Tuesday, September 24, 2019

No Phones

We live in a society of constant distraction.  With rampant instant messaging and social media use, our ability to communicate face-to-face, to socialize in a positive way, and resolve conflicts has dwindled.  To the end, students are prohibited from using their mobile phones or smartphones while at school in order to encourage face-to-face conversation, socialization, and to practice conflict resolution.  


From the hours of 8.00 AM until 4.35 PM, all mobile phones or smartphones must be turned off and stowed away in the backpack before the student enters the school building.   


If a phone is visible or rings while at school, the student must relinquish the phone at the request of the teacher or the administration.  The school employs a graduated discipline philosophy.  

The first time a phone is confiscated, the student can pick up the phone from the Assistant Principal at the end of the school day following a restorative conversation.  

The second time a phone is confiscated, a parent or guardian must meet with the Assistant Principal to explain the rationale behind why we do not allow mobile phone use at school and to pick up the phone.  The phone will not be released to the student following this second infraction.  

The third time a phone is confiscated, the school will make arrangements with the family to keep the phone at home for the remainder of the year, or if necessary, to hand the phone to school administration at the start of every school day. 

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

Academic integrity and right ethical conduct are expectations of all students.  Cheating and plagiarism are violations of academic integrity and right ethical conduct.  Cheating is defined as using unauthorized resources of any type on any exam, quiz, paper, major project, or class assignment.  Plagiarism is copying exact words or paraphrasing ideas without crediting original sources. Providing access to another student to such resources is also considered a violation of academic integrity as is allowing another student to copy from one’s own exam, quiz, paper, major project, or class assignment.  


In keeping with our model of restorative justice, the school treats first violations of academic integrity as a learning event.  In these situations, the student will receive an “I” for the assignment or activity in question. The student then has a conversation with the teacher who debriefs what occurred, next steps to rectify the action, and the teacher coaches the student on how to tell their parents.  Owning up to the action is an important step in understanding the severity of the violation of academic integrity.


The student is then responsible for telling their parents about the incident and to let them know that a face-to-face conference or phone conversation with the teacher will be forthcoming—this gives the students an opportunity to be at the center of the conversation.  


The teacher then has a face-to-face conference or phone conversation with the family and the student.  From there, a letter is sent home that recaps the meeting, and it serves as a record of the entire incident. In this letter, it states that all future offenses will result in more serious consequences. The student writes a letter of reflection which answers the following questions: 


“How have your actions impacted your relationship with others, including your classmates and teacher?  Looking back on this past incident, what would you have done differently? How has your understanding of integrity changed since this incident?” 

This reflection is then sent to the parents, the mentor, and the teacher.  Copies of the teacher’s letter and the student’s reflection are included in the student’s file.  The student is responsible for re-doing the same assignment or an alternative as assigned by the teacher which addresses the same Cognitive Skills or Content Knowledge assessed in the original assignment.  Please, note that any additional violations of academic integrity may include expulsion from the school.  

Learning Modalities

Last year, we had the opportunity to partner with three organizations dedicated to personalized learning.  These include Silicon Schools, Summit Learning, and New Classrooms: Teach to One: Math.  We continue to partner with the first two, and for a multitude of reasons decided to carve our own path with the latter.  And, before we parted ways this year, we decided to retain the learning modalities approach that was an essential component of the New Classrooms approach.  

We know that students can learn in a variety of ways.  They can learn directly from a teacher, they can learn from a colleague, classmate, or small group, and they can also learn independently with a learning management platform.  We leverage the use of these learning modalities to ensure that students get what they need, when they need it, and how they need it.  

Guided Learning is the traditional direct instruction approach where teachers, for a limited time, may engage in a lecture about a topic.  

Collaborative Learning is the learning modality assigned to students who work together in a small group setting to practice, to learn, or to explore a particular topic.

Leveled Learning is where students may work directly with a technology-assisted platform in order to learn about a topic.  

Informed by data, teachers can use these modalities in a myriad of ways.  All three modalities could be happening simultaneously in a classroom setting as necessary depending upon the objective for the day's lesson.