Good News at DISES
January 25, 2009It's a very sunny but cold Sunday morning and I can see the Stonington Harbor waters shimmering here as I write. It puts me in the mood to reflect on last week, and to think about the week to come. I thought I'd share with you some wonderful moments I experienced last week.
First, we had an in-service workshop with teachers on Tuesday. In the morning we had Jon Spelman, a nationally-known
and award-winning storyteller, present a workshop to our K-8 teachers. (Hope you got to see his storytelling performance at the Opera House last Wednesday night). Jon is one of the Kennedy Center Partnership's artists who are working with our teachers this year. His strategies for using storytelling to help kids become better readers and writers were wonderfully simple and immediately applicable for the classroom.
In fact, the very next day I was observing Sally Foley teach a math class to a small group of students in second grade. Sally immediately put to use some strategies learned in Jon Spelman's workshop to teach basic addition and subtraction concepts. Sally had the students calm and quiet while she used visualization/listening exercises and close their eyes while she told a story about a mother mouse and her little baby mice. The students could picture in their minds and concentrate more easily as they heard the story and used their fingers to add and subtract as the story unfolded. Later, they used manipulatives (bingo chips on a chart) to show their mastery of what they learned. It was an unexpected, but wonderful extension of the strategies learned and applied by a teacher. Linda Graceffa told me about how she was able to use the same storytelling strategies with her fifth grade social studies class. When Jon Spelman came back to our school the next day, and actually worked with teachers and students and demonstrate to teachers who observed him what he taught the previous day, it was great to see his work reinforced in the real environment - the classroom!
Every day I have the privilege of hearing about or seeing a memorable moment - one that makes us all feel like our work with kids is so important. Like the one where a parent called Mike Benjamin, our Assistant Principal, to thank him for working with her son who was in trouble, and for making a difference. Those calls are priceless. Or the moment (and this one gives me goosebumps) when Kathy Turner told me about a breakthrough she discovered with a child who had been struggling with reading all his life. He can now read! One strategy can sometimes make all the difference for one child, and as teachers we are always looking for what's going to work.
Yesterday, I was at the Winter Fest events at the Island Community Center when Barrett Gray came up to me to say how impressed he was with our custodial staff the night before. Kayla Young and Ricky Eaton were on duty when the Healthy Island Project was having their chili cook-off in the school's cafeteria. Barrett said Kayla and Ricky went out of their way, several times, to help out the community members in whatever they needed. All of this, in addition to what they must normally do to complete their custodial jobs.
These, and many other moments like them which happen every day, are what makes our school and community proud. Hmmnn. I wonder what will happen next week?? I'll keep you posted! (By the way, if you hear any good stories you'd like me to write about, email me at cring@dises.org.) Have a great end of January!
~ Catherine Ring |
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