Adam Chiocca shares and blogs here.

I was so fortunate to be able to attend the Annual METCO Directors Assoc. Conference again, which was down at the Four Points, Norwood, Mass. on Friday, December 4th, 2015. It proved again to be the highlight of my school year.  The METCO Directors do a great job of organizing this wonderful day of relevant workshops, inspirational and informative speakers, music of the African American tradition and vendors with fantastic wares, art, jewelry, and inspirational, helpful literature. First, if you're not familiar with METCO, let me share two links.  Here is the official  DESE link,  and here is a basic  history and overview of METCO. The keynote speaker was  Dr. Omari Simmons , and my take-away was learning the importance of a K-16 bridge.  He came to us this day, as an advocate, but to learn about his current professional work, you can look here. His family started a wonderful non-profit, the Simmons Memorial Foundation , which helps high scho...

This week, the Multicultural Club (along with the Spanish Club & Art Dept.), here at Burlington High School, enjoyed running a new fundraiser, which we named the "Day of the Dead Body Art Fundraiser." Students came up with the idea, of connecting traditional Halloween school spirit with the Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos.  Club members sold face painting designs, during both lunches, all week, in order to raise money for an orphanage in Mexico. Here are two cute designs, modeled by Trish and Timmy.  Thanks to all who helped & supported this new fundraiser. --Mr. Chiocca

First, two great ways to see what's going on: -- Click here. ... or click here. --

Learning In Burlington: Some Concrete Steps on the Path to Digital Leaders... : This post originally appeared on my EdWeek Blog In my last post , I focused on the importance of school leaders being digital leaders a...

Greetings: On this blog, I have noted that this blog would be going through a transformation soon.  I guess I didn't realize that this first must occur in the mind, and that what we put out there, on the internet, isn't just digital content, but rather a blog can be a reflection of what we're thinking. I guess I am starting to realize that... at least for me, this blog can no longer be some kind of cookie-cutter blog for ESL - ELL Teachers/ Students and for the families of my students, rather it must be more honest, more of what I stand for, in many areas and topics. For example, tonight, I somehow stumbled across my "new"  "Pinterest Pin-Up/ Cork Board" , and I realized that I didn't like the "pins" or "areas of interest" I had first chosen.  I thought I could start over, which I did.  I have come to discover and fall in love with Early Jazz; one artist in particular reminds me of many of my own personal Italian-American chi...

Hello friend, I would like to blog tonight about one interesting change, for teachers, in how we approach lesson planning, and that is in regards to the Common Core ( link here ), but more specifically I would like to address the connection to College and Career Readiness. This is a big part of the Common Core, and one that I quite like;  here's a link to our State Dept. of Education's webpage on this.   I teach in Massachusetts (USA), and DESE stands for the "Department of Elementary and Secondary Education," which is a fancy way to say the Mass. DOE (its old name) ... the Mass Dept. of Education. What I quite like about the inclusion of standards connecting to College and Career Readiness is that it keeps teachers focused on what kinds of skills and knowledge students will need as they enter college, university or a career.  I enjoy helping my students think about their futures, and inspiring them to believe that anything is possible.  If I could think ...

Good day, With so much digital content out there, in the world today, a little ole' blogger like me, can wonder "Who even reads this stinky blog?"  "There are so many good websites out there, and so many good blogs... how could I ever compete?"  Well, those are valid questions I think.  Over the past month (March 2015), I have been thinking how I can change my blog, so that it's something worthwhile to visit, and read. I guess that I've had a bit of a revelation, of sorts, for how I want to blog, as a teacher, starting now ... hence the title of this post "The beginning of a blog's transformation."  I know that not everyone has the time to sit and read long posts, so I guess, in an effort to keep it appealing and interesting, I need to keep things somewhat brief. At the heart of this revelation, I think, for me, is an idea that I just have to be somewhat honest about what I think is the best course of action, for public education, in Ame...

So proud of our Multicultural Club students, who ran our first ever BHS Henna Week!  The girls applied Henna (Mehndi), the ancient South Asian and Middle Eastern tradition of hand and art design, during both lunches, all week, and at tonight's (3/19/15) BHS Open House!  Great job!

Excellent post. Learning In Burlington: When It Comes To Social Media - I Say Bring On The... : The slide above was the opening slide in a presentation to parents last week at the high school that my children attend. As I sat wai...

So proud of all the students, faculty and staff who make this such a great day! Many thanks, Mr. Chiocca Advisor, Multicultural Club

Ok, it's January, which means it's time for ACCESS Testing.  This is the state mandated testing for ELLs, and it's part of WIDA, under the WIDA Consortium and Standards. At BHS, we will do our ACCESS Testing Monday-Friday, January 26 - 30, 2015.  Check out these links for more information. Dept. of Education, Mass. WIDA