MAD-news for August: MAD-learn Videos NOW AVAILABLE, created for students, by students!

August 16, 2019

Hi Guest,

It’s here! BACK TO SCHOOL 2019-2020! We know you’re in the midst of preparing for those amazing new learners to enter your hallways or you’re already back in school and getting into the swing of things at this point so all we will say is this, “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” We are all in education because we know the impact it has on every life we touch. Never forget what keeps you going.

We can’t wait to learn with you this year.

 

Alefiya Master

Founder & CEO

Back-to-School Resources: 
Updated Lesson Plans and Video Tutorials
We want your school year to get off to great start, so there has been a lot of activity during these “dog days” of summer. First, all of the Lesson Plans for both primary and secondary levels have been updated. These now include all of the latest resources and have been slightly re-worked to better reflect the three levels of implementation (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) that teachers can follow. Second, we have created and organized a list of short tutorials for a wide range of elements, from logging in to using the templates available to students (many of these were made for students, by students!). These 25+ video presentations, each under five minutes long, are now directly available to both teachers and students to use through the MAD-learn dashboard. As always, suggestions for other topics are welcome!

Confessions of an HCJ Junkie
Director of Curriculum and Implementation, Gregg Stone, is always keen on learning new things. He just needs to be careful not to get obsessed! Since the new HCJ Builder template (HCJ = HTML, CSS, Javascript) was introduced earlier this year, Gregg has found himself getting caught up in the thrill of the chase, looking for open source codes that can be plugged into screens in MAD-learn. Then came the process of experimenting with specific code sets and adapting them so that they could become relevant to whatever type of app was being built. Once a collection was built, Gregg decided to make them available as a starting place for students to more easily access these sections and customize these dynamic and interactive screens.
He often found himself losing track of the time and having to get back to other tasks that needed to be attended to. He contends that it was worth it, citing many of the screens he was able to create for the “Guitar Lessons” app he created, which he was able to build rather easily by customizing a variety of code sets (you can see this app on MAD-store). “It’s a great template,” says Gregg, “just let your students get carried away with it, not you!”

 

MAD-teacher of the Month

Persistence is most often the key to long-term success. This has been demonstrated perhaps nowhere else like it has at Jupiter Middle School in Florida, under the leadership of Irma Dixon. This month’s MAD-teacher of the Month has put forth a strong and consistent effort to make sure that not only her students “get” MAD-learn, but that she does, as well. Irma has been a regular contact throughout her first year with the program, asking questions and getting support.

Our team welcomes such a dogged search for answers, and it is obvious that Irma expects the same from her students. During her participation at this month’s Palm Beach CTE Back to School Event, she shared her positive MAD-learn experience with her colleagues, and she took a moment to talk with our amazing partner, Kevin McKinney (pictured above). We are looking forward to continuing to work with Irma during year two, where bigger and better things are certain to come!

List of MAD-schools Continues to Grow
We want to thank all of the schools that have either renewed their partnerships with MAD-learn or are just joining our MAD-family. We are so happy to know we will be continuing our work to help students at:
  • Mitcham Primary (Australia)
  • Union County Schools (NC)
  • Berea City School District (KY)
  • Tapestry Charter School (GA)
  • Janney Elementary (DC)
  • Oceanside School District (NY)
  • Gilman School (MD)
  • Mount Pisgah Christian School (GA)

 

 

…checking out this wonderful video created by our departing intern, Grace Halverson, about her experience working at MAD-learn. Please share it with any high school or college students you know who may be interested in adding MAD-learn to their work experience portfolio!

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