Dear Parents,
As I mentioned in the recent C-notify, the nomination that I wrote for our Innovations in Education Award is copied here for you to read.
God bless each of you.
Mary
Innovative Project in Curriculum and Instruction
The Learning Brain in Action
What do dance, music, critical thinking, drama, and prisms have to do with the typical curriculum and daily instruction? If you are a faculty member or student at Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Cincinnati, Ohio – EVERYTHING! It’s the Learning Brain in Action - a meaningful and innovative way to reach every student and promote student achievement and academic success.
For the past nine years, our teachers have worked tirelessly to develop an instructional program that addresses the needs of all children, regardless of their learning styles. When we first began, it was our intention to participate in research based professional development that would give us the tools to engage students so that they learned by doing. From there, we would move on to implementation in the classrooms and monitoring of data to ensure that the students were successful. Our final goal would be to showcase mastery of the curriculum through authentic assessments presented by our students. If we succeeded, our vision of a school that truly engaged students, made learning meaningful, and enabled everyone to reach his/her potential would be fulfilled.
That vision is reality, and we have implemented an instructional program that has enabled us to maintain the highest level of student achievement as well as infuse brain based activities throughout the curricula. Our children are learning by doing and demonstrating their knowledge through a systematic series of presentations to other students, parents, and the community at large.
In addition, our faculty members have also become consummate learners. They attend professional development that addresses the needs of our students; they have become teacher leaders, encouraging and supporting their peers in their efforts to be better teachers, and they are peer trainers, presenting their knowledge and successes at local, regional, and national conferences.
Our Learning Brain in Action Project means that classroom instruction is still based on essential outcomes, but the level of activity in the school rarely follows the typical scenario. Students are dancing to poetry, composing skits to prove scientific research, and writing music to math equations. We stress metacognition for all students, and what better way to learn than to enable students to understand how they learn and then teach what they know to others?
Several components of this project have contributed to its success. One is exposure to art, music, dance, and movement. Each year, students are permitted to learn a musical instrument including Orff, recorders, keyboard, brass, wind, percussion, cello, viola, violin, or hand bells. Those who choose to do so can continue with that instrument, eventually joining either the school band or the orchestra.
Art classes include instruction in numerous media such as clay, paints, printing, textiles, and even stained glass. Our students have created a school mural which graces our foyer, as well as a series of six stained glass windows overlooking our outdoor classroom, The Children’s Garden. Students who excel in this subject are offered enrichment classes during the school day so that they can add more sophisticated pieces to their art portfolios.
Our physical education program encompasses dance and movement and, in the junior high, includes a component called Mind Works, a program for brain based learning that teaches students how to nourish and train the brain for optimal functioning.
Many of our student groups have had the opportunity to perform at parish and community venues including luncheons for senior citizens, parish liturgies, and school functions. The school drama club produces a play which is performed at the Anderson Township Community Theatre during the last week of May.
One culminating activity for the arts is our Prism Concert, an evening event when the community is invited to gather at school to wander through the building to view student art galleries, stop by the Children’s Garden to listen to the orchestra, enjoy ensembles playing everything from jazz to country, or watch the band perform for larger groups.
The academic components of the Learning Brain in Action include a regularly scheduled, student created news show which is broadcast on closed circuit and also on the local cable channels. Eighth graders work with the principal and one of the music teachers to write, film, and edit IHM Confidential. This bi-monthly show affords students an opportunity to showcase specific components of our Learning Brain in Action Project. It also gives them the real life experiences of using the academic skills they have acquired in a creative and fun way while exposing them to the technology used by the media.
Going beyond activities like this, we regularly feature academic performance assessments which are chosen, designed, completed, and presented by the students themselves. These include
| portfolio conferences which feature student writing, reflections and reviewer responses |
| presentation conferences which combine student research on academic topics such as science, history or math |
| robotic competitions during which students program robots to perform tasks and then explain the concepts and content to other classes |
| Market Madness, an economics program for students who make, market, and sell products during a city-wide event at a local university |
This Learning Brain in Action Program means that our students are physically and mentally involved in their school work. It combines current research and best practices with academic content to create classrooms where students explore their creativity as well as discover the best ways to approach learning and mastery. Passive learning is on the endangered list, never to be revived if IHM teachers and students have anything to say about it!
March, 2010
Dear Parents,
With spring around the corner, please encourage your children to continue to follow the rules at school and on the bus. This time of the year is very difficult for all of us to keep on task. Also, please trust that we want the best for your children. We are not looking for trouble and we are very happy if we do not find it.
If your child comes home to say he or she is being bullied, please give me a call. I promise that I investigate each referral I receive, whether it is from a parent or a student. It is important to keep on top of these situations, especially in the spring.
During this time, let prayer and sacrifice be a significant part of your everyday life. Allow your faith to grow as we follow the footsteps of Jesus through this Lenten season.
Thank you for your continued support of our school.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Nancy Goebel