It’s a Middle School Thing

By Drew Flanagan ’19, Staff Writer

There are so many things that are only for Upper School students. Examples are clubs and the ability to pick your own advisor and your own arts. There is one thing that is just for the Middle School, and that is Weebly.

Recently in the Middle School, students in 6^th and 7^th grade students had to make Weebly’s with all their work to show how they have grown. They had to present them to their parents during a conference. “It is not that awkward,” said sixth grader Bridget Bowen.

According to Wikipedia, Weebly is “web-hosting service that features a drag-and-drop website builder.” Weebly allows people to create websites and has a special section called Weebly Campus Edition where children in schools around the world can use to present their work or even create a website. Weebly is “a great place to put your work,” says sixth grader Jack. Weebly lets you insert pictures, videos, text, and more. Weebly can let you make your website special. “It is hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is easy,” says Jamie Nachwalter ‘19. There is so many options, that Jamie stated, “It is hard to choose what to put on it.”

During Capstone, the 8^th grade students will have to present their work just like the 6^th and 7^th grade. “It is a great place to put your things,” stated Jack Waitz ‘19.

Ms. Sparacino, the sixth grader Humanities teacher, is a big fan of Weebly. She says, ” I like portfolios in general and I thought that Weebly was a good application to create an electronic portfolio. Since I am also a big fan of teaching kids to think about thinking (metacognition), the Weebly conferences were right up my alley. Students were able to celebrate the work they did this year while acknowledging areas for future growth.” Ms. Sparacino also suggest that the “kids should create a separate tab for skills to work on in the coming weeks and years so that they can use it as a checklist that is easy to access.  I also think that the best examples should be shown to all the students so kids better understand the potential of the electronic portfolio.  Students always have a better understanding of what is expected of them when they can compare their work to other models.”

At the end of the day, none of this would have been possible without the help of the Ms. Stephanie Rusen, the school’s Educational Technologist. She is new this year and holds a BA from Kean University and an MA from Immaculata University. “She deserves a lot of recognition from everyone at Newark Academy for all her hard work,” says Jamie Nachwalter ‘19.