Last night, the K-16 CFG met at Johnston Middle School. Present were Sharon, Mary, Janet, Lance, Madelyn, and Donna. After re-connecting and enjoying sandwiches from Murphy's Deli, we revisited the discussion we started last time and focused on our desire to spread our work.
Of course, that begs the questions--What is the work of the K-16 CFG? Why do we come to these meetings? What do we hope to accomplish?
Here are the ideas that I scribed:
·This is a place to think about what we do and why we do it.
·This group offers mutual support--a safe, open, respectful environment.
·We share authentic work.
·Participating in this group keeps us in tune with best practices and instruction. It keeps CFG practices fresh so we can use them more often.
·This group increases networking opportunities (in a good way). We offer each other different perspectives across districts, grade levels, and job descriptions.
·This group figures out ways CFG can be used in our varied work settings.
So does that last idea, submitted by Lance, sum up our work? Could a focusing question for the K-16 CFG be "How can our CFG training and experience be used to its maximum potential in our work?" What do you think? Please comment.
After talking about what our work is, we brainstormed ways of spreading that work. Some things that have already sprung from the K-16 CFG are the "Using Observation Protocols" video and an effort to revamp the New Coaches Seminars to reflect that most trained coaches no longer coach a traditional CFG that meets once a month.
Importantly, the K-16 CFG would like to pursue presenting at more conferences such as FRSSI, the NSRF Winter Meeting, the CES Fall Forum, and ASCD.
We also discussed making this weblog more public by seeking weblinks to the Houston A+ Challenge, NSRF, and other communities of like-minded educators.
The last half of the meeting was dedicated to looking at work that Lance brought in concerning his work with the Developing Mathematical Ideas initiative. [Lance, you may want to write more about this experience in the comments section.] He just wanted feedback on a professional development survey that is going to the principals in his district, but we were so engaged and intrigued that Lance will present a taste of DMI at our May meeting. Bravo!
REFLECTIONS
I appreciate this group's respect and feedback in helping me think about my work and practice. The feedback shared will inform my next steps. This conversation also raised and highlighted our thinking about quality ongoing professional development as well as personalization with both teachers and principals.
I'm looking forward to our next meeting to follow up with the group.
I really enjoyed the consultancy with Lance. I am really interested in DMI and how my school may be able to benefit from it.
Great collaboration on "where do we go from here?"
I enjoy our getting together because of the connection back to instruction. Administration can be so redundant that you lose the zeal for creating an environment conducive to student learning. Thanks for bringing me back to reality, my purpose for being an educator.
I thought Lance's piece weas really interesting. It also seemed like he got some good feedback--we actually stayed on his questions.
Small group, which isn't a bad thing, but still missed some of the "regulars."
I liked the beginning discussion about ways to share the work-and what is the work. We really need to think about sharing at some of the conferences, or in other ways I can't think of.
Comments (4)
Glad the meeting was very fruitful. I missed everyone but we had an Art Honor Society inductions and cord ceremony (for graduating seniors) and I had to be at school for that event. I think presenting at conferences is a great step and would love to be a part of that - though keeping in mind that for me getting out of the school during the year is becoming more difficult. So if a conference is in the summer - better for me.
Posted by Michaelann | April 22, 2004 6:08 AM
Posted on April 22, 2004 06:08
Sounds like a fruitful meeting. I'll be glad when my current semester concludes and I can again meet with the group. I agree with Michaelann that perhaps the next step is presenting the work at conferences such as AERA or the RSSI institute this summer. Another venue would be at the content area national conferences.
Posted by P. Tim | April 22, 2004 11:20 AM
Posted on April 22, 2004 11:20
Tim - Are you making fun of my "fruitful"???
Posted by Michaelann | April 23, 2004 1:11 PM
Posted on April 23, 2004 13:11
I really appreciated the feedback the group gave me in relationship to the varied models in which K-8 Developing Mathematical Ideas (DMI) professional development can be provided next year in our district. To date, we have had nearly 200 NW District teachers benefit from this experience.
I am looking forward to giving members of our group a taste of DMI. The curosity of group members is exciting. In a nutshell, DMI is almost like a Mathematical CFG experience...in which teachers come together regularly to look at their own students' work and their practices as a teacher...but also look at case studies of authentic math classrooms. The results typically create a totally different image of a mathematics classroom than is a part of our current practice. In particular, what is my role as a teacher of mathematics...and how is mathematics content taught and learned differently? For example, how many different ways is there to solve the same math problem? You will get a taste on May 11!
Posted by Lance | April 26, 2004 10:57 AM
Posted on April 26, 2004 10:57