Mr. McCarthy's Classroom Edit display name

Past projects 5

• Getting Energized to Organize!

  Funded Sep 29, 2022

  My students, my teacher team, and I want to sincerely thank all of you for your generosity and donations so that we could give 75 student plan books to students that have never had one before. I am excited to announce that so many students were so appreciative to receive such a special gift that will help them keep their school life organized. This year in addition to having them write down their assignments/projects, we are also asking them to write down brief summaries in these plan books to help them process and remember what they are doing in all of their classes more regularly. Many of our students have not had the privilege of having access to basic supplies and that is why your contributions are a true blessing. The student plan book is more than just a tool, it is also a resource that will support them in keeping them focused, organized, and ultimately better prepared, and more motivated to be successful in school. Thank you so much for thinking of us because we know there are so many other worthwhile projects you could have chosen.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. McCarthy

  This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Classroom Supporter and one other donor.

• Note-Taking Needs a Make-Over with an Annotation Revolution

  Funded Aug 20, 2019

  I am so happy to report that the annotating click pens have not only been rolled out on our team, but they have started to become a staple in our classroom. Prior to the arrival of these wonderful pens, most of our students only had a basic understanding of what annotation was, so most of them did not even know how to do it, let alone produce meaningful ones. Now thanks to the pens, students have a natural way to conceptualize how to annotate from simple translations/drawings and basic definitions to more higher order critical thinking interactions such as summarizing, making connections, asking questions, giving opinions. Moreover, now that students have a clear visual of what each type of annotation is, they are now empowered to challenge themselves to annotate in a meaningful way to help them access more rigorous texts among a variety of genres. Recently, in my Global History class, students had to read and make meaningful annotations to migration stories of other people (see photos). I was very pleased to discover after my colleague who teaches ELA introduced the annotating guide and the pens, it was a very easy transition for them to transfer the same skills to my class. In addition, our biology teacher colleague and math teacher are all on board to implement these skills in their classes as well. We believe when students have multiple opportunities to apply similar if not the same skills across all of their content classes, they will not only internalize the process, but this will also minimize the cognitive load having students learn a new skill as well as new content simultaneously.

  An exciting new development that came out of having students use the pens is the relative ease students are able to engage in collaborative reading where each student participates in various interactions with the text that involves sharing their annotations and discussing various prompts. In addition, with this formalized structure we have been able to groom numerous students for leadership positions in the classroom!

  Overall, we have been very excited to see our students' level of reading comprehension increase little by little as they encounter each new text in all of their classes and access them in a way that meets their needs in a way that works for them. Ultimately our goal is for students to feel comfortable around navigating text while constructing their own meaning through building connections and many other meaningful annotations. We also hope that they are able to invoke these skills next year all the way through after they graduate.

  Thanks to your kindness and generous donations you have given our students a simple, yet powerful tool for years to come. Thank you for helping to make my students and their academic futures a priority.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. McCarthy

  This classroom project was brought to life by Volkswagen and 3 other donors.

• Highlighters Be Gone! Long Live Reading With Pens!

  Funded Aug 13, 2018

  When the students received their pens, they were very surprised and excited to get such novel gifts. Once we explained that they came from a generous group of donors that they did not know, they were appreciative and moved. Since we received our annotation pens, our team has been building a consistent culture emphasizing the importance of annotating. Having these special tools has provided a team routine that has transferred from one content to another. We have adopted the same annotation key guide, so that whenever students are required to do annotations, they will use the same color key for each class they have. For the first project, students had to annotate by defining new words, make connections between content and their own lives, and generate their own questions for a research segment of the project.

  Going forward we would like our students to continue using the color click pens whenever they need to annotate without prompting. Certain teachers have taken the lead on focusing on different aspects of the annotation process, but our ultimate goal is to incorporate and practice annotation skills with the color click pens, so that the practice becomes internalized as one of their many classroom routines. In English class, students have been going deeper into practicing even more annotation skills by looking at other non-fiction text related to food articles. Math and Science are also on board to have students annotate in their classes.

  In addition, I am excited to announce that at least one other team has decided to employ the same practice with their students! Now that students have the color click pen, students are beginning to differentiate between the different annotation tasks be it translating in yellow, making connections in purple, asking questions in red, etc, students understand that annotation is a combination of various note-taking skills.

  Thank you once again to all of our generous donors for supporting this initiative. You have demonstrated to our students that you value their education and most of all you value them. Know that each time, our students are tasked with critical thinking, they will most likely do so with the color click annotation pens, which would not have been possible without your kind contributions.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. McCarthy

  This classroom project was brought to life by News Corp and 8 other donors.

• Getting Students Energized To Organize!

  Funded Jul 28, 2017

  Thanks to your generous donation, our students have the student homework planners they need to be organized and be on top of their assignments and deadlines. Since implementing the routine of writing in the student planners, our team has observed noticeable changes in student responsibility and initiative to remember to write down their assignments into their planners; many students have been doing so on a regular basis even without prompting! Having the student planners is a necessary resource and a great complement to other school success and work habit skills that we are teaching them. such as binder and material organization and time management.

  When we distributed the planners students reacted with appreciation and surprise. When we told them that people whom they did not know donated the money for their planners, they were genuinely appreciative,

  My teacher team and I have made a year long commitment to use these planners so that each and every one of our students makes it a part of their daily routine. Even though it has only been about a month and a half since the school year started, the results have been very encouraging. We are very excited to see how these planners will play a role in their gradual academic success. For now, they know that this is our goal for each and every one of them. Once again, thank you all for playing a prominent part in this endeavor.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. McCarthy

  This classroom project was brought to life by Sergey Brin Family Foundation and one other donor.

• The Simple Things Do Make A Difference

  Funded Aug 8, 2015

  I am very excited to announce that the student planners funded by your generous donations have resulted in many wonderful developments since my students received them. Our whole team has incorporated their use in our classroom as part of a concerted effort to keep students organized and increase overall home/work submissions. Using these student planners has become an established routine in my classroom and most of the students realize and appreciate their value and use them regularly. What is more encouraging is that many students are writing down their assignments without teachers having to remind them every day. Students are required to use the student planners and are graded on their upkeep at random intervals. So far, students have been graded twice on them and I have not only seen an increase in their use but also more diligence in how they write down their homework assignments. As a result of making it a part of my classroom routine, I have also noticed an increase in the number of homework hand-ins and an overall increased attention to submitting work on time. Having these planners are central to teaching our students the importance of time management, organization of materials, and prioritization. Consequently, these planners have put accountability in the students' hands and I am pleased to say an overwhelming number of students in all three of our classes have taken responsibility with full regard to their academic performance. Now that students know what and when an assignment is due, they can focus on getting it done. Before so many students relied on their memory rather than writing it down; now they have a more reliable and effective way to ensure they meet deadlines.

  More importantly, being able to give such a simple organizational tool to the students only further reinforces our beloved school's mission to prepare our students to be autonomous learners and be successful in school and thereafter. After all for many of among our student population, they had not been taught how to keep organized and without that key skill, it makes planning and setting goals that much more difficult. As you all knew ordering the planners was not so teachers could get more homework, but it was to get students into the habit of being in control of their day to day learning and their progress.

  There are still days where I know I will see a few boxes that have not been filled in with assignment notes, but I am confident and have faith that those cases will be fewer and fewer as the fruit of their habits are sown and reaped. So going forward, these much appreciated student planners will be a vital agent in producing more responsible, well organized, and independent young men and women. Thanks to your kind generosity and support, this will happen for more students than had they not received these very valuable tools for their success.”

  With gratitude,

  Mr. McCarthy