by Eileen Wedegartner
In 2016, I enrolled in a Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement class for teachers offered by the state. The professor mentioned two books by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey and John Hattie, one for ELA and the other for mathematics. I bought the ELA book, Visible Learning for Literacy, Grades K-12: Implementing the Practices That Work Best to Accelerate Student Learning.
by Eileen Wedegartner
The need for a workforce with strong technical skills continues to grow in Massachusetts. Boston’s skyline, the Seaport, Kendall Square, Longwood, Kenmore Square and the spreading biotech campuses along 95 and 495 give tangible evidence of this need. The drivers of the Massachusetts economy demand workers who have strong skill sets.
by Eileen Wedegartner
by Eileen Wedegartner, JFYNet Learning Specialist
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed many people to decide to take a year off from higher education. The ballooning price of college tuition combined with the uncertain job outlook for recent college graduates make this decision understandable. But a longer view of the value of a college degree, beyond the immediate crisis, might lead to a different calculation.
by Eileen Wedegartner, JFYNet Learning Specialist
by Greg, Eileen, Cathie and Joan
from Cathie, Eileen, Joan and Greg
When I graduated from high school, our class motto was “At this peak we begin climbing.” My message to this year’s graduates is, You have climbed the peak! Congratulations! As you stand there, you look back to your high school days and ahead to all that is before you. This is not the only peak you will climb in your life. You will pass through some valleys, and you will ascend other peaks. Cherish your time in the valleys. It is there that you grow, learn things about yourself, and gain strength to conquer the next peak. As you prepare for that next climb, I wish you a smooth ascent and a beautiful view from the top!
by JFYNet’s Blended Learning Specialists: Eileen Wedegartner, Greg Cunningham and Cathie Maglio
by Eileen Wedegartner, Blended Learning Specialist
Growing up, I remember there were high school students around me who had either attempted to take their own life or had done so. As a teen, it shook me to think that anyone felt that alone. It was sad, but it was also an anomaly.
In the last few years, a community near mine experienced a spike in suicides among high school students. It was enough of a crisis that the Boston Globe wrote about it in the article “After suicides in Acton and Boxborough, A Communion of Sorrow.”
