Assistant Superintendent Relies on Classroom Experience to Guide District Policy  A school superintendent can be considered the CEO of the school board, hired to deliver professional education advice and implement policy. It can be argued that classroom experience and a deep understanding of how teaching and learning work together make for a more effective superintendant. That is certainly the case with M. Christopher Marchese, Ed.D., ’94, G’97.
While Marchese worked his way up the ranks from secondary science teacher to assistant principal and then principal, today he continues to rely on his classroom experience to guide him in daily decision making as assistant superintendent of the Wissahickon School District in suburban Montgomery County. “I work with many people to accomplish the district’s goals: parents, community members, support staff, teachers, fellow administrators and our board of school directors. But what I like best is I still get to work with students and help them to reach their goals,” he says. Marchese is responsible for oversight of curriculum and instruction, pupil services and technology for more than 4,500 students in the district’s seven schools. Because the district is intent upon improving achievement of all students, Marchese recently undertook the challenge of developing a life skills program for the district’s middle and high school students who require additional learning support. “This is the first year for our new program – the Secondary Functional Skills Program for Learning Support Students – and we are already seeing the program working as we had anticipated and students meeting targeted goals,” he says. The program is designed to provide special education students a functional/applied approach to learning core curriculum content such as language arts, mathematics and daily living skills. Key to the program’s success are community-based activities where students put those skills to use.
Initiating and developing this program was important to Marchese and to the district’s Special Education department, who wanted to see more options for students who require life skills programming and were transitioning from the district’s elementary schools to middle school and from middle school to high school. “We are impacting about 40 students just this year,” explains Marchese. “It’s a program that is important to our students, and also has garnered attention from other districts that are carefully watching the outcomes of the program in anticipation of possibly initiating similar programs for their students.” Marchese received a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in education at Cabrini and then earned a doctoral degree in education at Immaculata University. While his full-time job as assistant superintendent keeps him busy, he also serves as adjunct faculty at the College, fulfilling a personal promise to give back. “I want to support Cabrini because my education there has done so much for me personally and professionally,” he says. “I want the students I teach at the College to have the same sense of pride in the program that I have.”
National News Brief – Research Dispels Teacher Tech Use Myth Younger teachers who are newer to the profession are no more likely to use technology in teaching than are teachers with 10 or more years of experience, a national study shows.  The study conducted in 2009 by online Walden University and Grunwald Associates reports that 22 percent of teacher respondents–regardless of age or experience in the classroom–use technology 31 percent or more during class time to support learning. Thirty-four percent reported infrequent use.
Another finding of the study is that lack of access to technology does not appear to be the main reason why teachers don’t use technology during class time to support learning. Nearly half of those surveyed who were infrequent users of technology in the classroom said that the technology devices were not necessary for their lessons.
 Teaching with Twitter Learn How Other Teachers Use This Social Media Tool in the Classroom Twitter, the 140-character blog-like social media tool, can positively impact your lessons and increase connection inside and outside your classroom. Teachers who use the tool find that the connection it provides increases student and parent involvement, keeps students engaged and everyone up-to-date on important assignments, initiatives and progress.  Once you initiate a Twitter account, getting students and parents involved is as simple as providing instructions for them to subscribe to your Twitter feed.
Consider how using the tool’s 140-character limit will help you do the following: - Achieve due date accountability – If students and parents subscribe to your Twitter feed, and you are responsible about tweeting reminders about project due dates, quiz and test dates, everyone has a clear understanding of what is expected, and when.
- Live updates from the field trip – Parents will appreciate the opportunity to follow along, without leaving their homes or workplaces.
- Direct message parents and students – Because an email from you may get lost in someone’s spam filter, using Twitter for important announcements increases the probability that the message reaches those who subscribe.
- Get students engaged – Group discussions often are carried by the less-shy members in the classroom. Break down those barriers by asking every student to respond to a specific question on Twitter.
- Teach vocab – Twitter is a great place to ask students to tweet the words they can make from an anagram, define a term, or list synonyms or antonyms.
- Teach writing – Twitter is a perfect outlet for Haiku, poems, and caption writing.
- Teach math – Post a problem of the day for students to solve and tweet back.
- Prep for the test – Post a sample question for an upcoming exam.
- Take a poll – Survey students to get a discussion going, learn about their opinions on a current event, or get them to vote about an event or initiative.
Sources:
Miller, Samantha (2010). “50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom.” Techhub.com
“22 Interesting Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom.” Docstoc.com
Sample, Mark (August 2010). “Practical Advice for Teaching With Twitter.” The Chronicle of Higher Education
How to Get the Most Out of Professional Development Meetings If you view professional development programs as a burden, consider taking these steps to change your outlook, as well as your future experiences: - Speak up. If your district requires your attendance at in-service development sessions, but the sessions are leaving you cold, speak up. Suggest the sessions be more interactive, involving veteran teachers and new teachers in discussion about the subject at hand, rather than “top-down” lectures. Volunteer with your administration to help plan such events.
- Seek out. If you are unhappy with the quality of programming, look to other sources that may offer dynamic, appropriate and new learning opportunities. Consider text book publishers, teacher resource chains, and the State Department of Education. You may find online courses and local presentations that are low in cost, easy to attend and are qualified professional development opportunities.
- Self-Diagnose. If it has been a while since you learned a new skill – art appreciation, kayaking, cooking – you may be overdue for being a student again. Learning a new skill can serve to kick-start your brain and your enthusiasm for learning.
Sources:
Sokolik, M.E.(June 2005) The Shared Responsibility for Professional Development.” Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Vol. 9, Number 1.
Webster, Wendy. (June 2010). Professional development for Recertification.” Myteachersite.org
Alumni News Christina McLaughlin G’09 was named assistant principal at Solanco High School in Quarryville, Pa. Veronica Collins Harrington G’09, president of Academy of Notre Dame de Namur was profiled in a recent article in the Times Herald. Assistant Professor of Education Colleen Lelli ’95, Ed.D., is profiled in an online interview at www.gradschools.com about how professors perceive differences in undergraduate and graduate students. |