28@TECHNOLOGY & SOFTWARE ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ JULY <strong>2002</strong>ELIZABETH ROHATYN BRINGSTECHNOLOGY TO SCHOOLSBy TOM KERTESEight years ago, in response to a growingconcern that students in affluent schools hadgreater access to technology than those in lessaffluent neighborhoods,Elizabeth Rohatyn, along witha group of former teachers,founded Teaching Matters, anonprofit organization devotedto promoting excellence inteaching and learning throughthe use of technology in theclassroom.“I did not want the technologygap to become a skills gapand then a more or less permanentachievement gap,” she said.“The idea first occurred to mewhen my husband Felix and Iwere participating in the “I Have a DreamFoundation” founded by Eugene Lang. I wantedto go beyond that. I wanted to touch children’slives, to be hands-on. I felt that it was nolonger enough to make charitable donations, nomatter how generous they might be.”Of course, there have been a number of otherorganizations devoted to the same cause, butTeaching Matters’ low-keyed yet persistentapproach makes a difference. “First of all, wedon’t go into schools telling them what theyshould do,” Rohatyn said. “We go into schoolsand ask them ‘What do you need? How can wehelp you?’ We assess the school, its needs, andthe teachers’ level of computer use. And thenwe go to work.”Teaching Matters believes that the best wayElizabeth Rohatynto prepare children for success in theInformation Age is to prepare the educators.“The fact is, that some teachers are hungry forthe help,” Rohatyn said. “Others are not, butare willing to learn. And stillothers are not at all willing butare eventually kind of draggedalong into the 21 st century inspite of themselves.”Teaching Matters holdsextensive workshops to helpteachers understand how technologyworks, and how theycan best use that technology inthe classroom to help their students.“The difference is thatwe stay with the teachers followingour workshops,”Rohatyn said. “We go into theschool, we follow up, we do complete re-trainingif necessary. We understand quite profoundlyhow difficult the absorption of all thisnew information can be, especially after a fullworkday.”Teaching Matters constantly works on updatingand customizing its materials to respond toparticular needs. “To be optimally effective, wemust be flexible,” said Rohatyn. “So we alwaysadjust our model.” There is also an onlinelearning component, with a prominent teacherfrom Arizona providing up-close guidance.To date, Teaching Matters has provided professionaldevelopment training for teachers andprincipals in over 500 public schools in NewYork City and around the country. In spite of itsimaginative platform, dare-to-be differentDon’t Let A TestKeep Your Child FromThe School OfHis Or Her Choice!!!Test PrepSAT I & II • PSAT • ISEE/SSAT • etc.Experienced Private TutorExpert At RaisingStandardized Test ScoresAcademic Tutoring Also AvailableSupportive And FriendlyIvy League GraduateCall Jeffrey212-529-8075jeffbergman@rcn.comapproach, and notable success, some changesappear to be inevitable in the near future.“I’m concerned about the upcoming budgetcuts in education,” Rohatyn said. “I want to getout of the discretionary budget for schools,which are always the first to go. I intend toMath TutoringHigh School & Junior High$40/hr - 2 Sample Hours, No Charge212.228.1642917.297.2389TutoringAndEnrichmentYour Child Can BlossomExperienced in:Traditional & Progressive TeachingPractices, K-6, Standards Based,Individualized, CreativeReading Skills • Writing Skills • MathAll Test Preparation • Homework HelpMs. Caroll 212-348-9366Upper East Side LocationLicensed Teacher NYC, NYSOrton Gillingham Trained • References Availablemove more into the funded area, acquire grants,build partnerships, perhaps even form a consortiumwith similar organizations. I fell thatthere’s room for all of our ideas. And what wedo is just too important; this may be the onlyway for us to survive and thrive.”#NEW! PC & Mac Compatible!Waterproof - can’t bedamaged by spilled liquids.Durable - rugged siliconeconstruction is hard to damage.Quiet - no “key-click“ makestyping almost silent.Portable & Light just roll itup & toss it in your backpack!Ergonomic - flat-angledesign with “soft-touch” keys.Full Size Keyboard106 full-size keys, numerickeypad included.Easy Cleanup - inkresistant. Disinfectant safe.USB or PS2 Interface.Volume discounts available.ORDER NOW:866-266-5622Unlike Traditional Keyboards, the EnablingKeyboard cannot be damaged by spilled liquids,dirt or debris under the keys or by being droppedor roughly handled.The soft-touch, full-size, 106-key flat-angledesign is easier on the wrists than “mini” portableKeyboards.CRYWOLF: EDUCATION BY DESIGNAvailable exclusively at:
JULY <strong>2002</strong> ■ FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS ■ EDUCATION UPDATEAwardWinner29INNOVATIVE USE OF CABLE IN THE CLASSROOMAWARD TO TIME WARNER CABLETime Warner Cable of New York City waspresented with a 2001 Gilbert Award forCommunity Service for Innovative Use ofCable in the Classroom by a New YorkEducator in a statewide competition that recognizesoutstanding community service programsconducted by cable television companies inNew York.Laraine Mirabile, an educator at PublicSchool 5 in Staten Island, used programmingpertaining to Afghanistan and the September11th tragedy on CNN and Nickelodeon to motivatestudents to write letters to the rescue workersat Ground Zero. A New York CityFirefighter, Mark Solari, received the lettersand began working with Mirabile to coordinatea school wide project to benefit the children ofthe Staten Island victims of this disaster.Students gathered teddy bears and wrote lettersELEMENTARY SCHOOLSCHEDULING SUITEAll the pieces to the elementaryscheduling puzzleSchedulerElementary SchoolSchedulerCreates master, lunchand teacher schedules.Considers:• Block Schedules•Part time teachers•Variable period lengths• Common planning•Wizards speed data entry•Explore alternativeschedules (What if?)Produces:•Teacher schedules• Master schedule•Lunch schedule with tableassignments• Schedule conflicts•Staff utilizationWe provide:District Scheduler•Training and technical support viaphone, fax and e-mail.• What you need to be successful.Mascomm takes great pleasure in seeingtechnology serve administrators, freeing themto focus more energy on improving education.Visit www.mascommsys.com for moreinformation about these time saving tools.TECHNOLOGYClass Aggregator(Rosters)Equitably distributesstudents to classes.Considers:• Placement — teacher/parent requests• Interface w/studentadministration system• Multiple student attributesProduces:•Parent conferenceschedules• Class/Working rosters•Teacher/Student lists•Family track assignmentsof support for the children. Members of the PS56 PTA, firefighters and police officers distributedthe teddy bears.“Time Warner Cable was proud to nominateMirabile for a Gilbert Community ServiceAward for her exemplary use of Cable in theClassroom,” stated Harriet Novet, VicePresident, Public Affairs, Time Warner Cableof New York City. “Not only is Cable in theClassroom a vital teaching tool, she used thisresource to inspire her students to make a differencein their community.”Each year, an independent panel of judgesrepresenting the Governor’s Office, the NewYork State Assembly and Senate, and NewYork State Conference of Mayors selects theGilbert Award winners. For more information,visit www.cabletvny.com .#Class AggregatorSupportDistrict SchedulerMaximizes specialteacher assignment.Considers:•Variable allocationrequirements• School personnel requestsvia web• School scheduling requests•Teacher assignmentrequests•Travel timeProduces:• School staffingrequirements and requests• School and teacherassignment schedule• Allocation conflicts•Teacher availability• Better staff utilizationMasComm systems, inc.11-b East Colonial HighwayHamilton, VA 20158Tel. 888-729-8223email. info@mascommsys.comBuilding Fields, Building CharacterBy TOM KERTESThe crumbling athletic fields of New YorkCity Public High Schools haven’t had publicfunding in 25 years.Shocking, isn’t it? And this is only mademore shocking by the fact that New York Cityhas the highest percentage of students not participatingin physical activity; that the City hasthe highest percentage of child obesity andother health problemsof any majorAmerican city; andthat it has the highestpercentage ofschool absenteeism,while athletics hasalways been knownto serve as the greatequalizer when itcomes to schoolattendance.Based on the principleof “better latethan never”, threepowerful New York personalities—New JerseyGiants owner Bob Tisch, urban plannerRichard Kahan, and community activist TonyKaiser—have decided to respond to this sorrysituation. The result was the formation of Takethe Field, a private-public partnership aimed atfixing public athletic fields.“The pilot program, established two yearsago, was a three-to-one challenge,” saidExecutive Director Mary Musca. “Take theField was going to raise $4 million if the Cityprovided $12 million.” The program was sucha sizzling success—seven horribly damagedfields have already been fixed up—that, a yearago, then-Mayor Giuliani said in his State ofthe City address: “I’ll make sure any field theywant to fix will have funding.”Twenty-one fields are slated to be completedby the end of the summer, including the ancientNight Falls Fastcontinued from page 15manic-depressives, for example, benefit societyby conserving resources when they are depressed,and contributing disproportionately to a culture’sacademic and creative endeavors during themanic cycles.Ultimately, however, Jamison concludes that“suicide usually requires multiple ‘hits’–a biologicalpre-disposition, a major psychiatric illness,and an acute life stress—but only some of these‘hits’ are amenable to change.”And perhaps that is the ultimate value, and lesson,of this book: that those left behind, strugglingto understand the unfathomable and find a peacethat eluded the one who left, cannot carry the burdenof responsibility forever. Ultimately, suggestsJamison, the suicide made his or her choice.#TEXTBOOKS BOUGHTK-12 & College TextsFor price quote, please send list to:Textbook Exchange, P.O. Box 447Jersey City, New Jersey 07303Email: alsaunders45@hotmail.comCall 917-443-4505Please include author’s name,title of book, ISBN# and copyright date.SPORTSathletic facility at Brooklyn’s South Shore HighSchool. “It hasn’t been as much as touchedsince 1970,” Principal Steven Berger said. “It isa mess.” Remarkably, in spite of the horribleconditions, South Shore has been fielding outstanding,sometimes even nationally ranked,football and track teams for years.In fact, it was the great track team thatcaught the attention of John Whitehead, the formerchairman ofGoldman Sachs.An enormous trackand field fan allhis life, Whiteheaddecided to team upwith Take the Fieldto give a leg up toSouth Shore byputting up a significantportion of thecost of the $4.5million project personally.South Shore HS Field“High school athleticsare a very important part of a young person’sdevelopment,” he said. “Among otherthings, it keeps them away from temptationsthat are all over the city.”The building of the new athletic complex,which shall bear Whitehead’s name, has been atremendous boon to the school and its 2,600students. “They’re ecstatic,” Berger said. “Wehave a great deal of athletic prowess at theschool—and now we’ll have the facilities tomatch that.”Whitehead had nothing but praise for theefforts of Take the Field. “There are importantlessons to be learned through playing sports, inleadership, discipline and character,” he said. “Ihope this organization merely scratches the surfaceright now. There’s so much more to bedone.”#Of Historical NoteOn February 24, <strong>2002</strong> The New York Times(front page) reported that lexicographers werenow going to include 9/11 in future editions ofthe American dictionary. Naturally this wouldbe entered under N. It struck me that theEuropeans must have long since included“9/11” in their dictionaries, since for them thisalso refers to a significant date in history.Using the European style for writing dates,9/11 refers to November 9th. On that dayquite a bit happened in history:On Nov. 9, 1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicatedthereby ending WWI;On Nov. 9, 1923 Hitler staged a takeovermarch in Munich;On Nov. 9, 1938, Reichs kristallnacht–thatresulted in the destruction of Jewish propertyin Germany and Austria;On Nov. 9, 1940, Germany invaded Norwayand Denmark; andOn Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell to openup the east bloc.And don’t we always ask “Where were youwhen the lights (on the East Coast) went out”on November 9, 1965!All just part of history instruction!Alfred S. Posamentier,Dean, School of <strong>Education</strong>The City College of New York, CUNY
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