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Bonnie Lasorsa, a 7th grade math teacher at Wareham Middle School, earned a second place PBS Innovator Award for her ‘Ladder of Success’ curriculum. The program is a part of Wareham Middle School’s iPad pilot program and utilizes a number of apps to help students demonstrate their understanding of Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Ms. Lasorsa’s innovative use of technology has ‘flipped the classroom,’ a method of blended learning that uses technology to give teachers more time to interact with students, rather than lecture. The ‘Ladder of Success’ program allows Ms. Lasorsa to immediately review, comment, grade and suggest changes to students’ individual and collaborative work.
The PBS Teacher Innovator Awards recognize PreK-12 educators who engage students through PBS LearningMedia and The Henry Ford’s On Innovation resources that reinforce 21st Century learning skills.
“WGBH congratulates Bonnie Lasorsa and the entire Wareham Middle School community for being recognized as an innovative leader in education,” said WGBH President and CEO Jon Abbott. “Public media is a vital complement to public, private and family education. We are proud to produce programs and innovative resources that help educators and parents teach their students the lessons they need to succeed in the classroom and beyond.”
PBS LearningMedia is an online service of 30,000 media-rich digital learning resources for teachers and students from PreK to 12th grade. The classroom-ready content, aligned with the common core standards, reaches schools in 46 states and territories, including 93 percent of schools across Massachusetts.
Bonnie Lasorsa, a resident of Sandwich, Mass., started her career in the computer industry. She has been teaching math for eight years and earned a Masters in Math Education from Lesley University. She is a National Science Foundation Master Teacher Fellow with the Center for University School and Community Partnerships at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
More information about Ms. Lasorsa’s winning entry can be found at www.pbs.org/teachers/innovators/gallery/2012/entries/1071/.
