CAS at Miami Beach Senior High

1/12/11

Josh Danial — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:47:04 +0000

My friend Stefan asked me ealier in the week if he could come visit JDD with me so he could get community service hours. I brought him and ali for forth period, because we all had to get back before school ended. For the first time, all the classroom problems, which were so apparent to all the other volunteers, were not immidiately recognized. Some students were calling out, but until Stefan sat to review the classwork with the students, it seeemed like a normal class. I am glad that the class has made tremendous progress, but I am still hoping their homework, test scores and participation will improve as a result.

1/10/11

Josh Danial — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:34:41 +0000

At this point in the school year, behavior is not much of a problem. Either because of the points system, or Mr. Manzano’s demand for cooperation, the talking and calling out has been minimized. Even without the distractions, the students homework, participation and test scores have shown some, but not enough improvement. Most students quitely find other ways to distract themselves without paying attention. They could be fiddling with their pens, doodling or even staring off into space for most of the period. Mr. Manzano and I decided that while he is teaching the subject on the board, I would monitor the class room, and remind kids to focus. There were a few particular students that constantly lost focus, even with persistant reminding. *******(Rene, Glen, Rich)******

1/4/11

Josh Danial — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:20:38 +0000

This was my first time back to JDD after winter break. It seemed interest in the reward program dropped after students realized that there was no way for them to attend the events. Also, it didnt seem like the students missed me too much, because I could feel the dreadful attitude the kids had about ending their vacation. I also found out that Mr. Manzano won Rookie Teacher of the Region. I am super proud of his accomplishments, and truely honored to be working with him. Following the progression of his class has really taught me about demanding discipline. I have come to realize that in a place where students dont care about grades and any punishments the school can give, the only way to really punish the kids is to call their parents. This is especially hard, since most parents (for different reasons) cannot enforce the same stringent policies at home.

11/30/11 Award Ceremony

Josh Danial — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:36:38 +0000

For this Award Ceremony, Mr. Manzano was going to contact each parent individually by phone, and remind them of the ceremony so we could get a larger turn out. Since the students had no way of getting home if they were to stay after school and missed the bus, Mr. Manzano and I figured that if the parents would get informed, they would be motivated enough to bring their children, and become more engaged. After Mr. Manzano sent out multiple reminders to parents, the turn out was still weak. Around 7 parents showed up with their children, most of whome had attended the first ceremoney. Mr. Manzano commenced the event with a talk about the problem in Jose de Diego and more specifically, his class. A few parents seemed shocked, and would shoot dirty looks to their children when Mr. Manzano would share the highest grades on his exams, or the all around incompletion of homework and attention. E Even though some parents were superficially were showing dissapointment towards their children, I believe they were more concerned with how clueless they had been by half way through the school year. Since there was an overstock on gifts, and another low turn out, every student recieved a prize. Mr. Manzano and I agreed that most of these students were undeserving of these awards. The objective of this project was to motivate the capable students to overachieve. Instead, kids with lower points were winning all the prizes, because they had the opportunity to show up. This was my last visit to JDD before winter break.

11/23/10

Josh Danial — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:03:04 +0000

Keeping my word to Denysse, I brought Ali back with me. I began to see an improvement in classroom behavior. The constant outburts in class were reciding. It was easy to differentiate the leaders and followers to the constant outburts and disrespect in class, because Mr. Manzano’s no-nonsense teaching policy had silenced the followers. Moensha, one of the more intellegent students, is the one of few students that no matter how often her points were removed, would persistantly call out, make jokes and treat her classmates and teacher with disrespect. I know that she is very capable, because whenever she feels like being cooperative and paying attention, she grasps the topics well. Mr. Manzano told me that he won Rookie Teacher of the Year for the district, and was a nominee for Rookie Teacher of the Region.

11/17/10

Josh Danial — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:11:44 +0000

On November 17th I brought my classmate Ana Fernandez with me to JDD. I had shared my experiences at JDD in class, and now it was time for Ana to aid and witness it herself. As usual, Mr. Manzano taught the concept at the begining of the classes, then Ana and I spent the last 30 minutes of each period reviewing it witih each individual student. By the end of the first period, she had gotten a good idea of the level these students were at. At the end of 4th period, Denysse, one of the students made me promise I would bring “her Ali,” back with me next week. After class Mr. Manzano told me that he is one of the nominees for Rookie Teacher of the Year in his District. The nominees are chosen by teachers with the highest gains on the Baseline exam. Mr. Manzano had an average of 18%, which was substancially higher than other teachers in the district.

Hello IB Diploma Candidates I’m looking forward to…

tdiazmiamibeach — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:04:42 +0000

Hello IB Diploma Candidates,

I’m looking forward to the summer, as I’m sure you all are as well. I wanted to let you know that in the next few days you will be seeing more activity on this blog about CAS project ideas and questions from the incoming Juniors joining IB. I would like you to please check the blog at least once a week and participate in any discussions where you feel you can provide helpful tips or advide, since you have already been through the process. This also provides you with an opportunity to recruit students who may be more than willing to work with your CAS projects/initiatives. If you are looking for assistance with your project this may be a great opportunity to find it. In addition, the IB Scholars Orientation will be this Thursday, August 18 in the Media Center at 8AM and you may be able to recruit the new students to help with your projects. I hope you have a wonderful summer where you are able to rest, have fun but also make progress on your CAS projects and Extended Essay. The second draft of the Extended Essays will be due on August 26, as well as, your CAS project updates. The final deadline for your Extended Essay will be September 23 so please make sure that your second draft is as close to perfect as possible. Please hand in these assignments on time, as these are requirements for the IB Diploma.

Thank you and enjoy your summer,

Ms. Diaz

11/10/10

Josh Danial — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:27:56 +0000

Today I visited Jose de Diego with Ali. Ali befriended a couple of students, and last week I had a special request to bring her back. In comparison to their behavior last week, they were angels! Truthfully, I have noticed an improvement in classroom behavior. Less students are instigating each other in fear of Mr. Manzano. Fear is something few students at Jose de Diego feel towards their teachers. If a student consistently acts out during class, Mr. Manzano threatens to call their parents; a message that unanimously induces a frenzy of begging and promises to him, to give him or her another chance. After class Mr. Manzano told me that he was nominated for the district’s Rookie Teacher of the Year. I hope that he wins.

Hey everyone Wanna do me a huge favor…

jonmhaber — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 01:20:45 +0000

Hey everyone! Wanna do me a huge favor? Tell all your friends and family members to save cardboard tubes please. Don’t be afraid to pull aside random strangers on the street too and ask them. Tell your dog to save some too.
…Also, I plan on asking Publix for a donation of bread boxes to transport the seed packages to Haiti, on an unrelated note.

Today was my first actual Bone Marrow Registration…

jasonalbert14 — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 02:41:23 +0000

Today was my first actual Bone Marrow Registration Drive. The first two scheduled drives were scratched by an FBLA competition in Parliamentary Procedure and an unforeseen medical procedure. The drive was conducted at the Purim Carnival at my temple, which attracts many young children as well as, more importantly, their parents, who are old enough to register. I was able to register 22 adults as well as 2 minors who “pre-registered”. All of the collected materials are ready to be sent to the Gift Of Life collection location through FedEx tomorrow. Today was an exciting day and I look forward to many more successful drives in the future.