Social Studies Department

Meeting

Date: / February 28, 2011
Time: / 2:00-3:00
Carol's Room
Attendance: / Mastromauro, Carol / Kilbride, Kevin
Bendle, Wendy / Max, Ben
Brown, Dana Marie / Pember, Ann
Green, Jamie / Tivnan, Rick
Healy, Marsha / Veritas, Kerry
Hurley, Greg
Legare, Coryne
Lightbody, Michael
District Goal:
2010-2011 / Student Achievement:
Goal: All students are knowledgeable, collaborative, independent learners who:
·  achieve at a level required to access higher education and pursue a career
·  meet or exceed established benchmark standards on all required state and district assessments
·  “got grit” (set goals and relentlessly pursue them)
·  seek challenges
·  discover and develop their individual talents
·  strive for academic excellence
·  demonstrate personal and social responsibility
·  are prepared to be active participants in our economy and democracy
Instruction:
Goal: Students will be independent learners. They will interact thoughtfully with text, data, number and word problems, visuals, and phenomena, on their own and with one another, to build new knowledge, skills and understanding.
Agenda: / Organizational Issues:
Mock Trial - Ended a great season with the following record:
·  First competition against Malden Catholic ended in a Loss in Performance, Win in Verdict
·  Second competition against Catholic Memorial resulted in a WIN in Performance and a WIN in Verdict
·  Third competition against Cambridge Rindge and Latin resulted in a loss for MHS by only 4 points
Last year the team performed with passion and this year I witnessed tremendous growth in practice and skill. Next year the team needs to continue to build on the above and add a focus on strategy to compete with rigor at every level of competition. A huge thank you goes out to Ann Pember and Rick Tivnan for the their dedication and commitment to the MHS Mock Trial Team.
Model UN - During February vacation Mr. Green accompanied his AP World History students to the UNAGB Model UN office to prepare for an upcoming competition at Northeastern University on Friday, March 4.
Interested school committee members were invited to attend the Model UN conference this Friday, March 4 at Northeastern University. At this urban regional conference the Malden Public Schools will be represented by 46, grade 7 students proposing plans for the development of Haiti, and 26 high school students resolving issues on HIV in Africa.
NHD - Every teacher in grades 10 & 11 should be reserving computer time and blocking off consecutive days to make progress on this PBU. Carol Mastromauro met her students in Watertown during vacation in an attempt to view the Armenian Genocide Museum. Students also worked all day to complete projects in her room. She will share student work with others as a model very soon.
Generation Citizen - I met with Kristine to revise curriculum for the second semester. An observation schedule was emailed to everyone. There are many observations scheduled, but be aware it is to improve the program and we are participating in an additional Harvard Study. The schedule is posted on the history page. If there is any change in schedule, please let me know.
Mid-term analysis - Thank you to everyone for sending the analysis and reflections on mid-term exam data. Data analysis is currently being discussed at leadership and I want to be sure that each one of you has an opportunity to have your voice heard and that I'm representing department views accurately. As I continue to visit your classes I will look for strategies that you will focus on for the remainder of the school year. Many of you cited vocabulary instruction as an area of concern.
Program of Studies - will be reviewed with the guidance department and submitted to Dana by Friday, March 4. The following changes are being proposed and are open for discussion:
·  add AP Psychology
·  add AP U.S. Government - semester course
·  make mock trial a class
·  Global Issues will be 2 semesters, part I & part II - will be interchangeable (should we consider changing the title to Global Projects???
·  Justice & Government I & II will go into full effect this year - also interchangeable
·  All electives will be at the Honors level and all students should be allowed to attempt these courses
·  Suggestions for any other course descriptions
Changes: Review revised and/or suggested changes to the Program of Studies.
Requirements: Review in Program of Studies before recommending students.
·  Ben and Jamie will briefly discuss expectations for AP students.
AP Social Studies Prep Program: If students are not ready for AP, they have an option to participate in the summer technology program to adequately prepare. Please send student names to Ben and Jamie, copy me.
Course registrations: I waiting for Dana to confirm the date and process.
Summer Professional Development: I sent many proposals to the superintendent for RTTT funds. We will find out in April if they got approved. They included: Generation Citizen for 3 days, AP training for 4 teachers, and membership to Primary Source.
Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century Classroom: Session 10 should now be complete and you should be considering lesson ideas and development.
·  All session work must be completed by March 8
·  Unit/lesson must be completed and submitted to me by March 22 - see Moodle for details
Please check historypage for lesson ideas, strategies (don't forget the vocabulary page) schedule changes, events, and interesting articles.
That's it for now!