Donna's Reflections

Comments!

I am thrilled to see that people are reading and responding to this weblog. While my husband was working on his own blog last night, he noticed that this weblog had six comments. I excitedly skipped back to the office when he called me to the computer to see. [Refer to previous two entries: 1, 2]

I would have kept writing entries even if nobody were adding comments because the weblog is such a good tool for recording my own reflections. However, conversations are far more interesting than monologues. We often complain about how difficult it is to schedule face to face meeting time. I would like to use this technology to spark new thoughts and share ideas and insights even when we can't meet in person.

Please keep posting comments.

K-16--Leadership

The K-16 CFG met Monday evening in my dining room. It was a smaller group--Cat, Tim, Christian, Michaelann, and me--than I had hoped for, but we had a meaningful meeting nonetheless.

After starting with yummy sandwiches and salads from Murphy's Deli and the Bookcover Icebreaker, we delved into a dilemma that Cat brought. Using the consultancy protocol, we struggled with the idea of school leadership. How do we best coach and support principals in the reform work of their schools? What is the principal's role in school reform? Where does the true leadership of a school lie? How can we use honest feedback and build trust when principals are not rewarded by the district for being transparent about their needs and weaknesses?

Here are excerpts from the reflections.

"The consultancy brought up a universal issue that applies to working with all principals in various forms of school reform. That the group could use the protocol loosely--going in and out--helped me see a 'big picture' in this particular dilemma. Helping each other often clarifies our own work."

"I can appreciate a group that can relate to and provide meaningful feedback about a serious topic such as this one. Catherine's transparency and willingness to be so open and honiest is to be commended. I feel comfortable sharing with this group."

"I thought the consultancy went great. I enjoyed hearing that everyone is in the same boat and that misery loves company."

"Today's consultancy really pushed my thinking. . . . The process flowed easily and we even seemed to have trouble stopping the consultancy. I wish more people could be here--the diversity of ideas is such a treat."

Houston, Where Are You?

I was dismayed to find out that only three Houstonians have registered for the NSRF Winter Meeting in Philadelphia, and when I looked at the coaches clinic offerings from last winter, I saw that no Houstonians presented clinics. This makes me sad because I know that a lot of great things are occuring in our CFG communities here in Houston. By this time, we should be leading the work--and getting national recognition for the work that we lead.

So why is this? Houston used to be represented by dozens of CFG coaches at the Winter Meetings.

Some of the blame has to go to lack of money. Now some districts have placed bans on out of state travel. There's a lot of penny-pinching going on--some of it at the expense of teacher development.

Probably the Winter Meetings lost the interest of some Texans because the meetings in Fort Lauderdale(2000) and Houston(2001) seemed stale and irrelevant. However, I'm excited about this year's format. I hope to learn a lot from the clinics. Maybe I'm more excited because I am in a new role and truly have a lot to learn from my peers.

One of my goals as the CFG Support Consultant will be to increase Houston participation in these national events. How can we encourage leadership--even demand leadership--from teachers in Houston? It seems that schools that are still receiving grant money (aren't all the high schools?) should support the develpment of CFG coaches beyond sending a few teachers to the 5-day seminars to get trained.

Maybe Houston A+ can offer some travel scholarships to CFG coaches. However, I don't just want us to attend, I want Houstonians to be leading clinics, facilitating home groups, and making an impression!

Facilitator Reflections from October 30

Here are Mary's and Carolyn's reflections from the coaches' clinic we facilitated together on October 30. I think it's interesting to see how different people react to and learn from the same events.

Thank you, Mary and Carolyn, for making your reflections public.

Mary's Facilitator Reflections from October 30, 2003

I went into the workshop very excited about once again collaborating with intelligent educators from all areas of Houston. Additionally, I knew that I was working with Donna who had a lot of experience. I felt confident that what had worked two days before [for another group of facilitators] would ultimately work that night.

Donna and I had collaborated earlier concerning duties so I felt good about the agenda. Once I got there and noticed that Carolyn would be facilitating with us, I felt even more supported. I was concerned if I had enough books and what type of books I would bring for the Icebreaker. After looking at the numerous selections she brought, I really felt that the evening would go well.

We had a chance to collaborate concerning her facilitation of the Icebreaker on Tuesday night. Once again I was assured that the evening would be successful.

Once Donna got there, we all got on the same page and the night began. I found everything to be very interesting.

The Icebreaker was new for me and it was interesting to observe different interpretations of the titles. Carolyn did an excellent job of facilitating and debriefing the activity.

The constructivist protocol also was new to me. I thought Donna facilitated it well, but I saw a turn of events as far as the agenda went. I didn't know that the participants would do a gallery walk and give comments. I was one of the participants that felt compelled to ask questions and I thought it wouldn't be effective if my question wasn't answered. That was why I approached Donna with the idea of having the questions answered.

It was a rewarding experience for me to work with Donna and Carolyn (and you too, Cat).

Thanks for a great night!

Mary

Carolyn's reflections from October 30, 2003

I was thinking all the way home that I really wrote my reflection thinking only of myself.
I would like to have these comments included in my reflection on the overall clinic.

First of all, the participants seemed to get a lot out of it - they went away with something to work on and look forward to in the Spring.
Secondly, I have to commend Donna and Mary for their responsive facilitation.
Donna skillfully and seamlessly adapted the constructivist protocol to meet the needs of the participants on the spot.
Mary, equally skillfully, responded to the part of the protocol where participants posted several questions. Mary recognized that those questions should not be just questions, but that they needed to be answered. That "move" was "right on."
I learned a lot, particularly about questioning, (which is an area of my facilitation that I am always trying to improve).
Additionally, your [Catherine's] "ever-presence" there as a support is so indicative of the quality of presentation and representation I have come to expect from Houston A Plus. Always there to provide support and a wealth of knowledge -it's like having this huge body of reference knowledge available.

Thanks
Carolyn

Coaches' Clinic Reflections

I facilitated a coaches' clinic on Thursday with Mary and Carolyn. Here are some notes and reflections about the evening.

Icebreaker--Participants selected a book with a title that reverberated with their own lives, their own teaching, or their own coaching. I was struck with how deeply personal some of the comments were. For example, the teacher that chose "The Importance of Being Earnest" talked about how her CFG was a sort of island of honesty at her campus and that she wished more of the faculty were more authentic with each other. I have done a similar icebreaker with postcards, but I think that the book titles led to more immediate connecting. Maybe Mary, Carolyn, and I just have better books than postcards!

Constructivist Protocol--The meatiest part of the agenda was a constructivist protocol that started with this idea: Write about your best learning experience using a protocol. The participants wrote, pair-shared, and then shared in groups of 4-6. In groups, they identified the "working conditions" that made that experience with a protocol powerful. Click on the thumbnail photos to see the group thinking.

After each group recorded their thinking on a poster, we walked around to look for commonalities and differences and ask questions with post-it notes. One coach referred to this as "reading each other's minds." I love that image. To me, it shows that one of the strengths of CFG work is the ability to build on and benefit from each other's thinking.

Midway through the protocol, Mary noticed that we had not allowed time in the original plan for groups to address the questions and comments that other participants posted. We tweeked the timing and added a step for a group spokesperson to respond to the post-it notes. Being flexible really improved the overall results of the new protocol.

Our wish was that participants would leave the clinic with the confidence to create or modify protocols to meet the specific needs of their campuses. I'd like to find out exactly how coaches translate the clinic's activities to meet their needs.

Other notes--
It really helped the evening flow smoothly to have a facilitator (Catherine) designated to sit by the door and take care of the latecomers. She could catch them up to speed while the rest of us continued with the scheduled activities.