By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
The three Lake Orion middle school principals are being put to the test this week in front of more than 300 middle school level educators, administrators and higher educators from around the state.
Oakview’s John Bernia, Scripps? Dan Hass and Waldon Middle School’s Randy Groya will be the hosts of the Michigan Association of Middle School Education (MAMSE) 2015 Conference, a statewide conference on March 13 and 14, and are promising an exciting, new-age agenda at Waldon Middle School.’The last time Lake Orion hosted the MAMSE conference was in 2004.
After attending the MAMSE 2014 conference in Walled Lake, which focused on implementing the Common Core standards, the dynamic trio decided to roll up their sleeves and look at middle school education from inside the classroom. ?
Bernia, Hass and Groya collaborated with MAMSE to generate a theme most students, teachers, parents and educators from around the continent can all relate to: technology.
‘The biggest thing we are in the middle of right now is a shift in how people communicate,? Hass said. ‘With technology, and all the new resources coming online that more and more of our families have access to, it’s us being able to use the communication in the best ways possible.?
So, the principals whittled the theme into something even more concrete.
Fifty presenters from around the state will speak on ‘Communication and Feedback? and the different avenues teachers are utilizing technology in and out of the classroom to meet students and parents? demands.
‘For a lot of people, traditional phone calls, email, and person to person communication is falling away, so we have to find ways to meet people where they are,? Bernia said.
In other words, communication has become less face to face and more behind the screen.
Many students and parents in the Lake Orion district will browse the Lake Orion Community Schools Facebook page, which is a huge source of information Bernia said. Paired with the Facebook page is Superintendent Marion Ginopolis? blog ‘From my mouth to your ears? which many tune in to for breaking news, such as school closings, or ‘general information like school board updates, district recognitions and sports teams? accomplishments.
The three middle school principals also take pride in the recent bolstering of their schools? websites which technicians are constantly updating as demand for easy access has increased. ?
Bernia and his team have found that the easier the access, like pulling up the schools? websites directly on cell phones, the more use that type of tool gets.
‘We want to promote ownership,? Bernia said. ‘We want students and parents to feel like they own their education.?
One way the middle schools accomplish this goal is through a weekly email sent to parents as an overview to what students are covering in class. Emails can cover weekly assignments, activities, test dates and notes, and even include screen shots of what students learned in class that day.
Some teachers put the day’s lessons on a Moodle page, a free open-source web application that allows instructors to upload information directly to the internet for students? needs after school. Other online programs teachers are using include i-Ready and Math XL.
‘It’s a much more efficient way of communicating exactly what’s going on in the classroom,? Groya said.
In some classrooms teachers are utilizing the Smart Board, an interactive white board display, through a clicker system students can use to answer questions on their cell phones. With this method a teacher can retrieve an anonymous response as to whether one student, or all students, understands a concept, instead of being singled out by raising their hand.
In many cases, information is being passed in and out of the classroom. All three middle schools, as well as Lake Orion High School, offer blended learning options for certain electives, like computer class or world language, which pairs traditional class instruction with online components.
‘All of these things allow the school day to be expanded from beyond the walls of the building and the time of our schedule. It gives a lot more flexibility to students and parents,? Hass said.
Hass, Groya and Bernia are also very excited to implement an edu-camp style format during a portion of the conference, which Bernia explained as an ‘un-conference,? a less formal way to present information unlike standard, break-out presentation sections.
‘This year I think we are really going to offer something special that hasn’t really happened before,? Bernia said.
?’We have a great middle school level program, and this is a chance to show that off.?
Groya and Hass agreed.
‘This will be a great opportunity for folks to elaborate and expand on their toolkit. We have a lot of resources, so finding out what someone else is doing in their district might spark an idea for us to do something like that here,? Groya said.
To top it all off, former Oakview and Waldon Middle School Principal Alice Seppanen, will be inducted into the MAMSE Hall of Fame. Bernia and several other current Lake Orion administrators studied under Seppanen as assistant principals.
Although the event is closed to the public, the dynamic trio promise to communicate the exciting findings the teacher Dragons learn from within.
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