Michael Salvatore LONG BRANCH — Teachers in the Long Branch School District may soon have a presence on the Internet as part of a package of new innovations introduced by Acting Superintendent Michael Salvatore.
Salvatore, who was appointed in April, addressed teachers in the district on June 17 in the Long Branch Middle School auditorium to discuss innovations and new directions in the curriculum .
Among the innovations Salvatore discussed was that each teacher would have aWeb page to facilitate interaction with students and parents.
“For people that are hesitant, there is someone sitting right next to you that is really excited, and those are the people to talk to,” he said during the address. “We are not talking about a fun page to put your picture on, but I’m talking about a portal.”
Salvatore suggested that teachers use the website to summarize monthly standards, give advance notice of homework, and even start blogging about lessons and activities.
He also said the district is looking at creating a research database as well as putting all district forms online.
The address was partially interactive, with Salvatore tossing quarters to teachers who participated in the discussion.
As for the curriculum, Salvatore said that the district must improve students’ SAT scores, and one of the ways to do that is to improve students’ understanding of vocabulary.
“Some people may think the answer is bring back spelling,” he said. “There is some reality to that, and it’s not about spelling words, it’s about a systematic process to introduce words in each grade level.
“What we are doing is identifying a way to introduce and roll those words out to you next year with a process,” he added.
He said the goal is to have students in each grade level understand the same words, not just memorize them.
“It’s not spell it 10 times and say it 10 times,” Salvatore said. “Behind spelling in that process is giving true meaning to that new word.”
He said that children in a learningintensive household can learn up to 860 words a year between age 1 and the third grade.
“It doesn’t matter what community you are from or where you live; when you have that at home, the product is better,” Salvatore said.
Salvatore took an informal poll during the address, asking how much time teachers spend on their lesson plans, with many teachers responding that the plans take around 10 minutes a week.
He then urged the staff to spend more time each week on the lesson plans.
“If you spend less than 10 minutes a week on the lessons that we teach the children 35 hours a week, it is no wonder the product isn’t what we want,” Salvatore said.
He said that sometimes teachers have it backward, and that they should work off the accepted curriculum standards in creating an interactive lesson.
“We have been doing it backwards,” Salvatore said. “It doesn’t start with ‘I have a great idea, I’m going to do this in my classroom.’
“It starts the other way, with a standard that’s meaningful and ‘How do I get my great idea to accomplish that standard?’ ” he added.
He said that the most important thing is to connect each program and each activity within the curriculum.
“The key is making connections,” Salvatore said. “Connecting the dots, connecting each and every program with each and every thing we do every day.”
Another idea Salvatore introduced is that the district’s motto, “Where children matter most,” will be written on every form and document sent out by the district.
“This is where children matter most and they need to matter most,” he said. “We are all here for the children.”
Salvatore has been with the Long Branch Public School District for 14 years. He began teaching prekindergarten, became principal of the former Gregory School, administrator for pre- K through fifth grade, administrator for grades 6-12, and then assistant superintendent. His appointment as superintendent takes effect July 1, Superintendent Joseph M. Ferraina’s official retirement date.
Salvatore told the faculty assembled for his presentation that these ideas didn’t just come from him but from his leadership team — but joked that he gets the credit for them.
“If you think that I sat in a box for a couple months and came up with these ideas myself, that would be the ultimate ego,” he said. “Nothing good ever happens with a big ego.”
Contact Kenny Walter at [email protected].