Teaching, Learning, and Technology
Dear Families:
This week Sharon, Ruth, and I are attending the New York State Association of Independent Schools Conference for Division Heads. It’s a great opportunity for us to meet up with peers from other schools to talk about work that is taking place in our schools and to hear from a number of speakers on a wide range of educational issues. One of the speakers this year is Alan November. Alan is a provocative thinker whose work is focused on teaching, learning, and the role of technology in education. He is interested in looking at ways that technology can positively impact on teaching and learning and that can also help students to develop the necessary skills to be successful in a collaborative information-based society.
These are questions that we continue to explore as a faculty. From the introduction of teacher blogs, to on-line literature circles and the use of wikipedia tools for student research, it is clear that we need to incorporate these tools into our daily work with students. We also need to make sure that we do this in a thoughtful and purposeful way so that learning is deep and rich. While there are many interesting archived articles on Alan November’s site, I encourage you to read “Banning Student Containers” and “Beyond Technology: The End of the Job and the Beginning of Digital Work.” Both of these articles identify important challenges that schools face in keeping up with the times and suggest possible frameworks for how to address these issues. I’d be interested to hear from you on your thoughts about Alan’s ideas.
Finally, congratulations to all of the members of the Middle School Robotics team and their coaches for their most excellent work at this past weekend’s FIRST Lego League competition. The following summary comes to us courtesy of Middle School science teacher and Robotics Team coach Sherezada Acosta:
Our robotics season has come to an end. This weekend’s tournament was a great end to the months of hard work. I am happy to report that out of the 82 schools at the event, which represented the top performing teams in the New York City area, the LREI Robotics Advance Team received a 5th Place Award in the Robot Design category. This is an incredible achievement! For this award, the judges “look for teams whose work stands out for innovation and dependability. To assess innovation, the judges watch the robots work, looking for things that make them say ‘Wow!’ They interview team members to reveal the less obvious unique and inventive ideas. To assess dependability, the judges interview the teams to learn what solid principles and best practices were used to reduce variability and errors. Preference is given to robots that are best able to ‘back it up’ throughout the matches.”
As for the Rookie Team, just the fact that they did so well in the last competition and qualified to be in this one, which was mainly filled with veteran teams with more experience, was pretty amazing as well.
Both teams also got very positive feedback on the presentations and interviews with the judges. Below are some of the comments they wrote:
- Advance Team:
“Excellent team and energy displayed”
“Innovative Presentation! … Thinking out of the Box”
“Amazing integration of individual goals with benefits to the community; creative idea to combine health and energy issues”
- Rookie Team:
“Excellent teamwork and Robot Presentation”
“High enthusiasm; engaged with activities designed to improve school life”
“Excellent movie!!”
I was very proud of both teams’ performance at the event. It was a VERY long day (almost 10 hours!), but they did an incredible job of representing our school. Their enthusiasm and support of not only each other but other teams as well, was recognized by the announcers any time LREI was in the competing area, other parents and other team coaches. I was approached several times by different people to compliment our group. Even the photographers and video crew seemed to love them. When our kids were competing they spent most of the time covering them!
Well done!
This Week’s Attachments
General:
Visibility Exhibit Letter
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:
Of General Interest . . .
1) We are very pleased to announce that six of our high school photography students were selected among High School and University student submissions for an upcoming exhibition. Click here to learn more.
2) The 2008 LREI Art Auction is only two weeks away:
- Wednesday, February 6th – Thursday, February 7th
12:00 noon – 8:00PM
Andrew Edlin and Kathyrn Markel Galleries
529 West 20th Street, 6th Floor
Admission is Free - Kid’s Preview: Wednesday, February 6th from 4:00PM – 6:00PM.
Bus available on Wednesday, February 6th from LREI’s Sixth Avenue building to 529 West 20th Street at 3:15PM. - Reception & Final Bidding: Thursday, February 7th 6:00PM – 8:00PM
Visit our website to view a full list of artists and preview and for more information on Conditions of Sale, Absentee Bids and other important details. LREI Contact: Sandra Song 212-477-5316 x275 or ssong@lrei.org
3) Upcoming Service events:
- Monday, February 4, 2008 — Pennies for Patients Drive begins (through 2/25)
Since 1994, millions of dollars have been raised in pennies and other spare change by more than 10 million elementary, middle and high school students throughout the country. The funds, collected during a three-week period, benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Everyone who participates is a winner! Students across the country are collecting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters during the Pennies for Patients campaigns benefiting the Society. - Monday, March 3, 2008 — Project Cicero Book Drive (through March 6)
We are an annual non-profit book drive designed to create — or supplement — school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Now in its eighth year, Project Cicero has distributed nearly 1,000,000 new and gently used books to 5,500 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching 180,000 students. We solicit donations from individuals and families from over 90 independent, public, and parochial schools each year, and have received generous contributions from many book publishers.
4) On Monday, February 4th, Dr. Michael Thompson will be speaking at the 92nd Street Y at 8:15PM. The cost of admission is $26.00. Click here to order tickets. The topic Dr. Thompson will be addressing is “Parenting Boys Today.” The following information about his talk is from the 92nd Street Y website: “As boys grow older, their preoccupation with adventure and violent-action games can be exasperating and sometimes frightening to parents. Dr. Michael Thompson discusses how we think about boys: their differences, their play and their preoccupations. He offers suggestions about how to support, limit or address these interests in your son’s life. Dr. Thompson is a renowned child psychologist and the author of Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys and Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Life of Children. His most recent book is It’s a Boy! Understanding Your Sons.
5) As a class fundraiser, the ninth graders are collecting used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. They will send the collected items to an organization that recycles them and the class will receive cash for these items. Please note that the collection is limited to used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. For additional information go to www.fundingfactory.com. They will begin collecting used cartridges and cell phones on Wednesday, February 6th and will continue until Thursday, May 22nd. A collection box will be located in the Sixth Avenue lobby. Tell your friends and family about this opportunity so that these items can be recycled and don’t end up in landfills.
7) Please read the attached letter from the LREI Lesbian Gay Straight alliance (LGSA) announcing the upcoming Visibility show. The deadline for photos and captions is February 11th.
8) For updates on faculty performances, openings, presentations, and publications visit the Faculty in the News page on the school web site.
9) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2007-2008 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.
For all grades . . .
Please read the attached letter from the Middle School math teachers regarding prep for the upcoming ERBs. Students will also be doing some review for the language arts portions of the ERB in core and may be bringing home some review materials. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact me or your child’s core or math teacher.
For Eighth Grade Families . . . .
1) Please make sure that your child is registered for the DC trip and that all balances are due by 3/4/08. Click here to access the registration form.
2) On Monday, February 4th, the eighth grade will be visiting the Lower East Side Tenement Museum on Orchard Street. We will leave school just before 11:00AM, eat a nutritious snack on our way, and return to school at 1:30PM. Since our museum tour takes place in the middle of the day, we will not be present for school lunch in the cafeteria. We ask that each eighth grader bring his or her own lunch instead. We will eat lunch in the classrooms at 1:30PM, upon our return. You can help us by encouraging your child to eat a good breakfast on Monday morning since lunch will be later than usual, and by making sure she or he brings a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds, and glass bottles) and warm layers.
For Seventh Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.
For Sixth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.
For Fifth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.
For additional information, follow these links:
- Calendar of Events
- LREI Athletics. For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
- Click here to view the Middle School Photo Gallery.
Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.
Be well,
Mark