TEACH Campaign

On April 20th I was honored through the Mayor’s office and TEACH Campaign by Mayor Cory Booker, The United States Secretary of Education, Arnie Duncan, and Congressman Donald Payne, for being an exemplary Teacher in Newark. TEACH Campaign is an initiative which hires 200,000 teachers a year and it’s main objective is to hire more minority teachers, particularly African American males, which currently only make up of 4,500 of those teachers hired.
I spoke about being a third generation Newark resident, having received all my education, primary, secondary, and college, here in Newark and then coming back and giving back to my community by teaching in it’s schools. I talked about my passion and joy for teaching and how it is such a rewarding, fulfilling, and gratifying career. It was soo exciting as well as a humbling experience to be in the presence of such great historic men!

Autism Awareness

Ms. Jennifer Lo Conti, Special Education Teacher, Autism Program 13th Avenue School Newark, New Jersey At 13th Avenue we celebrated “Our First Annual Balloon Festival for Autism”. We initiated with a brief introduction about Autism. The groups were formed by grade levels and were prepared with fun-filled hula-hoops and parachute activities. As we approached for our count down to spreading autism awareness to the world the students held the balloons along side their teachers, they were all very thrilled to let the balloons go at the same time. The spectacular sight was gratifying and with all the support of teachers, students, and parents more families nationwide can have an understanding of Autism and how we can spread more awareness and support. What Does Autism Mean? Autism causes kids to experience the world differently from the way most other kids do. It's hard for kids with autism to talk with other people and express themselves using words. Kids who have autism usually keep to themselves and many can't communicate without special help. They also may react to what's going on around them in unusual ways. Normal sounds may really bother someone with autism — so much so that the person covers his or her ears. Being touched, even in a gentle way, may feel uncomfortable. Kids with autism often can't make connections that other kids make easily. For example, when someone smiles, you know the smiling person is happy or being friendly. But a kid with autism may have trouble connecting that smile with the person's happy feelings. Autism affects many children in New Jersey and it is important even though we might not know someone with the disorder---we still should know what it is and how to support all our your local families within the community. We look forward to this becoming an annual event at 13th Avenue School. The autistic teachers are united!

Native American Project

During the month of March, students in the 5th grade researched indigenous Native American Groups. The research was then presented through three modalities:

• The design and Creation of a diorama, modeling some aspect of their chosen group


• Utilizing maps to describe and analyze the historical and geographical location of the group


• Construction of a Comprehensive Window to analyze and synthesize informational text

Students were guided by the Comprehensive Window Strategy (CWS), an informational text strategy that enhances comprehension during the process of reading and writing and includes the design and creation of an instructional prop. The strategy incorporates varied learning styles and allows for students independence in decision making and supports critical thinking.

Students were enthusiastically engaged throughout the process resulting in higher-order-learning outcomes: individual understanding and creativity, cooperative group culture and peer partnering culminating to motivate and transform students into active readers, writers and researchers. This Native American Project challenged students to interact with historical artifacts, understand topography, envision what life was like, and more, and finally present models representing their new knowledge.

Mrs. Anisha Muhammad, 5th grade teacher, is to be commended for engaging to enlighten students on a Native American trek as evident that a picture is worth a thousand words!

(Source) The Reading Teacher - Vol. 61 (7) - April 2008