November 28, 2006
Portfolio Group Meeting
In attendance were Gayle, Donna, Ron, Cheryl, Allison, Jennifer and me.
As with most of our meetings, we opened with Connections. Donna shared how the portfolio work and its structures were branching out into other parts of her life. She is even using portfolios in part of her personal work.
The traveling journals were shared and members gave brief overviews of some of the highlights in the journal they had this past month.
Gayle had the Relationships journal this past month. She shared how the journal was reflecting how relationships change over time. One quote that stuck in my mind was, "trusting relationships must be nurtured over time."
Donna has the relationship journal this month.
Ron had the Leadership journal. He highlighted his experiences in leadership through student teachers. He also pointed out that leadership doe not equal evaluator. The thought that some leaders talk the talk but do not walk the walk was discussed in the group. This brought the group to the realization that talking about leadership makes you look at your role and the possibility of leaders in and out of the classroom. The conversation then spun off into a conversation about "What is leadership?"
Cheryl has the leadership journal this month.
Donna had the Politics journal. Donna shared of her search to define politics and going back to Aristotle for the definition. Discussing politics, which means how we live together and make decisions together. She highlighted that there are three components to this -- relationships, power, and community. Donna reasoned that she picked articles and topics that were important to her.
She also had the group discussing how we need to look at other data (beyond AEIS, etc.) and tell more about the school. Tell/show more of the school through stories. She stressed the difference between telling a story and having people listen to the story.
Ron has the politics journal this month.
Allison had the special needs journal. She discussed how rules and policies change in schools and in school districts and how this affects the classroom. Allison shared stories from the journal.
Mari has the special needs journal this month.
Cheryl had the reflection journal. She discussed her journey through the reflection journal. Cheryl first responded to the past writer's thoughts and then moved the journal further in ideas and experiences. She pointed out how some professional have learned incompetence and this might come from the staff development that is imposed on professionals. The group then discussed what is our common place in the group. She also pointed out that in the beginning of the work teachers were treated as professionals.
The group discussed what have been the long-term effects of the reform movement.
Allison has the reflection journal this month.
I had the literacy journal this month. I highlighted the sections that really helped me work through the dilemma I was having in teaching traditional literacy to non-traditional learners in my classroom. I also wanted to highlight some of the breakthroughs I was having in the creation of fun and creative art with the students.
Jennifer has the literacy journal this month.
Tracking System of the Journals
Keith Harring Journal - Special Needs Students -- Ron -- to Allison -- to Mari
Gray Journal - Politics of Education -- Donna --to Donna -- to Ron
Black Cover Journal - Reflective Practice -- Michaelann -- to Cheryl -- to Allison
Buddha Journal - Leadership -- Allison -- to Ron -- to Cheryl
Flower Journal - Relationships -- Gayle -- to Gayle -- to Donna
Blue/Map Journal - Culture/Climate -- Gayle -- to Mari -- to Tim
Pink Circles Journal - Community -- Jennifer -- to Jennifer -- to Gayle
I feel... Journal - Emergent Issues -- Cheryl -- to Tim -- to Michaelann
Dream Journal - Literacy -- Tim -- to Michaelann -- to Jennifer
American Educational Research Association has accepted the proposal submitted by the portfolio group. The history of the group was discussed and the some of the major events in the group's memory.
Assignments for the next meeting:
- Allison -- sketch the evolution and development of the School Portfolio Group of Teachers since 1998;
- Tim - describe the major urban context and the reform movement which form the backdrop of our shared work;
- Donna - introduce knowledge communities (_____, 1995a, 1995b) as the natural forms of community that teachers appear to form and/or make;
- Michaelann - discuss the risks of "pseudo-community" (Wineburg & Grossman, 2005) and the rhetoric of "professional learning communities" (DuFour, 1998, 2004);
- Cheryl and Gayle - illuminate how a professor worked alongside the teachers in a manner consistent with what Schwab (1983) would have university professors do;
- Jennifer and Ron - offer a fine-grained account of instances where teachers' knowledge was developed and expanded in community as well as instances when the group dynamics changed and members interacted in perfunctory ways;
- Cheryl and Gayle - address a major gap in the literature concerning the conditions and activities that foster teacher growth in community (_____ & Ross, in press).
Each person or group should have at least 3 or 4 slides and or a couple of pages ready for discussion at the next meeting.
The book discussion was tabled due to time and a discussion ensued on how to make better use of our time in between meetings. The blog was mention, a few members were hesitant to the use of the blog, and email discussions and which email addresses to use was discussed. The decision was made to try to use a reply all method in email to discuss the two book chapters.
Next Portfolio Meeting is January 16, 2007 at Gayle's school. Note time change: 4:00 -- 6:30pm.
Do not forget that the TAR mandatory meeting is Tuesday December 5, 2006 at Gayle's school 4:30 to 7:00.