District Administration - January 2009 - (Page 75)

Antwerp’s high school seniors will assist second-grade students in measuring and mixing ingredients for what will soon be the Cookie Academy Project. The older students will also track the finances of the business and serve as role models for the younger ones. But the problem lies with the district’s students with disabilities, who are struggling. In math, only 23 percent of them scored basic and 23 percent were proficient. In reading, fewer than 18 percent were at basic level and 44 percent scored proficient. For economically disadvantaged students, 49 percent were proficient in reading, while 34 percent were proficient in math. The hope is that the cookie project, along with the AutoSkill software program, will increase their understanding. “The Cookie Academy is practical in the sense that it gives the students a realworld experience in running a business,” Lichty says. The Cookie Recipe Special needs students in grades K-6 will learn math, reading and technology skills through the project. High school special needs students will serve as the financial counselors to the elementary students and will keep track of finances—sorting and adding money from the cookie sales. They will also serve as role models for the younger ones. The Academy of READING will help students become fluent in foundational reading skills, and the Academy of MATH, which aligns with the district’s curriculum, www.DistrictAdministration.com will help special needs students build computational fluency. In the end, the hope is that students will gain improved financial literacy, confidence, self-esteem, motivation and ability to focus. “We decided that this program [AutoSkill] is very beneficial to students, and it focuses on those skills they need,” Lichty says. “We’re going to tie everything together. They will be able to read and measure and add and subtract” while they mix the ingredients and bake the cookies. The students will pick the kinds of cookies they want to bake, Lichty says. In the life skills lab room, formerly the home economics room of years ago, students will bake once a week for about an hour and then sell the cookies in a large entry hallway of the school building another day of the week, preferably in the morning when the rest of the students are first entering school. Five special needs classrooms will be transformed into an interactive computing environment, integrating the new AutoSkill software with SMART Board interactive whiteboards, projectors and wireless tablets into daily instruction, which will cost about $17,500. Staff will also use a business success rubric, which will measure the success of the business. The rubric will measure bookkeeping accuracy and profit margins as well as a marketing plan, which will include the hanging of posters throughout the school building advertising the latest cookie sale. Teacher Training The five special needs teachers, who will be trained in how to use the software, will look at each student and figure out where he or she needs to improve and then work in class to provide extra support to meet those missing skills, Lichty says. Five substitute teachers will be called in over the four teacher training days, she adds, which will cost about $1,600. A group of PEERS, which stands for Partners Educating, Enlivening and Reviewing Ourselves, is a professional development program based at the local Western Buckeye Educational Service Center, which shares resources with districts in two counties, including Antwerp. The PEERS group will study the process of integrating interactive technology, like SMART Boards and wireless notepads, in the classroom with the use of the software. In addition, Antwerp’s special ed teachers will observe each other in classrooms, Lichty adds. “It will be nice to give each other January 2009 75 http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2009

District Administration - January 2009
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Security
Facilities & Construction
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Leadership Books
Research Center
District Web Site Essentials
The Second Annual X-Factor Student Achievement Grant
Social Studies for the 21st Century
Tech Disruptions
Professional Opinion
New Products
Product Focus
Understanding the Times

District Administration - January 2009