Blog-Post Archives - My Learning Springboard

Why Studying Grammar Matters

November 13, 2020

In an age of auto-correct and casual texting, it’s common to think of grammar as a rigid set of rules that is unnecessary to study. Often, students have an intuitive grasp of language and what “sounds right” based on years of reading and writing. Educators face similar questions about studying grammar. In fact, debates over teaching grammar have been raging in the United States for the last fifty years. Those who advocate against teaching grammar argue that students will learn grammar in an organic way, through reading and writing. They state that grammar instruction is often prescriptive and focused on rules, thereby limiting student expression. Certainly, there are dreary and constricting ways of teaching and learning grammar, but can we ever separate our thoughts and ideas from the sentences we are using to express them?

When we understand the relationship between words in a sentence, we gain a clearer sense of what it is that we mean to say. Rather than seeing grammar as a “mechanical” layer of writing, we can use grammar to more fully understand the linguistic choices we’re making and their effect on our readers.

Here we’ll take a look at some of the ways studying grammar can help our writing and language acquisition.

Fluency

When we understand the necessary parts of a sentence, we can feel confident about clarifying convoluted phrasing. Let’s look at an example:

June was at the grocery store when she ran into a girl who used to go to her school named Essie, and she bought three avocados and a seltzer.

This sentence is technically correct but reads quite sloppily. We aren’t sure who bought the avocados and seltzer, June or Essie.

One way to clarify the sentence is using a prepositional phrase to situate us in place, adding an appositive to separate the additional details about Essie, and adding in the adverb “then” to clarify the order of actions.

Syntax

Often, complex syntax can reflect a nuanced and sophisticated way of connecting ideas. By studying grammar, we can start to make our sentences more intricate, and more aligned with our critical thinking.

For example, let’s say we are thinking about the benefits and drawbacks of remote learning.

On a first draft, we might write: Remote learning is beneficial for students who can focus better in their own homes. It is harmful to those who don’t have access to technology or who focus better in a group setting.

Then, we decide that we want to directly show the relationship between the benefits and drawbacks and can use transitional words to combine the sentences.

While remote learning is beneficial for students who can focus better in their own homes, it is harmful for those who don’t have access to technology or who focus better in a group setting.

Remote learning is beneficial for students who can focus better in their own homes; however, it is harmful for those who don’t have access to technology or who focus better in a group setting.

Varying syntax also helps the reader stay engaged with your writing. When our language is monotonous, the reader may have a hard time moving through a piece of writing. Even when reading silently, our “inner ear” enjoys musicality, or at least a change of pace between sentences. Studying grammar can open up more choices for us to create dynamic sentences.

Here is another example:

I walked my dog and I got some flowers. I read a book and I called a friend. I took a shower and listened to music before bed.

All of the sentences above use the simple past verb tense. The syntax does not vary and as a result, the sentences sound more like a list of activities than a narrative.

In the revised sentences, both simple past and past continuous verb tenses are used, which makes the day flow in a livelier manner. By adding in prepositional phrases are added, we are not only mixing up the syntax, but also conveying important details. Adverbs help to locate the activity in time.

Learning another language

Another reason to study English grammar is to improve our ability to learn another language. Students often find that having a familiarity with parts of speech, tenses, and other grammatical components can help them transition into learning other languages. Likewise, students often find that studying another language improves their understanding of English grammar. Even when the grammar structure varies dramatically between two languages, understanding these differences can help students avoid common errors. There are many similarities in grammar structure between English and Mandarin. However, English-speaking students studying Mandarin often face difficulty with adverbs and denoting amount. In order to learn Mandarin grammar, it’s helpful to understand where adverbs are placed in English and how “measure words” are used. Once we start studying grammar across multiple languages, we begin to see how the language choices we make are not arbitrary. Rather, grammar is the architecture of language, setting up the foundations – and possibilities – for how we can express meaning.

Where to Begin

The good news about studying grammar is that we can find it all around us. When reading an interesting article, we can try to identify verb tenses or ways that the syntax is varying. When reading a poem, we can consider the grammatical choices an author made, and how they affect the text. Even when casually texting, we can think about the linguistic choices we are making.

For additional resources, Purdue Owl has excellent online resources on grammar and writing. The classic book Elements of Style by E.B. White and William Strunk, Jr. is a helpful guide to writing clearly and concisely. Additionally, The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus offers clear instruction on grammar and punctuation usage, as well as detailed examples and quizzes.

By Joss Lake, MFA | Private Tutor and Writing Coach

Key Messages That Support The Learning Process

October 13, 2020

No matter their students’ location or grade level, there are a number of key messages that educators need to communicate to students in order to help them to be effective learners and to see their teacher(s) as an integral part of supporting them in the learning process. Key messages are the core concepts that a speaker wants their audience (in this case, students) to hear and remember and, most importantly, believe. Effective key messages both resonate in the moment and stay with the listeners long after they first hear the messages.

Maslow’s hierarchy reminds us as educators that students’ needs for safety, belonging, and self-confidence must be addressed in order for them to learn academic material effectively. With these considerations in mind, our key messages for students are based not in scholastic content but in social-emotional principles. These messages help students see that achievements that may feel unreachable to them now will be reachable soon. These messages encourage social-emotional learning transfer by helping students identify and activate positive attributes they already possess, as well as by helping them cultivate new ones. These messages encourage students to take intellectual risks — an essential aspect of being a fully actualized learner — by reassuring them that they have a safety net and that the teacher believes in the student and their ability. These messages help learners build stamina and give them the confidence to persist when learning is challenging — both when the educator is there beside them and when the student is working independently. These messages help students conceptualize their work with their teacher as something that helps them both in the immediate moment and in the long term.

The key messages below should be shared directly with your students as well as embedded implicitly in your communications with them during each interaction. Repeated use makes a critical difference.

My Learning Springboard believes in these key messages for our students:

Our work together is important.
You can do this.
I am here for you and won’t give up on you.
Learning new things can be hard, but remember you’ve done hard things before (remember when you…).
You may not be able to do this YET, but the key word is “yet.”
Effective effort + persistence = success.

Think back to a time when you struggled alone with something as a learner — perhaps when you floundered in isolation, felt misunderstood, or were hesitant to ask for assistance. Imagine how things could have been different if you had been able to work with a teacher who was consistently encouraging and who made it safe to ask for help. How could hearing these key messages have benefited you as you tried to master that concept or skill set? We believe that these messages could have let you know that you were not alone, that someone cared about you and believed in you, that some struggle is an integral part of learning, and that your efforts would be fruitful in the end. With that growth mindset and belief system, you would be more willing to take risks, which, as we note above, is really what learning is all about.

Encouraging messages are always important in education, but we find them to be even more vital in the current moment, when students, parents, and educators are navigating the new landscape of remote learning along with a set of larger uncertainties. For many students right now, learning feels less fun, harder, more abstract, perhaps less relevant to their daily lives. A teacher who works to connect with a student, who expresses confidence in them, and who is unwaveringly there for them helps the student understand that this too shall pass and that in the meanwhile, we are all working to move forward together.

By Laurie Gross, M.A.T. and Learning Specialist, and Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Learning Specialist

Classroom Management Strategies for Distance Learning Success

September 20, 2020

While a lot of the plans for this school year are changing from day to day, one certainty is that many students will be distance learning or experiencing a hybrid model of education. Naturally, families are concerned about how to support their learners. While parents often feel grounded in subject areas like math, reading, or history, or at least have good enough research skills to find helpful instructional videos online, many families feel out of their league when it comes to helping children strengthen their executive function skills, particularly in subjects that posed a challenge during in-person school terms. Quite simply, executive function skills are the skills we use to plan, organize, start, stay focused on, and complete a task. They are essential in every educational subject. The good news is that executive function skills are the same skills that adults employ to be successful in their lives and careers — which means that most parents have the aptitude to support their children as they develop these skills. And in fact, every student benefits from support with executive function skills during distance learning. One of the best ways of helping students strengthen executive function skills at home is by employing successful classroom management strategies.

Classroom management strategies are the procedures and guidelines that skillful teachers put in place in order to make instruction run smoothly; they are quite similar to executive function skills, but for a group of people instead of with one student in mind. Good classroom management systems take into account students’ needs in terms of learning space, resources, visual stimulation, bodily movement, time management, and self-monitoring. Because your child’s home learning space functions as a classroom space, classroom management considerations can help you and your child establish an optimal home learning setup.

The best way to identify which classroom management strategies your student needs help with is to have a conversation with them. Approach the initial discussion as a brainstorming session where all suggestions will be considered. Be open to listening to your student, and be willing to consider ideas they generate. If you are not sure whether an idea is feasible, agree to try it out for a trial period. It is essential for students to be deeply involved in this process, as it helps them build their executive function skills and increases their sense of agency and their investment in their learning.

Before School: Classroom Management Strategies

A good way to start the conversation is with the “Before.” These are the things that need to happen before the student starts school each morning. List the routines you can establish as a family to start the day successfully. What time must they be up to allow enough time for breakfast, getting dressed, getting ready? How can you build in some physical movement to help your child wake up and to give a sense of transition — is it possible to take a short, brisk walk together before class? If a walk is not possible, can you turn on some music and dance together before the school day begins? Then, make plans for what happens during learning breaks. If possible, try to eat lunch together; if not, let them know what the plan will be for lunch. Make sure your student knows how to get your attention if they need you during class. To the greatest extent possible, keep these routines and guidelines consistent from day to day.

During School: Classroom Management Strategies

Next, begin to talk about the “During.” Ask your child: What worked best for distance learning in the spring? What was really hard or could be improved upon? Are there things they wish would have happened differently?

As you plan for this year’s learning, one thing to discuss with your child is their spatial needs. If they often felt distracted with previous distance learning, take a good look at their workspace. Some older students might prefer working solo in their bedrooms, while some younger students might find it lonely. Also, some families have limited space, and having a quiet, private room with a door might not be possible. As a family, discuss what the options could be. Talk about the places where your student might learn best: At a desk? On the floor? In a comfortable chair? With younger children, setting up a yoga mat or beach towel allows them to move around during class within a defined boundary and camera range. Once you have established a learning setup, figure out how to optimize that setup for learning. If a student will be using their bedroom, discuss why it is important to make the bed each morning and to turn off and put away distractions like toys, TVs, and phones. Make sure the space is comfortable and sends a message that learning is happening there. Once you settle on a workspace, create guidelines for how other family members should use or avoid that room when the student is working.

Next, brainstorm the resources and supplies your student will need to have close by. If possible, consider a hard wired setup for your student’s computer in case the household WiFi lags, and get your student a headset with a microphone. Additionally, although your student is attending classes online, do not overlook the importance of physical supplies. Educational research demonstrates that most students learn better when they take notes by hand rather than when they type them. Maintaining a binder or notebook for each class, as they would during “regular” school times, helps many students stay grounded in the physical world and makes distance learning feel more “real.” Have your student help you choose supplies — pencils, pens, highlighters, crayons or colored pencils, maybe some stickers, the fun things they would buy in a normal year. We also recommend a small whiteboard with dry-erase markers, print copies of their books, and a water bottle to stay hydrated. A fancy custom storage system is not needed; a shoebox can hold the supplies, and your student can decorate it themselves if they’d like.

Visual needs are an especially important consideration with distance learning. While physical classrooms are often full of colorful, helpful and inspirational posters, learning online means that your student’s eyes are already absorbing a lot of stimulation. Eye strain is not just a problem for adults when staring at a screen for a long period of time — and anything over 20 minutes is a long time! Encourage your child to purposefully blink their eyes while online. Make sure their physical workspace is well lit. Together, decide whether posting a picture on a far wall or having a window view would give them something to look at to take a moment from focusing on their screen. If a student will be sitting at a table or desk, consider setting up a white trifold board in front of their workspace to help them stay focused. Some students benefit from posters on their board, such as printouts of their daily schedule and of the alphabet or the periodic table of elements. Some students thrive on personalizing the board, as they would a locker door. Others benefit simply from having a clean sea of white as a respite from the lights and noise online.

Physical needs during lessons are another topic to discuss with your student. If it is hard for them to sit still during synchronistic teaching, consider what you do to stay focused when you are at work. Can you teach them how to stretch in their chair? Can they drum their fingers on a pillow? Can they keep a fidget toy nearby that is soothing, but not distracting? Could you place a piece of stick-on velcro on the bottom of their desk or chair to run their fingers back and forth on? Can they rub their feet on a small textured mat? Would sitting on an exercise ball be better than sitting in a chair? Would a standing desk option by helpful?

Physical needs during breaks go hand in hand with physical needs during lessons. Make a list of physical activities and the places in your home where the activities can happen during scheduled breaks. Practice a few yoga poses until the student can do them independently; a few minutes in child’s pose helps most students quickly recenter. If one of your student’s scheduled breaks aligns with a time when you also can take a break, do a mini workout together. For some students, a few minutes alone listening to music may help them unwind. These activities are helpful not just during instructional breaks but during students’ independent work time, as they help the student break big blocks of time into manageable segments. Because students already are spending so much time online, encourage them to avoid break time activities that require a screen.

Just as physical note taking can help students stay focused and rooted in the moment, so can self-monitoring their learning. If they are listening to prerecorded lessons, encourage them to develop a habit of stopping the video occasionally, thinking about what they just heard, and stating it out loud and/or summarizing it in their notes. Younger children can teach what they are learning to a favorite stuffed toy sitting nearby. If a student struggles to recall important information or summarize the lesson effectively, they might need more support learning that particular concept.

After School: Classroom Management Strategies

After discussing the “Before” and the “During,” it is time to discuss the “After.” No matter where the workspace is, decide how your child will “close shop” at the end of the day. Where will materials be stored? Where will their device be charged? What transitional routines will help them to change the space from a learning space back to a home space?

Once you have used classroom management strategies to establish a workspace and some routines and guidelines, set a schedule for checking in with your student. Some students need a daily debriefing, while for others, every few days will work. Ask them open-ended questions and give them time to form their thoughts. Some questions might be:

What is working well in your workspace?
What changes do you think you need to make?
Are you able to manage the LMS (Learning Management System, i.e. Google Classroom, Canvas) the teacher is using?
Is there anything you want to ask your teacher or share with your teacher? Do you know how to reach the teacher? Have you reached out to the teacher? Have they responded?
Are you able to pay attention during instruction? What might make it easier to pay attention?
Do you need any new supplies?
What did you learn in reading? In math? In science?

Continue to observe what classroom management strategies are working for your student and which ones are not. Be sure to give them specific feedback when you see them using a strategy that is successful. Reach out to their teacher, or help them reach out to the teacher themselves, if you see them struggling. Be as specific as possible when describing your concern. Be open to the teacher’s suggestions and bring them to your next family brainstorming session. Post the day/time for that session on a family calendar where the student can find it easily. The important message your child needs to hear is that they can grow their executive function skills by trying new strategies and by reflecting on what works for them as a learner. With these improved skills, they will find more success in school not just this year but in the challenges that await them farther into the future.

Written by Maggie Sisti, M.Ed. and National Board Certified Teacher, who is a classroom teacher in a large, high performing school district in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She has been supporting her own four kids and 30+ years of students with developing and enhancing executive function skills inside and outside of the classroom.

2020-2021 School Planning Considerations

May 12, 2020

Summer and Fall School Planning

Undoubtedly summer 2020 is going to look and feel different than any of us imagined. Accepting this new reality will continue to take tremendous mental and emotional resources for most of us in order to find balance, reframe with optimism, and plan accordingly. To cope with and manage the uncertainty, we need to focus our school planning — and life planning — in stages that feel reasonably manageable. For each family, it’s a unique discussion, requiring curated recommendations, which we can help to organize for you.

Families are at various stages of thinking and planning. Some families are well in the groove with distance learning, while other families feel like they’re just trying to hobble to the school year finish line. Some families are surely not returning to NYC this fall, while others still aren’t sure. Many families are actively thinking about Plans A, B, and C for the summer months while also thinking ahead to the next school year.

A huge variable impacting the next couple months is the status of summer day camps and sleepaway camps. At the high school and college level, many programs have already been canceled or moved online. Therefore, we’re actively helping our upper students to get situated with online alternatives, including courses, programs, independent study (e.g. virtual science labs and computer programming), and possible volunteer or internship opportunities. The summer camp situation for our preschool, elementary, middle, and high school students is one we’re closely monitoring. Notably, the American Camping Association is expected to share additional guidelines next week. We’re feeling more hopeful for well resourced sleepaway camps than day camps, but at best it’s likely to be a shorter camp season with many new protocols in place.

Like families, schools, too, are in contingency planning mode. Ready to pivot in any number of ways, schools are contemplating a variety of options depending on evolving circumstances. School leadership is wrestling with these questions and others: Will school resume normally in September? Might students return in half groups with alternate timing? Might younger students return before older students? Will some students return but not others, thus creating a need for hybrid instruction both remotely and in-person? How do we maintain rigor and expectations? How do we maintain community? How do we manage enrollment?

We’re closely following all of these developments and remain in regular contact with school admissions directors and school leadership in NYC and across the country. Faya and I are scheduled to attend the Enrollment Management Association conference (regional seminar) on May 27th, which will include many of the admissions directors from NYC. We’re also meeting on a weekly basis with boarding schools across the country and regularly attending calls with our association groups. To that end, there are some incredible and creative procedures in place for therapeutic residential programs, for example, which are experiencing a large increase in inquiries and immediate enrollment. Under normal circumstances, these programs would be considered more restrictive school environments, but under the current circumstances, our students in therapeutic wilderness programs and therapeutic boarding schools are arguably having the more typical and less restrictive school experience with in-person teaching, in-person therapy, and peer relations. We’re also regularly in touch with representatives from established and innovative virtual school programs, which are also seeing a large increase in inquiries and enrollment. We’ll continue to stay on top of all developments and trends but don’t expect mainstream day and boarding schools to make firm decisions until later in the summer.

Because there are so many different age groups, academic needs, and schooling pathways, planning discussions need to be carefully differentiated for each family, just like our instruction. As nimble educational consultants and learning specialists, we’re here to help however we can. Think of us as your schooling phone-a-friend — preK through college — with expertise across day schools, boarding schools, and public schools. Whatever question or wonder you have about managing schooling for your children, wherever you may be currently located, we’re here for you.

Below you’ll find more information about: 1) benchmarking your child’s progress this school year, 2) summer enrichment teaching opportunities, 3) standardized testing in this climate, and 4) starting the common application essay.

Benchmarking Student Progress

The sad reality is that most students are taking an academic hit in the short term, but it’s still manageable. Considering that most private schools, for example, only started with distance learning and online learning around March 30th, we’re only just now in week 7, and the first two weeks were expectedly light. Most boarding schools and colleges will have their spring semesters concluded by the end of May, while many independent day schools will conclude their school year within the first 2 weeks of June per typical planning. Understanding that the sudden move to distance learning was head-spinning for everyone, most schools have been compassionate about their grading policies, many parents have appropriately eased pressure and expectations in response to their child’s emotional state (and/or their own), and colleges have indicated that they’ll be very reasonable about how they view this spring semester’s transcript for current juniors. But with a clear understanding that this virus isn’t just going away, and reopening NYC is going to take months (at least), we have to rally with planning as we look ahead to anticipated disruptions this summer and the upcoming school year. Hobbling to the finish line can be good enough for a lot of students this school year, but we need to be as ready as possible as we move into the next school year regarding both academic skills and plans to address continued distance learning.

For September 2020, all classroom teachers and schools are going to need to adjust their typical expectations to some degree because this last quarter of the 2019-2020 school year has been compromised. Our lower school students — and particularly our students in the primary grades — are likely going to be reading, writing, and completing math work below typical benchmarks as a result of missed instruction. Despite a school’s best efforts, pivoting to distance learning and online learning so quickly was a Herculean effort, and there was simply no way to perfectly optimize it for the 4th quarter. Moreover, there’s simply no replacement for in-person instruction and live classroom discourse. Digitals tools provide lots of opportunities and accessibility, but we typically prefer to use them as a complement to in-person instruction, especially with our younger students.

Many parents have inquired about benchmarking and making sense of report cards in this climate. They aren’t sure if their child is meeting grade level expectations or not. It’s surely not a guessing game, and parents don’t really need to wonder. The Common Core State Standards provide an excellent starting point for benchmarking, and while private schools don’t strictly follow these standards, many of them use these standards to guide their own curriculum mapping. For competitive NYC private schools, parents should look at typical grade level standards and reading benchmarks and then skew up a grade level. Keep in mind that standards aren’t “one and done” but rather build over time and across grade levels.

Since the Common Core website can be overwhelming for many parents to navigate, we like this alternative format developed by Jill McEldowney and Cathy Henry at The Curriculum Corner. For Kindergarten through 8th grades, they have created parent-friendly checklists based on CCSS in the form of “I Can…” statements available as both Excel and PDF formats.

We also make use of the Teachers College Columbia University Reading and Writing Project independent reading level quarterly benchmarking. It’s best not to get hung up on a single exit level for June but rather to think about reading levels in bands of two to three alpha letters. Performance with fiction and nonfiction texts may differ, and writing response work needs to be factored into benchmarking, particularly as students move into grades 2, 3, 4, and 5.

So while benchmarking doesn’t need to be a guessing game, it’s also not simple and quick. Ideally a portfolio of work from the entire school year is available to help guide benchmarking in addition to a variety of data points, including classroom work, homework, projects, grade level achievement testing (e.g. CTP testing), and informal classroom assessments (e.g. running records and spelling inventories). As for typing skills, typing.com offers typing speed guidelines for grades K-5.

Summer Enrichment Teaching

Because this 4th quarter of the school year has been compromised, and because many camp and summer programs are likely to be canceled or moved online, there’s an opportunity to use the summer season as an extended school year term, thus helping to avoid the summer slide. But summer learning can and should look different from academic year learning. Kids need to feel like they’re getting a break. They need to feel like the instructional time is something different. Summer learning, without school parameters in place, allows for more targeted instruction as well as project-based, interdisciplinary learning. The summer is a good time to close gaps, build expertise, or expand a passion. Ideally, the learning goals are driven by each student, which we can help to scaffold depending on age. With the help of creative and nimble educators — and the mindset that learning happens all the time and everywhere — the sky’s the limit with summer planning, and we welcome any special requests.

Moreover, as the weather improves, our faculty remains available for distance learning, but we could also consider some in-person instruction. For families who may be able to host outdoor or backyard sessions — either 1:1 or small groups of friends or siblings — we have a number of teachers who would be open to commuting and instructing or leading activities with social distancing and safety procedures in place. We’d need your help to organize the group, but it can be done with planning.

Here are some ideas from our teachers:

Physics Lab at Home combines the rigor of an in-person lab while using the constraints imposed by remote learning to foster creativity and stimulate critical thinking. Students perform experiments at home with whatever materials they have at hand. They make measurements with both simple instruments they may have and with their cellphones. Students explore mechanics, electromagnetism, optics and thermodynamics in one-on-one sessions designed to illustrate a simple, profound truth: the world around us is governed by the laws of science.

Book Groups for a few friends who haven’t been able to see each other in person. A group of cousins or other family members who usually gather during the summer at the family vacation house might also want to “meet” to discuss a high-interest book of their choosing. Mixed age groups can discuss a book that focuses on topics relevant to all or that might illuminate different perspectives. A group of students from the same school can read their assigned summer book together. Our teachers can help groups choose books, come to the meeting with ideas to share, and engage in a friendly, dynamic conversation. This can be a one-time activity or a group may choose to meet a few times over the summer.

Journal Writing Circles for teens interested in using writing to explore feelings and ideas that might be difficult to talk about or that might normally be shared with friends in more normal times. Budding writers and all students would be encouraged to write informally without worrying about judgment or “correctness,” rather focusing on recalling memories, capturing fleeting thoughts or ideas and expressing themselves through writing. Prompts would be provided either between meetings or at the beginning of the sessions to help students write about a range of experiences. Sharing would be optional.

Family History Interviews of older relatives with stories to tell! With more time on their hands, students can prepare generative questions to elicit grandparents or other family members’ stories. Working with a supportive teacher, individual students or a small group of students can prepare questions, practice interviewing, read profiles written in different formats and eventually write their own pieces that capture the experiences of their favorite relatives. Photos can be used to enhance the final stories, creating high-quality photo-journalistic pieces.

Comedy writing is a fun and creative way for kids to learn the conventions of writing and producing content while expressing themselves. My Learning Springboard is offering lessons from TV writing/screenwriting to improv comedy to expository writing and more to keep students’ writing skills sharp in a fun, relaxed setting where they can write pieces that are true to their experiences and personalities. Looking for portfolio pieces to include in art school applications? Our team of teachers have won screenwriting competitions, been nominated for Sports Emmys and more, and they are happy to help hone your student’s voice as a writer and content creator.

Super-Hero stories is a collaborative course in which students explore the traits and challenges of their favorite superheroes, including Thor, Moana, the Incredibles, and Studio Ghibli’s Chihiro. We will watch video clips and read stories to better understand how superheroes are created (their “origin stories”) and how they change over time. We will also discuss villains and whether so-called “evil” characters such as the Joker, Syndrome, and Disney’s Evil Stepmothers are born “bad” or become this way due to misfortune. Students will get a chance to present their own favorite superheroes from books and film. Then, inspired by the wide world of superheroes, students will get a chance to start thinking of their “superpowers” and how they might use their own special traits to deal with challenges and difficulties. Then, they will create their own unique superhero characters and send them off on missions and adventures. Their superhero stories will be workshopped and we will develop them using imaginative writing prompts. At the end of the course, students are invited to dress up as their characters and share their special superhero stories.

Real-Life Math and Writing Connections for elementary and middle school students means searching for ways to take fundamental skills that the students need to practice, and repackaging them into activities that target the students’ interests. For example, when practicing mean, median, range, and mode, we might analyze statistics from a student’s favorite sports team. To facilitate teaching writing skills, we pick articles on topics that are interesting to the student. Music, movies, and sports can all provide opportunities for practicing skills. We’re able to push our students to read higher level discussions of the topics that interest them and are intrinsically motivating.

Standardized Test Preparation

The summer season is also an excellent time to get a jump start on standardized test preparation at every level from lower school through college. Given the pandemic, there has been speculation that private schools might go test optional. We continue to regularly check school websites and talk with directors, and so far we’ve only noted an official policy change at Poly Prep. While more schools might take this position, we expect that the majority of students will still choose to submit ISEE or SSAT scores if possible. A solid to strong performance on a standardized measure provides advantageous data for schools to review as part of the process, particularly when the spring term was so unusual. And truly the ISEE or SSAT is just a vehicle for middle or high school readiness. Going through the process closes any gaps and advances reading, writing, and math skills. We typically see huge growth for our students between now and December. What’s less clear is the specialized high school test (SHSAT) for NYC public schools. That test is typically administered in October, and it’s been a controversial test for years that was recently redesigned. We carefully monitor any SHSAT developments.

At the college level, there’s also speculation that more schools will ease their testing requirements and become test optional. That may happen, but notably about 75% of applicants to test optional colleges still choose to submit test scores, and those scores tend to skew higher because they’re voluntarily submitted. It’s fairly unchartered territory for NYC at the middle and high school level, but it’s well in effect at the college level, and we haven’t seen it curb behavior among our families. We expect that families who can manage at-home testing procedures will proceed with test preparation programs and official testing in the months to come. All of the major publishers — The College Board, ACT, SSAT, and ERB — have either already made at-home testing available or have these procedures planned to launch in August. This includes every major test we support, including SAT, ACT, ISEE, SSAT, APs, SAT subject tests, and graduate level exams.

For now, it seems the only age groups that are surely saved from standardized testing are our rising kindergartners and first graders. ERB has officially phased out use of the AABL, and they are not planning to resurrect the ECAA. Schools will each have to create their own assessment protocols as things stand right now.

The Common Application Essay

Each year, the Common Application itself “resets” in early August, so we advise rising seniors to wait until then to fill out its typable forms; similarly, colleges tend to post their individual supplemental essay prompts in August or early September. But the Common Application has already released its essay prompts for the upcoming application cycle, making spring and summer an ideal time to begin the writing process—particularly this year. At a time when everyone’s plans have been upended, starting the Common Application essay injects a bit of normalcy. It allows students some control while challenging themselves creatively, with no pressing deadlines. It is one of the concrete steps that they can take in shaping their future, an opportunity to reflect on where they’ve been—such as a nook on a living-room floor, a treacherous rock wall, or a thumping concert arena—where they are, and where they will go.

By Brad Hoffman, Faya Hoffman, and Laurie Gross
My Learning Springboard Leadership Team

How to Avoid the Summer Slide

May 10, 2020

Summer is fast approaching and many parents have already planned activities and camps for their children, or they’re in the process of planning or recalibrating given the pandemic. We know that summer is the ultimate freedom, the time for exploration and play, the time to finally unwind from the busy school year. So how do you maintain your child’s academic skills while enjoying the freedom and playfulness of summer vacation? A critical part of summer planning relates to academics and keeping students’ skills not only intact, but also progressing. Each year, we observe that some of our own students slide back several weeks or months when summer vacation does not include any academic practice. While many students can recover fairly quickly during the fall, this summer slide is an unnecessary setback that can negatively impact a student’s confidence and make going back to school more difficult.

When you stop and think about it, the contrast between the structure of the school year and the liberation of summer is profound. During the school year, students are asked to sustain attention for long periods of time, to read critically, to write reflectively, to problem solve, and to synthesize information. The summer is typically the yin to the school year yang.

But a balance can be achieved to keep those learning muscles strong while still allowing for some rest and recovery. We view learning as a marathon, not a sprint, and the current school year schedule makes that tricky. With proper planning and collaboration, parents can help their children to maintain a successful position without creating a household battle.

So how do you do it? Each situation, each learner’s response to instruction, and each teacher is unique. For summer success, especially this year, we encourage parents to develop a strategic plan in partnership with their school, child, and, possibly, private tutor. From camp to virtual field trips to kitchen-lab science, there are tremendous enrichment and experiential learning opportunities available.

During the summer, students also need to practice sustaining attention, synthesizing information, and problem-solving in more structured ways to avoid cognitive atrophy and allow for a fairly seamless transition back to school. Here are 5 tips for planning summer learning. The most important thing is to set yourself up for success. Choose from the suggestions below, commit to a schedule and hold strong. Follow your child’s lead, but insist on a minimum of 15 minutes for each activity to maintain stamina. But most importantly, have fun!

1) Talk to your child’s teacher by early June. Prepare a friendly email or request a brief conference asking for recommendations of skills or concepts to work on during the summer. You might refer back to report card comments to confirm if certain skills were mastered. Also, confirm if there is any required schoolwork for the summer. Many schools ask students to read a certain number of books, to write book reports, or to complete math practice work over the summer. Book lists or summer packets may be available.

2) Talk with your kids about their learning goals. Once you’ve gathered more information from the school, share it with your children and talk with them about their summer interests. Review your family calendar and share the options for summer activities. Make your kids part of the process.

3) Read daily. It takes discipline, but all students need to read daily for a minimum of 20 minutes. Students also need to be engaged in conversations about the text. It is incredibly complex to develop proficiency with summarizing, identifying the main idea, determining an author’s message, or explaining the theme. Students need tremendous practice and modeling. For independent reading, should have “just right” books at an appropriately challenging reading level. Many families have the most success when this reading time is scheduled first thing in the morning or as an afternoon “siesta” period.

4) Practice writing and typing (even drawing helps). There are lots of ways to practice writing over the summer that are meaningful and fun. Our students often like to keep journals for writing friendly letters to their parents, family members, or tutors about their reading, and they love getting a written response in return. Students also like to write stories and publish their own books. A great site to use is www.blurb.com, and summer journaling with a tutor can be managed locally or from a distance via online collaborative tools. Typing is also a real-life skill that every student should master at an early age. Software is available to help students develop proficient typing skills.

5) Practice math. Set aside at least 3-4 times a week for math practice. Math practice should include problem-solving, mastering basic facts, and building number sense. Workbooks, games, and websites are readily available in addition to customized private programs and math camps. IXL.com has practice activities for every grade level aligned with state standards.

We wish everyone a wonderful and well-deserved summer vacation and a smooth transition back to school in the fall.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.