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This post was originally posted on the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education's blog for Teen Tech Week. 

Welcome to middle school: the awkward in-between stage when students are not bright-eyed little ones anymore, but they are not quite independent learners yet either. Middle schoolers often need a bit of a push to “buy in” to instruction, but when the connection happens, it is like magic. Recently, we talked about blended learning and what it looks like in an elementary classroom. Although some of the same practices can successfully occur in the middle school blended classroom, teaching and learning looks quite a bit different in this distinct context.

“Wow. I wish I could do ACE." I distinctly remember being surprised by this thought during my junior year at Notre Dame. Since my freshman year, I was drawn to ACE. I had attended nearly every ACE event without thinking I would ever apply. I was an avid supporter and cheerleader who carried the ACE-decorated water bottle, magnets, and posters, but I was also an accounting student on track for a career in finance. At the time I couldn’t imagine a way to reconcile these two forces.

“Can we have a piece of paper?”

Students often ask this question of teachers, and it can lead in a number of different directions. For Eve Wenger’s third-grade students at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Oklahoma City, the question ended up taking them further than she ever could have imagined.

This post was originally posted on the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education's blog for Teen Tech Week. 

Technology has revolutionized innumerable aspects of our lives. Do you remember when you had to call someone’s home phone to ask them a question, rather than shooting off a text message? Or when a trip overseas involved a long and dangerous journey rather than a quick airplane ride with free movies and snacks? There are very few industries that remain undisrupted by radical technological innovations, but one that has not changed nearly as much as others is education.

The Program for Inclusive Education is privileged to collaborate with many amazing educators across the country who support and advocate for inclusion in Catholic schools. It is my privilege to welcome Michael Debri and Abby Giroux from All Saints Academy (ASA) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as guest authors. ASA is committed to opening its door to all learners, and it is a blessing to share their story. Thank you for your tireless efforts for inclusive education!

~Christie Bonfiglio, Ph.D.; Director of the Program for Inclusive Education

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the impact the Higher-Powered Learning Program is having on students. Everything we do, we do on behalf of the students we serve. But for Father Nate, Francesca, and me, the students we serve are the teachers on the schools’ Blended Learning Advancement and Strategy Teams (BLASTs) who work tirelessly to learn and implement new methods of instruction in their classrooms.

Turbulence is a fairly common occurrence on plane rides. Although you get the occasional smooth ride, most flights involve at least a few jumps and shakes. I consider these rough patches to be an unavoidable part of almost every one of my travel experiences, and I think this can be a metaphor for many areas of life.

Cooking has been a source of joy throughout my life. While cooking feels like a daunting task to many, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home where I learned my way around the kitchen. At an early age, I picked up the fundamentals of cooking from my dad, and we still enjoy cooking together when I am home. When I learned that community dinners would be an essential part of the ACE experience, I saw this as another stepping stone on my path toward culinary greatness. Teaching middle school math and science would just be my day job (just kidding, Sister Gail).

The Program for Inclusive Education (PIE) advocates for best practices in meeting the needs of all learners. With many resources available at the click of a mouse, PIE encourages you to look for and implement frameworks, strategies, and interventions that are backed by research and proven to be effective. The following resource provides a synthesis of websites featuring evidence-based practices. It is PIE’s gift to you for 2019. Many thanks to my national colleagues and members of the PIE faculty for their combined authorship on this resource: Dr. Michael Faggella-Luby of Texas Christian University and Dr. Sean J. Smith of the University of Kansas.

~Dr. Christie Bonfiglio, Ph.D., Director of the Program for Inclusive Education

Frequent, specific feedback is shown to be one of the most powerful ways to improve teacher instructional practice and, ultimately, student growth. But what does helpful, growth-promoting feedback look like? The best feedback conferences are framed as comfortable, open conversations. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: when you are confiding in a friend or someone you are comfortable with, you allow yourself to be vulnerable and open to advice. According to Bracken and Rose's 2005 book, When Does 360-Degree Feedback Create Behavior Change? And How Would We Know It When It Does?, great feedback should have the following characteristics:

“What should I do with my life?”

I've faced this question at two particular moments in the last few years. The first time I approached this question was during the semester that I spent studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland. One day, on a train ride to a town in the west of Ireland, I got an email that set off little alarm bells in my brain: “Apply for the ACE Internship & Early Admission!” I deleted the email immediately. My sister had been a member of ACE 21 and I had seen just how challenging the ACE experience was for her. Why would I voluntarily choose to go through two years of challenge and stress?

Most teachers know the critical importance of feedback in the classroom. Regular feedback delivered in dialogue with students has been shown to be one of the most powerful ways to improve student learning (and we’ve written about how blended learning enables students to receive more frequent feedback here). In the Higher-Powered Learning Program, the teachers are our students, and we apply many of the same principles of student learning to these teachers’ professional development.

“A small wonder where minds soar and hearts touch.”

Just before you reach Saint Laurentius School's vibrant blue and yellow school door, these words greet you on a sign outside the school. A local school in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Saint Laurentius's 125-year history continues to fuel a changing and evolving geographical area with tradition, community, and faith-filled education.

Each year, ACE teachers gather in Mable Falls, Texas, for our annual December Retreat. December Retreat serves as a weekend of rest, reunion, prayer, and celebration. This year’s December Retreat theme, “Disciples with Hope to Bring”, draws from the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross.

In the season of giving, the Program for Inclusive Education (PIE) would like to propose the following gift ideas for your students. If you follow the traditional 12 days of giving, your students will experience an inclusive classroom all throughout the year. PIE has linked one popular resource with each of the 12 days of Christmas. Wishing you peace and joy this holy season!

       ~Christie Bonfiglio, Ph.D.; Program for Inclusive Education, Director