Foxborough 'Teaching and Learning' Highlight: Awards and Numbers

The Foxborough Public Schools’ Mrs. Alison Mello, K-8 Director of Math and Science, was recognized as the recent recipient of the Johnson and Wales University Exchange City Educator in Action Award in the first of two Teaching and Learning Highlights at Monday night’s School Committee Meeting. This award is presented to an outstanding educator who has been instrumental in providing experiences to students through the Exchange City curriculum and hands-on learning lab experience. Mrs. Mello’s planning facilitates the opportunity for seventh grade students at the Ahern Middle School to learn and apply rigorous academic standards of the math, civics, social studies, language arts and technology curriculum in real-life roles. At Exchange City these students become citizens of their very own mini-town. Congratulations go out to Mrs. Mello for this deserved award!

When walking into a kindergarten classroom in Foxborough you may encounter children reading Hip Hop Hippo and then physically hopping down a number line. Kindergarten teachers Mrs. Erin McCarthy and Mrs. Ricky Sidoruk from the Igo Elementary School emphasized the importance of building a strong foundation in number sense in Kindergarten as critical to later learning during the second Teaching and Learning Highlight. Learning activities such as hopping down number lines, playing number games and subitizing numbers with dice and card games are among some of the ways teachers work with students to build conceptual knowledge in number sense. Both teachers shared the myriad of ways this is done through exploration, games, vocabulary development, and making meaning of our base 10 number system.  It’s important that students “get off on the right foot” explained teachers. There is a lot to be said for what happens in kindergarten, much like Robert Fulghum’s poem, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”  Kindergarten is a hopping place, shared Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Sidoruk. Good number sense is much more than counting, you must make it visual and fun!   

*Submitted by Amy Berdos, Ed.D, Assistant Superintendent of Schools.