Hearing Girls Leadership Institute Executive Director Simone Marean talk about “Raising Resilient Girls” seemed like a good way to better understand the complex undercurrents of the interactions of girls on the school yard. But what stood out during Marean’s talk at Windrush School is that the issues she raises have a profound impact on girls throughout their lives. Fortunately, the solutions she offers are also far reaching, and anyone can benefit from the skills she works to instill in girls. Addressing more than 100 people Feb. 2, Marean said while some data, such as the number of women vs…

It’s pretty clear from listening to Philip Gonsalves that if he had his way, we’d throw out most of what we do in math classes and start over. “We fundamentally have to change the way we teach math,” he told a group of West Contra Costa Unified School District elementary school teachers at a January training session.  Gonsalves is coordinator of  Alameda County Collaborative for Learning and Instruction in Mathematics (ACCLAIM),  a joint effort of the Alameda County Office of Education, California State University East Bay and Chabot College. Gonsalves and fellow coordinator Drew Kravin are …

If you’re in a West Contra Costa school Feb. 2, particularly around some of the youngest students, you may notice a certain celebratory zeal.  They’re probably observing a holiday that began quietly two decades ago in the Bay Area, but has become a staple in many classrooms across the country and even spawned a few books. Activities vary widely from classroom to classroom, and the date from school district to school district. The constant is that the celebration revolves around numbers, specifically the number 100, as the students celebrate the 100th day they’ve been in school.  It is also in…

One of the casualties of high-stakes testing has been science education. Schools have long paid more attention to language arts and math. With those subjects tested more heavily, the scales have tipped even more toward them and away from science. I’ve heard teachers (not in El Cerrito but in our school district) say they teach nothing but math and language arts. One strategy that's been suggested over the years for making sure science is not neglected is to merge the two subjects. Often it hasn’t been done particularly well. Reading about science isn’t enough by itself, particularly when the …

On Monday (Jan. 17), students throughout the West Contra Costa Unified School District will have the day off in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With the approach of this holiday, it’s a good time to reflect on what we should teach children about the man for whom the holiday is named and the many others who fought, often at the risk of their own lives, to bring about change in American race relations. I put this question to Charles Ramsey, who is the current president of the school board, which he has served on for 18 years. Ramsey, an attorney and El Cerrito resident, has his own place in…

Science skills can benefit children in school, in finding rewarding careers, and in making smart day-to-day choices throughout their lives. But not all children have the same opportunity to develop these skills. Conventional thinking is that the classroom is the place to address this inequity. But, having reflected on his own experiences as a child and teacher, Jason Freeman of El Cerrito takes a different approach. Freeman doesn't discount the value of science instruction in school but says more can be done to use the other hours of the day to close the gap in the opportunities children …

Some of the most life-changing learning experiences don't look like learning or happen in a classroom. Getting children out of the classroom, whether on a school field trip or a family outing, provides them with inspiration, widening their view of what is possible, said Gretchen Walker of El Cerrito. Walker remembers the visit to the Hansen Museum in Salt Lake City she made during a family vacation when she was 8 that sparked her interest in science. "I was fascinated by the planetarium show."   Her pursuit of science eventually led to her current position as director of community and …

 As much time as I've spent talking to parents about reading with their children, there's a question that always stumps me, and that is when parents ask for specific recommendations of books their children should read. Paul Haxo spends a lot of time helping kids find books as librarian at Fairmont and Harding elementary schools in El Cerrito, Kensington Elementary in Kensington, and Wilson and Stege elementary schools in Richmond, so he seemed like the logical person to ask. Haxo says the first thing he does is ask the child what she's interested in. If that doesn't get an answer, he'll …

Few educational topics are as intensely debated as homework. Recent showings of Race to Nowhere  in the community have driven home the message that homework can have a tremendous impact on family life. I've wanted to write about homework for a couple months but felt I had too few answers. A breakthrough came last Thursday when I heard a talk by RN Rona Renner at Kensington Elementary School (which serves a chunk of El Cerrito in addition to Kensington).  Renner is host of the radio talk show Childhood Matters and brings to the discussion a great combination of common sense and expertise. …

My favorite memories of Christmas as a child are actually of Christmas Eve. At some point my family shifted the main celebration to Dec. 24. I'm pretty sure it happened because we pestered my father so much about opening gifts early that it was more restful for him to just go with it. The best part of opening presents the night before Christmas was playing games as late as we could keep our eyes open. I was the youngest of six, and by the time this tradition really got going, my brothers and sisters were young adults, or nearly so, and were often accompanied by friends or significant others…

How many people know what "point source pollution" is? Or recipes for natural pesticides? Why there are such dangerous levels of mercury in the San Francisco Bay (it dates back to the Gold Rush), and what you should know about eating fish from the bay to minimize the risk of mercury poisoning? El Cerrito has more experts on these topics than you might think, and they are younger than you might expect. Each year, Kids for the Bay  guides elementary school students to become advocates for a healthier bay and watershed. Since its inception in 1992, Kids for the Bay estimates it has worked with …

My favorite part of the elementary math textbooks currently in use in our school district, Everyday Mathematics, is the games.  Games are a great way to engage students in just about any subject, but are especially helpful in teaching math. Some students have a lot of anxiety around math that can be sidestepped by making math seem like play. Math is also a subject that requires a combination of memorization and problem solving that can be addressed through games. Students get lots of practice and there are no papers to correct. The textbook includes a variety of games, some requiring the use …

What does a classroom look and sound like when students are learning? Author and professional development facilitator Peter Brunn of El Cerrito says there are times when it's appropriate for a classroom to be quiet. But his clear favorite is when students are engaged in meaningful conversation with one another. This type of classroom is set up in a way that encourages interaction; perhaps students are at tables or with partners. There are places where students can meet to work together. Students won't be chatting about what they watched on television last night, but talking eagerly about …

The first trimester just ended, which means report cards go home soon. If you don't have children in West Contra Costa Unified School District elementary schools, you'll probably find this document foreign and confusing. If you have kids, it looks familiar, though you may still find it confusing. As part of the focus on state standards, the district instituted this report card in the 2003-04 school year.   The most useful aspect is they list what a student should be learning in great detail. The fourth-grade card, for example, has 23 math sections, such as "Identifies, describes, and compares…

After hearing El Cerrito teacher and parent Linda Takimoto rave about them for years, I finally headed to my first state PTA convention in 2009. After making my way through the maze of hallways in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center with  Pamela Gilbert-Snyder of El Cerrito, at the time the president of the Kensington Elementary School PTA, we found the volunteer room.  Across the desk, in charge of all volunteers for the convention, was a familiar face. Janet Abelson is best known to El Cerrito residents for her years in city government in roles such as Earth Day coordinator, planning …

Patch reader Tim described schools as being like a black box to new parents. With the busy schedules of both parents and teachers, communicating is always a challenge. It is even tougher this year. A 30-minute Back to School Night session is held in each elementary classroom toward the beginning of the school year. There's a lot to cover during this time: state standards, classroom procedures and expectations, homework policies, volunteer needs, a pitch to join the PTA.  The time to confer about an individual child is the parent-teacher conference. This year, because of budget cuts, there are…

At the beginning of every school year, I have my class fill out graphs about, among other things, their favorite subjects. Social studies always gets the fewest votes, often none. It's not surprising, though, to anyone who has read a social studies textbook. I took a program last summer with the UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project , and one thing we discussed was just how confusing the writing is in these texts. This sentence appears in the fourth-grade social studies book used in El Cerrito schools, in the midst of a chapter titled, "The First People of California": "We use it to make…

When I started El Cerrito Wire 11 years ago, El Cerrito's presence on the web was minimal. Both the city and the school district websites were a maze of outdated information. What useful information was being posted was almost impossible to find. The local newspaper hadn't come close to figuring out the potential of the Internet.  As a resident of the city, a former journalist, and someone who was excited about the endless possibilities of the web, it seemed obvious to me that El Cerrito needed its own website. I tried to do a lot of reporting in the early days, to fill the void. Over time, …