Apple Teacher Program:

As a teacher, you inspire the next generation of leaders. You make complex ideas easy to understand. And you’re always looking for new ways to engage your students. So, we’ve gathered a series of tips, stories, and other helpful materials on this page to keep you inspired. And we’ve created the Apple Teacher program to help you get the most from our products, and celebrate the work you do every day.

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Oceanside Middle School is proud to announce that we now have five Apple Teachers. Additionally, we have many who have begun the certification process. We believe this speaks to a faculty that aspires to grow as educators and to seek platforms that engage and inspire.

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Apple Distinguished Educators:

Apple Distinguished Educators (ADEs) are part of a global community of education leaders recognized for doing amazing things with Apple technology in and out of the classroom. They explore new ideas, seek new paths, and embrace new opportunities. That includes working with each other — and with Apple — to bring the freshest, most innovative ideas to students everywhere.

ADEs work closely with Apple to lead innovation in education. ADEs advise Apple on integrating technology into learning environments — and share their expertise with other educators and policy makers. They author original content about their work. They advocate the use of Apple products that help engage students in new ways. And they are ambassadors of innovation, participating in and presenting at education events around the world. Being part of the ADE community is much more than an honor — it’s an opportunity to make a difference.

Oceanside Middle School currently has two teachers applying for this designation.

"Now more than ever, students need the intellectual power to recognize societal problems, ask good questions and develop robust investigations into them, consider possible solutions and consequences, separate evidence-based claims from parochial opinions, and communicate and act upon what they learn."

- C3 Teachers

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In a society as fast-paced as ours, and with media that often blurs the line between entertainment and news, it is critical that we provide students with thoughtful and deliberate opportunities to critically and deeply evaluate issues that impact them on a local, national, and global level. As we further orient our lessons and units to promote divergent thought and foster argumentative skills, it is important that we provide students the opportunity to take their new knowledge, skills, and understanding to the world.

In collaboration with the middle school cabinet, we designed a professional learning plan that was tailored to the needs of our teachers and our school. While we have many teachers who have found apps and other resources that strengthen their classrooms, it was our stated goal to marry pedagogical practices to the smart and purposeful use of apps. We have identified the following areas of instruction for deeper examination during a teacher's participation in a self-selected 4-hour course. With great choice across the PD suite, we hoped to engender passion and purpose.

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• Flipped Learning

• Formative Assessment

• Creation & Production in the Classroom

• Student to Student Collaboration

• Google Classroom

Our teachers "majored" in one of these courses, and used department and faculty meeting time for teachers to share their new expertise with colleagues.

“The single most important thing you could do tomorrow for little to no money is have every student establish a digital portfolio where they collect their best work as evidence of their skills. Where they’re working with their teachers and other adults to present their best work, to iterate their best work, so that they actually have real progress they can show.”

Tony Wagner

Expert in Residence - Harvard Innovation Lab

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As a school fully strengthened by the 1:1 digital model, our students will have many opportunities to design and create presentations, written work samples, artistic representations, and musical compositions that provide strong evidence of their learning. With technology providing multiple platforms for student portfolio creation, we continue to work with our students to develop the 21st century skills associated with production, curation, and self-reflection.

Our digital portfolio initiative is borne of the following set of beliefs:

• digital portfolios promote self-reflection and revision

• digital portfolios strengthen student ownership and pride in their work

• digital portfolios help students to monitor progress over a year or multiple years

• digital portfolios capture a wide range of learning

• digital portfolios foster digital literacy

• digital portfolios allow students to “show off” to a wider audience

• digital portfolios personalize learning and motivate learners

In partnership with the staff and students at Lawrence Road Middle School in Uniondale, Oceanside Middle School is embarking on an exciting new venture that is designed to grow in all students a stronger awareness and understanding of issues facing our communities and our nation. The Bridges program will build in our students the skills associated with research, public speaking, presentation, and collaboration. It is our belief that engaging students in the evaluation of contemporary issues related to race, economics, and politics will lead to well-rounded, active, and engaged citizens.

Participants in Bridges (our Builders) will be expected to complete and review short readings and video selections in preparation for our collaborative sessions. Additionally, our Builders will be asked to thoughtfully address and actively participate in dialogue and learning experiences which will take place both inside and outside the classroom. The Bridges program has been designed to unfold over the course of six years, with program goals and vision extending through high school.