Embedded Files
Balanced Math Instruction
Balanced Math Instruction
Learning Strand: From the Field
Description of Session: This presentation provides an opportunity for educators to observe the implementation of a teaching model called Balanced Math Instruction; that provides students with tools and resources to investigate math ideas, engage in productive struggle, develop plausible solutions and form generalizations about math ideas while the teacher acts a guide or facilitator.
This teaching style will benefit educators as it offers them an opportunity to observe incorporation of different instructional strategies to help students develop problem solving strategies and critical thinking skills.
Presenter: Henry Ogele, Vice Principal West Side High School
Bio: Henry Ogele is currently a Vice Principal at West Side High School and also an adjunct math professor at Kean University. He began his career in Newark Public Schools as a substitute teacher and was soon offered a position as a math teacher at Weequahic High School. Additionally, he completed his undergraduate studies at New Jersey Institute of Technology and was awarded two masters degrees from Kean University.
Relevant Audience: 9-12 Math Instructors
Write Club
Write Club
Learning Strand: From the Field
Description of Session: Write Club will inspire you and your students to write with passion and purpose. Write Club is a practice that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on your classroom culture and enhance student engagement, while chiseling and polishing essential literacy skills.
Rules of Write Club:
#1 You do not talk about Write Club. #2 You DO NOT talk about Write Club.
#3 If someone says STOP or goes limp, the write is over.
#4 One write at a time.
#5 No shirts, no shoes.
#6 Writes will go on as long as they have to.
#7 If this is your first night at WRITE CLUB, you HAVE to write.
Presenter: Meg Murray, Vice Principal, East Side High School
Bio: Meg Murray has served students and teachers in Newark Public Schools for the last 17 years at East Side High School. She is passionate about students graduating with a genuine love of learning, and confidence in speaking and writing. She is a Pisces and enjoys long walks on the beach.
Relevant Audience: 6-12 Literacy Teachers
Looking Beyond the Behavior: Behavior Management Strategies for the Elementary Classroom
Looking Beyond the Behavior: Behavior Management Strategies for the Elementary Classroom
Learning Strand: From the Field
Description of Session: Looking behind students' behaviors to figure out the "why" behind the behavior. Teachers will have the opportunity to brainstorm and share best practices around challenging behaviors and leave the workshop with ideas and strategies. Ultimately, working with children is about building a positive relationship with the child.
Presenter: Lisa Fischman, Harriet Tubman School
Bio: Lisa Fischman is in her seventh year at Newark Public Schools. She currently serves as an Academic Interventionist at Harriet Tubman School. Fischman will complete her second Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from Montclair State University this summer. Recently, she just won the Outstanding Potential in Education Leadership from the College of Education and Human Services at MSU.
Relevant Audience: PK-8 Educators
SeaPerch Underwater Robotics After School Club
SeaPerch Underwater Robotics After School Club
Learning Strand: Empowering Student Voices
Description of Session: Presenters will explain their first year experience with the SeaPerch Underwater Robotics After School Club. They will showcase the Program Kits, Student-completed model of their ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), Instructional/Assembly Reference Guides, Student Notebooks, Competition Video Footage and Award Plaques received at Regional Competitions.
Presenters: Manuel Oliveira, Technology Coach, Ann Street School and Paulo Silva, MSW, Social Worker, Ann Street School
Bio: Manuel Oliveira - NPS educator for 22+ years where he spent 10 years as an 8th Grade Science Teacher and 13 years as a Technology Coordinator/Teacher Coach. His experience also includes that he served as the advisor and Lead Teacher for previous Math Fair Projects and the current STEM/STEAM initiatives at Ann Street School. Currently, Mr. Oliveira is working on seeking funds and grants to continue a new Underwater Robotics After School Club at Ann Street School.
Paulo Silva, MSW - Attended Rutgers University for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. Prior to coming to the Newark Public Schools, Mr. Silva worked in the Barnabas Health Care System with both At-Risk Youth and Chemical Dependency Populations. Over the last 15+ years, Mr. Silva has been employed by the Newark Public Schools as a Certified School Social Worker and is currently working with the special needs population for the Office of Special Education as a member of the Child Study Team.
Relevant Audience: Middle School STEM Educators
The Importance of Inquiry
The Importance of Inquiry
Learning Strand: Empowering Student Voices
Description of Session: Join us to learn about creating a successful STEAM Classroom by promoting student inquiry. Learn about how students engineer their own learning through their everyday experiences.
Presenters: Bina Ramesh, Teacher, Elliot Street School
Bio: Bina Ramesh graduated in May 2017 from The College of New Jersey with a double major in ISTEM (Integrated Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) and Elementary Education. Since August 2017, Ms. Ramesh has been working as an elementary science educator at Elliott Street Elementary. She is active in promoting STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) practices through social media on her accounts on instagram and Twitter, @msRlovesSTEAM.
Relevant Audience: STEM Educators
Here Comes the Sun: Developing Student Voice with Dance, Music and Art
Here Comes the Sun: Developing Student Voice with Dance, Music and Art
Learning Strand: Empowering Student Voices
Description of Session: The session will include a multimedia presentation to demonstrate that through the performing arts students can become empowered, build self-confidence and have a healthier self-image. We will discuss how dance, music and art can be used in the classroom to help students develop:
- Proper performance decorum
- Fine motor and gross motor skills
- New ways of thinking, seeing and creating
- Confidence and self-validation
Presenters: Annie Kim, Fourteenth Avenue School and Esther Ryu, Fourteenth Avenue School
Bios: Ms. Kim graduated from New Jersey City University with a dual certification in general education and special education. During her senior practicum, she was placed to student teach at John F. Kennedy School where she found her passion working with students in Newark Public Schools. Over the past ten years, Ms. Kim had the opportunity working with students with special needs in elementary, middle school, high school and post-graduates and general elementary education. Currently, she is working at Fourteenth Avenue School as a Special Education Teacher and has been collaborating with the Performing Arts Teachers to integrate the Arts into the classroom to provide a multi-sensory enriching instruction for all students.
Ms. Ryu graduated from Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Arts in Music. For the past 10 years, she has been teaching piano privately and had the pleasure of working with numerous talented individuals. Her love of music and working with students led her to pursuing a career in Music Education. Ms. Ryu is currently in her second year of teaching music at Fourteenth Avenue School. She continuously sparks students’ interest, creativity and motivation by engaging them in enriching musical performance in collaboration with Performing Arts teachers.
Relevant Audience: All Educators
Strategies to Reduce the Effects of Bias
Strategies to Reduce the Effects of Bias
Learning Strand: Giving Every Newark Student a Chance
Description of Session: What are the active roles that each of us can play, in connecting with Newark’s community to realize the potential in our transition to local control? This session is designed to spark new conversations about what educators and families can and should do to give all children a fair chance to thrive. The transition to local control represents a reinvigorated focus on the agency that Newark community members hold in the governance of our schools; our success is dependent on structures for inclusiveness of all stakeholders in a child’s education. Join colleagues to plan for the future in challenging another to maintain an open mind, and identify strategies to increase the effectiveness of our teaching and improve our relationships with families and the community.
Presenter: Christopher Jackson, Office of Early Childhood, ECS-North
Bio: Christopher Jackson works in the Office of Early Childhood. He serves on the PIRT team and is working towards a PreK-3 certification. Mr. Jackson is an attorney and comes to the education system from the child welfare system. He has worked for years in the attempt to reduce disproportionate effects and disparate results for children and families of the African diaspora in that system.
Relevant Audience: All Educators
Design Thinking in the Classroom: A Problem Solving Format
Design Thinking in the Classroom: A Problem Solving Format
Learning Strand: From the Field
Description of Session: In the past ten years, the design thinking process has become a buzzword for innovation and new wave thinking. This presentation will break down these misconceptions and reveal how design thinking can be a useful model to increase student/community engagement and efficacy in and out of the classroom. Attendees will walk away with not only an understanding of the design thinking process, but also concrete action steps on how to integrate it into their practice.
Presenter: Michael Cruz, School Operations Manager, Speedway Academies
Bio: A native of California and a Stanford alumnus, Michael Cruz moved to Newark, NJ in 2012 to be a Social Studies Teacher for Newark Public Schools. He has since served as the Senior School Operations Manager of Speedway Academies in the heart of the West Ward of Newark. He believes strongly in education access for all.
Fractions: From Fearful to Fearless
Fractions: From Fearful to Fearless
Learning Strand: Research to Practice
Description of Session: Do you have students who are struggling in math? In this session, you will explore tools to help tailor instruction to meet the needs of all students. We will dig into the progression of learning outlined in the standards to identify unfinished learning and misconceptions, and we will begin planning for future instruction.
Presenter: Denise Rawding, Roberto Clemente Elementary School
Bio: Denise Rawding, Ed.D. is currently a math coach at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. She is a 2016 state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, eagerly awaiting the national level announcement. In addition, Denise works as a math reviewer for EdReports and a design consultant for Leading Educators, and she developed an online kindergarten math unit for LearnZillion.
Relevant Audience: All Educators
Student Reflections and Connections: Memorial of Victories and Past, Present, Future
Student Reflections and Connections: Memorial of Victories and Past, Present, Future
Learning Strand: Research to Practice
Description of Session: Student Reflections and Connections will provide educators with an opportunity to see research in action. The session will provide teachers with an activity to empower students to reflect on their learning and make past and future connections to learning objectives.
Presenter: Rita Della Valle, Instructional Coach, Technology High School
Bio: Rita Della Valle is an excited math teacher and instructional coach in Newark. She has worked at Barringer Academy of the Arts and Humanities and Technology High School. She works to engage students in reflective thinking about their own learning. Rita is eager to learn from you and with you.
Relevant Audience: All Educators
Social Justice through YPAR in the Classroom
Social Justice through YPAR in the Classroom
Learning Strand: Giving Every Newark Student a Chance
Description of Session: This workshop will explore the philosophical underpinnings of Youth Participatory Action Research through an exploration past YPAR projects. Participants will have opportunities to discuss the implications of this kind of learning experience and create their own project.
Presenter: Amir Billups, Social Studies Teacher, Multiple Secondary schools
Bio: Amir currently works with NPS based pre-service teachers in Montclair State University's Urban Teacher Residency program, Amir is a Newark native who has been an advocate for educational equity since he was 16. With a decade of experience in the classroom he seeks to leverage that experience for the benefit of young people and educators alike.
The Message: A Hip-Hop Literacy Building Tool
The Message: A Hip-Hop Literacy Building Tool
Learning Strand: Empowering Student Voices
Description: Steeped in research based theory and best practices, the aim of The Message: A Hip Hop Literacy Building Tool is to improve the Language Arts Literacy skill proficiency of at-risk students in grades 6, 7 and 8 by 10 percent as measured by their performance on the PARCC assessment. Developed by thought leader Courtne Thomas, Ed.D., programmatic motivation was built on my own classroom observations and data analysis as a middle school English Language Arts teacher in a high poverty northern New Jersey school community. The Message can be implemented as an intervention to be held during the regular school day, or treated as an after-school program. Realizing that hip hop has culturally transformed fashion, culture and language, particularly for urban and disadvantaged youth, its use as an instructional tool is fitting and culturally relevant to the experiences of inner-city children. Tapping into the power of music language to reach disaffected readers, hip-hop is used as a vehicle to promote literacy. I’m taking a type of language and using it to reach a specific population that is not motivated to read.
Presenter: Courtne Thomas, Ed.D., Student Support Team
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