Summit HS Students Create and Share Storybooks with First Graders

Summit High School teacher, Ruben Mascarenas, took 93 of his Spanish students to D.P. Morris Elementary to present bilingual children’s books that they created to present to first grade students.

The high school students made enough books so that every first grader at D.P. Morris (100+) was able to go home with a book that day. The SHS students spent almost two hours reading and sharing with their first grade partner. See more photos.

MISD Short Cuts - Summit Storybooks

Students from Summit High School's Spanish classes took part in creating storybooks for students from nearby D.P. Morris Elementary. The books were written in Spanish and translated for each child by a Summit student.

Over 140 storybooks were created by the Summit HS students!

A Cultural Exchange at Mary Jo Sheppard

Students from Dallas Baptist University (DBU) visited Mary Jo Sheppard Elementary on April 29. The students were part of DBU's international student program and represented six different countries (China, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Taiwan and Korea).

After sharing their customs and culture with the third grade classes, the special guests divided into smaller groups to observe individual classrooms.  After the classroom visits, the international students ate lunch with the fourth grade classes.

"This program is a great way for kids to experience different cultures by learning about their clothing, language, flags and food," said Sheppard Principal Gary Manns.  "It also gives the international students the opportunity to learn about American education."

The event proved to be a powerful learning experience for both the elementary and the college students.

"I'm so glad for the opportunity to meet these children," said one Korean student (pictured above). "I have been in America for seven or eight months and I've never been to a regular elementary school like this."

DBU supports more than 540 international students from over 50 countries. 

Students Succeed at National Mathematics Pentathlon Tournament

Thirty-two students from Erma Nash Elementary competed in Division II (2nd and 3rd grade) of the National Mathematics Pentathlon Tournament in Midlothian, Texas on April 2.

This was the second year for Nash students to take part in the Pentathlon tournament, and they arrived with great expectations and a goal to do their very best.  Dozens of parents and teachers attended and volunteered at the tournament to show their support for these determined students.

The rules of a national Pentathlon tournament require each participant to be matched with a different player for each of the five games in the appropriate division. The activities test problem-solving and strategic thinking skills through creative games.

Of the 32 Nash competitors, about 50% were students from the Bilingual program. Instructors believe the Pentathlon exercises are extremely beneficial to students with language barriers.

“Pentathlon is a fun way to improve students’ critical thinking and logical reasoning skills, but it also improves our students’ communication skills,” said Christa Beebe, Nash Math Specialist. “For our Bilingual kids, this program has given them a place to practice the math vocabulary they learn in class.”

The students did a fantastic job at the tournament and most importantly, they exhibited confidence and excitement, which represented their school and Mansfield ISD in a very positive way.

Congratulations to these bright students!

Gold:
Peyton Ruder

Silver:
Xavier Myers

Bronze:
Alicia Mares
Jared Sanchez

Honorable Mention:
Abigail Garcia
Daniel Gomez
Jesus Mancha
Alex Ramirez
Daniel Ramirez

Sixty-two Days and Eduspeak

Hello MISD community. We know it has been a very long time (62 days to be exact) since our last post. There really is no good reason for the lag in writing other than the days just kept getting away from us and we look up and realize a significant amount of time has passed.

For our first post back in this space, we want to provide you with a useful resource.

Eduspeak
Have you ever thought people in education speak in a different language? We know we participate in some so-called "eduspeak."

So here is a resource of public education-related acronyms and what they mean:

1. ACCEL - Advanced Courses and Curriculum for Exceptional Learners
   
2. ACT - American College Test
3. AEIS - Academic Excellence Indicator System
4. AEP - Alternative Education Program
5. AP - Advanced Placement
6. ARD - Admission, Review and Dismissal Committee
7. AVID - Advancement Via Individual Determination
8. BE - Bilingual Education
9. BIP - Behavior Intervention Plan
10. CBA - Curriculum Based Assessments
11. CEHI - Compensatory Education Home Instruction
12. CTE - Career & Technology Education
13. DAEP - Disciplinary Alternative Education Program
14. DAP - Distinguished Achievement Program
15. DEIC - District-wide Educational Improvement Program
    
16. DRA - Developmental Reading Assessment
17. ELA - English Language Arts
18. ESC - Education Service Center
19. ESL - English as a Second Language
20. ESY - Extended School Year
21. ExCET - Examination for Certification of Educators in Texas
22. FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid
23. FAPE - Free and Appropriate Public Education
24. FERPA - Family Education Rights & Privacy Act
25. FIRST - Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas
26. FTE - Full Time Equivalent
27. GED - Graduation Equivalency Degree
28. GPA - Gold Performance Acknowledgement
29. GT - Gifted and Talented
30. IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
31. IEP - Individual Education Plan
32. ITP - Individual Transition Plan
33. JFK - Just for Kids website
34. LDAA - Locally Developed Alternative Assessment
35. LEA - Local Education Agency
36. LEP - Limited English Proficiency
37. LPAC - Language Proficiency Academic Committee
38. NCLB - No Child Left Behind Act - 2001
39. OEYP - Optional Extended Year Program
40. PDAS - Professional Development Assessment System
41. PEIMS - Public Education Information Management System
42. PEP - Pregnancy Education & Parenting
43. PGP - Personal Graduation Plan
44. PSAT - Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test
45. PTA - Parent Teacher Association
46. PTO - Parent Teacher Organization
47. RPTE - Reading Proficiency Test in English
48. RTI - Response to Intervention
49. SACS-CASI - Southern Association of Colleges & Schools - Council on Accreditation & School Improvement
50. SAT - Scholastic Aptitude Test
51. SBDM - Site-Based Decision Making
52. SBOE - State Board of Education
53. SCE - State Compensatory Education
54. SDAA - State Developed Alternative Assessment
55. SEM - Standard Error of Measurement
56. SE's - Student Expectations
57. SIOP - Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol
58. SSI - Student Success Initiative
59. TAKS - Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills
60. - TAKS Acc. - Accommodated
61. - TAKS Alt - Alternative
62. - TAKS M - Modified
63. TBA - TAKS Based Assessments
64. TBSI - Texas Behavior Support Initiative
65. TEA - Texas Education Agency
66. TEKS - Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills
67. TELPAS - Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System
68. TExES - Texas Examinations of Educator Standards
69. THEA - Texas Higher Education Assessment
70. TOPT - Texas Oral Proficiency Test
71. TPRI - Texas Primary Reading Inventory
72. TRS - Teacher Retirement System of Texas
    

We'll start with 72 (62 for every day since our last post and an extra 10 as a bonus.)

Periodically check back to this list since it may grow as needed to accommodate new acronyms. If you come across an acronym and want to know what it means, please leave a comment and we'll see about tracking it down for you.

(Note: Most of these eduspeak acronyms and their meanings were compiled by our good friends in the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.)

Blogging from China - Day 7

Day seven is our final day that I will be reporting back to let you know what we are doing. We leave tomorrow, but this is my last day with computer access. We spent today visiting high schools in Tianjin. We started our day visiting Tianjin Nankai High School. This high school is the birthplace of the Nan Kai schools. Tianjin Yaohua High school is a traditional Chinese High school whose motto is diligence, simplicity, loyalty, and honesty. There are 5200 students and over 400 staff members in the high school. Teachers teach three classes a day with 50 students in each class. School begins at 7:30 am and ends at 5:20 pm. All extra curricular activities occur after school. All students take the same classes. Students do not move between classes. Teachers move from classroom to classroom and each class last 45 minutes.

We then visited the Tianjin Experimental High School. It was established in 1923 and is directly under the Educational Committee of Tianjin. The first Confucius classroom in the world was set up by the Experimental High School. The length of the school day is the same, but there are only 25-30 students in each class. The Experimental High School is for gifted and talented students. Ninety Eight percent of their students are accepted into a University in China. (photos)

Our trip to China has been a once in a lifetime experience. Mr. Newsom and I would like to extend a special thanks to the College Board and the Hanban association for their sponsorship of this trip. China is a country with a rich history. The educators that have been our guides this week are wonderful people committed to providing quality educational experiences to their students.

---

Even though I am the pickiest eater you will ever meet, I thought the last day I would share with you a typical menu from one or our meals. As you will soon see, our group was truly treated to a wonderful cultural experience through food.

Menu

• Six kinds of cold dishes
• Steweddrie mushroom with abalone sauce
• Prawintheshaprofpho enix tail with golden shreds
• The glutinous rice steams the young bone
• Pineapple ancient meat
• Crispgrain with salt and paper
• Spicy diced chicken with peanuts
• The black fries with the shelled fish shrimp
• Steamed tench with scallo
• Crispy chicken
• Boiling Vegetables
• Dessert
• Yangzhou style fried rice
• Vegetable soup
• Fresh Fruit
  

A typical dinner takes about 1 ½ hours. The food comes out in stages allowing you time enjoy your dinner.

Signing off from China for the last time...


Bob

Blogging from China - Day 2.

Day Two from China:

As I sit here at the end of the day eating my Pop Tart (my eating for the day will be covered in a later paragraph), I have to say it was an eventful day for our group. We began the day attending a celebration at The Office of Chinese Language Council International. Their mission is to promote the Chinese language and culture throughout the world. We were able to tour their building and browse through their language materials that they provide to schools. If you would like to learn more about the efforts of the Chinese educators, you can go to www.hanban.org .


The afternoon was our official greeting from officials of the Chinese Government. Dr. Zhou Ji, Minister of Education of China, was the keynote speaker. Our meeting was in the Great Hall. The great hall is adjacent to Tiananmen Square. We will be touring Tiananmen Square tomorrow. American students studying for the summer in China performed for our group. We left there and attended a dinner and cultural celebration from Chinese high school students. The Chinese culture is very rich in its history and ceremonies. The student’s performance was the highlight of the day.

Everyone is feeling the effects of the 13-hour time difference today. The jet lag has caught up with all of us.

The day starts off with a western breakfast. For me that is the best part of the day. By now the entire group is well aware of my eating habits. They are all taking bets on whether I will lose more than 10 pounds this week. Even though I do not like Chinese food, those in the group continue to go on about how good the food has been. Today’s menu choice that I just could not eat included sautéed honey bean and yellow fungus and celery. Those at my table said it was delicious. I will just have to take their word on that. I have sent a few pictures of the food.


In one picture you will see what I thought and was told by the group as a Chinese cheese stick. Come to find out it was fried sweet corn. As I took a bite the entire table got a big laugh that they had tricked me into taking a bite. The other picture is a fish with it eyes clearly focused on whoever was brave enough to eat the fish. The hand in the picture that is just about to dive right in is Mr. Newsom.

Our Chinese hosts have been very gracious. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.

Hungry in China…..

Bob

(See more of Bob's photos here.)

Blogging from China

One of the most common assignments in the first week back to school is to write an essay titled "What I did with my Summer Vacation." Mansfield ISD Superintendent Vernon Newsom and Deputy Superintendent Bob Morrison will have a great answer to that question this fall.

Newsom and Morrison are currently traveling to China on an educational trip. While there, they will visit Chinese schools, meet with Chinese school officials, and other activities. They will be touring as guests of Hanban (Office of Chinese Language Council International) to learn about Chinese culture and language. Their trip comes on the heels of the Mansfield ISD's announcement of a Mandarin Chinese program for 2008-09.

Dr. Morrison will be blogging about their daily travels in China. Stay tuned here for those updates. Here are a few fun facts until we hear from Dr. Morrison...

What is the date and time in Beijing, China?


Population of China: 1.4 billion
U.S. Population: 304 million

Read more about China here.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user: user:snowyowls/gallery.