As part of our classroom incentive plan, where we have a tally system of points on the whiteboard. Any time students are performing well, helping a classmate or taking a challenge in academics, the teacher will give the student a "tally". Once the class earns a certain number of tallies (it is always over 100), we get to vote for a fun activity, this month we went to the Burlington Mall during our community trip. Below are some picture of the events listed above, enjoy!

Glenn Gabbard, Coordinator of the Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment (ICE) Grant from the Executive Office of Education, asked the LABBB-Middlesex Community College ICE partnership to present at Lawrence High School to discuss our model which was implemented at the beginning of this year. The panel included: Patric Barbieri, Executive Director, LABBB Collaborative; Brian Guay, Middlesex Community College/LABBB Student; Mrs. Ann Guay, Parent, and Dawn Gross, ICE Coordinator at Middlesex Community College. The attendees included district personal interested in partnering with a college to offer this model in their area, as well as interested parents wanting hear and learn about the ICE college experience for their son or daughter. 

We were all impressed as Brian Guay spoke to the assembly using his wonderful and creative Powerpoint as a guide. They say public speaking is the number one fear of most people, but you would of never have known it as Brian confidently shared his experience of being a Middlesex Community College student. This was his dream, and he is living it!

When you listen to Mrs. Guay speak about the road to getting Brian to Middlesex Community College, your eyes will water and you will be inspired. The LABBB community needs to hear this speech, and we will do our very best to make this happen. It shows that we need to listen, even if we do not believe in the moment, because if someone wants something bad enough, it will happen. Her story proves this many times over. 

Below is a recent video of a news story on NECN about the Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment program. There are many pictures of the LABBB cohort at Middlesex Community College.

LABBB will be starting a second cohort of students attending Middlesex College during the spring semester. 

Please click on the link to view the video:

Over the past 2 years, LABBB has been investing in technology based innovations to our classrooms that enable teachers to enhance the learning experiences of their students. Interactive whiteboards and teaching software have become essential for today's digitally connected classrooms. Every classroom is different, and LABBB believes in providing each classroom and teacher tools unique to their classroom needs.  This allows teachers to create interactive and engaging learning opportunities that focus on student skills such as attention, communication, following directions, creative thinking and problem solving.

Interactive boards enable teachers to measure student progress by way of customized student response systems providing measurable data that can be shared with parents and staff. This also helps teachers to design lessons that support visual, auditory, and gross/fine motor skills. As LABBB looks to strengthen student learning through technology, it will be important to have fully integrated tools to assess and support their progress.

LABBB has been purchasing several different kinds of interactive boards that are best suited for individual classroom needs.  Boards  such as the Promethean 500 Pro 78" Active Board and the 500 Pro 87"Activboard with Electric height adjustment, and Smart Boards. These Boards have a surface similar in function to a touch screen computer. Some of them require a stylus pen to operate, while some do not. The Epson BrightLink 595WI  is a standalone all in one system that does not require the wall mounted  interactive surface of the Promethean  500 series Boards, but instead uses infrared sensors that can be projected onto any wall  replicating interactive input also without a stylus pen.

With continued focus on using technology to facilitate learning, LABBB will ensure that each learner is an active participant in this ever expanding world. 

  For the month of November 2014, the students in Mrs. Veguila's and Ms. Arcovio's 3rd-5th grade classrooms focused on developing and practicing their teamwork skills. The clinical, speech, occupational therapy, and teacher teams worked together to develop a fun and interactive way for students to practice teamwork skills. The students practiced using "expected" versus "unexpected" behavior while in school. For every class period that the students practiced "expected" behaviors (e.g. focusing on yourself, using a calm voice, following directions, and having a safe body), the class earned a token for their jar. The students worked as a team to choose a field trip location, and earn their tokens; often encouraging their fellow students to stay on-track. On Tuesday, November 25th, both classes traded in their FULL jars for a field trip at the Woburn Bowladrome! The students had a blast on their field trip and are looking forward to earning their next one! We are so proud of our Fox Hill students!

In November, Ms. Bartlett and Ms. Brown's classrooms completed a Planet Science Project as part of the Science class curriculum. The students chose a planet they wanted to research, found out ten facts about it, located pictures of it, and put together an informational poster to present to their classmates. The students did an amazing job! We are so proud of them! The classes enjoyed cheering their classmates on as each of them presented, and the projects were wonderful!! Great job to our Science learners!!