Guerilla Educators

Chinese New Year Show by MaST Charter Kindergarten Students!

Kindergarten students immersed in Chinese culture at MaST Community Charter School in Philadelphia.  Mandarin teacher at MaST Amanda Yan Hou, is a resident of Beijing and does a remarkable job with her young charges.  Someone once told me that working with kindergartners is like trying to herd cats and here Amanda is teaching these energetic young American students Chinese culture and language.  Impressive!

Best Practices in Elementary School Across the Grades

Teaching for Understanding Coordinator at MaST Community Charter School, Donna Sole, has created best practices "snapshots" throughout the elementary grades across a variety of disciplines and subject/content areas.  This is powerful affirmation that the MaST teachers whose students are in this presentation are innovative, energetic, and professionally care deeply about their young charges.  It's also a collegial celebration of successes and pulling together as a team to positively affect the lives of their students.  Good work, MaST!  Take a look...

4th Grade Best Practices, Science; The Flashlight Movie

A culminating electrical unit activity for 4th grade students at MaST Community Charter School in Philadelphia was that they were to design and build a working flashlight.  The unit was part of their science curriculum.  A group of students thought so much of the Project they asked if they could make a video of the finished products and conduct interviews.  This film was shot entirely by students and they directed the editing of the raw footage, as well.  It demonstrates how educators can use available technology to make the most of student interests.  It also shows the use of technology applications as a tool to support effective best practices.  Take a look...

Here is another compelling video from MaST Charter School about their newly created Peace Garden.

Peace Garden at MaST Community Charter School

On Tuesday, November 9, 2010, MaST Community Charter School in NorthEast Philadelphia had a memorable day in their school's history and culture.  On that day, the Peace Garden officially opened.  Set in a compact urban area, this amazing outdoor teaching/learning space comprises a rustic amphitheater, a bird blind, and a series of different garden environments that includes a native species area, as well as wetland, kitchen, herb, and texture gardens.  This video depicts elementary students from kindergarten through 6th grade who, under the guidance of teacher, Mr. Richard Trichon, are in the process of planting thousands of bulbs that will bloom in the Spring.  Mr.Trichon led the student design team that, over the last 18 months, planned and then brought the Garden into physical reality.  As the years progress, these young MaST students will watch the Peace Garden grow and develop and will understand that they were an integral part of this legacy that has already become a part of the culture of the school.  What a powerful school-wide project!  Much of this video was taken by MaST students.  Take a look...

Here is another great MaST project video about 6th grade archaeology.

Grade 6 Archaeology at MaST Community Charter School

Differentiated Instruction stems from beliefs about differences among learners, how they learn, learning preferences, and individual interests.  For this process to authentically take place, it is important for educators to get to know the learners in front of them before they can best match their practices to meet the needs of the students. In this video you will see how Tarra Gordon, a sixth grade teacher at MaST Community Charter school used an archaeology project to teach content as well as to learn about her students’ likes, interests, and families.  This will give Tarra insights about her students so she can use the differentiation process to help her students achieve.

Click to view another video from MaST Community Charter School about best practices in 5th grade math.

MaST Charter School Opening Convocation Celebration!

This video was created by Sole Productions for use at the MaST Community Charter School's Opening Convocation for Teachers, in Philadelphia. It demonstrates key aspects of the Project Based Service Learning methodologies and especially the idea of CELEBRATION! Too often, in the rush to achieve our personal, curriculum, and standards-based objectives with our students we overlook how vitally important it is for both students and educators to celebrate our achievements and to have FUN! These slides capture that essence of fun and celebration even while our students make rigorous, data-based academic and civic advances.  Take a look...

MaST Charter School Opening Convocation Celebration! from John Sole on Vimeo.

Best Practices in 5th Grade Math

Donna Sole, Teaching for Understanding Coordinator at MaST Community Charter School has created another "Best Practices" video.  Here, 5th grade students have created  restaurants.  In the process of cooking, calculating tips, billed, divided bills, etc. these students have covered a wide range of Standards focused on math and across the curriculum. Take a look... To view a great example of Best Practices; Science, click here

Kohls Cares at MaST Community Charter School

MaST Community Charter School in Philadelphia is competing for a $500,000 Kohls Cares grant.  They would like to use this grant to integrate teaching and learning spaces into their Community Garden located at the school.  In this way, MaST students learn about environmental issues that are relevant to them and then take leadership roles in their community in the area of environmental stewardship.  Everyone may vote 5 times for their choice.  Just click this link to vote for MaST.

Best Practices; 2nd Grade Inquiry Based Science

This video documents best practices in inquiry based science at MaST Community Charter School in Philadelphia. These second grade students see themselves as scientists and are already adept at applying higher level thinking skills to the scientific process. The students are fully engaged and the learning is fun.  Take a look...

To see a great example of Best Practices; Math, click here.