Feedback-Suggestions+for+Next+Summer


 * Post copies of the pledge in Spanish in each classroom. Many kids wanted to participate but didn't know it.
 * Ensure enough supplies for printing and copying (toner, ink, color ink, etc.)

1st grade reading, K reading and math
 * Molly Ott**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

Heggerty phonemic awareness, McGraw Hill Reading, various websites, leveled readers (Houghton Mifflin)
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

I would have liked to be able to use the HSP Math program, so that the students will be familiar with the vocabulary used in the math program. It would also have been nice to have the StoryTown leveled readers available.
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

It would be nice to have more information about some of the students with special needs at the beginning of the summer. Also, to have available the grade level science curriculum, so that we know what not to cover in summer school.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

Was great having some materials available, the computers ran smoothly, and the tech people were quick to help. In general things ran very smoothly, and there was sufficient assistance in the classrom via aides ad volunteers.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

1st grade ELL Math/Science
 * Meghan Nolan**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

I used numerous materials that were in the multi-purpose room at the beginning of summer school. It was extremely helpful to have all of the materials set out for the teachers. Additionally, I used different worksheets and projects that I found on the Internet.
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

I think different videos/dvds pertaining to my curriculum would have been helpful. At this age, students truly become excited over it.
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

I would suggest that the periods be a bit shorter. I feel that an hour is a long time to be in one classroom, especially for the younger grades. Can we possibly have a recess time?
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

I was impressed by my students’ knowledge of technology!!
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

kindergarten-Trophies intervention Kit and computers, lots and lots of centers! 3rd grade- Houghton Mifflin theme 1 books and computers to integrate assignments and technology.
 * Kristen Redman**

Running Club
 * Alison Ryan**
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**
 * stopwatches (borrowed from Edgewood)
 * pedometers
 * various gym supplies (bases, soccer balls, from Oak Terrace)


 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

an assigned areas to run (see below)

-Running club was not necessarily assigned a specific place to meet. For the most part we usually had the playground to run around. However, there were at least 10 or so times in which there were other classes on the playground and therefore we could not play games on the blacktop if it was being used for Get Moving class or Soccer, ect. We solved this by using the grassy area in the front of Oak Terrace (not ideal for games because it is hilly, lots of trees, etc.) and by running to a nearby neighborhood park off the Oak Terrace grounds.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

-Put an age range on the class to ensure that most students are the same age. I ended up with nine 2nd graders and two 3rd graders which worked out perfectly because they were all close to the same age. However, for a few days at the beginning of the summer there were two much other boys (6th grade) in the class.


 * CELEBRATIONS:**

-All of my students were either 2nd or 3rd graders and even though they came from all different elementary schools they got along great and made friends. We were a small class (11 students) and everyone was extremely nice to each other and all were included. :-)

-Very helpful volunteer!

Alison Ryan 5th Grade ELL Math/Science
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**
 * laptops (multiplication.com, funbrain.com, Kispiration)
 * McDougal Littell Course 2 math textbook (6th grade on grade level textbook)
 * Discovery Works (Weather and Climate ) teacher's addition
 * various materials and resources of my own


 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

none


 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**
 * more information from the students' teachers ESPECIALLY: their 6th grade math placements

-Volunteer for this class was not needed and was not extremely valuable.


 * CELEBRATIONS:**

Students all did a great job coming to class every day prepared, enthusiastic and ready to learn. I believe that they all saw the importance of brushing up on skills before beginning middle school in the fall.

Kindergarten ELL Reading and 3rd Grade ELL Reading
 * Kristen Redman**
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**
 * My website and various websites that I compiled. Especially, Tumble Books!
 * Trophies Intervention Kit for Kindergarten
 * Harcourt-Mifflin Theme 1


 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**
 * Read Naturally
 * Leveled Readers
 * Pencil Sharpner, glue, scissors, various colors of construction paper
 * Library books


 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**
 * An extra hour on Mon-Thursday so we can have more time blocked and then no school on Friday:)
 * More stable volunteers for younger grades as more consistent help is needed and planned on.
 * More communication via email or something about students who are sent to the office and what was talked about with the parents.
 * Is there anyway to have teachers who recommend students give a blurb about why those students are there?


 * CELEBRATIONS:**
 * Great teaching assistant that was very helpful.
 * Meetings were organized and it was understood what I needed to do.
 * The students did well and it was neat to see some of the kindergartners starting to learn to read!
 * Kids loved being able to use the computers a lot.
 * Overall, it was a good summer!

Culinary Explorations Online resources, Teacher Created materials from past years
 * MJ Thompson**
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

none
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

• Hauling in all the groceries was painstaking. At HPHS, their summer program cooking teacher FAXes her order in to Sunset foods. Sunset boxes it up. I believe one of the custodians picks it up and delivers it to the school. This would also alleviate the time spent every week buying groceries. Jewel may do this as well. (OR--- minimally, could a custodian be available once a week at 8:00 to unload??) • ALL cooking classes need a Teaching Assistant.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

• We were very fortunate to have had access to a budget that allowed the students to have more hands-on cooking experiences! • Smaller class sizes also allowed students to fully participate. • I particularly enjoyed the Wiki and staff meetings-or lack there of. Staff meetings were held when it was actually necessary and not out of mere formality. Nice going Michelle! Summer school seemed uneventful and smooth in spite of the parking situation.
 * CELEBRATIONS:**

Art 5-7 and culinary cooking k-1
 * Lori Wyatt**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

Pots, pans, paper goods, groceries, books, computers, stove, oven, camera
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

Crayons, construction paper, glue, scissors, tape, markers, colored pencils, white paper, string, newspaper, paints, water colors, paint brushes, stapler. Ink pads, sculpty clay, magazines, chalk, pencil sharpeners, felt, colored tissue paper, permanent markers, pens, floral tape, glass jars, fake flowers, camera, marbles, wooden animals

More construction paper, clay
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

Have more materials available either donated from schools or purchased ahead of time for art.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

Access to print more readily. Many printers did not sync to our own school computers.

Working together with Thompson helped to have 2 adults together with aids in young cooking class.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

Smaller class sizes for art made classes with a lot of preparation more manageable.

Nicole Bingham Culinary Explorations
 * TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

Cooking pots, pans, utensils, the stove in the lounge, the ovens in the kitchen, the refrigerator, food purchases, supply purchases
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

Better equipment. Blenders, more mixing bowls, griddles, electric mixers (had to bring these items from home), cooking videos, cook books, guest speakers from the food industry (not enough prep time to arrange this)
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

Either make the course a full cooking course and purchase equipment and supplies that are needed to properly teach such a class, or get rid of it all together. People do not read the description in the brochure- they just see the word “culinary” and assume it’s a cooking class and then students get upset when we are not cooking everyday. If you choose to offer a cooking class, the classes need to be much smaller. It was not safe to have 18-20 kids in one class when we are handling knives, using hot stoves and ovens, etc. The max per class should be closer to 12. Also, $1000 to do cooking with over 100 kids for 5 weeks is an unworkable budget- that’s less than $10 per kid ($2 per week per kid). Finally, having 3 people teach this class was too much- there is not enough working kitchen space or equipment to share.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

My other suggestion would be to offer a “World Cultures” class instead- then cooking, or just bringing in food, as a part of the cultural experience could be done and cooking would not need to be in the class title or in the brochure at all.

I did enjoy cooking more with the kids this summer. They loved the cooking activities. Using Sam’s Club for much of the purchasing was an economical choice- although not everything need to be bought in bulk.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

4th DL reading, 2nd DL reading, 2nd DL math
 * Erica Johnson:**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

2nd grade Trofeos books, 2nd grade enVisionMATH box, 2nd grade Math Expressions workbooks, 4th grade Trofeos books. groceries for 4th grade project
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

NSSD library books?? I had to borrow from Chicago Public Library, and the Spanish resources were not as high quality...Is there any way to borrow from our library during the summer?
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

Overall I thought it was great.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

This year seemed very organized to me. I appreciated the efficiency of the staff meetings (email minutes, etc.) and only completing one progress report. I also thought the resources that were made available to us (text books, etc.) made a HUGE difference in the effectiveness of our classes.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**


 * Jessica Mercer-4th and 5th Grade ELL Reading

MATERIALS THAT I USED:** IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR: This year was really pretty smooth. It would be nice to have some more computer related resources since this is computer camp. Other than that, I would have loved to have some of the materials that I didn't have access as listed above. Overall, it was a great summer!
 * Leveled readers
 * 4th and 5th grade anthology
 * Laptops (Kidpix, Kidspiration, etc.)
 * Online Resources
 * Short stories and picture books
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCES TO:**
 * Read Naturally software
 * Study Island
 * Spanish Language Resources (leveled readers, workbooks, etc.)
 * More reading materials-novels and short stories (I had to get a lot from my library at home)

Students showed up every day enthusiastic and ready to learn! They worked HARD and had a lot of fun, too! I also really appreciate not having to attend staff meetings when the agenda was light. All in all, it was a smooth summer with little to no problems.
 * CELEBRATIONS:**

Robotics**
 * Mark Frye

Scratch programming language Lego Mindstorms kits
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

None
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

8 year old students are still fairly young to be taking this class. They have little math background to help them understand some of the commands in Lego programming. They also have difficulty with the visual reasoning to put together the robots. I would suggest not having students this young in the class, unless you paired them with slightly older students.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

The maximum class size should 18 if there are only 6 kits available. Even 3 people for a kit is not ideal, but it is manageable. There should not be multiple classes of robotics if there is only 1 set of kits. (This year there was a class of 5 and a class of 21 both during 3rd period. It creates a certain stress on both the teachers and students to coordinate a timetable and shared resources.

It might be a good idea to have a dedicated space in the library for storage of the kits during summer school.

The students were very enthusiastic about both the robots and programming games in Scratch. From time to time they created some interesting projects and were able to work independently most days.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

Math/Sciene with 3rd and 4th graders ESL
 * Pete Samaris**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

En Vision Math Series and The Math Central Series
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

N/A
 * MATERIALS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO USE THAT I DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO:**

I'm not sure how valuable the volunteers are. I would prefer not to have them.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

I focused on doing less material this year and I found that I had better results. The kids seemed to develop some of the math skills they had been lacking prior.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

Randi Kanter
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

Art K-1


 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

glue scissors, paints, paint brushes, glitter, stickers, markers, crayons, etc.

For a "hands on" class, the class sizes should be smaller or a TA is needed.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

The students always came into class with a smile and were anxious to participate. Michelle, you were well organized and had everything covered for the first day.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**

5-6 ESY
 * Laurie Weil**
 * I TAUGHT IN SUMMER SCHOOL 09:**

SRA reading, Math, comprehension, Story town, A_-Z reading, reader’s theater
 * MATERIALS THAT I USED:**

Get an electronic sharpener or two for ESY. I spent the summer sharing but I felt bad for everyone who had to come down to my room.
 * IMPROVEMENTS FOR NEXT YEAR:**

I had a great class, great help and they loved doing reader’s theater along with What’s my line with guest mammals and more interactive activities.
 * CELEBRATIONS (What went well this summer):**