We asked teachers to share their stories of how Flocabulary has made a difference in their lives and the lives of their students. Here are five of them.
"They all just needed to be loved on their own merits and to be respected."
Diane Phillips is an English Language Arts teacher in Cocoa, Florida. Working with mostly at-risk students performing below grade level, Diane faces lots of challenges. Here, in Diane's own words she describes how she went from fearing that a desk would be thrown at her to "engagement, connection, and laughter." Read Diane's story.
"Interest in all subjects increased and conflict in the classroom lessened."
Craig Campell is a special education teacher at a middle school in a tough part of Brooklyn, New York. Craig's students face the kind of challenges that most of us can only imagine. Using Flocabulary materials as a spring-board, Craig has created his own program that he and his students call The School of Rap. The results are phenomenal. Read Craig's story.
"Not only does this program improve my students’ writing, speaking, and reading vocabulary, it is something that is facilitating conversation at home."
Allison Ehinger is a high school English teacher who has worked in the well-to-do suburbs and in the inner-city. Never afraid to "make a complete fool" of herself, Allison not only played Flocabulary songs for her students, but danced and sang along. The results, both among suburban students who loved the program and among inner city students who started up conversations with their parents at home, were phenomenal. Read Allison's story.
"Flocabulary has altered education as we knew it and obliterates monotony and apathy."
Donna McMeen is an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher near Dallas, Texas. A passionate teacher dedicated to making sure her students stay motivated in the classroom, Donna decided to try using hip-hop to connect to her students. She started out with some Flocabulary materials, and soon had students singing along in class and writing and performing their own songs for various projects. Read Donna's story.
"They had smiles on their faces and their minds were busy."
Britt Pumphrey is a 5th grade teacher in Kansas City. His students, mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants, struggle to keep up in school and often feel intimidated by school work. A combination of creativity, determination, and finding the right teaching tools has helped Britt bring out the curious, confident learners hidden inside these kids. Read Britt's story.
"The ESL teachers love it. I observed a class yesterday where students who have been in this country for a year or less are using high level vocabulary words."
- Varda Wendroff
Director of ESL and Bilingual Ed
Bayonne, New Jersey
Teacher Testimonials
the quotations below were all unsolicited
“This is one of the best vocabulary programs to ever be invented. It is perfect for this
generation of students.”
- Gina Bergman, Language Arts Teacher,
Watuga
Middle School, Texas
“The day the students were given the results
of the growth from their pre-test to the posttest
after seven units [of The Word Up Project]
was one of the highlights of the school year
for me and them. Simply put, the results
were stunning! One student who admitted he
“didn’t even try” on the post-test even showed
growth! He could hardly believe what he was
hearing and then wished he had tried. I heard
comments like “I’m so smart” and saw smiles
on faces where normally test results would give
them frowns.”
- Janice Lee, Language Arts Teacher,
Del Dios
Middle School, California
“The music and the historical
summary worked brilliantly for
my English learners. Thank
you!”
- Stacie Tarsitano, Social
Studies Teacher,
La
Quinta High School,
California
“Thank you so much. I had the kids vote as to
whether to continue Word Up or to go back to
the vocabulary that we had done before, and
they voted unanimously to keep Word Up.”
- Kelly, Language Arts Teacher,
Becky Leonard’s
School, Pennsylvania
“I’ve used your songs in class, and have
to say that I’ve never seen students so
enthusiastic about history! It’s a wonderful
tool to motivate students to think, be creative
and remember what we teach!”
- Tracey Sinatra, Social Studies Teacher,
Maplewood Middle School, New Jersey
“Because of Flocabulary, my kids were
absolutely riveted by Shakespeare. They
all understood the story and were able to
summarize it, analyze it, and define and use
Shakespearean vocabulary. They were able to
understand the characters and to put on plays
of their own modernized versions of Macbeth.”
- Rachel H., Language Arts Teacher,
El Cerrito High
School, California
“My kids love you, beg for more
vocabulary (Yes, I really did say
that!), and actually recognize their
vocab words when I sneak them into
everyday lessons! Ah, the sweet
sound of learning...”
- Kat Kirst, Language Arts Teacher,
Victory Lakes Intermediate School,
Texas
"I bought [the Word Up Project] last year and the ESL teachers love it. I observed a class yesterday where students who have been in this country for a year or less are using high level vocabulary words.
Congratulations on creating such a brilliantly simple project."
- Varda Wendrof, Director of ESL and Bilingual Education
Bayonne, New Jersey
