Summer Work Grants

Between early June and mid-August, twenty-one TDS teachers spent at least one week designing and developing programs to benefit our students. Summer Work Grants at TDS focus on innovation; teachers incorporate current research and create new lessons, projects, and experiences for our students. This past summer, teachers were awarded grants in three broad areas: curriculum revision, alignment, and generation; collaboration with new teams; and diversity, equity and inclusion. Here are some examples of our teachers in action:

Generation and Revision of Curriculum

• Dr. Nelson updated the K-5 robotics curriculum to include Ozobots (K-2) as well as the Lego WeDo and EV3 mindstorm platforms (3-5). She also added new hands-on lessons for her units on light & sound and kinetic & potential energy in Lower School Science.
• Ms. Morin and Mrs. Khan worked on mapping and aligning the Middle School science curriculum, establishing a standard knowledge base for each grade. This should allow for more seamless transitions from earth to life to physical science.
• Mrs. Lazar and Mr. Forringer audited the 5th Grade Social Studies curriculum, revising lessons to be more culturally responsive, adding components of social justice, and researching sources that intentionally tell the story of American history from many perspectives.
• Mr. Dowd first learned Ed Puzzle, and then created interactive videos to accompany the MS Spanish curriculum. These videos extend beyond the text, engaging students on a higher cognitive level.
• Ms. Lucas expanded her MS Art elective into two classes: Mixed Media and Painting. For Mixed Media, students will explore various techniques and create tissue paper collages, found object sculpture, pan pastel, and more. In Painting, students will have fun creating work with watercolor, guache, ink, and acrylics. The class will culminate with each student creating an acrylic painting on a 16×20 inch canvas.
• Ms. Hill and Mrs. Wallace redesigned elements of the TK curriculum based on current research. You can see the fruits of some of their labor with this new curriculum map.
• Ms. Philbeck researched best practices in journaling for upper elementary students and wrote plans and prompts to add journaling to the 4th Grade writing curriculum.
• Based on input from LS teachers, Mrs. Stewart created lessons for students in grades 1-5 to target specific executive functioning skills such as organization, following directions, time and task management, self-awareness, and study/test-taking skills, with the ultimate goal of fostering increased academic independence and success as students progress through Lower School.

Collaboration within New Teams

• Adding Language Arts to his teaching load this year, Mr. Hyden worked with Ms. McAllister on the 6th Grade LA curriculum, and writing in particular. Borrowing techniques from Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle, Mr. Hyden will use the writer’s workshop model in 6th grade.
• A new pairing in 3rd grade, Mrs. Ciccarelli and Mrs. Lauber coordinated lessons and plans on community building, the science curriculum, and service learning.
• With Mrs. Lowe moving to 2nd grade, she and Ms. Murphy focused on incorporating the Teacher’s College Reader’s Workshop model with Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading. To improve computational skills in math, they are integrating games from Bridges, Everyday Math, and other sources.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Transitioning to her new role as DEI Director, Ms. Heysha collaborated with Ms. V to incorporate DEI-related lessons into LS Reflections classes. Students will explore the concept of identity while learning effective ways to build bridges and support others.
• After attending the WeAre Summer Educator Workshop focusing on anti-racism in June, Ms. DeLaTorre designed a poster to guide everyone in addressing incidents of bias (“Interrupt, Question, Educate, Echo”). She also wrote skits to be acted out in various classrooms to show this model in action.
• Focusing on culturally responsive pedagogy, Ms. Morin turned her attention to the 6th Grade math curriculum, seeking to increase student engagement. She plans to add elements of CRP into her teaching and learn with her students this year, starting with their families in the fall.

Finally, Mrs. Lauber visited the TDS garden twice a week, watering, pruning, and harvesting nearly 200 pounds of vegetables, which she then distributed to families locally. Mrs. Lauber will share her knowledge and passion for gardening with her upper elementary students in Garden Club this year.

This was a busy summer at TDS in so many ways. Now that we have hit our stride, teachers are excited to put their Summer Work Grant plans into action!