August 2013 Edition
Congratulations June Star THINKers!Maria Reichel and Josh Felix were selected as the Star THINKers for July for modeling and living THINK's aspiration to become a truly collaborative organization. With the recent acquisition of the Bay Area All Stars, Maria and Josh have shown that integrating a sizable and mature organization requires a sophisticated skill set and a highly personal support. Establishing a cross-departmental team to shepherd the Bay Area integration from concept to reality, Maria and Josh have embraced the spirit of collaboration. Modeling internal and external collaboration, they are helping to demonstrate that, with patience, empathy, and humor, a truly collaborative organization is within our reach.
|
The LA Team runs a STELLAR
|
Are you being asked to come up with Common Core materials? Consider using Nanoogo, like the LA Team used with middle school summer programs. While all middle school sites read the book "The Red Pyramid," the LA Team also implemented a digital media component to their academic offerings. In a socially networked online platform, students made "posts" (see below) describing things, people, and geography in the book, and wrote Chapter Summaries. The remarkable thing about the students' work is the level of engagement with literature and their willingness to use academic writing in an informal, ungraded setting. Instead of the threat of a bad grade, students are motivated by the opportunity to be "published" in a social community of peers, to receive constructive feedback of their work, and to receive praise and "points." Surprisingly, students voluntarily chose to research things from the book, like the Rosetta Stone, and the code-breaker Jean-Francois Champollion. Some even took their passwords home and worked on weekends. Try that with a pen and paper writing assignment! If you are interested in using Nanoogo, training, support, and chocolate are available from Laura Willson. It's very easy to get started, and we have academic units (that kids will actually enjoy) all ready for you.
|
"We live in a day of “social networking” and the majority of our students participate in those networks. What better way than to meet them in their “world” and engage the students in learning. Students were given the opportunity to connect their understanding of the book with teachers, SCs, PLs and fellow peers. A sense of accomplishment filled our computer lab as students were praised for their creativity and comprehension of the book and program theme. Students looked forward to entering their new posts and sharing their creativity with their staff and peers. Our staff were totally bought-in to the concept of on-line posts and did a great job engaging the students. We posted some of the student work on the big screen during lunch and students cheered for each other when they saw their posts displayed. Students engaged in discussion of the book with every post. When we had our trivia game show, 95% of the questions were answered correctly! We know that Nanoogo played an important role in student comprehension and added excitement to the themed-environment, making our job very rewarding."
Adrian Arvizu, Site Coordinator Madrid Middle School
New IT Team Memberby Bill Miller, Network and Technical Support Manager
Please join me in welcoming our newest member, Systems Engineer, Michael Iversen, to the THINK TOGETHER IT team. With a Telecommunications Management degree from DeVry University, and nearly ten years technical experience, Michael will provide much needed support to the IT department and THINK TOGETHER team members.
Michael can be reached at [email protected], or extension 8164. |
From the Evaluation Team
Data ReflectionBy Tracy Bennett, Ph.D., Director of Action Research
Oh, the power of data reflection! This graphic represents the past year in survey responses in the categories of Quality, Youth Voice, Safety, Academic Support and Sense of Belonging. Through data reflection in the regional E-teams, site staff consistently identified the questions pertaining to Sense of Belonging as the area that they wished to focus on during the school year. As evidenced by these results, they were successful in increasing student reports of feeling like they belong. This is a powerful statement of how site staff can use data to set and accomplish goals! Great job! |
|
GET ENGAGED!!
by Jenel Prenevost, Ed.D, Director of Research and Evaluation
Last year, we all learned how important it is to GET ENGAGED…..with work, that is. Research by Gallup teaches us that the more engaged we are at work, the more productive we are, which means the greater the chance that we will be able to fulfill our mission of supporting student success. In support of this train of thought, this year the student surveys have been revamped to parallel the G12 survey distributed to staff last year. Our theory is that if we can use our afterschool platform to inspire students to be engaged in their learning, the more likely they will be to exhibit the kinds of healthy attitudes and behaviors that lead to strong and/or improved “productivity” /achievement (see graphic below).
Our own Dr. Bennett will be working regularly with the regional E-Teams, QACs and SCs to put this research into action in her new position as Director of Action Research. She will help regional staff use a baseline G12 student survey to identify the gaps in student engagement and to develop regional and site-based action plans which will address progress toward closing those gaps. Trainings will help staff identify a number of fun, informal measures that will help Program Leaders quickly and informally measure progress toward improving the engagement level of students. Trainings will also give staff time to develop activities aligned to this progress that will help build engagement continuously throughout the year. Honeymoon not included….sorry.
Our own Dr. Bennett will be working regularly with the regional E-Teams, QACs and SCs to put this research into action in her new position as Director of Action Research. She will help regional staff use a baseline G12 student survey to identify the gaps in student engagement and to develop regional and site-based action plans which will address progress toward closing those gaps. Trainings will help staff identify a number of fun, informal measures that will help Program Leaders quickly and informally measure progress toward improving the engagement level of students. Trainings will also give staff time to develop activities aligned to this progress that will help build engagement continuously throughout the year. Honeymoon not included….sorry.
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
CRAFT
This is the simplest Science project ever!
Materials: Clear clean bottle/jar with lid Water Dish soap Are you ready for this? 1. Fill the jar with water 2. Add dish soap (any kind will work) 3. Make sure lid is on tight 4. Shake 5. Enjoy! It would be fun to do this experiment with different sizes of bottles to see which make the best tornadoes! You could also try adding some food coloring, glitter, grass, or little objects like Monopoly houses to the water/soap mix for some additional experimentation! |
Tornado in a Bottle
|