Everyone** (Judy Soto and Jennifer Krayewski, Greenwich Country Day School ) GRADES K-5 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">See examples of how lower school (K-3) teachers and students easily create and use wikis. Wikis can be used as a tool for planning and discussing as well as sharing and collaborating. The best part about it, is that it's fun!

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**POSTPONED TO OCTOBER 2011 The Duff Center at Greenwich Academy: An Initiative in Project Based Learning and Experiential Education** (Connie Blunden, Ann Decker, Greenwich Academy) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Get your students excited about what they are learning by connecting them with real-world experience. This workshop will explore how you can arrange for hands-on opportunities across curriculum and divisions, on campus and off. Starting with networking within your community, articulating and communicating your vision, we will explore how to vet external programs as well as engage students in the design and implementation of original projects. Additionally, we will share best practices for communicating opportunities to your school community. Finally, we will discuss important steps when connecting students to placements. Let go and let students explore! <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**POSTPONED TO OCTOBER 2011**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Connecting Theatre Across the Curriculum** (King's Anne Frank Day 2010) (Jackie Martino, King Low Heywood Thomas) GRADES 9-PG / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This presentation would address a specific program we recently had at King (Nov 18 2010). Our Upper School Students presented the Diary of Anne Frank and we dedicated an entire day to this event. Each Department English, History, Science, Foreign Language and Visual Arts worked with the entire Upper school (by grade level) for a 75 minute period in the morning. The school then gathered together to present what they learned in each class. Each department will address the context of The Diary of Anne Frank from different perspectives. We also had Judith Altman (Holocaust Survivor) speak to our students and have a Q and A session. The day ends with an open forum at our school, where students and faculty can talk about their thoughts and feelings about the day and how we can apply what we learned to our community going forward.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**How to Build Community** (Betsy Hulme, New Canaan Country School) GRADES 1-4 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">At NCCS I organized a morning of activities for the children and faculty. Each group of kids consisted of one student from each homeroom. The fourth graders learned how to become the leaders. The activities involved problem solving, communication, cooperation and creativity.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Penguins and Tigers and Kiwis, Oh My! A Student-Generated Approach to Creative Writing** (Jim Peters, St. Thomas's Day School) GRADES K-5 / CREATIVE WRITING At the beginning of each school year, third graders at St. Thomas's brainstorm ideas and then vote for a "Classroom Character" (any non-domesticated animal) about whom they will write over the year. Students also share ideas pertaining to the character's line of work and any special abilities it might possess. (This year's chosen character is "Kiki the Kiwi Bird," an investigate reporter from Auckland, New Zealand with an especially keen sense of smell.) Days after the final vote, a plush version of the animal arrives in the mail at the school with a letter of introduction inside. Thus begins a year-long journey of exploration and adventure with the students' chosen character. The process starts with writing prompts initiated by the teacher; these prompts are informed at first by the initial brainstorming process and later in the year by the direction the students take in their storytelling. The workshop would introduce this model of motivating students around writing, and will suggest opportunities for collaborating with, for example, art and music departments to further enhance the students' experience. We also use this program in our geography study; as writers need always to learn about their subject, the animal's home region becomes an area of special attention. The workshop would include a description of the process, examples of writing prompts and student responses, and an opportunity to answer questions.

**VoiceThread: Creating Engaging, Curriculum-Based Digital Presentations** (Sarah Ludwig, Hamden Hall Country Day School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Voicethread, which involves recording audio over a single image or a sequence of images, encourages students to use their own thoughts and ideas in presentations and to break their reliance on text-heavy PowerPoint slides. This presentation will highlight projects in Voicethread, which can range from personal to academic and can be used by lower- and upper-school students alike. In addition, Voicethread promotes technology projects that are deeply embedded in the classroom curriculum.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**4-D Environmental Education** (David havens, St. Luke's School) GRADES K-12 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">To experience environmental science students must be immersed in the topic. Getting their hands dirty and their feet wet is only the start. Holding a live frog in their hands for the first time, seining a backwater stream for macrobenthic life, tapping a maple tree and making syrup or simply planting a garden and growing your own food. This can best be done outside of the classroom; in 4-D. This and so much more is the basis of the SLS environmental science curriculum

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Let Math Move You: A Waldorf Math Workshop** (Melissa Merkling, Amalia Pretel-Gray, Housatonic Valley Waldorf School) GRADES K-5 / MATH <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In Waldorf schools, math is taught through rhythm, movement, and the discovery of fascinating patterns. When children experience math with their whole bodies, they form a deeper connection to it than would be formed by only a paper-and-pencil (much less an electronic) acquaintance: it is really "in" them. And when they experience the mysterious symmetry of a mathematical/geometric pattern, they form an emotional connection to the curriculum content that fosters enhanced learning. Therefore, children in Waldorf elementary schools chant, clap, stamp, jump rope, throw beanbags and create beautiful designs, all as part of learning their basic math facts. In this workshop we will learn some of these techniques, culminating in the creation of the "times-table star."

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**The Physics of Salsa Dancing** (Carolina Artacho Guerra, The Ethel Walker School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The Physics of Salsa is an interdisciplinary approach to science and dancing. By treating both subjects as cultural events in their own right, having different language, behaviors, ways of thinking and purposes, we aim to engage students who wouldn't usually take a physics and/or a dance course. The curriculum capitalizes on the natural connections between body dynamics and Newtonian Mechanics. This presentation will give an overview of the program and discuss the experience of the instructors and the students. Sample teaching tools and materials, as well as sample student work will be showcased.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Ning: The Academic Facebook** (Terrie Hartsoe, The Country School) GRADES K-12 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Do social networks belong in the classroom? Absolutely! Do your students continue to talk about your subject after they leave the classroom every day, each evening, and even on weekends? Do they scour the internet for videos, simulations, articles, and other information relevant to what is being discussed in class? They will. Learn how to create and maintain a social network of students who will keep your classroom doors open 24/7.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Debating in Middle School** (Kirby Mahoney, St. Thomas's Day School) GRADES MS / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Do your students love to argue their opinions in class? Do you feel that this energy could be used in a more productive way? Come and see a debate paradigm for middle school students focusing on collaboration and teamwork. Debating help students learn creativity, effective communication, and team building. The students use the opportunity to integrate technology, use critical thinking, and obtain problem-solving skills through each aspect of the program. The students work to create a clear, concise, well-defined message for their presentation. From choosing topics to presenting a debate to a large audience, this workshop will cover all the necessary steps, schedule and planning involved with incorporating a debate curriculum into your classroom.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">**Team Building 101** (Steve Jewett, Hamden Hall Country Day School) GRADES K-5 / ACROSS THE CURRICULUM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Students are challenged to construct a tower of (16 oz) cups to reach the ceiling. The student discovers through trial and error that the 20 cups that they have are not enough or cannot be balanced one on top of another to meet the challenge. Students with similar ideas figure out that they can work together to attempt the challenge. Students who want to join a group, must "buy stock in the company using their 20 cups. Ultimately, the entire group of 10-15 students must work together to reach their goal. Cooperation, communication, problem solving, critical thinking and application of science knowledge all come into play in this worthwhile activity.