Transformative Teaching and Learning
Marymount School of New York Overview Mother Marie Joseph Butler founded Marymount School of New York in 1926 with this vision: “The aims of a Marymount education are manifold: to educate the heart and mind, and to provide for each student’s total growth, intellectually, spiritually, socially, and physically.” An all-girls’, independent, Catholic day school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Marymount School seeks to educate young women who continue to question, risk, and grow– young women who care, serve, and lead–young women prepared to challenge, shape and change the world. Working with iPads and MacBook Airs in a 1:1+ environment and using the resources of four maker spaces, Marymount students “know how to act when faced with situations for which they were not specifically prepared.” (Source: Papert, 1998).
Visionary Leadership Shared Leadership School leaders take collective ownership of the initiative. How do leadership groups make decisions that support progress toward reaching and refining the goals and vision for the initiative? Individual Leadership A credible and inspirational thought leader sets and articulates the vision. How do individual leaders ensure coherence of the initiative? Community Engagement Broad community sponsorship supports the institution’s initiatives. What is the role of the institution’s larger community in supporting the initiative?
Shared Leadership The Marymount mission statement notes that, as a school, to “we seek to educate young women who continue to question, risk, and grow.” As such, every administrator, every faculty member, and every student understands that effective and transformative teaching and learning requires that everyone be an active member of a vigorous learning community. The visionary leadership of Headmistress Concepcion Alvar sets a positive tone for the community as well as a high level of expectation for engagement throughout the School. Faculty and students use innovative technologies as creative learning tools that thoughtfully connect learning objectives with learning outcomes. The school’s Core Academic Team, which includes the Headmistress, Director of Admissions, Director of College Counseling, Director of Academic Resources, Director of STEM Education, and the four Divisional Heads, ensures that the School’s academic program supports the school’s mission. The Academic Council, comprised of curriculum leaders across the School’s four divisions oversees the school’s broader, interdisciplinary approach to learning.
Individual Leadership The academic excellence of a Marymount education is steeped in tradition and innovation. A culture of exploration, observation, and collaboration inspires teaching and learning at Marymount and empowers faculty and students to seek new learning opportunities and learning paths both in and out of the classroom. For example, the release of the iPad five years ago offered Marymount an opportunity to further integrate mobile learning into our curriculum. Our
Headmistress stated at that time, “Our students need time to play, time to explore, and time to tinker. The iPad is the learning tool of the future. Let’s see what our faculty and students can so with it.” Through a thoughtful and deliberate approach–both in the classroom and through professional development–Marymount has become a national leader in Mobile Learning Education.
Community Engagement The School’s long-standing commitment to innovation and excellence has drawn the attention and support of a number of forward-thinking businesses and institutions. Little Bits Collaboration. Marymount recently formalized a partnership with Little Bits, an educational electronics company that, in their words, is “on a mission to democratize hardware by empowering everyone to create inventions, large and small, with a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks.” Founded in 2011 by MIT Media Lab graduate and TED Senior Fellow, Ayah Bdeir, Little Bits will provide each student in the Lower Middle School with a customized Little Bits Premium Kit for use in STEM classes. In return, Marymount faculty will develop and share pedagogically-sound lesson plans for Little Bits. Staples Collaboration. As part of our entrepreneurship initiative, Marymount partnered with Staples for the 2016 Back to School Design Challenge. Students proposed and designed a number of back-to-school products, focusing on event management, technology, and organization. Working with designers from Aruliden and representatives from Staples, students then saw several of their ideas taken from rough prototype to conceptualization and onto production for Staples’ summer 2016 “Made By Students, For Students” sales initiative.
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Kickstarter Initiative. Marymount believes it is important for students to understand in the funding aspect of entrepreneurship. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous funder, the “Projects We Love� initiative allows student groups to invest up to $500 in innovative and interesting Kickstarter campaigns. This year, students helped successfully fund the Kalipak, a portable, renewable energy generator and the AirBeam, a wearable air monitor that maps, graphs, and crowdsources pollution exposures. Philanthropy and Service. Philanthropy is woven into the curriculum through programs like M-PACT (Marymount Philanthropy and Community Transformation) in which student teams choose a local non-profit organization, conduct research on its mission, structure, and financing, and create a multimedia presentation designed to rally support for the organization. Winning teams receive grants for their organization, funded by the Philanthropy Team at the Bank of NY Mellon and a private benefactor.
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Innovative Learning and Teaching
Student Learning Learning is a personal experience for every student. How does student learning change? Instructional Practices Faculty are master learners who expertly guide their students through difficult and complex tasks. How do faculty's instructional practices evolve as you integrate technology? Curriculum Design Innovative and rigorous curriculum is designed to leverage technology. How do faculty redesign curricula to take full advantage of digital content?
Innovation @ Marymount At Marymount, faculty do not seek to “integrate technology” into the curriculum but rather view technology as an essential learning tool. When designing curriculum, faculty ask, “How will the use of technology help students meet learning objectives?” Consider this list of innovative curricular initiatives that effectively leverage pedagogicallysound and age-appropriate technology in the classroom. Class II Invention Convention. During their study of inventions, Class II students work in pairs to identify a real-world problem and to brainstorm ideas for a new invention to solve that problem. Each team uses littleBits electronic modules, a PicoCricket Invention kit, or the MakerBot 3D printer to build a working prototype. The process often involves troubleshooting problems and revising the original design to overcome unanticipated obstacles along the way. Students need to be persistent, pay attention to detail, and develop teamwork skills. Each team presents their inventions to parents and produces a short commercial on their iPads.
Class II Digital Storytelling. In an integrated language arts and social studies project, Class II students explore digital storytelling. Students research and visit historical landmarks in New York City and create a guidebook using Comic Life. Each student takes and crops photos using her iPad, creates characters, and conveys factual information about a landmark in her comic strip. Cardboard Challenge. Students in Class III experience the joy and challenge of the design process when they participate in the Imagination Foundation’s Cardboard Challenge. Students envision and re-envision arcade games that they can create by hand from cardboard and other recycled
materials. Students research arcade games, visit the Dave & Buster’s Arcade in Times Square, conduct interviews, plan their design in 2-D on their iPads, prototype their designs in 3-D, receive feedback and adjust the final iterations of their projects. Once the projects are fully developed, Class III sets up the arcade for other students to enjoy. “Not only are they learning about how things work,” says science teacher Margaret McCarthy, “but they are using their imaginations to build, make, and create.”
Class VI Nerdy Derby. After its debut at the MakerFaire in 2012, the Nerdy Derby has become an annual event at Marymount’s Upper Middle School. Each spring Class VI students conduct experiments to determine the forces and variables that affect the speed of a vehicle on the wooden, 9-foot tall, 45-foot long, undulating track. After these initial activities, pairs of students are tasked with designing their own cars to compete in a series of Nerdy Derby competitions. In order to test their vehicles on the track, students complete trial slips to detail changes and improvements made to their vehicles.
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In 2015, the students were joined by Julia Landauer, an engineer and NASCAR racer, who provided expertise and support. The interdisciplinary week of study through play includes learning to budget resources through an allowance of “Derby Dollars” that students spend on materials to build their vehicles. There is also a creative writing component where students write a scene in which characters grapple with some of the science concepts introduced in the week’s explorations.
project,” Olivia H. notes, “because it has been so much a part of our semester and our year.”
Class VIII Bot Ballet. The BotBallet culminates a semester introduction to the physics of motion, forces, energy, electricity, and magnetism. Inspired by Google’s current research and development of driverless cars, the students work in pairs to assemble robotic cars from pieces made using the laser cutter, adding small electric motors and an Arduino microcontroller. Once built and wired, the students program their bots to move and react with another bot, creating a “ballet” in which the robots move in sync with each other, weaving patterns and effectively producing technical dances. In preparation for the BotBallet, each pair of students partners with another team to write the program code that allows their robots to move either as reflections of or in response to each other. Syncing the movement of the robots with selections of music, each team endeavors to artfully mirror the beats of the song with the interactions of their robots. “We wanted to really bring our personalities into this
Class IX Creative Computing. Traditional computer science courses often focus on a specific language and traditional introductory technology courses focus on learning basic applications. What if the two were morphed? Our new Class IX elective, Creative Computing, will introduce students to the tools of the digital fabrication lab through the lens of creative computing. Inspired by High-Low Tech of the MIT Media Lab, students become familiar with Processing syntax and coding architecture to design and create Voronoi Lamps. 7
Class V Art. Students use iPads to create “exquisite corpses,” a Surrealist technique in which a collection of images is collaboratively assembled. Students individually select and edit photos on their iPads and connect them visually to build a whole new image.
Class IX Curators Gallery. Class IX students assume the role of museum curators for an interdisciplinary Humanities project that encompasses art, history, literature, religion, art history, and technology. Using the Nolen Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, students research individual works of art from the Met’s collection and work in groups to design proposals for special exhibits that are driven by a common theme. Their exhibits feature their chosen works of art from the Met’s collection as well as their own original works inspired by them.
As part of this project, students had to think creatively about how to present their chosen works of art, make connections to the cultures from which they came, and design exhibits that are engaging, clear, informative, and interactive. They made 3-D models, videos, short stories, songs, websites, children’s books, and sculptures for their exhibits. Their “patrons” (faculty members, representatives from the Met, and students throughout the school) voted on which exhibit should get the most funding.
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Class XII Engineering: Interactive Design. This hands-on, project based course allows students to take engineering projects from concept and design to construction and execution. Students explore connecting hardware to software through a myriad of input and output devices using fundamental programming. Physical computing requires that students spend a lot of time building circuits, soldering, writing programs, building structures to hold sensors and controls, and figuring out how to best make all of these things relate to human expression. This year, students created a fully functional, 3D printed and coded upper human body.
Processing and Data Visualization. This elective course, offered to students in Classes X through XII as well as faculty, explores data visualization via the Processing programming language. Students also explore methods for rendering data in physical forms and techniques for sonifying data. Students create final projects, which requires them to select a central question, collect pertinent data, and identify a medium appropriate for the project. Entrepreneurship. Great startups often come from founders who had their idea while at school or college. In this elective offered to students in Classes X through XII, students develop a roadmap to evaluate potential startup ideas. Along the way, they will learn how to mitigate the risks involved in pursuing their ideas and put themselves in the best possible position to succeed. Students learn the necessary steps to start a business, including generating, validating, and refining ideas for a new products or services. From development and idea generation, opportunity, recognition, entry strategy, and growth, students engage in conversations with local entrepreneurs as they follow the path to a successful launch. As part of the course, in 2015 Marymount partnered with Staples and Aruliden, a local design firm, to participate in the 2016 Staples Back to School Design Challenge (see Community Engagement herein).
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Molecular Biology. As an educator, biology teacher Katie Krueger believes in joining her students in their virtual world, as it is critical to capturing their attention. In order to strike a balance between autonomy, interest level and intellectual curiosity, Katie created her own hashtag for her classroom, #KruegerBio. Using this hashtag, she is able to live tweet what she is reading, watching, and experiencing in her own learning process. Thus Katie, an Apple Distinguished Educator (Class of 2011 and Class of 2013), connects to her students 24/7. Students can also add to the virtual dialogue by using the same hashtag for their tweets. As part of Katie’s commitment to Citizen Science, her students in Molecular Biology participated in Mapping Swarmageddon, an effort in 2013 to track the arrival of the cicadas along the east coast of the United States. Students built their own soil sensors using an Arduino microcontroller and accompanying thermistor. Using their devices, students measured soil temperatures at their homes and then reported their soil readings on Twitter using #swarmageddon. World Language. Students in foreign language courses extend their language student beyond the classroom using FaceTime and Skype to connect with students abroad. These conversations improve students’ oral communication and listening comprehension skills as well as expand their understanding of different cultures. In addition, world language students videotape each other on iPads to hear themselves speak in the target language, learn their strengths, and address areas of weakness. 10
Latin. Latin teacher Kristin Webster, notes “digital content does not drive my curricular decisions, but my teaching is infused digital tools and technology-based projects that enable students to reach curricular objectives and pedagogical goals. These experiences are incorporated throughout the year, in all levels of Latin, to provide students with hands-on experience, opportunities for formative assessment, and meaningful applications of their knowledge.�
others, giving meaning and greater sense of purpose to their work. Check out student work on the Classics YouTube Channel.
Students as Teachers
Students as Storytellers
Teaching the Dative Case in Latin
The Color City of Luculenta Urbs
Using iBooks Author, Upper School Latin students publish storybooks for students beginning to study Latin in our Lower Middle School.
Using iMovie, students create videos to post on the class YouTube Channel. Producing these tutorial videos enables students to learn by teaching while also pursuing their own interests, be it a teaching a grammatical concept, introducing a Roman author, or connecting a piece of artwork to a Roman culture practice. This approach also provides students with the opportunity to create a lasting tool for
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Sandy Stories. Superstorm Sandy dealt a devastating blow to the New York City area in late October 2012. In fall 2013 students in the senior elective, Atmospheric Science, reflected upon the experience of Sandy by sharing the stories of members of the School community who were profoundly and adversely affected by Sandy. Sensitive to the raw, lingering emotions surrounding the event, the students thoughtfully curated video, images, and written testimony in iBooks Author. The resulting book, Sandy Stories, is available on iTunes. All profits from the sale of the book are donated to Catholic Relief Services. Using Final Cut Pro in the Media Lab at our 97th Street Campus, the
Upper Middle School Integrated Projects. Students in the Upper Mid division began a collaborative project with the question, “How can we make the world a better place?” Spending about 15 hours over the course of a semester, teams of three students developed projects to help bring awareness to a cause, help animals, bring joy into people’s lives, educate people with special needs, address gender inequality, or help people achieve better health. Resultant projects included planning events, creating websites, developing multimedia games, and public service videos. Teams documented, in written and video journals, their process, their challenges, and their successes.
Sandy Stories Commercial
Gender Stereotypes PSA
Raising Money and Awareness for Sandy Victims
Raising Awareness about Gender Inequality
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Physics, Design, and Social Justice. Students in Honors Physics design a physics-based solution to a local, regional, or international social justice problem. Initial designs are created in TinkerCad on MacBook Airs. Students pitch their initial designs to their peers, gathering feedback for the iterative process, and then present their final designs to a panel of judges, including a venture capitalist, educational consultant, and design experts. Recent projects include the Disposa-Cozy, an innovative coffee cup sleeve that maintains beverage warmth and coolness; and PlayWater, a soccer ball that simultaneously filters water during a soccer game. All designs are covered by provisional patents; students presented their ideas on the Education Stage at the 2014 Maker Faire in New York City. Marymount on iTunes U. Two senior electives–AP Physics C and Molecular Biology–are currently posted on our iTunes U site. Each course includes access to the course textbook, course-related Apps as well as videos, discussion forums, lecture notes, and more. Each student in these courses is provided with an iPad to access course content; the course developers, Eric Walters and Katie Krueger, have outlined the development of their courses in the recently-published The Impact of Pen and Touch Technology on Education.
MacBook Air program facilitates online learning, allowing students to connect, collaborate, and create with their peers anytime, anywhere.
Expanded Online Course Offerings. Marymount has been affiliated with the Online School for Girls (OSG) for the past five years. Seniors are able to take electives not taught in-house, including AP Computer Science, AP Psychology, and Multivariable Calculus. The School’s 1:1 13
Co-Curricular Activities Marymount Makers. As the maker movement celebrates curiosity, inventiveness and a culture of empowerment, this Lower Middle School after-school activity is a response to a growing interest among students in the do-it-yourself culture. Offered to students in Classes III,
CODE. The Upper School Coding Club focuses on iOS App Development as well as educating the community about the practical aspects of coding. They have run workshops on Processing for both faculty and administration in celebration of The Hour of Code, coordinated student workshops sponsored by the Flatiron School on using Ruby to code apps and using JavaScript to program drones, and taken courses in summer 2015 on Swift app development and game design through Udemy. In fall 2015, club members will develop their own online Swift course designed specifically for students. The club will also run an after school Introduction to Scratch program for Lower Middle School students. This program is supported by a generous grant, awarded to a student, as part of the National Center for Women & Information Technology’s (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Program.
IV, and V, students explore e-textiles, craft-tech, digital design, and kinetic sculpture.
Global Exchange Program. Connecting our students to the global community is the key objective of the global exchange program. Marymount offers a wide variety of cultural exchange and language immersion programs within and beyond the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) Network of Schools. Recent programs include the RSHM International Sports Festival, and opportunities to study at schools in England, Italy, France, Portugal, Brazil, and Colombia. Marymount families also host international students visiting New York. 14
Student Technology Conference. In January 2014, Marymount’s Student Technology Leadership Team (STLT) posed the following question: what if students and teachers from around the world could share ideas about using educational technology in the classroom? Under the guidance of educational consultants Lucy Grey and Steve Hargadon, that dream was realized on Saturday, January 31, 2015, at the first annual Student Technology Conference. Developed in collaboration with students from the University School of Milwaukee, Westhampton Middle School on Long Island, and the American School of Bombay, the conference was a free, virtual event that was the first student-led endeavor of its kind. The conference provided an international forum for the presentation, discussion, and sharing of educational technology best practices in schools and other academic settings. Over the course of twelve hours, there were over twenty student presentations and four student keynotes that shared innovative approaches to digital learning as well as fresh perspectives on educational technology. Presentations included “Global Buddy—Lesson From a Student Initiative to Connect Schools,” “Video Pen Pals: Connecting Classrooms Around the World,” “ Virtual Enterprises International Program,” and “Mentoring Middle School Students in Lego Robotics.” All sessions are available on the Student Technology Conference YouTube Channel.
a minimum of $1,000; Marymount students coordinated a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised close to $5,000.
Student Technology Conference Promotional Video
Cognizant of the fact that majority of participating schools were independent, the STLT has been working with Disney’s Be Inspired/ Summer of Creativity as well as with other contacts at Disney to develop a small grant program that would bring the necessary infrastructure to underrepresented schools so that they also may participate in the conference.
To support the conference infrastructure, the students collectively were required to raise $15,000. Each coordinating school contributed 15
Ongoing Professional Learning Relevant and Timely Professional Development Faculty engage in a cycle of inquiry that promotes reflection, experimentation, and sharing. How do faculty stay current and learn new ways to amplify student learning?
Relevant and Timely Professional Development At Marymount, with a combination of visionary leadership and a motivated faculty, we have a created a culture of collaboration and observation wherein faculty develop their own strategies for the infusion of educational technology into their curriculum. To support this endeavor, each faculty member is provided with a MacBook Air and a 16 GB iPad with WiFi. Ongoing professional leaning to best utilize technology at Marymount is incorporated under the overall umbrella of transformative teaching and learning. The Academic Council, working in collaboration with the Director of STEM Education and the Director of Academic Resources, seeks to create thoughtful, relevant programs for faculty. These professional growth experiences support an ongoing transformation from traditional classroom instruction to an inquiry-based learning model. New faculty are offered “basic training” in the use of the MacBook Air and iPad as a teaching tool, and pop-up mini-workshops and tutorials are offered to faculty with interest in learning specific tools or applications. The school eschews multi-
divisional, school-wide, “one size fits all” workshops in favor of division-specific learning experiences for faculty run by creative technologists associated with that division. Other informal, but equally important, professional growth occurs in faculty workspaces and other common use spaces where conversations about the innovative uses of technology spark individuals to experiment with new and existing tools in their own classrooms. Marymount’s ongoing professional learning includes: EdCamp @ Marymount. Instead of offering end of the year technology workshops that “feature one person standing in the front of the room talking for an hour,” we use an EdCamp model. Teachers are encouraged to discuss interests, passions, and questions that matter most to them. In June 2015 topics included “Best Assessment Practices and Backwards Design,” “Kahoot 101,” “How to Use Individual Whiteboards” and “How to Handle Controversial Diversity Comments Said in Class.” Maker Day @ Marymount. In collaboration with five independent schools and the Beam Center, Marymount organizes a day of “making” workshops for children and adults. The free conference offers a
variety of workshops in electronics, computing, wood working, and crafting. The Marymount Makers set up a Green Screen Photo Booth and taught a workshop on making Hanging Gardens.
in an innovative educational environment. The 2015 MLI included making and learning conversations with students and teachers as part of a half-day immersion experience program; innovation coaching and co-sponsorship of Hacking the Life Science Classroom, a collaboration between Marymount School and Rockefeller University. This year, we have reached over 200 educators from more than forty schools.
Design, Do, Discover. The annual two-day Design, Do, Discover workshop is for educators who are passionate about hands-on learning and interested in the practical implementation of these experiences in the classroom. The program’s particular focus is on integrating digital fabrication, making, and physical computing projects into the daily life of a K-12 school. In June 2015, the workshop brought together 80 participants and10 internationallyrecognized makers and innovators who served as coaches and mentors.
Making and Learning Institute (MLI). Sponsored by a generous grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation, the MLI offers a new paradigm in professional growth. Instead of offering workshops in blocks as traditional professional development does, this new model immerses participants in experiences that allow them to observe best practices
EdCamp GlobalEd. On October 24, 2015, Marymount will host EdCamp Global Ed. Using the innovative professional development model of EdCamp, Marymount will unite educators and students from around the world to share best practices in global education. As noted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, schools must "foster global citizenship. Education is much more than an entry to the job market. It has the power to shape a sustainable future and a better 17
world. Education should promote peace, mutual respect, and environmental care." Outside professional development. Marymount encourages and supports all faculty members to attend seminars, workshops, and conferences sponsored by a diverse group of local and national organizations, including the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Attending conferences often in teams of faculty and administration offers opportunities for continued discussion post-conference. Subject-specific workshops offer additional means to support ongoing teacher learning and enhance curriculum development. For example in recent years teams of Marymount teachers have attended workshops to develop the use of Modeling Instruction in science classrooms.
Pendulum,” respectively, at Fab 11 in Boston; classics educators Kristin Webster and Sammie Smith presented “The Digital Latin Classroom” and “Teaching the First Century using 21st Century Tools” at the American Classical League Symposium; and Don Buckley and Eric Walters presented “Transforming Teaching and Learning Through Design Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the Harpeth Hall STEM Think Tank and Conference in Nashville.
Using the “train-the-trainer” model. Marymount employs the expertise of its own faculty to create innovative learning experiences for other faculty members. In this model, Marymount teachers return from outside professional development experiences and, in turn, train cohorts of learners. Marymount also has an active educational technology mentoring program, wherein Marymount faculty serve as ed tech mentors to peers. Paying it forward. Faculty members at Marymount often share their knowledge with other education professionals. For example, in summer 2015, creative technologists Jaymes Dec and Nancy Otero presented “FAB Audio - DIY Speakers” and “Designing a Giant Wave 18
Compelling Evidence of Success Research Practices Data is routinely collected, analyzed, and shared to inform progress and measure success. Is there a systematic approach that uses research to inform progress toward the initiative’s goals and vision?
Qualitative Evidence of Success We asked Upper School students for their thoughts on their specific interactions with Apple technology and technology in general. Samantha P., Class of 2016. I’ve learned to think differently. For example, in my British Literature class, we had to create a comic of a modern day inspired scene from Hamlet. Our production team created a fifty-page comic exploring Hamlet’s reaction to being stuck in an elevator with Ophelia, his uncle, and his mother. This was challenging in that we had to transform our written words into visual representations.” Lucy D., Class of 2016. Having our own MacBook Airs gives us an innate understanding of different applications as well as the opportunity to explore, play with and create with these applications. In 9th grade, I published my own book that I created in iBooks Author. This year, I’ve become much more familiar with iMovie and I find that not only am I making movies in school, but I’m producing my own films outside of school as well.
Sabrina S., Class of 2015. Our study tour to the Silicon Valley was both transformative and eyeopening to me. Our visits to companies such as Apple, Zynga, Autodesk, and Facebook reinforced my understanding that women are making important strides in both leadership and innovation. But there’s more work to be done. I was most impressed that the thought leaders of Silicon Valley asked our opinions and that Marymount students were both forward-thinking and confident in not only moving the conversation in new directions but unafraid to challenge the status quo.” Amanda D., Class of 2015 and former President of the Student Technology Leadership Team. Apple technology certainly gives you a lot of tools to use in class everyday. But most importantly, it inspires you and gives you a sense of confidence. And as a young woman, connecting confidence with technology is critically important. Confidence led me to leading the Student Technology Team. Inspiration led me to coordinating the 2015 Student Technology Conference.
The Story of Student-Centered, Technology-Infused Learning
Our faculty offered the following thoughts: Sarah Verasco, Lower School Music. I find that students take more ownership of their learning when technology is infused into the curriculum. And, on the whole, my instructional practices have become more efficient. I scan any piece of music into my iPad, project the image through AppleTV. As a Lower School music teacher, I can draw students’ attention to certain parts of the music and identify patterns, different kinds of notes, or the direction the notes are moving. Apple technology keeps me on my toes. There are always new things to discover and new ways to teach something. I am challenged to continue reflecting on my teaching and I’m not allowed to get too comfortable!
Students in Class VIII work to program their bots.
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Kristin Webster, Upper School Latin. The infusion of technology, in my opinion, changes student learning in three significant ways. It enables them to take ownership of their learning, adopt leadership roles in the classroom, and play an active role in their learning process. The use of technology in my Latin classroom all centers around two guiding principles: to provide students with opportunities to create by doing and to create lasting products whenever possible. Whether they are creating videos to explain grammar concepts to their peers using iMovie; writing and illustrating Latin children’s books using 20
iBooks Author; or creating an annotated translation of Virgil using Google Drive on their MacBook Airs, my students are able to build and apply their knowledge of Latin while also creating meaningful resources for others. Katie Krueger, Upper School Science. While content curation might look like only finding good sources for my students and giving them a list of these resources, I prefer to focus on teaching the skills that will allow my students to critically look at content in a digital world. But because content can take so many different forms images, audio, video, static text - it is also critically important that my students know how to interact with that content, transform that content and connect that content. Apple’s platform allows that to happen effortlessly. Content can be accessed, edited and shared seamlessly between a student’s iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air. In some ways, the device is immaterial. Its what students do with content on those devices is what drives my curriculum.
Quantitative Evidence of Success Marymount prefers alternative assessment methods to measure students’ academic curiosity, creativity, and achievement. In the spirit of the Maker Movement, Marymount embraces the importance of the process over the product and encourages all students to experiment, tinker, and innovate. We try not to define ourselves only by traditional measures of success. Since the inception of the Mobile Learning Initiative in 2010, for example, students enrolled in classes that utilize mobile technology have seen excellent results. For example, 80% of AP Physics students (who use the iPad as a learning tool), earned a passing grade on the exam as did every student enrolled in an AP Language exam. Overall, AP scores have improved considerably over the last five years. Moreover, 100% of Marymount seniors graduate on time and go on to college. In the last few years, the School has also seen a marked increase in the number of students applying to STEM-related majors at colleges and universities across the country. Interest in STEM-related activities has also risen significantly in the last few years. Marymount introduced the Science Olympiad team in 2012 with fifteen charter members. Enrollment continues to grow, so that the club will field two teams in 2016.
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In additionally, Marymount participated in the World Maker Faire at the New York Hall of Science in September 2013 and 2014 and was named the recipient of several Make:Editor’s Choice Awards. At the Marymount Makers booth, students displayed and described their work, including dresses made out of repurposed and recycled materials, solar-powered lamps, and robots. In the 2015-2016 school year, Marymount will continue its Women in STEM speaker series to connect high school girls interested in STEM with women from STEM-related universities, labs, companies, and organizations around the world. We believe that relationships with role models and mentors have a significant impact on young women as they consider pursuing STEM-related fields of study and careers. Drawing on our alumnae and their connections, we include women in non-traditional, interdisciplinary STEM fields, such as science journalism, art restoration and informal science center directors. Recent visitors have included an aerospace engineer, a NASCAR driver, an orthopedic surgeon, a bio-medical engineer, and software entrepreneurs. Connecting our students with those who have similar passions will encourage them to further develop their interest in these fields.
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Flexible Learning Environment School Design and Facilities Facilities and schedules are designed to maximize learning opportunities that technology provides. How do learning environments and student schedules change over time?
School Design and Facilities To support learning outside the classroom, we have created a number of social spaces within the School for students to relax, interact, and collaborate. Open, flexible-use spaces and comfortable seating allow students the opportunity to communicate, explore, and engage.
Information Technology (IT) IT infrastructure supports innovation in teaching and learning. How does the IT staff support faculty and students in daily innovative use of technology?
In 2011, Marymount opened a Digital Fabrication Lab and Media Lab at the School’s East 97th Street campus. These learning spaces offer students and faculty the opportunity to design, tinker, and create with tools and technologies not found in traditional educational settings. In 2013, an additional maker space was opened at the Fifth Avenue campus. In this space, equipped with MacBook Airs and tools such as the Arduino microcontroller, and various programming languages, students explore electronics, circuiting, and interactive design. Lightweight, portable electronics redefine mobile learning as students no longer need to be tied to a classroom to tinker, create, and learn; they can be anywhere in the school, or anywhere in the world, and design and innovate.
In 2014, the School developed two additional creative learning spaces: the Tinker Space for Lower School students and the STEAM Lab for Lower Middle School Students. In 2013, Marymount also redesigned its schedule, moving to longer instructional periods across all divisions, with a focus on homeroom-based, interdisciplinary learning in Classes K-V, and inquirybased, reflective learning in Classes VI-XII. Responding to new understanding of how the brain learns, the schedule was developed to promote health learning for girls and offer opportunities for electives in non-traditional subject areas.
Access to information at the students’ fingertips has urged faculty to look beyond content as the sole focus of their instruction and curriculum; instead, they focus on how students can explore “big questions” and find meaning in the content through the application of knowledge in their independent, analytical, collaborative, creative work. Digital tools for research, creation, and sharing allow such learning to take place. Innovation Learning Spaces Transform Teaching and Learning
Information Technology (IT) Marymount supports the following technology initiatives: • 1:1 iPad Program for Kindergarten through Class V • 1:1 MacBook Air Program for Classes VI through XII • 1:1 iPad Program for AP Physics C and Molecular Biology • 1:1 MacBook Air Program for Faculty and Administrators • 1:1 iPad Program for Faculty The Information Technology Department includes the Information Systems Administrator, Database Administrator, and three Computer Support Specialists. The Information Systems Administrator is deeply invested in the curricular aspect of educational technology and works hand-in-hand with the Director of STEM Education and the Director of Academic Resources to support and implement new curricular initiatives.
A student interacts with a flat-screen display in a Lower Middle School Math Class.
The 97th Street Digital Fabrication Lab is overseen by the Fab Lab Administrator who works collaboratively with Upper Middle School teachers to infuse making and physical computing into the curriculum. The Tinker Space and the STEAM Lab are managed by a design and innovation educator and an art teacher, respectively. The Fifth Avenue Idea Lab is managed by a Creative Technologist in Residence.
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The goal of the IT department is to ensure that all infrastructure works seamlessly. When a teacher or student walks into a classroom or maker space, there should be no technology issues - displays turn on, 3D printers print, and wireless Internet access works. In the summer of 2013, all SmartBoards were removed from the school facilities. Classrooms were upgraded to HD multi-touch display screens and AppleTV, allowing teachers and students the opportunity to share work created on iPads or MacBook Airs and access multi-touch Apps, such as 3-D Earth and the Google Art Project. Visual Arts teacher Leah Rubin commented, “I’ve discovered that the AppleTV combined with the interactive display is not only a great tool for investigating art, but also a great tool for motivating students to participate in a hands-on experience. Using this tool for visual presentations in class immediately grabs the attention of the students and keeps them fully engaged in project work and art analysis.”
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Contribution and Credits List of people willing to address five areas of best practices.
School Liaison Eric A. Walters Director of STEM Education ewalters@marymountnyc.org
In addition to the school liaison, the following people are able to address these areas. Visionary Leadership Concepcion R. Alvar Headmistress calvar@marymountnyc.org
Compelling Evidence of Success Kim Field-Marvin Divisional Head, Upper Mid kfield-marvin@marymountnyc.org
Innovative Learning and Teaching Kristin Webster World Languages Teacher kwebster@marymountnyc.org
Flexible Learning Environment Don Buckley Educational Consultant & Entrepreneur Coach dbuckley@marymountnyc.org
Ongoing Professional Learning Martha Erskine Director of Academic Resources merskine@marymountnyc.org