November 23, 2008
Seventy elementary school teachers and principals from seven
Catholic schools in the New York Archdiocese went “back to school”
on November 8 for a day of interactive learning sessions and best
practices in the classroom provided by faculty from St. John’s
School of Education.
Francine Guastello, Ed.D., Judith McVarish, Ph.D., Brett Blake,
Ph.D., and Athena Lentini, Ph.D., provided the professional staff
development day at the University’s Manhattan Campus. All of the
elementary school professionals attended on a voluntary basis.
A refreshing new spin on math education was spearheaded by Dr.
McVarish, who developed techniques for graphing and math
journal-writing with primary and elementary teachers. Joseph
Mattina, a St. John’s graduate and math coach at M.S. 582 in
Brooklyn, demonstrated innovative techniques for utilizing graphic
organizers and key vocabulary for solving math word problems for
sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade teachers.
Pre-K through second-grade teachers were shown explicit
instructional strategies for developing phonemic awareness,
phonics instruction and early reading fluency by Dr. Lentini. She
emphasized the differences between teaching new skills and
practicing those skills as she encouraged purposeful and
goal-orientated classroom instruction for the primary grade
teachers.
Dr. Guastello worked with faculty from St. James School in lower
Manhattan, demonstrating how to implement a K-8 Literacy Program in
their school.
All materials and activities taught in the morning session
enabled the teachers to immediately begin the program in
their school. During the afternoon session, teachers in the middle
grades worked on hands-on writing projects that were practical,
creative and motivating.
Dr. Blake inspired the junior high teachers using techniques of
process writing and reader response. Her afternoon session included
activities that engaged teachers in writing in the content areas
where she also shared samples of her students’ work. All her
activities were designed to motivate those reluctant junior high
writers.
Throughout the day graduate students Kristen Doheny and Kristina
DeMeo were present as photographers and assistants to the
faculty.
“At the lunch break, I had the opportunity to meet with the some
of the teachers and the principals of these schools,” relates Dr.
Guastello. “Each one had an energized look as he or she expressed
their anxiousness to start the afternoon sessions. At the end of
the day, evaluations by the teachers and principals reflected not
only their elation with the day, but their enthusiasm to go back to
their classrooms to implement what they shared with their
colleagues as they learned new techniques from their
instructors.”
She added that the principals unanimously agreed that this was
the best staff development day they had experienced in a long time.
After speaking with their teachers they also noted how eager they
were to implement what they learned in the sessions.
Held on a Saturday, the Professional Staff Development Day was a
trial event. After all, who in their right mind would ever give up
a Saturday to go to a workshop after teaching all week? Dr.
Guastello, who says it was a pleasure to work with the principals
and teachers, replies, “dedicated teachers, that’s who!” However,
the best answer was provided by the day’s participants, whose only
question at the day’s end was “when is the next professional
day?”
The Professional Development Day is the first step in
collaboration between St. John’s University and the Archdiocese of
New York to improve the learning experience of underserved and
socio-economically disadvantaged students in several Archdiocesan
elementary schools. Schools that participated in this event were
St. Patrick Old Cathedral, St. James, and St. Rose of Lima in
Manhattan; Incarnation and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel/St. Benedicta in
Staten Island; and St. Dominic and St. Simon in the Bronx.
Dr. Guastello notes that the day was made possible through the
efforts of School of Education Dean Jerrold Ross, “who secured the
funding to make successful days like these possible,” and credits
Dani Bui and her staff at the Manhattan campus “for facilitating
this event and welcoming these 70 teachers and principals with the
warmth, hospitality and efficiency one would expect from St.
John’s.”
Two more professional days are being planned for the Spring
’09.