Success Story: Mr. Toliver

Mr. Toliver: Well, we're in the process of reimaging our school and it kind of started when I got here. We didn't really have an identity and then we added a magnet program which is our STEM magnet program, and with that we also added an innovative program which is our college prep program. So the connection of those two programs and then adding the right software and programs and academics to connect with those two pieces, I think that allows us to continue to grow and improve.

T:T: I believe last year was a testimony to everything coming together, where you take a school from a C and you move it to a B, when in Broward County only two schools moved up. To be one of the two, it shows you that hand-in-hand with teachers and students, you can do it if you listen and if you try to provide what they need at the right time.

When I first got here several years ago, vocabulary was one of our biggest concerns. There was a test called FCAT and they had a section on vocabulary, and we always scored low. So I was looking for different books, different activities, supplemental material to help, and I came across Vocabulary.com. I think you play a major role in our improvement. There are a lot of programs out there. If a teacher can relate to the program, and the students can relate to the program, it can work.

So to have a program that helps kids build their vocabulary and now to have teachers and students buy into the program, it's amazing. It's what we need. And I think it helped because our teachers do it with fidelity. Any program that you buy, no matter the cost, if you're not doing it consistently, if you don't have a plan, if you're just doing it every now and then, it's not gonna work. But when you truly train your teachers, you truly monitor what's happening and you connect with the teachers and the students, it works. Vocabulary.com allows us to now connect with our students and this is something they want to do. Before school, after school, during school, and it's helping them learn how to digest the words that are presented to them.

T: I think this is a program that we all believe in. It works for Margate. I believe it works for many of the schools in our district because I've watched this year as Broward County has rolled it out for all middle schools and all high schools.

T: Well, we found in reading Marzano [thought leader in education] that you should celebrate success, and Broward County kind of models some of Marzano's strategies with students. We talk about the rigor and relevance, but also celebrating at certain moments to allow students to have the confidence and the motivation to believe in themselves and to know that your teachers are with you and your administration believes in you. I'm a former basketball coach, so this takes me back to when you're rooting for the team and you're rooting for your kids and they do well.

T: We had an amazing day today, so I'm really happy. It just built, starting first with a day challenge and recognizing some of the kids who perform well on the morning announcements. Then we had March Madness and continued. And you’d see classes competing against classes with the leaderboards, as well as now within the class who is the top student. So now within the class I have students competing to be the daily leader for Vocabulary.com, or the monthly leader, or the weekly leader. And to watch the leaderboard move up and down, and the kids are motivated — that's been great. It's also great to see how teachers are using the program. In science, we're going into “Ocean Week.” Now we're picking the words from the ocean that the kids will need to know for this program.

T: Again, with the program it’s really nice to see how in every subject, whether it's debate as they're getting ready to argue one of their messages or learn a speech for speech class, they highlight and learn the words.

T: You know confidence is a key to success. We offer debate and speech, and one of the concerns is standing in front of an audience and worrying about the words that you choose and to make sure that you're saying things accurately. But when you build the confidence, when you understand the words that you're using, it gives you a moment of, "I can do this, I can compete, I can do my speech, I can read my poem that I wrote myself," and be confident. And that confidence is something you will take into your career. I think fear hinders a lot of us from moving forward. When you have confidence through your words and through your speech you'll be fine, and this program helps us.

T: I think the students identify with the program. It provides competition but it also provides rewards. They can earn some points here, now they have more points, now they can watch their points compared to their neighbor and their points. Then they can see that they are progressing. I think the kids like the medals, the stars, the 10 in a row, the perfect round, all of the motivational moments that they receive throughout round one and round two. And to see your progress, that you're at 50% mastery, or now you're at 75%, and that feeling of, “I'm almost there, and now I'm at 100% mastery, and I've mastered the word, and DING!” That's exciting for students. It really connects with them.

T: I find it very helpful for all students. And to see the program evolve — beyond just the definitions of a word, but now we're doing pictures, were doing spelling, we can hear the word. All of this connects with your learners, your auditory learners, the visual learner. Just yesterday I saw one of my [ESOL] students working on Vocabulary.com in the library using Google to translate to his language and then work back to Vocabulary.com. It's great to see that the program works for all students, and that and they're doing it on their own. And the most amazing part is they grow so fast — within a year, within two years — they're speaking English very well.

I think the students that are struggling, that's kind of where your heart goes, that's where you want to make sure that you are providing opportunities for them. You know sometimes they may feel overlooked, or sometimes they may feel as their behavior is slowing them down, but really they may not understand what's happening or what they're reading. And that’s our opportunity as educators to connect. And I'll tell you they are the hardest working students, in a year or two you see so much growth, so much dedication and motivation. It's worth it, it's definitely something to invest in. And as I saw today in the library, there were kids practicing with Vocabulary.com and it wasn’t just the list that the teacher assigned, no! It's me [the student] wanting to do better, wanting to learn. They're self-motivated. To be able to have that kind of resource for them, that’s amazing. I think learning the words supports their growth because the more words you know, the more that you understand what you're reading. It opens the door for more opportunities.

T: It was really amazing to see the love for the event. I think the highlight was to see sixth grade out of all grades to beat seventh and eighth grade. And having my school board member there, that was amazing — someone who believes in what we're doing as a school. Her daughter went to our school and for her to come back and see that we're still thriving as a school and making a difference with kids. I took a lot of deep breaths. I felt energized. I felt like I made a difference. I felt like this was our identity.

T: Right after the event my band director — he's been here for several years — he said, “You know Mr. Toliver, we found our identity.” And I looked at him and he said, “I'm proud of you because you helped us find our identity and we connect with this program. We believe in this program.” So to hear from the band director, not only the reading teacher or science teacher, to really say we're making a difference, that was great.

You know, some schools are excellent at sports, some schools are excellent in other programs. And in the Vocabulary Bowl we we've done well at a state level, but to see just a year later doubling our score and doing so well to compete on a national level — that really is amazing to me. That tells me that it's a program that the community loves and we're all apart of. So it was exciting to see energy for academics. We love our energy for sports and we love our favorite teams, but to now see energy for academics at all levels, that was amazing. I think to celebrate academics, to celebrate student achievement, was really a great moment for me and it was a great moment for the staff. I think this will just propel us to do more, to try harder. I think it connected the teachers closer to the students, and the students to the teachers. Not only in vocabulary but also in math and science, and all other classes where now we feel even more like a family. We're already a family, but I think when you celebrate with each other, it connects you even more.

T: This school doesn't stop moving. I see now we can add more daily challenges, we can add more monthly challenges. You know the March Madness was just in the the month of March. I could have a January challenge! So this has helped me to understand other ways I can help my kids learn and be successful.