MLK Memphis Speech Why I love using this speech with fifth graders

I am retired, but I am currently reprising my role as library teacher at Peirce School in West Newton, Ma. Every year with fifth grade I do a lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. using his Memphis speech to the sanitation workers on April 3, 1968, the night before he was murdered. I do it because I think the kids have learned enough about his childhood, his career, and his I have a dream speech throughout their elementary years. Most of them have never heard or seen him give a different speech. I only use about 3 minutes of the speech, and then I ask them what they thought he meant by those words. He tells the crowd that he would like to live a long life, but if he does not that will be OK because he says he has "been to the mountaintop and I've looked over and I've seen the promised land" I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we as a people will get there." I ask the kids these questions: What was the message that Dr. King was trying to convey in this clip? What did the mountaintop stand for? Why do you think Dr. King felt that It would be OK if he did not get to the mountaintop? What did he see over the mountaintop? Their responses are insightful, thoughtful, empathetic, and inspiring. We used Google Draw to create a slideshow, but more importantly, we learned a little more about the mission of Dr. King and how it still applies and affects us today. Take a look at our work: Memphis Speech slideshow by Grade 5

Back in the Saddle again-Why I love my profession

Since November, 2017 I have been working in the Peirce School library. It is the elementary school that my children attended. I was asked to d a maternity leave for almost five months. At first, I wasn't sure if I would accept the position. If it had been at my beloved Williams I would not have hesitated, but I wasn't sure I wanted to take on a whole new cohort of colleagues and students. We have a fixed schedule, so I teach classes to every child in the school. Now three months into it, I am so glad I said yes. The kids have been great, and I have returned to so many favorite books and some new ones. I have had a chance to reprise many of my Internet Safety lessons, and work with a couple of my favorite colleagues who are now at Peirce School. This past week I had a chance to teach and talk to kids about Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday, I taught fifth graders how to use Google Drawings. They were so enthusiastic and got so creative. When they are completed I am going to post the results here. Today is Saturday. I am rummaging through some stuff to weed and organize my basement. I came across some of the notes that the Williams kids gave me when I retired. This work is so rewarding, and I can't believe how fortunate I am to have had this experience and to continue to reap these benefits of teaching. What a great ride!

Fridays at Williams School

It has now been two Junes since I retired from my position as a school library teacher an Instructional Technology Specialist at Williams School. In those two years I have worked as a jack of all trades in the building on Fridays, subbing and filling in wherever I was needed (including reprising my role as library teacher for two months in the spring of 2016). This experience has given me even more insight into the great work that everybody contributes to the education of students. Sometimes when you are mired in the 5 day a week responsibilities of your own position, it is hard to take a look around to observe and appreciate your peers. You collaborate with them, you communicate and commiserate with them, but you don't get a lot of time to enjoy their work. The two years in these various positions have allowed me to marvel at the patience, the classroom management, and the truly uncanny ability of classroom teachers to anticipate and adjust to their students' academic and social emotional needs. They quickly assess situations and respond with appropriate strategies to improve the experience in their classrooms. I am fortunate enough to have spent these two years with colleagues that I have worked with for years. It has been my pleasure to see them in action. In all the years that I have taught, these two years really have allowed me to marvel at the work we do with students as a school community. Every single staff member makes a difference in kids' lives. Each one engages students in ways that contribute to the social-emotional climate of the building. Students learn when they feel safe and supported by the adults in the building. All of us: the custodians, the principal, the nurse, the secretary, the specialists (Library, art, music, P.E, Literacy, teaching assistants, the Special Ed team, PT's and OT's represent continuity and stability that provides a safe learning environment. What a joy and privilege it is to be a part of this learning community of dedicated professionals! I know that now more than ever, and I am confident to leave my beloved Williams School in the care of these individuals who come together from September to June to help our children learn, grow, and improve! Thank you all so much!

The one and only Ivan: a one and only kind of book!

The one and only Ivan is a story of struggle, hope, and triumph. It spans the behavior of humans at their best, and at their worst. What emerges is a tale that reveals the power of taking action to effect positive change for yourself and others. I love how the story is told from the perspective of a gorilla. It allows readers to empathize with his life conditions as a circus animal. We see Ivan reach out to a baby elephant who is motherless and alone as she learns to trust him and later the humans who rescue them from a cruel and lonely circus life. There is love, compassion, joy, freedom, friendship, empathy, strength, kindness, and trust throughout this thoroughly entertaining children's novel. I especially like how it takes a sometimes painful topic for kids and treats it with such gentle and loving emotions and vocabulary that they do not have to ever feel too sad. At the same time it is brutally honest that sometimes people are mean, but other people can combat that by becoming allies to those less fortunate and standing up to those who cause harm to others. I loved it! This book is one where readers can read to learn and build on their love of reading. Third graders can probably read this themselves, but honestly I think as a read aloud not only will the kids benefit, but also any adult that picks up this tender story.

a perfect summer read for middle graders!

This spring our literacy specialist asked a simple question: What will you read this summer? I had a lot of books on my list, but one I had not had a chance to read is The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall. It takes place in the summer in a small town in the Berkshires and is the story of a motherless family with four girls, a loving father, and a hound. Their adventurous spirit leads them to find friendship, explore and enjoy their surroundings, and sometimes get themselves into trouble by crossing boundaries. All four girls have distinct personalities, and they are loving, loyal, and always ready for a new challenge. There are lots of local references to Massachusetts, including a few that are Red Sox related, including two rabbits named Carla and Yaz! That certainly is right up my alley! This is a great read for fourth and fifth graders, and if you like it you can continue to read more about this family in their further adventures, as there are 3 more books in this series. This is the first book, published in 2005. Take a look at her website to learn more. This one is a perfect summer read! Keep reading to learn this summer.

a Newbery Honor book that tells the story of how good can emerge from evil during difficult times

I just finished the War that saved my life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. This historical fiction novel has been chosen by the Understanding Our Differences program for their annual book event. It is the story of a young girl living in London at the time of the bombings in World War II. Ada, the main character, and her brother are evacuated to the countryside along with many other children to escape the London bombings. For Ada, born with a club foot to a mother who is full of shame and rage, this otherwise scary time becomes an opportunity to experience life in a positive light for the first time. Amidst the terror of being Attacked by Hitler's air strikes, she receives emotional and physical comfort from the woman who is charged with taking care of her and the people she meets during this time. It is so important to share stories of empathy, struggle, peace, acceptance and love, with our students. We can make a difference with books!!. Check my twitter for a couple of great links to books that promote social emotional learning. Please read this book with your 4th, 5th or 6th grader this summer and plan on attending an evening with the author on October 18th at Newton South High School at 7 pm. She will discuss her book, have a Q and A, and a book signing. This title is available in the Williams School library. Happy reading!

The "wonder" of trying something new!

When I came back to Williams I was certainly not at a loss as to what to teach the students in my charge. I have so many K-5 lessons that I have loved over the years. Most years I don't get to them all. For my two month stint here I felt free to choose the ones I had the most fun with, were meaningful, and fostered a love of the library and reading. I had a blast. I had more time to peruse Twitter and Facebook this winter, and a funny thing happened as a result. Even though retired, I found myself gravitating towards the education posts and actually having the time to read them!! I looked at many library ideas, pedagogy, general education philosophy, assessment, testing, and integrating technology to name a few. On one occasion in February I came across a twitter chat that discussed using Wonderopolis.org to foster inquiry and motivation based on students choosing what they wonder about. It is a great website that leads kids to be even more curious and provides a deeper learning opportunity by offering choice. There are unbelievable wonders out there. I used the FREE Wonderopolis brochure template that was offered by Teachers pay Teachers to guide the students. It was an end of the year activity with fourth grade. I wasn't sure I could get them to be excited about doing research in June, and at first I think they just wanted to get through it, but before long they were doing exactly what I hoped would happen: They dug deeper into the website and came up with more questions about their topic. Their enthusiasm grew and they all wanted to share what they learned with each other. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. So kudos to the 4th graders at Williams for helping me try something now. We all learn together!!

Reprising my role at Williams

Sometimes life brings on the unexpected. After retiring from my position as library and IT specialist at Williams School in June 2015, I enjoyed a wonderful summer giving tours of Fenway Park. My husband and I planned a cruise to Canada that left the first week of school! That seemed weird. A funny thing happened late in August. I ran into my principal in the parking lot at school when I went in to return something. She said she had a one day position as a school substitute to fill and asked me if I would do it. I hesitated and told her I would think about it, but if anybody else came along and wanted it to go ahead and hire them. Well, I got back from my cruise and started back at my school one day a week. It worked out marvelously. I had my fix of school, felt like I was making a positive contribution, but I was also free to pursue my Fenway adventure. Around the middle of the school year I found out that the person hired to take my place, my colleague Felicia Quesada Montville, would need a maternity leave at the end of April. I decided to step back in as Library teacher for the last two months of the year. I am so glad I made that decision. It gave me a chance to work with the kids again, use some of my tried and true lessons, and try something new! Watch for the results in my next post! While it is a challenging time to be an educator, it is also so extremely rewarding, invigorating, and such a chance to make a difference in our students' lives. This morning I watched the fifth graders graduate. Their play this year was "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. They marched across the stage with their "Choose Kind" tee shirts on as they closed their years at Williams. We have such important work to do. I am so proud of all of my colleagues for continuing to choose this path, and I am grateful for stepping back in to help one more time! This profession is amazing.

That's a wrap!

Another school year has come to a close. Every year I take satisfaction knowing that we have successfully moved the students forward on their formal education journey. At Williams we end the year with a ceremony called "Arch Day" to celebrate the students' efforts and progress over the current school year. There is always a tremendous sense of accomplishment for both students and teachers as we acknowledge the hard work of the whole community. This year was a hard year for me personally as I lost two very important people in my life within an 18 day span. One was my mother, who succumbed at 94 to Dementia. I continued to learn from her until the last day of her life. I watched her struggle for her final seven years, but at the same time I learned to appreciate the changes and challenges that come from the mind and body in its final stages. She was so strong from the beginning of her life to the end, and I hope to move forward with the same strength and conviction that was modeled for me. My dear cousin, Janice, my lifelong companion in so many adventures and trials finally lost the vicious war with ovarian cancer. Her five year battle with this disease was fought with strength, dignity, and great love for her family. She always put them first and continued to smile, advise, and be there for them. Her example has given me renewed perspective to live my life to the fullest every day and to try to give everyone my best effort in whatever I do for as long as I can do it. So June 2015 is a watershed moment for me. I have to decided to retire from my position in Newton Pubic Schools and explore a new path. I am a rabid Red Sox fan. I have taken a job as a tour guide with the Boston Red Sox. I am giving tours of historic Fenway Park. it is a lot of fun so far. I am meeting new colleagues,(who are wonderful and also crazy Red Sox fans) and watching the joy and wonder on people's faces as they see the Fenway field for the first time. Life is changing, but it is good. I hope to remain true to the words I spoke to the graduating 5th graders this year: "learn, grow, and improve. None of us are experts, all of us are learning. I want to keep living and learning to the fullest. It is the best way to honor the people in our lives and work to make our community as good as it can be. Be kind to each other, help each other, take care of each other.

Book Swap at Williams starts May 26th- Gather your books to donate

We are having a book swap to benefit children in need of books. It's a two for one swap. Bring in 2, take 1. The remaining books will be donated to homeless shelters in Newton. Help out others in need and have fun while you're doing it. How it works: Look through your personal children’s book collections for gently used books that you want to donate Guidelines for book donation and swap: * Choose books that are gently used * Choose books that are appealing & appropriate for pre-school and K-5 readers- * board books, pop-up books, toddler books are welcome * no sticker books, coloring books or adult books. * Check with your parents before you bring in your used books * Questions?????? See Mrs. Kosmo or Mrs. O’Rourke Tuesday, May 26th through Wednesday June 3rd: Bring in 2 books or more from home that you are no longer need. You will receive one ticket for every 2 books you bring in. Each ticket is good for one book that you can choose from the book swap. Books will be collected in the classrooms. The swap will begin on Monday, June 8th. Let’s have a fun community event and help others as we move towards the end of the school year.

Oliver the Reading Dog returns to Williams

Today we welcomed Oliver, The reading Dog, back to Williams for the second year in a row. Oliver comes to us from the People and Pets foundation. He is accompanied by his owner , Karine Alexander, and her daughter, Caroline. His visit is part of the Williams PTO auction activities event. It gave our students a chance to practice and enjoy reading aloud. Reading should be fun and enjoyable and Oliver certainly gave us a wonderful opportunity to share books and reading together in the Williams library in a different way. Students had lunch in the library with me and then we shared dog poems and dog stories with our guests. The students were also able to give Oliver a treat. Thanks to Oliver, Karine, and Caroline for another creative and exciting visit to Williams. You can learn more about this program at Pets and People.org

Happy New Year! Thinking about how I can make Williams Library be the best it can be in 2015

Today I received an email from Edtechteacher and Google with information about an opportunity to attend a Google for Education jamboree in February. To apply you had to answer a question in a format of your choice. One of the choices was a blog post. I didn't choose that, but as I thought about the question I decided I would like to share my ideas with the Williams community. I created a Google drawing. As is usually the case, it turned out to be very useful for me as a checkpoint for where we are in the school year. It is an exciting time in education because there are so many opportunities for learning in many different formats, both online and in our traditional school environments. The question asked was "How will I make 2015 the best year for my students?" You can click on the link below to get my thoughts on the direction I think we need to be heading in to complete a successful school year. How will I make 2015 the best year for my students?

Thank You, Capstone Publishing, for this video

Here is a wonderful video created by Capstone Video that really captures the essence of why school libraries are more important than ever. They don't just house books, (which is still essential) they transform learning for our students.

Using Padlet for exit ticket assessment

It's that time of year again to review the AUP policy and and kick off our Internet safety curriculum. Every year there are more and more great resources to support this effort in so many different ways. This is the first year I have used Padlet as an exit ticket. Fourth graders reviewed our AUP policy with a wonderful discussion and great visual of our AUP created by Jennifer Reed. View it here. Then the students were able to leave their feedback on a Padlet wall. It really helped them synthesize their learning and it gave me a quick and easy assessment to evaluate. And it was fun!! Here is a sneak peak of our Padlet wall.

Created with Padlet

Dot Day at the library

September is a good time to think about how a library is valuable for all our students. It also happens that Peter Reynolds' Dot Day is celebrated in September. It honors his book "The Dot" by asking students to "make your mark and see where it takes you." We decided to make our mark on our library using the colar mix app that takes the dots you create on paper and brings them to 3-d life! It's fun and gets you thinking about lots of different ways you use your school library. Have a look at them here. Happy Dot Day 2014!

September is a good time to reflect on the contributions of those who have served Williams School

Yesterday I saw a facebook post from the "I grew up in Auburndale" page. It noted the death of former Williams principal Merton C. Tefft, and included a link to the obituary. The post tugged at me for a couple of reasons. I learned about his tenure at Williams a few years ago, when I created a short video of the history of the school. I included a picture of Mr. Tefft in the video because he became the first full time principal of the school when the administration decided to give Burr and Williams their own administrator. Prior to 1955 they shared a principal and the two schools were called the Burr-Williams district. I was truly saddened to hear of his passing and although I was a student in NPS when he was principal and not an educator during his tenure, I felt I had lost a Williams colleague. I read so many good memories from his former students under the obituary post and it made me feel good that he was so fondly remembered by the community he served. I've been at Williams long enough now that I have seen many fine educators retire or move on from Williams to other adventures. All of them contributed to making Williams the vital place it is today for our students and staff. Even though many are not walking the halls anymore, I know they are still at Williams in the minds eye of the students they served. As I begin this year at Williams I want to express my gratitude to Mr. Tefft and all the educators who have served Williams School and my promise to continue to serve Williams in the fine tradition that I and my current colleagues have been entrusted to preserve. We can add to the legacy and it is our responsibility and honor to have the opportunity. Let's have a great year for the Williams Community, past, present, and future.

Fifty nifty United States

With the fourth of July quickly upon us, I thought it would be a good time to take a look back at our 50 states project. Hopefully, the summer will bring lots of great adventures for everybody in our nation! Every year third graders study states. On Arch Day, our last day of school celebration, they proudly sing Fifty nifty United States. In library class we use enchanted learning.com to research our states. Then we share our findings on Google presentation. It's a good way to introduce our third graders to another of the Google apps. As a teacher you really just have to show the kids a couple of things and then they take over, making the presentation their own by exploring many features of Google presentation. This year I was very excited to show them the research tool where they could search for an image about their state and get their citation. It made teaching them about the importance of citing your sources easy because they just dragged their image and the citation came with it! Take a look at their work.
Ms. Reardon's class Ms. Matrisciano's class

What did the fifth graders love most about their six year Williams School library experience?

Padlet is a useful web tool to use with students for a quick formative assessment. Our fifth graders were asked to think about what they learned and loved most at the Williams School library. All they had to do was click on the link from the library webpage and put their thoughts on our library padlet wall. Not only could they record their own thoughts, but they get to see what their classmates thought and stir up memories from their K-5 years in the library. Some loved learning about the Dewey Decimal System, many loved the Digital Passport program we used in the fifth grade year, and some went all the way back to kindergarten folktale unit. Padlet is quick, easy, paperless, allows you to share everybody's thoughts and gathers useful anecdotal data for the teacher. Here is our Fifth grade Padlet wall.

Summer Reading opportunities

This summer I am very excited about my students' ability to access ebooks and many other great resources from our library catalog homepage at home. This means they can enjoy reading titles from the Williams School Library all year long!! You may need passwords for some of these titles within the catalog, but if you are a Williams parent you have received that information in your weekly update from Ayesha. Our summer reading lists are also available here and lots of other great resources on the web. Here's how to get there.

2014 Book Trailers by Grade 5

Check out this year's book trailers created by Grade 5 students using imovie and Google Docs. The students collaborated to create trailers of their book group reading titles. Teachers also collaborated on this. Mr. Lavigne, Mr. Garlick, and Ms. Kosmo created the lesson, but the kids did all the work! We are really pleased with how they turned out.