Franciscan Sister Marcolette Madden reports on the educational outreach to the faculty of St. Francis of Assisi School, Greenwood, Mississippi.
Exciting news! After months of preparation our team is ready to send an electronic link to Greenwood, Mississippi. The link houses PDF documents with corresponding video demonstrations of mathematics and English Language Arts instructional strategies. It’s the beginning of a digital library!
How did this project originate? In my role as an Educational Consultant for our Community, one of the first contacts with school leaders I had in August was with Jackie Lewis, the principal of St. Francis School in Greenwood, Mississippi. In response to her interest in Servant Leadership I developed an inventory she and her staff could use for professional development.
In late September Jackie requested support for her teachers regarding math and reading strategies for grades 1-6. Recognizing the experience and expertise of our Sisters, I invited the Sisters at the Motherhouse to join me in assisting Jackie. Their involvement required a willingness to model math or reading strategies using a digital platform such as ZOOM. Sisters Elena Gonzales, Sister Kathleen Murphy, and Sister Karen Suhr volunteered. I invited Sister Christine Stoller to be our Technology Coordinator.
Our team designed a lesson plan based on the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, Curriculum Guidelines. We identified standards, objectives, assessment tools, and engagement strategies. So far, the modeling of math strategies includes Sister Elena’s multi-step word problems, Sister Karen’s construction of a pictorial graph, and my plan on estimation. Sister Kathleen’s List-Group-Label plan addresses English Language Arts.
After each of us developed our plan, we then had the option of modeling the strategy through the videotaping of the presentation or the recording of the presentation using Screencast-O-Matic. Sister Christine coordinated the technology aspect.
We have just begun! Our plan is to continue building the digital library. Please stay tuned!
Article Comments:
Sr. Sharon Paul, O.S.F. 01/20/2021 @ 5:45 am
What a wonderful, continuing outreach to the teachers, students & staff, at St. Francis School in MS. Thank you for all the hours spent in making this unique & useful project come to fruition. God’s blessings on your “continuing” GIFT to their school.
Sister Anne Marie Lom 01/20/2021 @ 8:15 am
Thanks to all of you for your creativity and generosity during this time of COVID confinement. You continue to reach out and serve in new ways and I applaud you for your fine work!