Massapequa school District

Spring 2018

Project Zero Gets Students Thinking AloudStudent engagement is the impetus for

Project Zero, an initiative that has helped transform dozens of classrooms in the Massapequa School District. Through a partnership between the district and the Massapequa Community Fund, more than 75 teachers have taken part in the summer training sessions at Harvard University and reinvented themselves as educators.

Assistant to the Superintendent for Instructional Services Diana Haanraadts said that the purpose is to make thinking visible and teach for understanding. Project Zero provides teachers with the tools to reach all students and ensure that contributions come from everyone. Learning strategies, known as protocols or thinking routines, can be adapted for almost every subject area and any grade level.

“It allows every child a seat at the table,” Ms. Haanraadts said. “If you think the knowledge is in the room, then you have to let the children have a voice.”

The initial idea for Project Zero was brought to the district almost a decade ago by actor, Massapequa alumnus and Community Fund co-founder Billy Baldwin. The first group of elementary school teachers and administrators attended the weeklong training in 2011, and since then at least 11 people have gone every summer. The cost is shared by the district and the Community Fund.

What began as an opportunity for elementary educators was expanded a few years later to Berner Middle School and this past summer to ninth-grade teachers at the Massapequa High School Ames Campus. This coming summer will be the first time the training will be offered to any teacher in the district.

“We have continued to support it because teachers want to go,” Ms. Haanraadts said. “When our educators come back, they say it’s a career-changing experience. It is the best professional development.”

The weeklong training is intense, with

eight hours of classes and homework. Massapequa’s teachers and administrators engage in discussions with educators from public and private schools all across the country. They explore the many ways in which students learn and are also expected to personally reflect on their own teaching styles and practices.

Technology Learning Coach Louisa Vecchione supports the implementation of Project Zero strategies at the elementary level, where all students have access to Chromebooks and third- through fifth-graders have their own devices. She works with teachers to create lessons in which the thinking routines are supported by instructional technology.

For example, she said, many teachers use the CSI: Color-Symbol-Image routine to support literacy instruction, in which the students express their understanding of a text in a nonverbal way through the use of colors, symbols and images. The Word-Phrase-Sentence routine helps students engage with

and make meaning from text, with a particular focus on what resonates with them from a reading passage. As a group, the students discuss why a particular word, a single phrase or a sentence stood out for them.

“It’s important that as educators now, especially in our one-to-one environment, to try to include technology wherever we can,” Ms. Vecchione said. “It enhances the lessons and it gives all students a voice.”

Tania Willman, executive assistant to the principal at Ames, attended Project Zero training this past summer along with other teachers from the school and said it was “a professional experience like no other.” She said that the strategies are intended to promote higher-level thinking among students, which will lead to deeper discussions.

“I see how powerful these thinking routines are,” she said. “There’s a difference between knowing something and truly understanding it.”

The Road fRom Harvard To

Kira Martelli: What Do the Students Want to Learn?With her students studying ancient Egypt, Berner Middle

School sixth-grade social studies teacher Kira Martelli found the perfect opportunity for Chalk Talk. The thinking routine uses oversized pieces of paper with different questions about the subject, and students traveled around the room in groups to write down their answers and read each other’s responses.

Among the questions during the recent Chalk Talk activity were “What have you learned so far?” “How would you teach all about ancient Egypt and what materials would you use?” and “What are some questions that you have about the buildings, temples and monuments in ancient Egypt?” Ms. Martelli said the responses students give help her develop the next part of her lesson.

“You design your curriculum based upon what the

children are asking you to do,” she said. “They definitely have input into their learning and they do feel valued when they have their voices heard.”

Ms. Martelli attended Project Zero training in 2011 and 2012, and returned as a Fellow in 2013 to co-teach a study group. Since then, she has provided training sessions for other Massapequa teachers on thinking routines.

She employs different strategies depending on the topic, but in all cases, Ms. Martelli says that students are becoming more responsible for their own learning. As a teacher, she is not a “sage on the stage” but rather a “guide on the side.”

Sixth-grader Cole Arbisi said he likes activities such as Chalk Talk because “it lets every kid express their own ideas. If a teacher sees what we want to learn, then she’ll teach it to us.”

As part of the fifth-grade social studies curriculum, students learn about the Declaration of Independence. To help them understand the key points of the important document, Unqua Elementary School teacher Deanna Musacchia used the Word-Phrase-Sentence thinking routine.

Ms. Musacchia began by reading a section out loud to her students, then led a class discussion about which word, which phrase and which sentence from the passage best identified the main idea. Each student was then assigned a section of the Declaration of Independence to read and individually identify a word, phrase and sentence that summarized it best. They completed sheets on their Chromebooks, which were then shared with Ms. Musacchia through the Hapara program.

“It helps because this is really dense text,” Ms. Musacchia said. “The students identify the language that speaks to them.”

She attended Project Zero training in 2013 and 2015, and increasingly has been using the thinking routines to support her lessons. Ms. Musacchia said that sometimes students are hesitant to raise their hand and give an answer, so different strategies such as See-Think-Wonder, and Stop and Jot allow students to participate.

A question that she likes to ask her students is “What made you say that?” That simple question, she said, prompts children to really think about their answers and back up their claims with evidence.

Deanna Musacchia: Creating a Safe Space for Thinking

Talk-Think-Open Exchange is a thinking routine that Berner Middle School sixth-grade teacher Megan Pavlick regularly incorporates into her lessons. It teaches students effective speaking and listening skills.

Her students recently watched a video, “Austin’s Butterfly,” which highlights a young boy’s ability to improve upon an initial drawing and create a great piece of work. Ms. Pavlick then asked her students to write on a Post-it note about a time they celebrated a success. Divided up into small groups, each child got 45 seconds to share their story. After everyone had their turn and a pause for reflection, the dialogue continued during open exchange time.

Ms. Pavlick said she learned about the thinking routine from Professor

Rhonda Bondie of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She said that in an era in which children and adults spend so much time using technology, this strategy gets them away from their devices and allows them to experience personal, face-to-face interactions. Her students learn to appreciate each other’s verbal contributions.

Project Zero thinking routines, she said, have had a big impact on her teaching philosophy.

“It’s more about my students interpreting the content, than me providing the interpretation,” she said. “They’re better thinkers because of it. They’re not waiting for the teacher anymore and they’re more confident to generate their own ideas.”

Megan Pavlick: Ensuring That Every Voice Is Heard

Lockhart Assistant Principal Ryan Aliperti and Ames Campus Executive Assistant to the Principal Tania Willman are among the administrators in the district who have attended Project Zero training and support teachers in implementing the thinking routines in their classrooms.

Ms. Willman said the concept of “making thinking visible” provides teachers with evidence if students really understand a concept. She also said that it is important for them to engage in thoughtful dialogue with each other to prepare them for a world where people have different perspectives and opinions.

Project Zero strategies, she said, foster a growth mindset, which is an individual belief that one can and should continue to learn. Ms. Aliperti agrees, saying that schools need to be places of learning for everyone, both the students and the educators.

Ms. Aliperti, who attended the training in 2013 and 2014, said

the experience didn’t just teach her new strategies, but expanded her mind about the way she thinks about learning. She emphasized the importance of personal growth and said when the educators have that mindset, that will trickle down to the students. Every year, instead of setting goals, she generates throughlines, which are overarching, long-term objectives.

In an ever-changing world, many of the jobs that students will do haven’t been created, so it is important for children to learn how to become problem-solvers. They need to be prepared to solve problems that don’t exist yet. In modern education, she said, the process is just as important as the product.

Ms. Aliperti and Ms. Willman both said that teachers who have attended the training have come back energized and eager to share their knowledge with other teachers. At Lockhart, faculty meetings have focused on “creating a culture of thinking” and at Ames there have been workshops on the different thinking routines.

Sharing Knowledge to Create Schools of Thought

“Teaching for understanding” is Kristin Petersen’s philosophy in her English language arts classes at Massapequa High School’s Ames Campus. She wants to get her students thinking, and that’s why questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no” have no place in her classroom.

After attending Project Zero training in the summer of 2017, Ms. Petersen and her co-teacher Jennifer Rabie have been employing different thinking routines. They incorporate open-ended questions into their lessons which prompt student reflection.

During a recent lesson on Greek mythology, students researched the different gods and goddesses, and

identified the characteristics associated with each one, such as power, courage, loyalty and wisdom. Students then modernized it by creating hashtags that represented each person. They also developed essential questions that looked at how those traits are embodied by people today. All of the responses were posted to the “What is Understanding?” bulletin board.

Ms. Petersen said she likes to use strategies that show students that what they are learning is relevant to their lives.

“You can’t argue that it’s a meaningful way to teach,” she said of the Project Zero thinking routines. “They really have lived up to the expectation that I had.”

Kristin Petersen: Using Strategies That Foster Understanding

Timothy Taylor, President Joseph LaBella, Vice President Gary Baldinger, Secretary Maryanne Fisher, Trustee Brian Butler, Trustee Lucille F. Iconis, Superintendent of Schools

Board of Education

superintenDent’sMessage

On behalf of the Board of Education and administration, I would like to thank the Massapequa community for supporting the bond propositions on Jan. 23. Voters approved two proposals totaling $41.79 million for much-needed enhancements to our facilities.

The first project will renovate classrooms at the six elementary schools and Berner Middle School. Many of these rooms feature flooring and casework from the when the buildings were originally constructed more than 50 years ago. Additional improvements will include new ceilings, lighting and unit ventilators.

Student bathrooms at the elementary schools, Berner and Massapequa High School’s Ames Campus will also be renovated. The raised practice field at Berner will be replaced, and air conditioning will be installed in classrooms at the elementary, middle and high school level using a split system. This will eliminate the need to move hundreds of window units from room to room each summer, and it will also benefit students who attend our summer programs.

The district will use $9 million from its capital reserve fund. We will also receive 53.3 percent of the total cost, or approximately $22.2 million, back in state building aid, which greatly reduces the cost to Massapequa taxpayers.

Work continues to progress from the bond approved by voters in 2014. Installation of new doors and fire alarm systems in all schools is nearing completion. This summer, new windows will be installed at Fairfield and Lockhart elementary schools. Other upcoming projects include renovations to the Berner Middle School and Massapequa High School main campus libraries.

Our fifth-graders were invited to the evening Club and Intramural Fair at Berner on April 16 to learn about the exciting extracurricular and athletic opportunities that are available. We want our students to make the most of their middle school experience, which is why there is something for everyone with dozens of clubs that focus on academics, the arts, technology and community service, as well as intramural sports.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some noteworthy achievements in the district. Our high school robotics team won the national championship at the Vex Robotics competition in Council Bluffs, Iowa. John Piropato, our director of health, physical education, athletics and recreation, received the Athletic Administrator of the Year Award for Chapter 8. The honor was bestowed upon him by the New York State Athletic Administrators Association. Amy Curry, a sixth-grade teacher at Berner Middle School, was selected to receive the Outstanding Social Studies Elementary Classroom Teacher Award by the New York State Council for the Social Studies.

Audience members recently enjoyed the high school’s production of the musical “Pippin.” The high school’s Marine Science Club had its first podium finish by earning third place at the annual New York State Scallop Bowl. Several students from Berner and Ames were named finalists in the PTA Reflections contest for their writing and artwork, and dozens of student-athletes have signed their national letters of intent to play for college teams.

Our students continue to make us proud with generous acts of giving. Children in our six elementary schools honored our military heroes by participating in Valentines for Veterans. Berner students helped stock local food pantries with its their annual Souper Bowl.

More information about activities in our schools is available on our website, www.msd.k12.ny.us, our Facebook and Twitter pages, and on our new Instagram account, @massapequaps.

Lucille F. Iconis,Superintendent

Massapequa Public Schools has always taken school safety seriously. The district is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for students, staff and visitors. Conversations happen daily about ways to improve security procedures.

The district has a comprehensive approach to school security, which combines best practices with state-of-the-art technology. Visitors are greeted at the security vestibules at each school, which includes a second set of locked doors at the main entrance. All visitors have their licenses scanned and no one is allowed into the buildings who doesn’t have legitimate school business.

Security guards are assigned to each school before, during and after school, and at special events. Massapequa’s security staff is comprised of active and retired law enforcement officers. These highly trained men and women are all first aid, AED and CPR certified and have quick access to medical bags. In the event of a security threat, they receive instantaneous notifications through text message.

The district’s nine schools are monitored by more than 550 security cameras, which are located both inside and outside of the buildings. The cameras are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year at the district’s communications and command center. Cameras are replaced on a regular cycle to ensure the use of up-to-date equipment.

All buildings conduct unannounced lockdown and lockout drills to ensure that students and staff know what to do in case of an emergency. Each school’s crisis

management team then conducts a post-drill critique. New doors and locks have been installed in classrooms throughout the district, which can be automatically locked during an incident.

Every year, all staff members receive updated Emergency Management Plan Guidebooks. These comprehensive, 30-page documents are reviewed and modified annually and outline procedures for all types of emergencies, from weather-related incidents to security threats. The district’s security leaders use resources such as the New York State Emergency Management Plan to note best practices that can be incorporated into Massapequa’s safety plan.

The district has a strong partnership with the Nassau County Police Department. Officers from the 7th Precinct have access cards to quickly enter any Massapequa school in the event of an emergency.

Massapequa’s staff of psychologists, social workers and guidance counselors are trained in crisis response and crisis intervention.

“We are in a good place but we can always strive to do better,” said Superintendent Lucille F. Iconis. “We will continue to work collaboratively as a school community of administrators, faculty, parents and staff to ensure the safety of our students. Informed communities play a critical role in keeping everyone safe.”

The district has a 24-hour tip line, (516) 308-5333, and a member of the security staff will always answer the phone. All concerns are taken seriously and fully investigated.

Safety Remains atop priority