Jay R. Masterson

Reaction to Rutgers gay-spying case: From ’vengeance’ to ’precedent-setting’

2012-03-17T16:37:00.002-04:00

Reaction to Rutgers gay-spying case: From ’vengeance’ to ’precedent-setting’

This situation should make everyone take notice. First, we lost another student way to young because of a social embarrassment or public shunning in this case due to his sexual orientation. Second, that this type of behavior that led to this unfortunate result will not be tolerated in a court of law. All members of our civilized society need to think before they act. Then, consider the fall out of their action.

It is for this very reason that we in Cumberland Public Schools have taken a strong stance with the passage of our anti-bullying/harassment policy. We are promoting pro-social behavior and intervene when our students are not meeting our expectations. We assist our students in making responsible decisions. We also provide them multiple ways to get help. We have trusted adults, responsible bystanders, and an anonymous reporting system.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have lost a loved one too soon as a result of bullying/harassment.

Online Safety Discussion with Facebook | Congressman David Cicilline

2012-03-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

I will be attending this meeting concerning online safety. It is important that if you have questions or would just like to learn more about how you can educate your child concerning social networking, feel free to join me. There will be Facebook personnel on hand to present and answer your questions. Feel free to call the field off of Congressman Cicilline. This is closely aligned to the Anti-bullying/harassment work that we completed in Cumberland over the last year.

Online Safety Discussion with Facebook | Congressman David Cicilline

Second teen confirmed dead in Ohio school shooting

2012-02-28T07:32:00.002-05:00

Second teen confirmed dead in Ohio school shooting

I was particularly saddened by the recent school shooting in Ohio. This situation is extremely tragic for all parties involved. School leaders always make sure that schools respond to situations that develop at school, but who responds when the situation does not resonate at school, but rather on social networks at night or after school hours? Those people are who we call bystanders. Bystanders are people who are witness to situations that take place within their presence. This can include in person as well as on a social networking website or blog. If a by stander is witness to a situation or potential situation, it is incumbent upon them to report it to the proper authorities.

Statistics show that people (which include students) don’t always know the best way or feel comfortable coming forward. In the Cumberland School Department, one way we have addressed this concern is by developing an online reporting system. This allows any bystander, whether they are a parent, student, teacher or citizen to report an issue. This form is then submitted to a coordinator (directly to their email that is tied to a mobile device) in the district that dispatches the report to the proper place. It is then incumbent upon the district to immediately follow up on the report within the next school business day. The situation is thoroughly investigated and documented from beginning to end.

How does this relate to the tragedy in Ohio? The student who was the aggressor warned on a social networking website the previous night that there were going to be people who were going to die in school the next day. It is reasonable to think that there were people who saw this post. If there was an anonymous reporting system, a bystander could have filled out the form, copy and pasted the link into the form and school officials could have then possibly went into action immediately in concert with the police department.

I can’t stress enough how important it is for all of us to be aware of the situations that are going on around us and know how to act when something does not look right. “Knowing how to act” is “knowing where to report” it so that it is properly followed up on.

Below is a link to the online reporting system:

http://www.cumberlandschools.org/content/incident-report

New autism definition may exclude many, study suggests

2012-01-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

New autism definition may exclude many, study suggests

This brings significant concern to me. I work with a large population of students who carry the Autism Spectrum Disorder label. Education looks different for them. The focus for them is more of a social pragmatic education. Their abilities cannot be measured on a high stakes, standardized test. Please pay close attention to this. The DSM book is a well respected manual and to think that they would change the definition just to bring down the numbers as the article states is puzzling to me. We need to make decisions because they are the right ones, not to make data look less than a epidemic.

New to NCMS Ms. Emery

2011-12-12T10:34:00.001-05:00

This edition of the “New to NCMS” is Ms. Kayla Emery, (Twitter @kemery1124) grade 8 mathematics teacher on the Aviator Team. She technically is in her first year as a full time teacher even though this is her third year at NCMS. Ms. Emery spent her first two years as a full time substitute teacher and patiently waited for her opportunity to come as a full time teacher. We are happy to see that everything worked out for her and for our students. Ms. Emery has created a welcoming and productive learning environment in her classroom. She regularly provides her students with positive and constructive feedback and acknowledges them when they meet her expectations. We look forward to seeing the different types of innovations that Ms. Emery introduces in the classroom.

Photograph taken by NCMS 7th grader Eren Semonik

1. Can you tell us a little about your background?

Immediately after graduating high school I began studying at Rhode Island College to obtain a bachelors degree in Elementary Education. About mid way through my studies at RIC I decided to add on an extra semester of studies to obtain my middle school endorsement in math. After graduating from RIC with my bachelor’s degree I was lucky enough to get a job teaching 8th grade here at NCMS. I have returned to school again at Rhode Island College, working on my Masters degree in Reading education.

2. Why did you become a teacher?

Ask anyone in my family and they will tell you this is the only job I ever wanted! It's a great feeling when you’re teaching someone something and you see the ''light bulb'' come on. I could not wait to get into the classroom for that reason! I just love to teach. I remember back when I was in elementary school my teacher used to let me take home all the extra worksheets from class. I used to make my sister play school with me for hours ... I was always the teacher of course!

3. What appealed to you about NCMS?

The first time I walked into NCMS I knew it was a school I wanted to be a part of! It reminded me of the middle school I went to. Everyone was very welcoming and there was a real sense of community from the minute I walked in. I love working at NCMS because it is a smaller middle school and I feel that allows the faculty and students to build better relationships with each other, ultimately resulting in stronger teaching and better learning. J

4. Tell us something interesting.

Two years ago I become a teacher leader for People to People Student Ambassador Programs and it has truly changed my life! I work with amazing students from across the state of Rhode Island and the rest of the United States. We work together to learn about new cultures and build relationships across the world. Last summer I was lucky enough to travel to Australia with a group of 20 student ambassadors from Rhode Island. We had a blast and even got to go scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef! Talk about a hands-on learning experience!! This summer I am traveling to Italy, Greece, and Sicily with a new group of student ambassadors from Rhode Island. I can't wait to see what this new adventure brings.

An 8th graders personal story with bullying

2011-12-04T12:14:00.001-05:00

For those people who think the attention that we are giving bullying behavior in our schools is over blown, please check out this video. It appeared on the Huffington Post blog. If students are carrying these types of emotions for even the shortest amount of time, then that is time away from living and learning. It is time that we take this on and work together to demonstrate respectful and responsible behavior. It starts with us as adults by modeling the behavior that we wish to be exhibited. Let's take this time during the holiday season to reflect on the year and pledge to make positive changes to our lives first and then to our closest relatives and friends. After that, the ripple effect will most certainly take place in our communities.

Warning: There are some words on the cards that may only be suitable for teens and adults. Viewer discretion is advised.

'Rigorous' anti-bullying policy adopted by Cumberland schools | The Valley Breeze

2011-12-01T12:35:00.000-05:00

Please read the article below. The North Cumberland Middle School Anti-Bullying Task Force is very proud of the work that has been validated by the Cumberland School Committee. The CSC has shown great courage in approving such a "rigorous" policy to address the safety and well being of all of the students who enter a school in the town of Cumberland. We will now begin the work that is laid out within the policy over the next year. It will start with a training for administrators next week, teacher and students and then families by the June of 2012. Feel free to provide us with feedback along the way. It will be appreciated. I will continue to update this blog with informaiton concerning the implementation as well as Tweet the comings and goings of the system that will continue to be unveiled.

'Rigorous' anti-bullying policy adopted by Cumberland schools | The Valley Breeze

NCMS Anti-bullying Task Force Policy adoption

2011-11-20T21:11:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night is the night. Ten months of work with the NCMS Anti-bullying Task Force will come to fruition when the school committee adopts the newly amended Anti-bullying Policy. The meeting is being held at 7:00 P.M. on Monday night at the Cumberland High School Trans Cafeteria. Come out and show your support for the new policy. Feel free to check out my last Anti-bullying post for the changes that will be taking place in the new policy. Thank you for all of your support on behalf of the NCMS Anti-bullying Task Force. Check out my tweets live @JayRMasterson

"New to NCMS" Mrs. Graziano

2011-10-31T09:27:00.000-04:00

Each month, I will highlight a new staff member here at NCMS. The first teacher I will highlight is Mrs. Graziano. She has proven to be a strong addition to not only our staff, but also her grade level team "The All Stars". We look forward to the new things that she introduces to her students through her mathematics instruction.

Can you tell us a little about your background?

My name is Kim Graziano and I am a graduate of Rhode Island College with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary education, Math and a Middle school endorsement. My wonderful family consists of my husband Anthony, my sixteen year old son Anthony, my ten year old daughter Taylar and my four year old Siberian Husky Mia.

Why did you become a teacher?

As far back as I can remember, teaching was my calling in life. I think back to when my friends and I would play school for hours on end. There was never another career path that I wanted to take. Immediately after graduating high school, I attended Rhode Island College. Two years later, I chose to get married and start a family and I left my education behind. I was fortunate enough to stay home with my children. Then, I woke up one morning and my daughter was starting Kindergarten. Quickly, I made the decision to jump back into my teaching career. Attending school full time, a family, and a night job proved to be a struggle but, I was determined to fulfill my dream.

What appealed to you about North Cumberland Middle School?

North Cumberland Middle school was exactly where I wanted to teach. Math is being pushed to the forefront to provide students with the knowledge needed to become successful. Students need to view Math with excitement and confidence. The staff at NCMS provides a caring and supportive community that I wanted to be a part of. Students are eager to learn and clearly feel part of a family here.

Tell us something interesting about yourself.

As a child, I have always been taught to give back in life. Wanting to instill these same values in my children, I decided to become a foster parent. My family provides children who are less fortunate with a loving, stable home. Making a difference in the lives of these children has been a blessing to us and I am thankful that we are capable of making a positive impact on these children.

October 24, 2011 Interview on 630 WPRO and 99.7 FM

2011-10-24T15:25:00.006-04:00

This morning I was interviewed on the radio because of the work that we have done with the NCMS Anti-bullying Task Force. We hope that this attention will assist in reducing the incidents of bullying by providing students with resources and outlets to deal with the issues associated with this topic.

Click on the download button to access the audio.

NCMS Anti-Bullying Task Force in the headlines

2011-10-20T07:32:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to provide an update on the anti-bully task force at North Cumberland Middle School. The Cumberland School Committee's Rules and Regulations Commitee met on October 13, 2011 and approved a motion to send the amended policy to the full committee for adoption. We are planning a special, stand alone school committee night where the only item on the agenda is the Anti-Bully Policy read out and adoption. We are planning a presentation by a leading researcher in the field, Dr. Larry Filippelli, Assistant Superintendent of Scituate Public Schools. Below is a link to the headline in the Valley Breeze this morning concerning the Rules and Regulations meeting. Feel free to come out and support this policy on November 21, 2011. I appreciate the hard work that the members of the Task Force put forth to make this policy possible. On behalf of the Task Force, I also would like to thank Dr. Thornton, Superintendent of Cumberland Public Schools for his support and the Cumberland School Committee. This would not be possible without them.

Valley Breeze article from Thursday, October 20, 2011
http://breezepapers.com/2011/10/19/cl/cumberland-schools-among-first-to-address-at-home-cyberbullying

Here is a video from Channel 12 News:

Cumberland cracks down on cyberbullying: wpri.com

NCMS Anti-Bullying Task Force 2011

2011-10-03T07:31:00.001-04:00

In January of this school year, North Cumberland Middle School embarked on their first anti-bullying task force meeting. The task force consisted of school personnel, district personnel, parents and students. This group of approximately 25 was given the task of reviewing the current district policy to see if it was still strong enough to meet the changing needs of our student and family population. Given the unfortunate tragedies recently portrayed in the media concerning bullying and harassment, after careful review and consideration, it was decided an upgrade was necessary. We started by reviewing the results of the South Hadley, MA task force report and realized how far behind we were. We decided to conduct a side by side comparison and fill in the gaps that existed in our policy with some of the recommendations of the South Hadley report.

At about the time that we were completing our own recommendations to forward to our superintendent with the hopes that they would be forwarded to the school committee, the State of Rhode Island passed a new anti-bullying law in an amendment to the “Safe Schools Act”. It charged the Rhode Department of Education with developing a new model anti-bullying policy to be adopted by all school districts. In an effort to get out in front of other school districts, we decided to compare our recommendations to the requirements of the new model policy as outlined by the state legislature. Our recommendations either meet or exceed the expected outcome from the RIDOE.

Within the first month of school, we have already presented to the School Committee Rule and Regulations sub-committee where they asked for two slight teaks to the recommended policy. We will then present the tweaks one more time this month and expect to go to the full committee before Thanksgiving break. We are planning a special school committee night where the only item on the agenda is a community wide adoption of an aggressive and far reaching anti-bullying policy that communicates how much we care about our children and their well being. Tune into my twitter account for more updates this month @JayRMasterson.

Note: The recommendations are as follows:

• Strong policy statement about how committed we are against anti-bullying

• Expanded and through definition of bullying

• Definition of where “at school” means

• Definition of electronic media. This includes the scenario where bullying takes place in cyber space outside of school hours, but as soon as it effects one person in school it becomes a school issue

• Mandatory social skills training as a 1st level intervention for a student who is found to be bullying

• Electronic form for reporting bullying on the district website tied to a school officials email account

• Clear procedures that will outline the full investigation of a bullying incident

• A strong partnership between the school department and community law enforcement

• Anti-bullying program with a school official and law enforcement official that will train each school with one consistent message

• Requirement for each school to report to the superintendent semi-annually bullying incidents with the superintendent then reporting to the school committee semi-annually

The South Hadley Task Force and learning community are always in our thoughts. It was a complete tragedy that took place in their community. Let us hope that the rest of the world learns from them just as we have so as to prevent this from happening again.

An open letter to our elected leaders

2011-09-01T14:20:00.001-04:00

Dear President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Boehner,

I woke up this morning to the news that after a three week recess that saw few town hall meetings from members of Congress and a restful vacation for the President, a skirmish over a suitable date for the President of the United States to address a joint session of Congress. It seems that there is a scheduling conflict with a Republican debate and a National Football League game. This unfortunately has become the expected behavior of our leaders that we sent to Washington to govern this great nation. I wonder how much faith our allies around the world have in us currently.

The main issue is that our elected officials are worrying more about being elected than they are about being officials who were hired to govern. We are in times where the documented unemployment rate is 9.1% (but realistically Americans know it is closer to 20%) and Standard and Poor’s downgraded our credit rating on par with other countries such as Spain, New Zealand and Botswana. Combine this with the most recent natural disaster, Hurricane Irene (affected 65 million American people), the time for our elected officials to act is now. The American people cannot be held hostage by elected officials who are already campaigning for what will be a complete year.

A natural time to begin action would be with the speech and release of the President’s jobs plan now scheduled for September 8, 2011. The President will not be presenting two jobs plans (one for Democratic Americans and one for Republican Americans) but rather one plan for the American people. American men and women want to be productive members of our American society and provide for their families. In the event that we need to retrain the American workforce, that should be a focus. The jobs for tomorrow are just that, jobs for tomorrow. We have jobs that need to be filled today that are going overseas because other countries have seized the opportunity and addressed the need. This is an example of capitalism at its best.

In closing, I would ask that before our elected officials walk through the doors of the Capitol on the night of September 8, 2011, please shed one piece of your title which is your party affiliation. I would like to remind you all that the title in front of your office, in roll call order, is United States President, United States Senator and United States Representative. To quote a Founding Father and the 2nd President of the United States, Mr. John Adams, “There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures into opposition to each other.” Nearly 200 years later, that dreadful feeling has surfaced. Now we need to respond by remembering how we got our start with elected officials who didn’t believe that they were up for the task, but are revered for their courage and forethought for how this country is to be governed.

Arne Duncan on C-SPAN

2011-08-21T20:36:00.001-04:00

I was just watching Arne Duncan being interviewed on C-SPAN. He was speaking to Alyson Klein of Ed-Week and K-12 Politics blog and Greg Toppo of the USA Today. They were asking him questions concerning ESEA reauthorization. He discussed the need for reauthorization to be acted on immediately upon Congress returning from recess.

He stated (as he has for the last six months) that NCLB is not working and that many schools are unfairly being labeled failing or under performing. The reliance on test data is antiquated. He stated that testing will continue to be a part of school classifications, but he stressed only a part. The Obama Administration is advocating for states to implement growth models to indicate that the learning gaps are closing for students. This will also provide some much deserved credit for schools who are working hard at building interventions for their students who have gaps in their learning.

Other areas of interest were the support for turnaround schools, working with the two largest teachers unions (NEA and AFT) as well as the impact of the 2012 election. Secretary Duncan was not concerned about the 2012 election, but made a push for all elected officials to support students and their learning and the need for a strong education system for them.

You can watch the interview in its entirety at C-SPAN.