SCHOOL SCENE A Special Supplement to the Sullivan County Democrat
A look at activities in the Roscoe Central School SECTION R • MARCH, 2016 CALLICOON, NY
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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT
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District uses technology to break traditional learning molds STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY
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echnology coordinator and teacher Gilat Aharon has served the Roscoe Central School (RCS) for seven years. Here, she answers questions about the richness of technology in one of Sullivan County's smallest school districts, and how students respond to new ways of learning. How widely is technology used at Roscoe Central School? All students have Google accounts, giving everyone the opportunity to have access to Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc. Students are able to type up a project at school and still access it while they are anywhere that has Internet. This year, all 10th grade students were given their own personal Chromebooks (a kind of laptop) for the school year. Our goal in the next three years is to have every student from grade 8 to 12 with a Chromebook. In our middle school wing, a cart of Chromebooks is shared between the fifth and sixth graders. Fifth and sixth graders have personal Kindles that can be signed out and taken home daily for those who do not have technology at home to complete school work. Additionally, our elementary and high school wing has its own cart of iPads shared between classrooms. Our distance learning technology gives students an opportunity to take courses they never could before. We offer two classes, one we host with our science teacher Taso Pantilieris, who teaches forensics to our own stu-
Gilat Aharon steers the Roscoe Central School through the exciting waters of new technologies for staff and students.
dents and to those in three other schools: Laurens Central, Morris Central and Unadilla Valley, all in New York State. The other distance learning class available to our students is an Italian course that comes
School Scene: A Look at Activities in Roscoe Central School Published by
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from Laurens. Even our second graders are involved in distance learning. In a project at Thanksgiving time, Donna Greenthal's students “meet” students from another school as they try to Publisher: Senior Editor: Editor: Sports Editor: Editorial Assistants: Advertising Director: Advertising Coordinator: Advertising Representatives: Special Sections Coordinator: Business Manager: Business Department: Telemarketing Coordinator: Classified Manager: Production Associates: Distribution:
solve the mystery of a turkey in disguise that each school has made for the other. I have collaborated with both Mr. Pantilieris and science teacher Mike Hill on the use of Zaption, which is Fred W. Stabbert III Dan Hust Carol Montana Ken Cohen Willow Baum, Kaitlin Carney, Kathy Daley, Alex Rau, Richard Ross, Jeanne Sager, Autumn Schanil Liz Tucker Sandy Schrader Cecilia Lamy, Barbara Matos Susan Panella Susan Owens Patricia Biedinger, Joanna Blanchard Michelle Reynolds Janet Will Nyssa Calkin, Petra Duffy, Elizabeth Finnegan, Ruth Huggler, Rosalie Mycka, Tracy Swendsen Billy Smith, Richard Stagl
video-based learning with interactive content and tools that helps engage learners, deepen understanding and track progress. We have begun computer-based testing, this year piloting in one of our classes. Steve Livsey, our instructional multi-media technician, and guidance counselor Kelly Hendrickson work together with me and attend many conferences on New York State technology changes. How do students react to the use of technology? Eighth grade students recently started their 10-week course with me. I helped them set up their first school Google account and had them collaborate in groups to complete a lengthy assignment that required them to use docs sheets and slides in the same project. They were amazed that all their partners were able to view the same document at once and to watch in real time as they added information to the same project. They loved how easy it was to share documents and work easily on the same thing. They loved that fact that each student had his or her own responsibility in the group and were able separately but still together to complete a project. Why is technology so important in classrooms? Used correctly, technology helps prepare students for future careers, which will inevitably include the use of wireless technology. Integrating technology is also a great way to support diversity in learning styles. Technology gives students the chance to interact with their classmates more by encouraging collaboration. It helps students stay engaged. Students have access to digital textbooks that are constantly updated and often more vivid, helpful, creative
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Alisha Trautschold said Roscoe's “going Google� has allowed students more options at their fingertips, easier access to the internet and new ways to explore and learn.
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Knowledge + healthy lifestyle = academic success, say teachers STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATHY DALEY
Then there are the statistics about overweight children – that 43 million kids worldwide are overweight before they are five years old. “We are eating processed food and not moving much,” reflected Ebeling. “A lot of the food we eat comes out of a box. Parents work two or three jobs, and it’s easier to go for the fast food.” A two-week unit in physical education might focus on walking and jogging, or on snowshoeing, which has Molusky escorting students out onto the football field with snowshoes purchased last year through a federal grant. As site coordinator for Roscoe’s afterschool program, Molusky brought in a trained yoga instructor from the Boys and Girls Club of Orange County. Colleague Ebeling taught her own yoga unit, complete with guided meditation. “The kids love it,” she said. They say ‘when can we do yoga again?’”
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s anyone knows who has walked fast, run hard or danced wildly, physical activity feels good. “It promotes endorphins that make kids feel happy, that makes for happy adults,” said Roscoe Physical Education teacher Melissa Ebeling. She and fellow phys ed teacher Jeff Molusky spend their own energy promoting wellness and healthy habits at Roscoe Central School – for physical and academic reasons. “Research shows that physical activity does lead to higher test scores,” said Molusky. And to better health. “Eighty percent of deaths today are due to non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer,” said Ebeling. “Three quarters of the time, they are preventable with activity, a proper diet and a healthy lifestyle.” As can be depression, which is a huge health concern in the U.S., she added.
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Roscoe physical education teachers Melissa Ebeling and Jeff Molusky try to keep kids active both in school and out.
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Keeping it moving: language teacher shares her bags of tricks Hyzer employs the flipped classroom mode of teaching, whereby students “learn” the lesson at home and then come in to class to discuss it.
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hen she was growing up in Roscoe, Cindy Hendrix loved the idea of learning Spanish, an exotic toehold to the wider world. “To me it was a way that you could see the world, be able to travel to beautiful places,” said Cindy, whose married name is now Hyzer. Hyzer went on to become proficient in Spanish, eventually traveling to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and to study abroad in Venezuela. Nine years ago, she arrived back in Roscoe to teach and serves as language teacher for the pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. In her classroom, noted Principal Janice Philips, Hyzer works to keep her students involved and interested through strategies and projects that deepen student understanding. “Students are bombarded with attention-grabbing things that are completely interactive,” Hyzer explained. “It makes sense that they need more in the classroom to stimulate their minds, keep them focused and keep them enjoying learning.” Hyzer employs the flipped classroom mode of teaching, whereby students “learn” the lesson at home and then come in to class to discuss it. Moving lectures outside the classroom allows the teacher to spend more time one-on-one with students, and to encourage a more collaborative learning environment. Using a new communication tool
Spanish teacher Cindy Hyzer checks the work of student Samantha Cruz.
called Remind, Hyzer is able to connect instantly with students and parents, sending quick messages to any
electronic device. “I can send them a text message with attachments so that students
can review or investigate a particular homework topic,” said Hyzer. “Then the classroom becomes a place of discussion, a dissection of a topic, as opposed to the traditional note-taking classroom.” A New York Times article on why people immigrate to the U.S., for example, served as a text for eighth grade students to read at home. The article by award-winning journalist and author Sonia Nazario illustrated the daily life in many places around the globe where families cannot afford to feed their children and where guns and violence threaten daily life. “When my students came in, we broke down the class so that some kids became experts on the actual traveling experience of immigrants, while others researched the U.S. policies on immigration.” One of Hyzer's former Roscoe students, whose mother came from Guatemala, arrived to speak to today's students about the benefits of Roscoe's program of study for college and career readiness. But she also spoke about her culture and the probPLEASE SEE LANGUAGE, PAGE 7R
Best Wishes to the Roscoe School Staff & Students. Especially, Pamela Carpenter and Robert & Emma Buck Nancy Buck Sullivan County Treasurer
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STORY AND PHOTO BY KATHY DALEY
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In this classroom, linking the past with the now makes history live again STORY AND PHOTO BY KATHY DALEY
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or most people of a certain age, World War I was the first of two 20th century wars that involved the United States and Germany, caused by who knows what. Students at Roscoe Central School, however, may find themselves recalling later in life that what finally propelled the U.S. into World War I was the Zimmerman Telegram – a secret
message from Germany to Mexico urging the latter to attack the United States should our nation become involved. In the active learning taking place in the classroom of social studies teacher Nicole Semerano, students uncover the “why and how” of important world events, comparing and contrasting those happenings with today's world. “The idea is that if a student needs to know when a war took place or
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who was president in 1962, they can Google it, ask Siri on their iPhone or use whatever other technology we will have in the future,” said Semerano. “Instead, the goal is to get them to understand what caused the War of 1812 or to analyze the hard decisions President Kennedy had to make during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Cause and effect, pros and cons, comparisons to today or other time periods, and analysis are some key skills that we are moving to with our students.” For the unit on World War I, students took topics from the war – the Zimmerman Telegram, a cause, and the League of Nations, an effect – and related them to things kids know, like the animated sitcom “South Park” and movies by author Nicholas Sparks.
Amazing. In the old classroom framework, teachers came to class prepared to dole out information that the students wrote down and memorized. In Roscoe and other school districts, the emphasis is now on "inquirybased learning" which is driven more by a learner's questions than by a teacher's lessons. The Common Core has emphasized this shift of focus in English Language Arts and math. Now the shift is taking place in social studies as well. “I have had this style of teaching in my repertoire for years,” said Semerano. “But the resources from the state and the county are allowing me to incorporate it even more.” For example, New York State provides links to the websites of U.S. presidents, where students and teachers can find original journals kept by the famous men.
PHYS ED: Promoting healthy lifestyles
For a unit on immigration, Semerano's 11th graders were able to access nearly 20 different online stories penned by immigrants who came to the U.S. through Ellis Island. They learned that two of the most famous newcomers who sailed to New York from other lands were composer Irving Berlin, from Russia, and movie director Frank Capra, from Italy, who produced the well-loved film “It's a Wonderful Life.” Analyzing, digging into meanings and collaborating are all part of the picture. “It's more freedom for students, but it's structured freedom,” said Semerano. For a unit on the 1920s, her eighth graders compared that decade of social and political change to today, breaking into small groups in order to discuss more deeply. “You want the low rumble in the classroom,” the sign that excited
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Molusky offers a Fitness and Nutrition elective that teaches students how to eat right, count calories and burn fat. Fly fishing, of course, is the area’s claim to fame, and school custodian and angling expert Mike Lambrigger has taught kids the proper method for casting. There’s hope this spring for an outdoor fly fishing experience for students, said Molusky, adding that a unit on bicycling is also possible. In terms of activity, “We try to incorporate what they can do when they are not here in school,” he said. Then there are the impressive Roscoe facilities: a weight room, gymnasium, auditorium and athletic fields for baseball, soccer, softball and football along with tennis and basketball facilities and a playground. An outside garden also helps students learn healthy habits, said Ebeling. Incorporating English Language arts and math into their work – the cross-curriculum approach required today – has kids keeping fitness goals journals and being aware of the math needed in matters like interval training, distance pacing and pedometers. With today’s kids typically over-fixated on hand-held computer devices,
lems immigrants face, both at home and in the U.S. Hyzer also connected with fellow Roscoe teacher Carmel Lambe, who teaches English Language Arts and who was working with her students on the bestseller “Enrique's Journey.” The book, also penned by Sonia Nazario, recounts the true story of a Honduran boy searching for his mother 11 years after she left the family to find work in the U.S. Hyzer also uses physicality to keep her students awake and engaged. To get bodies in motion, Hyzer will scrawl three sentences in Spanish on the board: one that is accurate, one that is slightly wrong, and one that is completely false. Students must stand up and gather near the sentence they believe is correctly said. Another time, she will use the game “Musical Chairs” to reinforce learning
getting them moving is a top priority, both in the classroom and outside, the teachers said. They push for not sitting too long, for a brief stint of jogging in place, for being sure to stay active during recess time. Still, the teachers are not adverse to using technology when needed. “We are looking into apps like Scorekeeper (which scores games electronically) and Fitbits,” which helps students measure how many steps they’ve walked or run, said Molusky. Every little Bit helps.
learning and sharing is taking place, she said. “It shows they are working.” For a unit on women gaining the vote according to the 19th amendment, her class had to reach back into the mindset of 1910 and 1920 to ask themselves the question: why would women getting the vote be a good thing? They were then able to relate the discussion to today, when two women – Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina – have sought the U.S. presidency. That particular discussion, so new and timely, could not be found in a current textbook, Semerano noted. “Inquiry learning gets students finding information on their own and then analyzing,” she said, noting that they then experience the excitement of solving a task or a problem on their own. “It allows for a higher order of thinking.”
LANGUAGE: A toehold on a wide world
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Jeff Molusky offers a Fitness and Nutrition elective.
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of the Spanish pronouns of yo, tu, ella and el. With her seventh graders, a reportedly high-spirited class, “I think I've effectively been able to not only reach them but sustain their curiosity with my different modes of instruction and varying teaching techniques.” She frequently doles out “exit tickets,” which are sticky notes that ask students, for instance, to list Spanish indirect object pronouns. If enough students don't get it, that's her sign to reteach the next day. “If I notice my students tuning out, I get them up and moving,” she said. “Or sometimes it's me who needs to refocus.” “Together,” said Hyzer, “we set goals individually and collectively, and we talk about goal setting and data often in class,” the teacher said. “I am big on respect and expectations.”
Credits: All photographs and stories for this special School Scene are by Sullivan County Democrat Photographer/Reporter Kathy Daley. The Democrat would also like to thank the Roscoe Central School District for all its cooperation in this project.
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