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Showing posts from 2015
Out $marting the Interactive WhiteBoard. By Kenneth Willers The transformation to 21 st Century instruction is being dominated by the integration of interactive technologies. Over the past few years, classrooms, entire schools and school districts have been investing thousands of dollars into interactive technologies for classroom adoption. The most common device being installed in classrooms all over the globe is the interactive whiteboard. The instructional benefits of the interactive whiteboard have been well documented and highly praised by many classroom teachers. The ability of a teacher or a student to interact with the classroom whiteboard, to view, manipulate and demonstrate content, to browse the internet with a single tap, to record lessons for web posting and to interact with educational software that engages the student, are all features of the interactive whiteboard that makes its use in the learning environment a valuable tool for 21 st Century instruct

Running on STEAM

S cience T echnology E ngineering   A rt M ath “I can build a computer doing this with Piper.” said one of 7 th grade students, “This is so cool!” Piper, a start-up gaming company, is designing kits that allow students to assemble their working computers and begin their journey into creating lights, motors and DIY hardware. Piper is currently partnering with the Madeleine to bring engineering into the school’s STEM curriculum. Mr. Willers describes Piper this way, “Think: Erector-Set meets Minecraft. Where you build in the real world and create in the virtual.”   Mr. Willers met the co-founders of Piper at an EdTech Summit, hosted by BrightBytes (a technology company that measures the impact of technology on learning and education) this fall in SF. At the summit Mr. Willers commented when he saw the kits, “Our students would love this. So many of our students are doing Minecraft anyway, lets bring what they’re doing at home into the learning that’s happening at scho

Books and Wells

“Once Upon A Time, there was a man who said he wanted to search for deep Wells. Before he set out to seek his desire he thought it would first be wise to consult all the great books that had been written on the subject of deep Wells. The man read many books on where to find Wells and the differences in depth that they possessed. One day while he was strolling casually along engrossed in his reading of Wells he failed to notice a large deep Well right in front of him. When he bumped into the deep Well his book flew from his hands and fell quite far into the deep recesses of the Well. The man quite upset at the loss frantically lowered a near by bucket to retrieve his book but his attempt was in vain. The man went away very sad that he lost he book for he thought, without his book, how could he ever be able to find a deep Well.” Excerpt From: Willers, Ken. “storyteller.” iBooks.  This material may be protected by copyright.

My House

My House by Ken Willers          O nce Upon A Time , there was a poor boy who had nothing he could call his own. He always relied on the generosity of others to live and he hated this dependence. So, as he got older he worked very hard,   saved his money and eventually became a very rich and self-sufficient man.             Not long after his financial success he built himself a special house. Special because, when completed, his house would possess everything he would ever need and, that way he thought, he would never have to be dependent on anyone ever again. His house was splendid indeed, in fact it was the largest in the village. People from all around marveled at its size and grandeur and yet, wondered how he would afford its maintenance.               Remembering his promise never to rely on others again, he cemented his doors shut so he could never leave and he painted pictures over all the windows so no one could ever look in. He was very happy indeed because h

APPtitude at the Madeleine

Check out the Apps we are using throughout the building. The full K-8 menu in the link below. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-bmRgLKgqjzZVRXenNEMWZNZ1U/view?usp=sharing

Reflections on Mothers Day

LaVerne Antoinette Willers - October 29, 1939 - April 17, 2015 ― Erma Bombeck once wrote: “When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.”   My mom had another way of saying it… she’d usually start out with something like,  “Don’t get mad, but …” and then she’d tell us what she felt we needed hear. Speaking the truth. Now, maybe it was my mother’s truth —but, she loved us enough to tell us …even if she thought it may not be easy to hear.  My mom lived a life confronted by truth. And I think that is why she felt compelled to speak it.  When I was 14 I wanted to understand my parents. I wanted to know their truth. So, I found a book called “Passages” it was about mid-life crisis. I thought what better way to figure out what was ‘wrong’ with my parents.  That book truly influenced me because it challenged me to step out of my self and reflect on mom an

NCEA Convention Session: Proclaiming Your Mission and Creating an Annual Report

A charism is a living gift, a breath of the creator Spirit at the service of a dynamic history that is never simple repetition of the past.                                 -The Holy Family of Bordeaux A Catholic School’s Mission is ‘incarnated,’ so to speak, within the ‘message’ of a Faith Community’s charism and is brought to life when the story and the traditions of that community are intentionally celebrated and proclaimed. The School of the Madeleine’s Advisory Board and Parent community took an innovative and bold ‘marketing’ step, this past school year, when they became convinced to start proclaiming the school’s Mission and to stop merely producing promotional materials. As a result of this vision the parent leadership brought to life the ‘story and the traditions’ of the Madeleine’s Catholic Mission and has attracted many new families to community. How? By publishing an Annual Report that embodies the school’s Mission and Charism. The argument might be raised

Minecraft - The Madeleine & EdTech

As thousands of video game developers pour into San Francisco for the annual Game Developers Conference, your school-age kids may have only one game on their minds -- Minecraft. The game is a global phenomenon. And now, an educational startup is using it to help inspire the inventors and game developers of tomorrow. What could possibly have all so many kids anxiously staring at one screen? Maybe you've heard of it. It's a game called Minecraft. When asked what Minecraft is, School of the Madeleine Principal Ken Willers said, "I don't know if i can explain it! Actually, if we call over one of the kids, I'll let them explain it." "Minecraft is just very addicting because you can do whatever you want," said fifth-grader Aiden Kress. Fellow fifth-grader Walter Acevedo added, "You can build massive structures and it's pretty much, you just let your mind create." It's a virtual world that's been taking the real world by