"I am angry at war..." ~Shigeko Sasamori

Mrs. Shigeko Sasamori, survivor of the attack on Hiroshima in 1945, just shared with us in the library. An amazing woman. With extensive 3rd degree burns over much of her body and her face permanently disfigured, her message was the complete opposite of vengeance. The main message she wants to share with us all and for us to share with others, by extension: 

Be happy. Be good to each other. Happiness leads to social promotion, not war. 

Any type of physical fighting is a type of "war," leading to larger War. 

War should be avoided at all costs. 

Smile. Love one another. 

Appreciate your family. Appreciate your friends. 

Mrs. Sasamori instinctively, yet very conscientiously, hugged each of us. A warm embrace. 

We are all within the arms of the very nation that bombed her country mercilessly in those waning days of the Second World War.

Yet, Mrs. Sasamori tells us: Why should I be angry with you? "It was not YOU. 

I am angry at war."

**Look up 1950's film "Children of Hiroshima" to see Mrs. Sasamori.**

Conversation With Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old Holocaust Survivor, Part I

Conversations with Jacob Czerniak, 102 year old survivor of Auschwitz-Chelmno-Bergen Belsen concentration camps, Part I:

This conversation took place on Sunday, April 21st, 2013 with me in The Bronx, New York. Words in [ ] brackets indicate my additions/notes. I've attempted to quote Jacob as much as possible, in his direct words. Please read future updates with more of Jacob's tragic but, ultimately, triumphant story...

Jacob, as he prefers to be called, served in the Polish army from 1935-1937. He was drafted into service. One of his four brothers, two years younger, served in Jacob's regiment and battalion. However, Jacob served in company two, while his brother served in company three. His brother was later killed in war.

"I saw him the night before he was killed. They went to push out German invaders. The next night I was wounded." Jacob took shrapnel behind his ear, in his left thumb, and in his arm.

"Hitler invaded Poland September 1st, 1939."
[I wanted to quote that to illustrate the impeccability of Jacob's memory.]

"I didn't know how bad I was injured. I took the shovel," put it by my head, for cover.

"In '33 when Hitler came to power 'till '39, he was five times stronger than America. I was taken as a prisoner of war (POW), to a POW camp: Stalag, in Germany. [I need to confirm name of camp.]

I was writing letters home...I think it (camp) was in East Germany. After half a year since we came to the camp, they took the Jew soldiers, separated from the Christian soldiers...the war was still going on...
They (Nazis) took France, Belgium, Holland. They took the whole of Europe. After half a year in the camp, they released Jewish POW's, because soldiers have some right according to convention of...[war].

They released Jew soldiers. I went to Debien--my town [in Poland]--it was a ghetto. You know ghetto? Ghetto? I was, I was, a short time home. Then they took us to a slave camp. They took out young people from 16-50 and they was building a new railroad--Reichsautobahn, a new road from Frankfurt to Poland (not Frankfurt am Mein--the other Frankfurt). They think Hitler building the country for a thousand years."
[I need to find out if it was a road for automobiles or a railroad for trains.]

"We got two meals a day, in the morning to wake us up. 6:00-7:00, we was marching and work 'till 5:00-6:00, we left the work. We went home, back to the barracks, the camp. We got a soup--a bowl of soup. From there we was marching 5-6 kilometers [approx. 3-4 miles] back and forth to work. So many people died there. Terrible. From hunger, starvation, beating. They punished... very, very bad with beating. A dog had more right than we had...no right at all. They could kill you, okay. They hanged so many people."

[I need to confirm the name of this concentration camp.]

April 7th "AM New York" Newspaper Article Featuring HSLI !

We made the paper (and website)! Please see the link below and segments I excerpted from the larger article regarding eight high schools in NYC with "creative programs"...

http://www.amny.com/urbanite-1.812039/nyc-high-schools-a-look-at-creative-programs-across-the-city-1.5025168

In New York City, there’s tons of options for teens when it comes to picking a high school. The city boasts more than 400 schools; many have quirky or out-of-the-box curriculum. While many pride themselves strictly on rigorous academics, others are tailored toward specific interests or careers.

The Department of Education encourages students to start considering high schools as early as the sixth grade, so we’ve compiled a list — it’s by no means exhaustive — of some of the city’s interesting and lesser-known high schools.

High School for Language and Innovation, 925 Astor Ave., Bronxwood, 718-944-3625, languagehs.schoolwires.net
Public, approx. 195 students

This Bronx school was founded in 2011 and uses dual-certified and ESL teachers to teach nonnative English speakers who’ve been in the country for less than four years. Native English speakers also attend. Principal Julie Nariman blends all of the students together.

“It works beautifully,” she said. “Schools get too obsessed with levels. There’s this idea that creating separate levels leads to more learning when it really doesn’t.

Powerful communication happens every day in New York City between people who speak different languages.”

Spring Break!

Yes, yes, yes. Spring Break is here. And I am enjoying it immensely.
Even at a school such as ours--where most students are respectful and all staff members get along well--breaks such as this are critical to our professional and, perhaps, literal survival.
Every school is such a break neck-paced environment; each day loaded with so much thinking, so much work, it is absolutely necessary to have these down times.

The week before break, HSLI undertook our second annual (in our school's second year) "Mock Regents Exams" period. Student and staff schedules were readjusted masterfully by Ms. Wal. Tenth graders took three consecutive days of tests: Global, Living Environment, Integrated Algebra (majority) or Geometry.
Ninth graders took two days of tests: Living Environment & Integrated Algebra.

Although there are still a couple months of content lessons and materials left to share and distribute to students, most students did a great job rehearsing for June's Real Deal exams.
These sessions were also a great rehearsal for teachers as we hone our proctoring skills. Most importantly, teachers now can zero in on particular information we feel students still need to learn and emphasize such content in the coming weeks. For example, in Global we taught a mini-lesson just before break regarding multiple choice content trends on various Regents Exams.
Students were shown two exams and students picked out several topics found in multiple choice on both exams.

Belief systems, geography, League of Nations, ancient civilizations---all rear up as trends on different exams. Therefore, students should begin listing such topics and studying them on their own, not having to wait for teachers to arrive at World War I or the Nuremberg Trials before learning about such history. In fact, most of what students need to learn between now and late June must come from their own study initiatives.

Conversation with Ms. Wang, Math Department

This transcript is based on a dialogue with Ms. Wang that took place in Room B55 on February 26th, 2013. Enjoy reading...

How did you find HSLI?

I found about the school while at my previous workplace. I interviewed at One Fordham Plaza. There were a whole bunch of people there, about five or six. There was a panel of questions that were being asked and I responded to those questions.

How did people in the school meet for the first time?

It was awkward. That was when I first found out theories behind Learning Cultures. It was a good time for team building. Overall, it started out awkward but I ended up happy. We started out in HSLI for planning. At that planning were those who were interviewed earlier.

The ones interviewed later met on the bus in Indiana [enroute to a Learning Cultures conference].

What makes our school different from other schools you've been involved in?

Colleague relationships:

I find myself actually willing to be a lot more open with colleagues, talking, being very up front when we're having team-related discussions or talking about work-related issues. I find myself having a bond more with colleagues outside of school. Even with long days, I find myself with more time to create a personal bond with colleagues. This bumps up the level of trust. Even when I've had doubts about whether to trust people, at this school I find myself giving more a try to trusting people.

Student-teacher relationships:

First of all, it's amazing even though these are teenagers--they're so many areas where they're in the stage of growing--but it's amazing to see how much they can actually do. I've never trusted students so much before. If a student says, "Hey, I'm going to be over here after school." I know the student will be there.

Something I have not seen as much before, is students showing sympathy/empathy for each other. Seeing that level of sympathy/empathy. And kids being more open with other kids, and attempting to resolve their own issues in order to promote each others’ learning and thinking. In Unison Reading for example, seeing kids solving conflicts without too much personal feelings attached to things--at least not during the class time. To me, this says how strong this particular model is.

What is the future like for the math department?

Last year, was the beginning of a trial stage. We ended up in a good place last year, considering we really only had  a couple of months to practice this model.

I can see how questioning can be so important--helping them build up their critical thinking. But when I look over my lessons from previous years, it's like Regents Prep.

But now, I see teaching more as getting students to start questioning more on their own. Working with peers to solve questions on their own.

I want the students to become more autonomous and independent in the classroom and not to come to me as a first source. Students should come to me with a lot higher order questions, after working with their peers. After they have collaborated together and formulated questions with their peers. I still want to answer their questions with more questions to get them thinking more about searching for solutions.

Where do you see some or all of our students 5 years from now?

Personally, I don't agree with every student having to go to college. With the skills they get from our school, if they decide to go right into the workplace, I would say they would be ahead of a lot of other students not graduating from this particular model.

For students who are going to college, I am very optimistic about our students not dropping out of colleges for reasons relating to being unprepared. Our students are becoming much more proficient at problem solving and collaborative problem solving. In math, it takes a lot of hard work and perseverance. With this and a lot of other skills such as independence and autonomy, they will be a lot more successful in college.

With this model, it's interesting how we focus on intentionality, pushing for kids to think from various perspectives. This is a very important piece for kids when they get older. What we are doing here, making decisions after examining so many different perspectives, will help them become someone with a strong voice.

Conversation with Mr. Ried, Math Teacher

This transcript is based on a conversation on Feb. 12th, 2013 with Ryan Ried of HSLI fame.

How did you find HSLI?

I was applying to teach in NYC after teaching a year in Buffalo. Certification in special ed. and math. I interviewed down in Brooklyn at recruitment center and became a part of the select program. Got a call from a few principals and one was Julie. All I knew was that it was going to be a brand new school in the Bronx with a lot of English Language Learners.

When I interviewed, I heard about a trip to Indiana for professional development. I don't know if Unison Reading was even mentioned then. It just didn't really exist then. Now, it seems like a lot of the things Cynthia talks about now came from experiences coming from our school.

I went to Montreal for a music festival. Went to Buffalo, my hometown, and then flew to Indianapolis. I took  a commuter bus--15-16 passenger bus-- to Ball State, in Muncie, Indiana. I was on the bus with Julie, Yan, Cho, Shira, Katie, Kristin (no longer at school).


How does HSLI compare to other school experiences you've had?

I taught at a school that was somewhat similar, in the sense that everyone was supposed to be practicing learning model of expeditionary learning. The school had the mission of using expeditionary learning but a lot in a lot of the school it wasn't obvious.

Some teachers were focusing more on direct instruction (traditional method) while others emphasized project-based learning.

Our school here is more cohesive. Things look differently in certain classes, but all our formats force students to be responsible for their own learning. Our goal is to have students as seniors walk into a classroom, with curriculum maps in place, and be ready to work on their own.


What do you think makes our school different from others?

Similarities between the classes. A lot of things are more of a team issue. The way our classes are run you see a lot of similarities...The idea of intervisitations. I could know nothing about Global and go in and do conferences and Unison Reading records. Aside from the mini-lesson, any teacher could walk in and help play the role of teacher in any other classroom.

We have very strong teams. I was in a small school my first year teaching and we had five math teachers and we never talked about math. After Regents results, specific teachers were put on the hot seat. Here, results are not specific to any one teacher. Everyone is working together. The cooperation brings people together.

I remember student teaching where every classroom was different. If time is not created for teachers to sit and talk about school, then it usually won't be discussed.

Last year in math: We had Unison Discovery; no Unison Reading there yet. Last year we did flashcards for a while with facts and numbers.

No curriculum map until January. That one was very linear. This year we have the idea of stand-alone outcomes and certain ones have prerequisites; something many students wouldn't see until college.

At most schools, math is taught in a very linear way.


And I think we're in a good place. Now it's just improving what we have. I think our 9th graders will do well due to the cohesion we have now. We're not changing things up on them like last year. I think more students will get higher grades and be more successful from here on out.


Where do you see most of our students five years from now?

Whewwww...We definitely have students who are probably going to go on to some pretty prestigious four year colleges. And then we have  a lot of kids in the middle...at least going to some CUNY schools and state schools. And then there's other students who just need to get a diploma so they can get a job with regular hours...
I think we have a very diverse population.

We want students to be able to accomplish whatever they want. We want students in math with 95%'s to interact with students who have 55%'s. We just don't want to hold any students back.

Words from Sophomore T...

Taina...


"This school is good. The teacher will talk to student and student will apologize to another if there was a problem.

Going to this school is my choice--my first choice.

The student does Unison Reading to understand English better. It does work.
One word you can hear from other people and then when you get to Unison Reading, you see the word and then you understand it.

Friends from another school always ask what our school does. And I say, we've got nice things, like:


~We've got dance. We've got chorus class. And I like to sing."