When it comes to interviews I hit the jackpot. I met with NJ Rivilis from the Springfield Conservatory of the Arts. NJ is a new teacher to our district, but I think that we are the lucky ones. As an Electrical Engineer Graduate, NJ has an interesting path to the classroom. NJ has a lot of experience outside of the classroom working at Mass General in a research role and now they are in the classroom. I can’t wait for you…
This is the final week for our series on Computer Science in Middle School. In the previous weeks we heard from principals and teachers, this week we will hear from their students. I met with students from Zanetti, Kiley Prep and STEM Academy. Listen to these students’ experiences as they discuss their favorite parts of computer science in their classrooms. These students are just a small representative of the students who are loving Computer Science in their schools. If you…
For this weeks episode we dive into a three part series featuring our Middle School Computer Science Students, Teachers, and Principals. I met with a few of our excellent Middle School teachers for this episode. I talked with Melissa Zeitz of Alfred G Zanetti Montessori School, Alva Laster, Jamie Carens and Gary Burgess of STEM Middle Academy and Lia Ashe Simmer of Kiley Prep Middle School. These teachers are are leading the way in bringing a great computer science curriculum…
For this weeks episode we dive into a three part series featuring our Middle School Computer Science Students, Teachers, and Principals. I met with three of our principals for this episode. I talked with Principals Tara Clark of Alfred G Zanetti Montessori School, Luis Martinez of STEM Middle Academy and Julia St. Martin of Kiley Prep Middle School. These principals are are leading the way in bringing a unified computer science curriculum to our great middle schools, these interviews are…
After a short hiatus, we are back with a brand-new episode of the SPS Digital Learning Hour and we look at CSforAll Springfield. This is the third episode in the CSforAll Springfield series. I might virtually with Caitlyn Sayers and Aimee Baron, and we discussed CSforAll. We are also trying out a new format, getting you to the interviews earlier and our news and announcements afterwards! Let us know what you think! CSforAll Springfield is a four-year project which started…
In this week’s episode of the SPS Digital Learning Hour we look at CSforAll Springfield. This is the second in the series of episodes all about CSforAll Springfield. This episode is focusing on our the researchers from UMASS Rick Adrion & Florence Sullivan and a few of our coordinators Rachel Chouinard, Melissa Zeitz & Scott Wohlers. Check out Part 1 here. CSforAll Springfield is a four-year project which started during the 2018-2019 school year. UMass Amherst, in partnership with Springfield…
In this week’s episode of the SPS Digital Learning Hour we look at CSforAll Springfield. This is the first of two episodes for CSforAll. This episode is focusing on our CIO Paul Foster and teachers, Emma Bartlett, Jamiee Thomas and Danalyn Haynes. CSforAll Springfield is a four-year project which started during the 2018-2019 school year. UMass Amherst, in partnership with Springfield Public Schools (SPS), was awarded a $2 million National Science Foundation grant which aims to bring researchers and SPS…
If you haven’t heard, The Computer Science for All (CSforAll) project in Springfield, which began in the district last year, is moving full steam ahead. We’re in our second year of implementation now and it’s continuing to grow. As our world is changing, we want to make sure we are preparing our students for the future by strenghting thier problem solving and computational thinking skills. These skills are paramount for our students to be successful whether they are going to college…
This week I sat down with Pre-K Teacher Kerri-Ann Keenan over at Kensington Avenue Elementary School to talk about all things Pre-K and technology. I learned so much about how Pre-K works and I think you will too! We also have a bunch of announcements this week! You don’t want to miss this! Follow Me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @beardedteched