Welcome To Back to School Night

Who is Mr. DeCoste?Hold A bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies

and EnglishHold a Master’s Degree in Educational

TechnologyI have been teaching for 15 yearsTrain teachers all over the state in reading

instructionTeach students and teachers how to use

technology

Don’t Be Afraid to Make MistakesFailure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default. _ J.K. Rowlings

Common Core StandardsStudents are not reading and being taught using

complex textOver 60% of in coming college students are not

prepared for college level workMany workers cannot read essential documents

related to their jobsIn mathematics, we teach many things in a year,

but do not teach to mastery Traditional math instruction did a very poor job

of teaching concepts and applicationshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ktLyHDjL4

Text Complexity Changes With The Common Core Standards

What Makes A Good Reader Good and Why is That Important?

Accuracy + Fluency + Vocabulary + Topic knowledge = Good Reader

Accuracy = 90% or aboveFluency= at least 80 words per minuteVocabulary= 88,000 word types by

graduation (Most of these words are learned by context.)

Topic knowledge= knowledge about many subjects and text structures

Why is it Important to be a Good Reader?Research shows good readers have higher

cognitive abilitiesGood readers are strong critical thinkers and

problem solversReading helps develop mental stamina and

perseveranceGood readers have a vast amount of topic

knowledgeA person with a Bachelor’s degree earns

approximately $18,000 more per year than a person with a high school diploma

Our Children’s Future70% of the jobs our children will hold have not

even been invented yet.These yet to be invented jobs will require

strong problem solving and critical thinking skills in addition to strong technology skills

Our children will have up to ten career changes in their lives These changes will require our children to have

a huge knowledge base about many topicsThese changes require mental stamina and

perseverance

Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time. _ Chinese Proverb

The Reasons for Learning Coding in School

The reason why coding should be learned is that many people now rely on computers and other sorts of technology. We can all have successful jobs, companies , and we can even make our own educational games and websites. It can make you think just like reading does.

Why Coding is Educational In My Opinion

First of all, to be a computer programmer and to learn how to write code you need to know lots of math like multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. You also need to understand concepts like binary, variables, functions, and conditionals Also, coding is mostly breaking down complicated problems into less complicated things (decomposition).

The World on Coding

In America about one million of the best jobs go unfilled each year because only one in ten schools teach students how to code. No matter what job you want to have, ask about coding in your school or learn online at code.org

"It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with just facts... it is to teach them to think and always to think for themselves."-Robert Hutchins

What I Want You to Expect From Me

Help my child become a good problem solver and critical thinker

Provide my child with the education and technological skills they will need to be successful in the 21st Century

Help my child become a kind, caring, and responsible independent adult.

Mr. DeCoste’s philosophy: A strong mind, a strong body, and a strong heart make a strong person.

Our FutureOur children are going to be the ones in

power when we retire