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Intern-Tutors Engage their Peers in Remote Learning
“The most rewarding part about my tutor experience has been being able to showcase my abilities in helping people in hopes that they will gain from me, the same way I gained from my teachers.”
-Joselyn, 9th Grade Intern
20 High School Students have joined an Intern-Tutor Program led by Mr. Edward Martinez
This 16-week internship program initially began this spring with 8 high school interns preparing to gain job-embedded skills to enter the education field through an innovative internship program at the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology led by teacher leader and Areté Education Director of Professional Learning, Edward Martinez. Since the ramifications of a global pandemic have radically altered the context for the internship, these high school students (now swelling to a group of 20!) are now serving as the lifeline for middle school students during the final weeks of remote learning for the 2020 school year.
“The best part of it all is learning and teaching at the same time.”
-Jose, 10th Grade Intern
Below is the program description for the first cohort of 8 intern-tutors, as designed and written by Mr. Martinez.
The goal of the 16-week Internship Program at Arete Education is to prepare students at HS 223 for job opportunities in the education field. Interns are provided with professional development centered on leadership skills, curriculum development, and social-emotional learning. The weekly work schedule allows for each intern to provide 6 hours of small group tutoring services to middle schoolers who need extra help in ELA or Math. The interns also receive up to 4 hours of professional development per week to support their growth. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all professional development is now being delivered through remote learning via Google Classroom and Meet.
“What I find most useful about the Intern-Tutor experience is learning how to manage classrooms, create lessons, and work with students.”
-Natalie, 10th Grade Intern
The Internship uses a community service-learning approach where the interns study education issues and receive specialized training in order to address the academic and social-emotional needs of MS 223 students. Interns who successfully complete the internship program, walk away with updated resumes, portfolios of the work they completed and recommendation letters they can use for future employment. The interns will also have an opportunity to be employed in the summer and fall programs that are operated by Arete Education and its partners.
“My intern experience has allowed me to gain many useful skills such as the ability to manage classroom behavior. This skill is very important when dealing with children and this internship has given me the necessary tools I need...”
-Chanel, 12th Grade Intern
The Interns are currently in the process of preparing enrichment club lesson plans that align with the workshop model. They partnered up to design fun and interactive lessons for the after-school setting. Last week (April 16th), the interns had the opportunity to receive guidance from MS/HS 223’s Principal, Dr. Gonzalez, who participated in a Google Meet session. The students engaged in a discussion to critique each other with feedback. Much of the suggestions that were provided were rooted in consistency with having clear and measurable objectives, simplicity, and alignment. The lessons ranged in genres from analyzing song lyrics, drawing 3-dimensional objects to creating a space for team-building. Dr. Gonzalez was impressed with the high level work that the interns were doing. Before the session was over he let the interns know that “It takes years for teachers to learn these concepts, but you are all showing your learned them after a couple of sessions... Pretty impressive!”
“One thing that I have found useful about my Internship experience is understanding that there are different ways to help students... that being an intern is not only about helping a student, but also about building a relationship in which they feel comfortable asking for help.”
-Evelyn, 12th Grade Intern
“I definitely feel more confident to lead a group of middle schoolers because of how I have been taught to deal with different scenarios that I may face. I just overall feel more prepared. I am capable of creating a lesson for kids that is engaging...”
Franklin, 9th Grade Intern
An afternoon PD session on April 21 via Google Meet with Mr. Martinez, Director of Professional Development at Arete Education and a Social Studies Teacher at MS 223.
iMentor @223 Supporting Students During COVID Pandemic
iMentor program recognized this week for the impact it is making with Lab School Students: Bronx Times Article
Practice Makes Perfect?
Many people use the phrase "Practice makes perfect" to depict the process of learning. Ulrich Bose pointed out that this is a remarkably ill-defined expression. Does practice mean endless repetition? Does practice involve feedback and reflection? Should practice be hard or fun?
Learning is a complex process. A growing body of research has shown that practice alone is not enough. We also need learning strategies. We need to be smarter with the practices by designing and utilizing strategies. Many research studies have consistently suggested that learners are not born but made. We are ALL able to be good at something through the dedicated practices and constantly refined strategies.
Research is making it clear that when it comes to become expertise, learning strategies can be more critical than raw smarts. Marcel Veenman found that people who closely track thinking and continuously reflect learning will outperform those with high IQ levels in terms of learning new things. His research also revealed that focusing on how we understand is 15 percent more important than innate intelligence when it comes to develop mastery. Learners are made, not born. IQ is not the only answer, EQ has to be concerned and actively be engaged in the learning process.
Areté has been strategically employing emotional intelligence in our after-school programs. Emotional Intelligence simply denotes being smarter with feelings. We provide students ample opportunities to understand emotions, to develop self-awareness and to reflect about their learning. By being smarter with feelings, students are able to identify their thinking, feeling and action patterns in learning, design and refine learning strategies and adjust the practices accordingly. Through this iteration process, they gradually get better at learning.
We do not simply urge students to practice and practice all the time because we believe practice is not enough for making perfect. We help them to learn smartly by employing strategies. We believe it is not enough to give them fish, but more importantly, teach them how to fish.
Student Reporting - Jocalyn's experience
Recently, I went to see the film, Harriet. When I was younger I learned about Harriet Tubman but I learned a lot more after watching her film. One thing I learned that I didn't know before was how (in detail) she would free slaves. She was a slave herself before anything else. And the fact was that she was so resilient regardless of what the consequences would be. She fought for her family and fellow slaves but most importantly, she fought for herself. She did what she thought was right despite what others around her thought. Overall, the experience was every encouraging and the realness of the scenes made me very emotional. I was able to feel all of the emotions and it was nice to finally get out of class and watch a film. Also ,the snacks were amazing.
Reflections from Blackity Media Studies HS 223 Students
Student Reporting - Harriet trip
In my opinion, the Harriet trip was fun and interesting because I learned something new when watching the movie. We got snacks for free and I was able to connect with people I barely talk to. Some things I already knew about Harriet Tubman was that her name was Harriet Tubman and that she freed hundreds of slaves across the south single handedly. But when watching the movie, I learned that her real name wasn’t actually Harriet Tubman at first, and it was actually Minty. Another thing that I learned was that Harriet Tubman became a spy during the Civil War to help the union. Overall, the trip was very interesting, I had fun and hope to do this again soon.
Written by Luis Rivera
Reflections from Blackity Media Studies HS 223 Students
Student Reporting - Harriet Trip
I really liked how the Magic Johnson was very clean, when people walk in, it makes them feel more alive. The snacks were very good as well as the movie. I really liked the way the things were set up. There weren't too many people which made it quicker and easier to navigate through the theatre. The floor of the theatre was clean and I really loved it. The movie was the best, it was very interesting. I would go again if I they let us.
Student Reporting - Harriet Film Viewing
When watching the Harriet movie I got to get a recap of what she did and how much of a help she was. I also learned things about her that I didn't know. I didn't know that she helped free slaves during the Civil War. I also got to learn that she freed a lot of slaves. After all that we saw in the movie, I got to see and learn that this woman was a leader and inspired slaves to want to leave the plantations and go to freedom. When I see Harriet, I think about my mom and my mother is my leader. The woman that birthed me is my inspiration to want and do things that I don't think I could. My mom is a young woman that can't see but still does things that a normal human that can see do. My mother is my reason to want to do things and is my motivation to do good in life and get to the point of success that she didn't get to live.
Our good friends at Arete have given me the experience of watching one of the best movies I have seen, Harriet. I am going to talk about my experience & why I liked watching the Harriet movie. The first thing that I liked about the Harriet movie trip is that the movie was realistic & informational. It gave me lots of information about Harriet, like she traveled 100 miles to get her freedom, & more. Another thing I liked about it is that is was very inspirational because it showed parts where Harriet defied the odds & managed to rescue more & more slaves. One example is that when Harriet & the 9 slaves reached the river, one of the slaves decided to leave, but Harriet believed that they could cross & they managed to cross the river, against all odds. And that is it. The experience was sweet & satisfying & I would recommend the movie to more of the friends. Thank you, Arete & MS223.
The Harriet trip was a nice experience and the movie was very nice and interesting. The movie was very creative and historically accurate with a lot of plot twists and turns. The free food added more fun to the experience and helped make the movie better than it already was. The trip was fun and quick since the theater was close and we had a fun time getting our food and taking pictures in the food area. When we were in the theater, the movie was the only thing that really caught my attention since the movie was very unique and different then what I expected. The movie was based on accurate historical information and real life events. The actors who played the roles in the movie did a good job at what they did embodying the roles of their character and making it an engaging experience for the audience. As a whole the trip to and from the theater was good and the movie and food were great. I had a good experience.
The Harriet movie was an amazing movie. It is inspiring to women out there to not give up on any challenges. Also, she shows everyone you don't always have to get revenge on the people that hate you but you could teach them a lesson without making them lose their lives. I feel like the more we do this, the better experience.
The trip experience was cool. Going to the theater was fun as we were able to go with the creative writing class. The movie itself was interesting as it showed the actions that we heard about her in class and it also showed her personal life like her family and dating life. The movie showcased her journey from slave to free women, and how she helped others do the same. It showed a small clip of her role when she fought in Civil War and I thought that was cool. Overall, the trip fun and the movie was motivational.
I really liked how the Magic Johnson was very clean, when people walk in, it makes them feel more alive. The snacks were very good as well as the movie. I really liked the way the things were set up. There weren't too many people which made it quicker and easier to navigate through the theatre. The floor of the theatre was clean and I really loved it. The movie was the best, it was very interesting. I would go again if I they let us.
Reflections from Blackity Media Studies HS 223 Students
HS 223 Book Club
The 223 high school book club was founded by high school students for high school students. This club creates a community around positive academic hobbies such as reading books.
Often books are looked down on in this technological savvy era but growing up we discovered that books have so much to offer and would like to share this knowledge with other high school students looking to expand their interests. We are kicking this year off with "Dread Nation" By Justina Ireland, a woman of color, who creates a unique perspective on the hardships faced during the civil war era. The book naturally deals with topics of racism, sexism and the apocalypse as the book is about a young woman of color fighting the undead in order to protect the richer whiter nobles of society, and her realization to the injustices occurring to people that look like her.
Book club takes place every Thursday after school and it's always a welcoming environment for anyone who would like to join. Books will always hold a special place in our hearts and we hope that it holds a special place in yours.
Written by Chanel DLS & Leslie R (HS 223 Senior Class)
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