The new CLASS center at St. Cyril of Jerusalem in Encino is not so much of a "place" as a "concept" that is taking root and blossoming at the nearly 60-year-old parish school, according to its co-directors and first grade team teachers, Marilyn Kadzielski and Liliana deCarteret.
As a place for small group learning, one-on-one tutoring, and enrichment studies for all ages, the room dubbed CLASS --- Community of Learners Aligned to Spark Success --- is a space for "all learners, regardless of where they may fall on the achievement spectrum," said Kadzielski and deCarteret.
"To me, inclusion involves those who struggle as well as those who need more academic challenges," said Kadzielski, who will receive her master's in inclusion in June from Loyola Marymount University where she previously earned a master's in education. In her second year at St. Cyril, the longtime teacher and former principal of St. Mel School in Woodland Hills is following her passion of helping children with different learning styles be successful.
Since she became a teacher, her goals in education have broadened over time to include a teaching "triad" of teacher, parent and student. "The best teaching happens when there is a dynamic community of learners of all ages. This staff seems to be enjoying their own learning --- that's contagious," said Kadzielski, who noted the staff's enthusiasm about attending a recent inclusion workshop led by education expert and pediatrician, Dr. Mel Levine, author of "A Mind at a Time."
Having a relationship with parents is "primary" to helping students be successful in school, says Kadzielski. The more parents know about their child's particular learning style, such as "visual," "auditory," or "kinesthetic," the easier it is to assist the student with their schoolwork.
At the beginning of this school year, Kadzielski and deCarteret visited every grade. Their observations identified students whose "needs needed attention." After talking with the teachers, a decision was made to concentrate on the needs of students at both the primary and upper grade levels.
"Students can mask their deficiencies. For example, they might be able to read, but they have little comprehension of what they've just read," said deCarteret, who holds a master's in reading from LMU in addition to a master's in French literature from Catholic University of America. She leads small group reading sessions in the CLASS room where students often use a felt square "manipulative" to search out the main idea in a paragraph.
When Kadzielski works with middle school and junior high students on reading comprehension, she often asks students reading aloud to draw details from the story on a piece of paper. Sometimes, to students' delight, she turns the tables by drawing details that she hears while a student reads. "These are just a few engaging strategies to make learning more interactive in the classroom," said deCarteret.
To help assess where students are in reading comprehension, Kadzielski and deCarteret have administered this year the "very useful" Riverside Publishing Gates-MacGinitie test in grades 1, 3 and 5 and plan to give it to grades 2 and 4 this semester. The test measures reading comprehension by comparing what students get right and what they get wrong.
Besides helping children succeed academically, Kadzielski and deCarteret want to help students find behaviors that don't interfere with others or negatively impact a student's learning or self-image. For example, the teachers suggest strategies to fidgety students such as shifting body position or drumming fingers on soft, instead of hard, surfaces to minimize distracting sounds.
If a student gives an unorthodox answer, "We don't say, 'This is wrong.' We would say, 'How else can we look at it?'" explained deCarteret. "Kids who were disengaged all of a sudden are enjoying school," said Kadzielski.
School parent Karen Hines, whose son attended a weekly after-school small group reading session with Kadzielski last year, said the experience "was a huge benefit," and gave her second grade child a self-esteem boost in his reading skills.
"I'm thrilled the school is developing this [inclusion] program," said Hines. "I think it's really important because there are so many children who do need extra help in areas as well as children who are excelling who need a place to go where they can broaden their minds."
Norma Challita, school parent of three boys, said the one-on-one tutoring her child received last year contributed to better grades as well as improved self-esteem and motivation. "It was helpful. [The children] understood there was a [learning] coach for them," said Challita. "The new program gives us hope…[and] is starting to challenge us and bring us up to par with [inclusion programs] that the public schools have to offer."
Editor's note: For information on the U.S. Bishops statement on inclusion, log on to http://www.usccb.org/doctrine/disabilities.htm. |