description and history - Horace Mann School

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4
Workshops
Development and implementation of technology activities
continues.
February1995
9th and 10th grade students continue in Mastery Workshops
Development and implementation of technology activities
continues.
March1995
9th and 10th grade students take the Mastery for the
first time. Success rate parallels that of 7th and 8th
graders, and most students have completed the
Mastery successfully by the middle of the month.
Development and implementation of technology activities
continues.
April 1995
Synthesis pilot teachers and computers teachers meet
to review the program to date, and to discuss plans
for the following year.
A letter is distributed to all faculty not already in the
program inviting participation in the second year.
Again, there are more responses than there are
openings.
Eight more teachers are chosen; they register for NECC
‘96 and begin discussions with a computer teacher
and pilot teachers from the first year. Second-year
teachers are encouraged to develop new activities
and to draw on the successes of the first year teachers
as well.
May 1995
Registration and travel plans are finalized.
June 1995
7 of 8 second-year teachers and 3 of 4 computer teachers
attend NECC ‘95 in Baltimore.
Summer 1995
New activities are developed; first-year activities are refined.
Some equipment and materials are ordered for the fall
trimester.
Fall 1995
Sixteen subject teachers are participating in Synthesis.
They are creating new activities, refining and reprising
successful ones from the first year.
The third edition of the Mastery textbook is completed
and renamed Mastery Guidebook.
Half of the 7th and 8th grades and all but 20 9th graders
begin Mastery Workshops.
Winter 1995
Technology integration activities continue in development
and implementation.
Mastery Workshops continue for remaining 7th and
8th graders.
The fourth edition of the Mastery Guidebook is completed.
10th and 11th graders and remaining 9th graders begin
Mastery Workshops in February.
Spring 1996
Masteries are complete for all students. Topic workshops
(single period classes introducing advanced
topics) are scheduled in the Mastery Workshop
periods. 10th and 11th graders are required to attend
their choice of two of the seven scheduled
topic workshops.
A letter is sent to all faculty not already participating in
Synthesis inviting them to join the program in the
third year. In the final year, sixteen teachers are
scheduled to attend NECC ‘96 in Minneapolis.
Installation of a high-speed (T1) Internet connection
to the school is completed.
In accordance with the original proposal, the four computer
teachers begin thorough assessment of the
Synthesis program to date, and begin to develop a
plan for an appropriate continuation of the Synthesis
program to begin in the Spring of 1997, when
the three-year Synthesis program is scheduled to
be complete.
Planning is started for a presentation at NECC ‘96.
Summer 1996 (and beyond)
The Synthesis teachers expect to focus on the following
areas:
• Additional faculty training for technology integration
• Expansion of facilities and connectivity
• Added emphasis on interdisciplinary and interscholastic
collaborations
• Expansion of Synthesis into the elementary
grades
• Creation of materials that will help other schools
implement Synthesis
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