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Teaching and Learning in Berkshire County, MA.

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Andrew Garcia Creating, Remixing, Streaming and Listening to Music Online

As technology advances and bandwith + wireless expand like so many galaxies, the possibilities for music creation and listening become nearly limitless. Free possibilities abound. Here are some of my recent favorites/recommendations. Have fun with these. Music Creation: Notation-Based Noteflight Music Creation: Loop-Based i-nudge … Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on December 8, 2009 at 10:32pm — No Comments

Amy R. Gelinas Fidelity of Implementation (RTI)

The last several years have seen a shift to evidenced-based practices, with the data driving our decisions involving pedegogy and curriculum practices. Has the data driven us to change our practices dramatically enough to change student learning? If we try new programs that work wonderfully elsewhere in order to improve student learning, what is holding our students back from achieving the same success? One perspective says that being true to the program format may be a critical factor. The new… Continue

Added by Amy R. Gelinas on November 18, 2009 at 4:17pm — 1 Comment

Amy R. Gelinas Fidelity of Implementation (RTI)

The last several years have seen a shift to evidenced-based practices, with the data driving our decisions involving pedegogy and curriculum practices. Has the data driven us to change our practices dramatically enough to change student learning? If we try new programs that work wonderfully elsewhere in order to improve student learning, what is holding our students back from achieving the same success? One perspective says that being true to the program format may be a critical factor. The new… Continue

Added by Amy R. Gelinas on November 18, 2009 at 4:17pm — No Comments

Amy R. Gelinas MAP

At our Friday inservice (10/23) I was excited to see the level of involvement as teachers began 'really' looking at how to use MAP data. One of the areas that I was intrigued with was the Lexile reports. If you are interested in easily finding reading material (leisure and academic) at reading and age appropriate levels, go to Lexile.com and see what (free) this site has to offer. Too often we are exposed to interesting, helpful ideas, but do not have the follow-up activities to really learn how… Continue

Added by Amy R. Gelinas on October 24, 2009 at 4:46pm — No Comments

Andrew Garcia Twitter As Professional Learning Resource

When I first tried to wrap my mind around twitter, I had the same reaction as many--what a trivial waste of time! It's true that some use twitter to share every and any banal event of their lives. However there is real PLN (Professional Learning Network) potential on Twitter. Many forward-thinking teachers and administrators use Twitter to post li… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on October 16, 2009 at 9:43pm — No Comments

Jared Shannon A Nation at Risk

Has anyone read this report issued in 1982? Food for thought. I was required to read it for an administration class I took a few months back. I thought I would pass along my own brief and simple reflection I offered in a threaded discussion in that course. Does anyone have any thoughts, suggestions or reactions to the report? My comments: As I was reading the report Nation at Risk many things went through my mind and most thoughts came back to one theme: how much have things actually changed?… Continue

Added by Jared Shannon on October 8, 2009 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment

Andrew Garcia Text of President Obama's Speech to Schoolchildren 9/8/09

"Hello, everyone — how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there a

… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on September 8, 2009 at 12:48pm — No Comments

Amy R. Gelinas Success in the Middle

"Middle schools are the 'first line of defense' in identifying at-risk students and then effectively intervening to prevent them from dropping out." -Robert Balfanz Support the Success in the Middle Act (H.R. 3006/S.1362)! Continue

Added by Amy R. Gelinas on September 1, 2009 at 10:29am — 1 Comment

John McComish Summer School and technology

I am sitting here on my lunch break with a library full of Summer school students. My wife and I have had the opportunity to develop and teach a Service Learning program incorporating English Language Arts curriculum. It is a two week course being taught in August 09. This is my second summer developing and teaching this Service Learning ELA class. The big change this year is that we were asked to develop a website in addition to our service for the sight impaired through our work at the Talking… Continue

Added by John McComish on August 18, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Andrew Garcia If Textbooks Go Digital, Do We Lose Deep Learning?

It really is a fascinating time to be living and to be an Educator. Why? Because it's… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on August 13, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Andrew Garcia Intro to Web 2.0 in Education for Teachers

Here is a link to a presentation I did on the topic of Web 2.0 in Education. It was geared for beginners. Hope it has value to others. Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on June 20, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Susan Maier-Garcia Here come the frogs

This was a fantastic exhibit. Besides having at least 15 tanks of rare and exotic frogs, and they do come in every color, size and with various adaptations available to nature, they had a computer dissecting station and other hands on stations. This would be a fascinating exhibit for kids and adults alike. If possible check it out while they are here. Continue

Added by Susan Maier-Garcia on June 16, 2009 at 8:42am — No Comments

Andrew Garcia It's About Connection

As a middle school teacher, if I have learned anything about being an effective teacher, I have learned it's all about connection. Not connection with 'the class' because there's no such thing as 'the class'. The connection(s) you must cultivate are those between you and each and every student. Students will largely forget what you say to them but they will never forget how you made them feel. Connection offers the opportunity for you to build trust in s… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on June 8, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Brian Rabuse Know your audience

As a musician and a music teacher, I know that it is vital to know who will be listening to my performances. It is not appropriate to perform jazz selections at a hard rock club. Nor is it appropriate to play Stravinsky's Rite of Spring to first graders. The audience will simply not connect, and tune out. I have become a big fan of both the Kindle reader and the Stanza app for the IPhone (these apps are not native to the IPhone; i.e. you don't need an IPhone to use the apps), If you haven't see… Continue

Added by Brian Rabuse on June 8, 2009 at 8:39am — 1 Comment

Andrew Garcia Students Seeking Relevance In Education

Ben Grey raises one of the most fundamental q… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on June 5, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Andrew Garcia The Buzz Around Google Wave

There has been a lot of online buzz about Google Wave, a new service that melds e-mail, instant messaging, online forums, and wikis into a grand messaging service. I don't know the potential application(s) in Education yet (Google Docs offers plenty for me) but here's a… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on June 4, 2009 at 1:49pm — No Comments

Brian Rabuse Sgt. Pepper and Technology

As most of Berkshire county knows (because of the excellent press we received in the Berkshire Eagle) The Wahconah Music Department performed the Entire Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in April of 2009. I did all of the arranging of the band parts, our choral director Ann-Marie Desautelle did all of the choral arranging. It was quite a thrill. I've been a reader of the Tea… Continue

Added by Brian Rabuse on June 4, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

Andrew Garcia The Global Achievement Gap

Book worth reading:

The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--And… Continue

Added by Andrew Garcia on June 4, 2009 at 7:30am — No Comments

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