ALBANY, N.Y. -- It's not choir practice, exactly. It's math class. The children are rhyming, repeating, reciting. Words find movement. Fractions find rhythm. And the students find the answer.
“When they do them and they learn them and they take a test. You'll actually see them or bee-bopping up and down. Because you know that they're over in their head to remember for the test,” said Kandie Antonetti, a Philip Livingston teacher.
Teachers Kandie Antonetti and Lisa House started introducing the techniques to their sixth graders at the Philip Livingston Magnet Academy a couple of years ago, when the school was forced to take a hard look at it's students and it's strategies. It had been placed on the state's list of schools needing improvement in 2006. It was again last year.
This week as 2,500 educators converged on Albany for an annual conference, Philip Livingston found itself in the spotlight once again. This time, as an example of progress for schools around the nation.
“If you're teaching and you make learning fun and engaging, then the students learn,” said Antonetti.
Thousands of educators have descended on Albany for the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education annual conference. As our Britt Godshalk reports local educators took the opportunity to reveal how a school with a troubled past can, with the right steps, have a positive voice in it's future.
It’s a simple concept that may simply be making a difference. Last year, the state removed Philip Livingston from it's list of persistently dangerous schools. The district credits it's focus on smaller classrooms and closer teacher-student relationships and the creation of a special room.
“Rather than wait for a negative outcome to happen, a fight, a suspension out of school, we're able to get the two students down here,” said Principal Thomas Giglio, “and most often get the kids mediated and back to class, keeping them in school.”
It seems these days that's exactly where these students want to be.
“Because instead learning off a book, we can have fun doing it,” said student Tashjmere Brown
“It's better to have fun and learn at the same time,” said sixth grader Drew Moses.
The strategies seem to work; not only in the classroom but in testing. Albany Public Schools said the sixth graders improved by at least 30 percent in both English and math just in the last year.
But the challenges aren't over.
“It's not a snapshot, it's always going to be a process. It's about the journey. By being proactive and building relationships with our students, we're feel that we're going to help able to turn them into happy and productive citizens,” said Antonetti.
On that journey chances for each student to give knowledge a voice so together, one day, they can make their school sing.