This is Lincoln Elementary School Principal Ms Kathleen Tomei.
This is Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for Elmhurst School District, Dr. Charles Johns and Lincoln Elementary Principal, Ms Kathleen Tomei addressing us.
School and classroom visit.
Lincoln Elementary School tecahers having a dialogue session with us. It was definitely a fruitful session.
We had time after the school visit for a cultural visit to Chicago Field Museum!
Our Reflections:
Reflection 1
The visit
to Lincoln Elementary School was indeed refreshing. Principal Kathleen Tomei
took us on a school tour and we were able to watch several staff and pupils
during lesson time. It was indeed a special thing to come up close to the staff
and mingles with them in this blue ribbon school. We took this chance to find
out as much as we could during interaction time.
Kids at
Lincoln are extremely well behaved. We found out that CHAMPs, a classroom
management tool, is also used at Lincoln.
Expectations in behaviour are clearly spelt out and this in turn has
made teaching a pleasure when teachers can deliver their lesson to a highly
disciplined group of pupils. It was evident that pupil engagement is high in
the classroom. Pupils were observed to be focused in their work and they asked
interesting questions.
Lincoln's
close partnership with community is seen in the authentic project based
learning at Grade 5 which has been going on for the last twenty years. The
school taps on professionals like bankers and restaurant owners to teach their
pupils skills in running a business. Pupils need to come up with a business
proposal, learn budgeting, apply for loan, run the business and serve
customers. The entire project lasts ten weeks.
Having
seen what goes on in Lincoln, it is heartening to learn how educators make such
big impact in the lives of the young charges. I must indeed thank Ms Tomei for
generously opening her school and hosting our cluster schools' visit.
~ Angelina Wong-Lim (CHIJ Our Lady of Good Counsel)
Reflection 2
Similar to Bryan Middle School, Lincoln Elementary
also emphasises on character education. The school has adopted the Character
Counts programme in inculcating values to the pupils. In an elementary school, where the students are
aged between 6 to 11 year old, providing a safe and conducive environment is
vital. The school has set that direction in equipping students with content
knowledge as well as life skills in order to be college and career ready
pupils. During the classroom observations, it was evident that the small
student teacher ratio has allowed for close observation and monitoring of the
pupils. In addition, the teachers in the school speaks the "same"
language in managing the class. Students are very aware of the class routines,
academic and behavioural expectations. Due to the fact that they are aware, the
students were engaged in class. The lesson went on smoothly with minimal
disruption. One thing that I find interesting was that the students were
allowed to have their snack during lesson. I was pleasantly surprised that not
many students actually made a mess. This could be attributed to the fact that
the students are aware that they have to clean the mess on their own should
they spill their food. This in turn has taught the students to be more careful
and responsible when handling their food. One learning point that can be
applied to my school is the use of CHAMPS ticket system. This will allow for
pupils to be more motivated in doing good and for the teachers to be more
observant of the pupils' behaviour.
~ Hafidzah (AMK Pri)
Reflection 3
Our Visit to Lincoln Elementary school was very
enriching. I am impressed with the school’s philosophy of creating life-long
learners and creating an environment for students to feel socially safe,
explore something they have not explored, take risks and to build their skills
and confidence. They also put in a lot of strategies to motivate students by giving
out CHAMPs rewards, make lessons exciting, fun and engaging for the students. This
would ensure reluctant learners are eager to participate in lessons. Different
types of students’ interest are also catered to. Such as infusion of dance in
the curriculum, project based learning to move away from rote learning.
Authentic problem solving opportunities such as running a restaurant would
ensure students are ready for the working world. I was also impressed with the
support given to students who were struggling with Reading. A reading
specialist was engaged to level up these students reading competencies. Early
intervention to ensure that no student is left behind is what they strongly
believe in. Parents involvement is also prevalent in this school. They support
teachers in the teaching and learning, give feedback regularly on how schools can
improve further. School also keeps parents updated on their child’s progress on
a regular basis so that they can play a pivotal role in their child’s
development. We hope to establish such partnership in our schools as well.
Explicit messaging on expectations of students are clearly displayed around the
school. Students are very clear on their code of conduct. This is evident in
the classrooms. Students are very engaged and well behaved in their lessons. It
is encouraging to see the dedication of the teachers who spend much time
interacting and getting to know their pupils on a personal basis.
~ Deepa (AMK Sec)
Reflection 4
Two words came to my mind after my visit to Lincoln
Elementary School - 'Continuity' and 'Sustainability'. I realised that certain
practices and processes from Bryan Middle School were replicated and reinforced
at Lincoln Primary School. At Lincoln Elementary School, the CHAMPs tool, the
CHAMPs tickets and the use of Character Counts ideas and teachings are similar
to the middle school, explaining the success of the practices in the school as
there is congruency in the philosophy, practices and processes. Positive
reinforcements are the norms at the school, visibly evident from students'
display and the approaches such as the tone of the teachers' voice and
teacher-student relationship strategies. Strong community partnership such as
involvement in students' project at Grade 5 for almost 20 years propels the
enhancement of 21st century skills and supports the district's focus to
strengthen the students' college and career readiness. The commitment and
active participation of the community are commendable and truly capture the
essence of the African saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child.
One area which I would like to implement in my school is certain aspects of
CHAMPs tools such as the use of voice level and movement which will facilitate
the learning and engagement of the pupils.
~ Serena (CHIJ OLGC)
Reflection 5
We went back to
Elmhurst District to visit another school in the area who won the prestigious
Blue Ribbon award in 2012, Lincoln Elementary School. Being a Elementary
school, the first thing that struck me when we enter the school were the
various posters on ‘Character Counts’ programme and also the CHAMPS chart long
the highway, toilets etc. Being part of the district wide initiatives, Lincoln
Elementary School had the advantage of being able to consistently implement it
among the teachers and students. When the students move up to high school, they
will still be familiar with the same strategies as it will be consistent with
what they have learned all along. In terms of teaching and learning, pupils in
the classroom show great enthusiasm in learning by participating actively.
There were also many teachers using various learning stations to differentiate
student’s learning in the classroom. What surprises me was the high engagement level
of the students even with minimum teacher’s intervention. Lastly, the teachers
were highly motivated to learn from us as much as we want to learn from them.
They posted many questions during our dialogue with them and also shared with
us their various school programmes. The warmth and passion again prevails much
like in Bryan Middle School which prompts me to think if this could be why they
achieve their Blue Ribbon award in 2012. One thing I would like to take back
and implement in my school is the consistent approach of their Character
Development programme. Everyone is clear of what they are in for and sings the
same tune. This level of consistency is important in ensuring the effectiveness
of such programmes. What struck me also was how everything was seamlessly
infused into the classrooms and although the teachers acknowledge that they do
not have a structured Character Development programme in school, they recognize
the importance of it, thus teaching students the life-skills and right
behaviour comes through naturally without any deliberate programmes being plan.
Food for thought indeed.
~ Cher Hwa (Holy Innocents’’
Pri)
Reflection 6
The
visit to Lincoln Elementy School was an enriching experience. Students were
very engaged in their lessons and knew the classroom routines well. The
teachers also make good use of the walls in their home rooms to display posters
which include thinking skills that are made explicit in their curriculum.
What
struck me on our visit to the school was the similarities in the approach that
the elementary school had with the middle school. Knowing that that the
students from the elementary school would be feeding up to the middle school.
Their practices reinforce each other so that students find a common approach to
positive discipline as well as classroom behaviours that are expected.
The
other striking thing was that the strong ties that the school has with the
larger community which allows the students to have real world learning
experiences, where the Grade 5 students get to run an actual restaurant for a
day. In the process, they need to plan the menu as well as get funding to run
the restaurant by meeting up with a banker to get a loan. I think that such
strong community ties give students an invaluable opportunity to learn as well
as apply their knowledge they learn in the classroom.
~ Gary Tan Joon Meng (Holy
Innocents’ High)
Reflection 7
Three things that I learnt:
The school leader is very involved in the daily
operations of the school. She is familiar with the pupils’ names and
acknowledges them. She has good rapport with the students as well as the staff.
Closer monitoring of pupils’ progress was made
possible with the implementation of learning centers in the classrooms. The
different groups of pupils in class are engaged in different activities while
the teacher is attending to one group of learners. This approach has enabled
the pupils to experience a variety of learning through the use of different
materials. Pupils were able to work independently and used of a red cup or a
blue cup to indicate the level of assistance they need from their teacher .
The learning of values was done explicitly and all
other subject teachers reinforce them. This ensured consistency in the
implementation.
2 things I found interesting:
The display of pupils’ work on the walls helped to
build up the pupils’ self- esteem and a sense of belonging to the school.
Pupils’ also found that they are being recognized for their contribution to the
school.
The community is responsible and showed their
commitment to the pupils’ development by being involved in the activities of
the schools. They partnered the school to enhance authentic learning
experiences as well as volunteering their services to assist the schools in their
daily operations.
1 thing I can carry out:
To promote self-directed learning, learning centers
can be used to focus primarily on individual students’ learning. Pupils are
made aware of the goals of each activity and pupils’ learning is evaluated by
whether they have achieved the predetermined, developmentally oriented
objectives. It may be tedious for the teacher to prepare learning centers
activity on their own. They can collaborate with other teachers to create these
learning centers activities.
~ Mariam (Jin Shan Pri)
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