On Monday, January 12, the K-16 CFG met in Janet's classroom at Johnston. Present were me, Michaelann, Janet, Tim, Madelyn, Mary, Marcela, Lance, Josephine, Catherine, and Marilyn. It was nice to have a larger group of people to interact with and learn from.

After enjoying box dinners from Murphy's Deli and participating in an icebreaker called "Commonalities," we divided into two groups. Tim led one group through the "Peeling the Onion" protocol to look at his work with literacy coaches. I asked my group to help me with this big question: How do I as the CFG support person and we as a group of facilitators recruit more highly qualified facilitators to be a part of the ongoing CFG work in this region?

My group helped me clarify my thinking around this question--but now I have more questions! How do I nurture the corps of facilitators that is already contributing so much to CFG work in Houston? How do I make the facilitator selection process for various clinics and seminars more transparent? What skills does it take to be a really top-notch facilitator? What skills am I lacking and how do I develop them?

This consultancy helped me change my focus from just building a longer list of facilitators to building a stronger group of facilitators.

I really did not want to brave the single digit temperatures to go out for lunch. Lucky for me, some colleagues and I were invited to eat leftovers from the buffet that was prepared for the high school students that joined us for the World Café. I got both the pleasure of a delicious warm meal and the pleasure of listening to the high schoolers debrief with Deb and Wendy.