I am so proud of our department chairs and literacy coaches; therefore, I wanted to take a brief moment in praise of collaboration.
When I received the PSAT Student Guides, I met with Heather Saylor, our Guidance Department Chair, to talk about the quickest and best way to get the books into the hands of each and every junior and senior. We spoke with the department chairs, and they not only agreed on a way to distribute the books, they collaborated on a way to make sure that all students became more familiar with the test.
Kevin Poduska (English), Mike DiNovo (Social Studies), Kirsten Mahoney (Science), and Sue Brown (Math) met about how to incorporate time for practice without taking away from instruction, breaking the test into parts and agreeing that today would be the day to work with the kids on the PSAT. Jill Mueller (Special Education) reached out to make sure that we had copies for our Academic Essentials instructors, and Jessica Nall (ELL and WL) assured that our ELL Intermediate and Advanced students could also use the student guides for practice.
After deciding on the plan, our Literacy Team--Elizabeth Foran and Kristina Fitzgerald--stepped in, creating a short video for our students with strategies for the Reading Test. It gives crucial reminders about how to tackle this challenging portion of the test: start by scanning the test first to understand the type of passage; continue by reading the questions to set a purpose for reading; finally reading the passage with the questions in mind.
I'm honored to help lead such a great team who is focused on making sure all of our students have every opportunity to succeed. If your student would like additional practice for the PSAT, please visit www.collegeboard.org
Go Dukes!
