ACADEMICS
Foundation for Success STUDY SKILLS CLASS
Mercy is proud to challenge students with innovative classes and learning methods. Last year we introduced a semester-long Study Skills course for current freshmen, designed to bridge the gap between middle school and high school demands. English Teacher Stefanie Oudiz developed a curriculum with exercises and projects that increase students’ awareness of their unique learning styles, which helps them manage academic activities independently and take on challenges with confidence and curiosity.
Make a two-week schedule to prepare for an upcoming test
Using a cross-discipline approach, Use the course prepares freshmen with multisensory the academic skills and growth study mindset needed to be successful strategies throughout high school and beyond. Topics covered Create a SAMPLE include self-advocacy, Students brainstorm possible search LEARNING document in executive functioning, questions to guide their research. ACTIVITIES research, and studying. APA style They even build skills Develop a needed for note-taking question to in college-level lectures! guide The class supports our mission to help students meet their distinct potential in research developing high-level academic skills, as well as the confidence and love of learning needed to take their skills far beyond our hallways.
Enhanced Learning through Technology In last fall’s Oaks, you read about how Mercy has invested in professional development, specifically around the productive use of technology. With a proliferation of programs, apps, and software, teachers are expanding their toolkits while honing the effectiveness of the technology used in their classrooms to augment student learning. Two examples of programs used in different departments are Google’s Tour Creator and Padlet.
Tour Creator
Padlet
The Religion Department used Tour Creator for a Sacred Spaces project, in which students used the program to virtually visit places around the world such as Vatican City. They were asked to create a tour, reflecting on what it felt like to ‘be there’ and why they felt that it was sacred. Similarly in the World Language Department, Spanish students took ‘field trips’ to Spanish-speaking countries! Social Studies uses Padlet in a number of ways, including organizing research sources. In Government class, students create digital note cards that they format into an outline, which they can then share and collaborate on with others. Science students used it in Biology class to help visualize and understand processes such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration through scientific models that they created.
8 MERCY HIGH SCHOOL BURLINGAME
