Category Archives: Uncategorized

Thank You for This Group!

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       Miranda Cozzone and Natalie Terry began and continue to facilitate a group, which focuses on Brene Brown’s celebrated Dare to Lead. The Washington Post calls this “a practical playbook…providing specific, practical ways to ‘live authentically.'” I call it good stuff. Dare to Lead had been a catalyst for a group of amazing professionals to come together in support of one another.
       Initially, I joined the Dare to Lead group because I have FOMO (fear of missing out). I knew that with Miranda and Natalie leading this project people from our faculty and staff whom I respect would sign up, and I knew that I would want to be a part of anything these people are involved in. However, I was not really that excited to put something else on my plate, but this group has sort of been a Godsend for me. The meetings are therapeutic, and I’m not being funny here. I left last week’s group (I’m even calling it group), and I told Miranda that I feel like I’ve been to group therapy. The people involved are extremely intelligent, thoughtful professionals who actively work to be good humans and to make Carondelet a positive place, not only for the students, but for the adults as well. I sort of believe that making a school a positive place for the adults should be the priority. It’s like the airplane analogy: Put your mask on before you put on your child’s mask. Same thing.
       I don’t really know what inspired Miranda and Natalie to start the Dare to Lead group, but I am thankful they did.      

The Power of Choice in Reading

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Last spring, I attended a conference by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle, the authors of 180 Days, during which I was inspired to empower students by giving them more choice in their reading selection. I took a chance this year with my seniors and decided to do book clubs instead of the “one-novel-fits-all” approach. The students chose their books from a list I curated around a central theme of women’s empowerment. Their choices determined the small group “book club” to which they now belonged for the next five weeks.

The first day, the students determined their reading schedule. Each week, they annotated for certain literature elements that then fed their small group discussions which happened on Tuesdays. Since the books had similar themes, I had the small groups share out take-aways at the end of class. I wasn’t sure how that would work–if the students reading other books would find it relevant to hear take-aways from the others–but they seemed to be interested. The culminating project was a multi-paragraph essay on a theme they recognized in the book.
Here are my take-aways:
1. The students read their books. This may seem like a small thing, but getting students to read can be a Herculean effort. 
2. All but one student did the weekly annotations. The one student usually did half, and he had trouble doing most of the other work of the class as well.
3.  The discussions were rich. I did not have to work to get the students to talk about their books. They willingly engaged. 
4. The theme statements were varied and insightful. I was worried that they would be redundant and superficial.
5. I felt a little left out. I was able to jump into a few conversations, but usually, I didn’t want to interrupt. 
6. I wasn’t always sure that the conversations were productive because I didn’t hear all what was said. I also couldn’t correct any misinterpretations that might have happened in the groups.
7. Survey–The survey results were generally positive. Turns out, students were not interested in learning what the other groups had to say at the end of class. They were merely being polite.

I’d love to hear how other people offer choice to their students in reading, writing, projects, etc.

Mr. Andersen

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My daughter Sophie is a senior this year, taking a full load of college prep classes and working on her college applications. Many of you know the drill and are living it yourselves. As for me, I find myself savoring every minute with her knowing her time at home will soon come to an end and she’ll be off into the world on her own (sort of).

Often in the evenings while I’m making dinner, she’ll sit in the kitchen and do her homework. For her AP Bio class, she often watches videos by Mr. Andersen, a science teacher turned educational consultant slash YouTube phenomenon (in certain circles!). Sophie loves his videos and will sometimes watch more just for fun, beyond the assignment. To her delight, she discovered that Mr. Andersen has a TED talk on YouTube, and we enjoyed listening to it together last night.

As I was peeling cucumbers and prepping the rice, I heard Mr. Andersen’s message about student centered learning. What a wonderful educator! He knows his students well, and is passionate about teaching them. What he described reminded me of a lot of what we are doing here at Carondelet. I especially appreciated the points he made that school should be fun, failure is ok, and that mastery is the goal, but at each student’s own pace.

Since his talk is from 2012, many of you may have come across it before. In case you haven’t, it’s worth your time to hear from this inspiring educator. For me it was a real treat to learn alongside my daughter at the end of the day. Enjoy!

Becoming a student a a professional development conference

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There are so many
things you hope to take away from conference, especially when you have taken
time out of your professional and personal life to miss time with your students
and with your family. The science department all attended the California Science
Teacher Association conference in San Jose this October. My expectations were
exceeded and I discovered a few things I never expected. First, it was a
stimulating and immersive 2 days for our department to get to know each other
and have shared experiences to talk about as we continue to develop our
curriculum. We fanned out to different workshops and brought back new ideas to
share. We often found that our interests overlapped as we met up in the same
sessions. This conference was exceptional in that every workshop was led by a
teacher who was passionate and really knew their stuff. I wanted to attend this
conference in particular because of it’s emphasis on learning how to navigate
more student-centered classrooms as we adopt the Next Gen Science Standards and
Practices (NGSS). Again, my expectations were exceeded as every session I
attended embraced the model and gave us practical experiences to bring back to
our classrooms. 

The most unexpected and impactful take away for me was how I
felt becoming a student again. Over the 2 days of workshops, I was constantly
reminded about how my students must feel everyday as we ask them to move
through their daily routine and schedule. I arrived at “class” eager
to chat with my table-mates, and was quite put off when the session leader
wanted us to quiet down. Sometimes, I was completely enraptured by their lead
in video or photo and I couldn’t wait to do their “lesson” and other
times I kept looking at my empty coffee mug counting the minutes to when I
could go fill it up, conflicted because I really did want to hear about their
presentation. Sometimes I just wanted to write notes, look up a related idea on
the web and insert those ideas into my current lesson plans and again, was quite
put off when the workshop leader wanted me to talk to my table group. Even with
all these competing distractions, when I just let go and played along with the
workshop plan, I left the room excited about the new ideas the workshop leader
helped me discover. The workshop model was very successful for me and it was
surprising how quickly 90 minutes could pass. Now here’s my final takeaway, and
probably worthy of a full blog post–the length of “class”. The 90
minutes allowed all the participants to settle in, dig into the topic at hand,
share our understanding and have an authentic wrap up to the experience. We
weren’t rushed and everyone in the room had a chance to think about the
questions and authentically discover the concepts that the workshop leader
planned for us. What would the lives of our students be like if we had a
long-block schedule all the time?

A walk through one year of AP US History

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Being a visual learner (like almost everyone) I have always liked looking at historical timelines. At the end of a school year that is filled with writing and speaking thousands of words about historical events, it’s so refreshing to try out another medium. Last semester I gave my AP US History students the following task:
Create and present a timeline that tells the story of an American regional culture. 

Constraints: You may use only line, color, image, and minimal text (2-3 word titles or phrases). You may not use a computer to construct or present your timeline. 

Possibilities: Your timeline can be any size, shape, or material.
In our history classes we use words to express our thinking, and we teach our students to “think like historians” by using historical thinking skills such as cause and effect, comparison, contextualization, and other cognitive skills in their written essays and oral presentations. (Historical empathy is also a skill I’ve been exploring as of late, but it’s difficult to express this particular lens in a timeline)
I’m happy to tell you that my students applied these thinking skills into their visual representations, and this is very cool — without me asking them to. Their treatment of the timelines were, for the most part, an authentic expression of ways of thinking they learned during one year of AP US History. So, if you’d like a glimpse at how our students think about history, check out the timelines below. Students also provided oral explanations supporting their thought processes.
Image result for american nations
Students read this book during the year. This is where they learned much of the information expressed in their timelines.

400 years of New England history using both Cause and Effect and Contextualization. Historical connections across time and space; not random.

400 years of Virginia/Maryland history. Note the progression from top image to bottom image. Students used the metaphor of a growing tobacco plant to show the development of the cash crop economy, one leaf at a time. Root system is the pre-Revolutionary time period. 

Meme-inspired timeline.

Graphic novels are great for showing the progression of time. Note the cultural and racial mixing in early New York. If I could link their oral presentation, it would be HERE.

The Far West. Don’t remember why the hangers but there was a historical reason for using them.
Index cards on a timeline. Note the groupings of historical events. This is Contextualization and it can be very sophisticated like this one.

Please do not make me speak in front of all of you

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I do not like to speak in front of people unless they are my students. I have never liked to speak in front of people, just ask Kjera how I was in his Film Club 14+ years ago. Even through college, those seminar classes killed me. It is, honestly, very surprising that I am a teacher today and now quite humorous that I am teaching public speaking skills to Sophomores this year in Big History 2. 

During this past summer, I knew I had to find some help in public speaking. I remember my friend, Jeff, joined a group called Toastmasters, a group that helps adults speak in public. I decided to go to one of their chapter meetings in Concord. As I was greeted with smiles, handshakes, and many names, I eventually took my seat. My hands were at a constant clamminess and my heart was pounding most of the meeting. Here is a glimpse into the meeting, but also my thoughts that night: 

Please do not make me speak in front of all of you…Oh no, the leader is looking at me, this is it, this is when I will have to stand and say something in front of the 15 to 20 people here in this conference room…oh ok, phew, they were just making eye contact…oh no, they are randomly calling on new people to answer a question on the spot that relates to their theme of “freedom” tonight?? S***. Don’t make eye contact. Oh good, I was skipped over…now they are asking for newcomers, like me, to come up and answer a question?? Ok, I should do it, just freakin’ do it. This is why you are here…yeah, noooo, I am good, not tonight, I don’t want to do it. Noooope.

I did not have to speak in front of all of them. THE RELIEF. THE BLISS. But also, the defeat. To be honest, I wasn’t proud of myself that night. I really should have tried to speak in front of those strangers, but my thoughts were just too powerful. I did get some ideas, however, of what to incorporate into my Sophomore class this year by this one meeting. Here are some takeaways: 

1. Clapping after anyone speaks: Everyone at the meeting seemed very encouraging to one another and a simple way to emulate that encouragement in the classroom is by applauding once a student has spoken in front of the class, no matter how long or short they speak for. 

2. Evaluating the speaker: For every Toastmasters meeting, there are specific roles for people to fulfill, but all members had to evaluate the night’s scheduled speaker through an evaluation sheet. I used the same one (although a bit altered) for our recent presentations on WWI. The students not only presented to the class, but they gave verbal feedback to a group as well.

3. Speaking on the spot: There is a scheduled speaker who presents a speech on a topic and then after, there is a round of questions that people in the audience have to answer on the spot. I wanted to incorporate that same process with my students. We have done several, short impromptu exercises. It’s a way to keep the students on their toes, a way for them to build their confidence in front of people, and a way for them to have to teach or explain something to the class quickly.

4. Conveying a “beginning, middle, end”: Not only does the scheduled speaker have to deliver their content effectively (eye contact, gestures, tone, volume, etc.), they have to be organized in the content of their speech so the audience can understand what the speaker is saying. This is something that is in development for the Sophomore class along with the idea/goal of students relying on outlines as opposed to note cards/a script. 

With any new course, my Sophomore class is a work in progress. I hope by the end of the school year, my students will be more aware of themselves as presenters and make a conscious effort to improve upon this skill as well as take what they have learned and apply it to their other classes. And I already know they will do a much better job than I did that one Toastmasters night!

Public Speaking with Sophomores

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Focusing on public speaking is a new challenge for me and my sophomore students this year.  I like having students build up to speaking in front of larger groups, as in, starting in small table groups, combining said table groups, and then building out from there.  I also like focusing on one different skill each time.  For example, a 30 second presentation where students focus on using inflections, or making eye contact, or avoiding the word “like.”  I used to be petrified about speaking in front of groups of people, so I sympathize with the wary students very much.  Anyone who would like to come observe a student public speaking session is welcome to! It’d be great to get feedback from different teachers 🙂

We still have a lot of work to do…

Free Voluntary Reading in French class

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Starting at a new school this year gave me a great excuse to try some new ideas in the classroom. One of these is building a free reading habit in French class. Every week during the block period, students of my French 2 and French 4 classes choose a book from the classroom library and read silently for 15 minutes. The library is made up of novels written for French learners that are easily comprehensible to students, using a limited vocabulary including cognates for easier comprehension. The writing is simple and repetitive, allowing students to focus on the story rather than on decoding the language. 

I have been amazed that even a class of 30 students requires only the rare reminder to keep focused. Their task is simply to read and to keep track of what page they left off for next time. There is no assignment, project, or assessment: the reading is truly “free”. 

According to linguistics and education professor Dr. Stephen Krashen, the more we read, the more we acquire vocabulary, grammar, and complex sentences without necessarily being aware that we are learning. We know this to be true regarding the importance of reading in developing one’s first language. Dr. Krashen’s Reading Hypothesis posits that when reading is comprehensible and enjoyable, it leads to language acquisition in second languages as well.

Not only do students acquire the language through reading, they also have an opportunity to learn empathy and life lessons through the compelling stories found in the classroom. So grab a book and join us in Room 28!

The College Bombshell No One’s Talking About

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Guys, it’s about to go down in Louisville, Kentucky next week at the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) Conference.  And I don’t mean Counselors Gone Wild (though there will be some of that at the BIG 12 party, like there is every year). I mean, real, big time stuff that’s going to change the college admissions landscape. And no one outside of college admissions is talking about it.

Hopefully that super dramatic intro caught your attention. Here’s what’s up and here’s why this is relevant to you and our school (also, get ready for a lot of acronyms). 

For the past two years, the anti-trust division of the Department of Justice has been investigating NACAC’s Code of Ethics and Professional Practices (CEPP).  Basically, the DOJ thinks certain provisions in the CEPP limit competition amongst colleges for students. Knowing that it wouldn’t have the funding nor manpower to continue fighting with the DOJ, NACAC negotiated a consent decree.  At the Annual Membership Meeting at the end of the conference next week, all NACAC members (members are high schools, colleges, CBOs) will vote to remove the provisions from the CEPP that the DOJ believes limit competition. 

So what does that mean? Well, that’s what everyone in our industry has been asking each other for the past two weeks since the vote was announced.  Our team attended a webinar hosted by NACAC’s president and legal counsel, and we’ve been asking every college rep who comes through. Here’s what we’ve learned and what the ramifications could be:

  1. Early Decision (ED) – the application plan where a student says, if you admit me I promise to go to your school and rescind all my other applications – goes away.  


    2.  With students applying to more schools than ever before and yield rates (% of admits who enroll) dropping, colleges rely heavily on ED to shape their classes. With no ED, demonstrated interest is going to become super important as colleges try to determine who is most likely to attend their school.  Remember, colleges need high yield rates to maintain high bond ratings and strong showings in the rankings. Families are going to feel pressure to demonstrate interest even earlier than before.  

  2. Incentives like priority housing, enhanced financial aid packages, and special scholarships for early applicants will no longer be against the rules.


    3.  Imagine being 17 and suddenly, colleges are dangling all kinds of carrots in front of you. How do you ignore the noise and flattery? How do you stay committed to choosing the school that’s the best fit for you – not the one with the most perks?

  3. Colleges can continue recruiting students well past the May 1 national signing deadline.

    4. Hello, volatility. Imagine you’re College A and you received commitments from 500 incoming freshmen students by May 1. You planned your number of beds, classes, faculty members, etc. around that number. But then, imagine that College B, who was also hoping to enroll 500 students, only enrolled 450. So College B decides to start recruiting some of your students so it can meet its enrollment target. 25 of your students choose to leave to go to College B.  Now, you need to fill those 25 spots, so you look to your waitlist or your applicant pool and try to incentivize 25 students over to you. Can you see the ripple effect? Waitlists will be bigger than ever. Predictive models go out the window. It’ll be the wild west. And/or colleges will demand high enrollment deposits (like a full year’s tuition) to prevent students from jumping ship, a policy that will just benefit wealthy kids who can afford to double deposit.

  4. Colleges can continue recruiting students to transfer to their school when those students are freshmen elsewhere.

    5. The ripple effect described above just continues. Imagine being a freshman in college, you have a bad first month, you open your email and there’s an invitation from College B to apply to transfer to their school. The grass is greener. You leave College A for B. You start all over, again. The stress of moving, making new friends, choosing a college. It just continues. 

How does this impact us?

This matters because the stress and frenzy around college admissions is about to get a lot worse as colleges employ new strategies to fill their classes.  It’s more important than ever that we come together as a community in support of our students and parents to guide them through this process. As college & career counselors, we only talk with our students once or twice a year. And both settings are super formal – 1:1 meetings or large evening programs. We need your help reinforcing the messaging that you and we already try imparting on our students.  We need to do an even better job of giving our students the tools, confidence, and courage to: 

  1. know who they are, what they need, and what they want (not what their parents want, nor what their peers think is cool).  They are going to need a boatload of self-awareness and self-reflection to ignore the flurry of incentives that will come their way from colleges that aren’t right for them. 
  2. know that prestige doesn’t guarantee success and name brands don’t define them. Finding a college that supports and challenges them intellectually, emotionally, socially, and spiritually will put them on paths to success.  We know this, but do our students? How do we help them believe in the power of fit?

So, there’s your bombshell. And, who knows? Maybe the vote in favor of the consent decree won’t pass next week.  But, if it does, and the news starts circulating you can impress your friends at dinner parties by telling them you heard it here first (JK, hopefully you have more interesting things to discuss at said dinner parties). Bottom line, I’ve never blogged before, I’m hopeful this can start a conversation because our team needs and wants your help. Let’s break some silos.

Reflecting on our CSJ Mission

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During my first year at Carondelet I had the joy of having Sister Ellie and Sister Kathy stop by my office as part of an evening stroll usually once every other week, at least.
They both said they didn’t want to bother me and were always so encouraging, but those visits also lasted at least 45 minutes to an hour…but they were wonderful visits.
When I spoke at the end of our PD day Friday, I hope I was able to convey the passion and belief I have in our CSJ Mission.  You cannot read the history, or visit with our Sisters, or interact with our other CSJ schools in California and around the country, and not be moved by the dedication, selflessness, compassion and sense of purpose that everyone involved possesses. 
As a Catholic educator, the teachings of Jesus Christ are the foundation of all that I do, even when dealing with “secular” content (I love putting Freud in a Catholic framework in Psych Realism).
This not only leads to some amazing discussions, but it also helps relate to students in so many unique and special ways.  Try a Kairos or  Corazon or Shalom and you will see our students in such a new way, and your colleagues as well.  We are given the gift to do things like this.
And what a gift that is to us as educators.  We get to do what we love with the content we love, and we get to do so while encouraging and focusing on helping young women become agents of change in a world that so desparately needs positive change not just with curriculum, but with what makes them most human.
Much of what I talked about with Sister Ellie and Sister Kathy was related to our curriculum and the programming we were moving forward with, but I also received a great deal of history and a great deal of personal information from them.  They were excited about where we were headed, and they both said they wished they were a part of what we were doing.  They understood the need for us as a school to adapt and grow in order to continue our existence as a school.  And they were both amazingly loving and kind.
So we do move forward carrying the rich charism and mission of the CSJ order.  That is why we exist, and that is our guiding principle-it is why we do what we do.