Kindness, Honesty and Responsibilty at PS4M (VIDEO)

A student from Ms. Salce's class (221) shows kindness as he helps his classmate tie his shoe.

Kindness, honesty and responsibility can be seen in every classroom throughout the day, at PS4. Our students can often be seen bringing money that they found to the principal's office, apologizing to their teachers and friends about something they did wrong and helping classmates with a problem.  Teachers support and enhance these positive character traits by using a program called Project Wisdom.  This program is an intentional effort to help students understand, care about, and act upon core ethical values. Students with good character are caring, just, and responsible. They have developed an internal motivation to do their best and to contribute to the world around them. Good character education improves social and emotional competencies as well as academic performance.  This program has been helping students make wiser choices since 1992 and has been licensed to more than 19,000 schools across the nation!  At the end of every morning announcement, students hear:

"Be kind, be responsible and be the best you can be. The choice is yours.  Have a great school day!"

This is a component of the Project Wisdom program! Teachers spend a few minutes after morning announcements to have a brief discussion with students.  In addition, they may follow-up with a writing assignment for classwork or homework.  A new character trait is featured each month.  They are:

• September - Responsibility
• October - Respect
• November - Honesty/Dealing with Anger 
• December - Tolerance
• January - Citizenship
• February - Perseverance
• March - Kindness
• April - Setting Goals/Positive Attitude
• May - Courage/Caring
• June - Success/Gratitude

To learn more about Project Wisdom, click here!  Then, check out the video below featuring students in Ms. Marmolejos and Mr. Nycz's class (502) as they act out stories that involve a very important character trait: honesty.


Honesty Video (Class 502) from PS4M on Vimeo.

Student Government Members Support Families In Need

generationOn Student Government members from class 502 (center) with their classmates.

The newly named generationOn Student Government has been selected to receive an NYC generationOn Clubs Grant!  As a grant award recipient, the club will receive t-shirts for each member, a visit from a generationOn representative and a $500 gift card to use for a service learning project!  Their first service-learning project will provide six families in the Washington Heights community with bags of food for the holiday season.  Click here for more information about generationON!

Student Government members prepare to give a speech to their classmates about donating to City Harvest.

Through morning announcements, speeches and reminders, Student Government members have been encouraging their classmates to bring in cans of food, boxes of cereal and plastic jars of peanut butter to help feed the 1.7 million New Yorkers that currently live in poverty; 24% of which are New York City children living in food insecure homes.  "It's always wonderful to see students use their leadership skills to make an big impact in their own community", said Ms. Lennon (Student Government Advisor).  With the help of Parent Coordinator Denise Nunez, six families took home bags of food just before Thanksgiving break.  City Harvest will pick up all donations, which are being placed in the school's lobby, on Tuesday, December 1.  Click here to learn more about the City Harvest Organization that feeds millions of hungry New Yorkers every year.

PS4 Goes on a Google Expedition

Google Expeditions is a Google-led program that allows students to have 360-degree views of places around the world, under the sea, and even up in space!  Mr. Nycz, a 5th grade teacher, applied for our school to be a part of the Expeditions Pioneer Program last April.   Recently, representatives from Google sent three instructors with small computer tablets with virtural reality technology installed.  As the students looked at their mini-tablets through cardboard frames, they were able to see views of places that they have never been before.  "I wanted students all across PS4 to have more of a first-hand view of the places we talk about as teachers throughout the year, either through our reading books, textbooks, or even in everyday conversation", he said.  Mr. Nycz is confident that the technology through Google allows for our students to have those experiences.

Students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade (as well as Ms. Hodge's class [201]) enjoyed this incredible experience!  Every student was able to not only talk about what they saw, but also vividly describe the details of the expeditions they saw, whether they went to the moon, under the sea, seeing 5 Pointz before it was torn down (with Ms. Nuez's class), or witness the Mayan ruins (with Ms. D. Cabral's class).  Mr. Nycz describes the excitement as electric and with the help of Mr. Stevens in the future, we hope we can bring Google Expeditions as a viable piece of technology the teachers can use with their students as they see fit.

Special thanks to Mr. Nycz and the Google Expedition Team for bringing this innovative technology to PS4. For more information on this program, click here!

Classroom Champions Update #3

As part of the Classroom Champions program, top performing athletes are connected with students in high-need schools. They use video lessons and live video chat to motivate students to recognize their potential, set goals and dream big, while educating them in the practical use of communications technology. 

Upon their return from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, gold medalist ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White made sure to spend some time with students they've been mentoring since October!  Ms. McLeod and Mr. Nycz's students were invited to the Today Show, at Rockefeller Center, to reunite with the athletes that they know and love.

Check out the slideshow below for some highlights from this memorable experience!  A big thanks to Giddeon Massie, Olympian and Classroom Champions Advisor, for making this opportunity a smooth one.  We appreciate your dedication to the program.

Create a slideshow design

Classroom Champions Update #2

Meryl Davis and Charlie White are two highly-accomplished American ice dancers who have their eyes on the prize as they compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics.  As part of the Classroom Champions Program, athlete-mentors "adopt" class 502!   Focusing on their own personal journey, athletes teach young students about the hard work of training, goal setting, competition and perseverance.  "For my students to get to the point where they are able to read and be confident within themselves to present, including a good number of my students with special needs", says Mr. Nycz, "it's a huge accomplishment".

Since the Winter Olympics began on February 6th, students in Mr. Nycz and Ms. McLeod's class have researched the steps the Olympians had to take to get to where they are today.   One particular student, Joel H., took it upon himself to write an essay about Meryl and Charlie!  He discussed the reasons why they will bring home the gold!  Click the video below to hear the essay and see how students cheer on their mentors!

Classroom Champions: Class 502, Celebrating the Games by Celebrating Meryl and Charlie's Achievements! by Brent Nycz on Vimeo.

For more information about the Classroom Champions Program, click here.  Click here for more information on the Sochi 2014 Olympic games.

Classroom Champions Update #1

Classroom Champions is a program that brings Olympians and Paralympians (Athlete Mentors) into the classroom using videos and live chats. Each athlete mentor adopts 1-4 classrooms per year. Focusing on their own personal journey, athletes teach young students about the hard work of training, goal setting, competition and perseverance.  Class 502 has been part of the Classroom Champions since September!

Class 502 and parents with ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White at Rockefeller Center.

Recently, Mr. Nycz and Ms. McLeod's students were invited by the program to attend a live taping of the Today Show at Rockefeller Center to meet their athlete mentors, Meryl Davis and Charlie White!  They are two highly-accomplished American ice dancers who have their eyes on the prize as they prepare for the Winter Olympics next year.  Students arrived at PS4 at 6:30am to have breakfast and board a bus to 49th Street.

Congratulations again to Mr. Nycz, Ms. McLeod and their students for being classroom champions!  Keep us updated on all of your great experiences.  Click here to read a blog post written by Mr. Nycz about his experience on the trip!  Check out the video below to see how students from his class discuss their goals and how they plan to achieve them.


Classroom Champions Goal Setting Video for Class 502! from Brent Nycz on Vimeo.

New Technology At PS4

Mr. Nycz, conducting a workshop for teachers.

Ms. McLeod using the Promethean Board during a lesson.

Thanks to a grant from Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, all classroom on the third and fourth floor have been outfitted with Promethean Boards!  A "Promethean board" or "Activboard" is a component of the Promethean Activclassroom which is simply a new way to create an exciting environment that allows students to actively participate in their learning.  

"Even for my really shy students, two-thirds of the class is participating", said third grade teacher Mr. Nycz. His co - teacher describes how excited students get when the Promethean Board is used.  "I see them going back to their seats grinning from ear to ear", said Ms. Bonilla.

For more information about Promethean Boards, click here!  To see a video of a Pre-K class using a Promethian Board, click here!

Innovate My Classroom

As part of a celebration of the last year of the 3-year Title III Grant that PS4 has been a part of since 2009, Mr. Nycz (co-teacher from class 320) was one of the 20 teacher-presenters at the "Innovate My Class" Workshop held at the Harlem Renaissance Technology Center!  He did a lesson on how to use Student Response Systems or "clickers", as students affectionately refer to them.  Richelle P., Monise F., Duly O., Anderson T., and Jake H. all joined Mr. Nycz at the workshop because they were excellent students throughout the year.  After the workshop, each of the five students discussed details of how the system works. 

Mr. Nycz presenting at Harlem Renaissance Technology Center.

 
Congressman Charles Rangel came to speak at the workshop and was able to witness Mr. Nycz and his students at work! "What are you doing and why are you using the clickers?", he asked the group. Though some of the students were shy, they each gave Congressman Rangel strong explanations. He was extremely impressed with the students from class 320 and was more than happy to take a picture with them to help celebrate their success.

Council Charles Rangel with Mr. Nycz and students from 320.

Congratulations to Mr. Nycz and his five technology experts!  Special thanks to Carolyn Semet from the Manhattan Office of Educational Technology for her support and expertise.  If you'd like to read Mr. Nycz's lesson, click here!

PS4 Celebrates Walk to School Day

On Wednesday, October 5th, students all over the world celebrated Walk to School Day!  Children, parents, teachers and community leaders in all 50 states joined nearly 3 million walkers around the world to celebrate the second annual International Walk to School Day.  Whether your concern is safer and improved streets, healthier habits, or cleaner air, Walk to School Day events encourage a more walkable America — one community at a time.

Students in third grade celebrated by not only walking to school on that day, but joining FedEx volunteers as they walked through the Washington Heights community to our local Safety City location at 157th Street.  Safety City is a traffic safety program for school children that uses a simulated New York City street to teach children about traffic safety through hands-on experience. Monase, from class 320, walks to school every morning with her grandmother.  "She follows the rules and we wait for the light before we cross the street", she says, "we like to talk about school".  Third grade teachers look forward to this event every year!  Ms. Schwartz even brought her son to join in on the festivities!  "It's exciting", she said".

Ms. Thompson and class 301.

Mr. Nycz and class 320.

To see what other schools did to celebrate International Walk to School Day, click here!