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Posted by:
Dan Szymkowiak
K-12 Classroom teacher
Mundelein, IL
Topic:
Capstone Language Arts Class Created
Message:
The who and what about how I got involved with a concentrated literacy initiative are a long-time process for me. This is my 24th year in education. Every year I have tried to figure out what kind of things I can do to make things better and easier for all involved.
For the past six to seven years, at Mundelein, the entire school has been involved in many things to improve our students' education, as
well as our teaching. Many people have been behind these efforts. We have always (since I have been here at least) been given the power to
investigate and try new methods and techniques. The administration has provided us with many forums to discuss and advance these skills, not always just "telling us to do something".
Currently our superintendent (Dr. Arthur T. Newbrough) and principal
(Dr. Hillyn Sennholtz) are continuing these efforts. Most of the time we are given the opportunity to serve on committees where we have an input that is heard and means something.
Most recently, in conjunction with an initiative toward reading and
writing across the curriculum, Dr. Sally Pilcher has been an integral part of this process continuing. My brother (Dennis Szymkowiak) and I were given an opportunity to develop an integrated class. This particular
class was designed to integrate math / technology with reading and
writing. At the same time we attempt to hook up seniors with local business for an internship to see how their skills will be used after
school.
I am sure that I have left out a few people, not intentionally, who have influenced me in these areas. I can say that we are not done. I will
probably continue looking for ways to improve my teaching as well as
students learning.
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