Monthly Archives: November 2021

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Science Mtg 11/9/21

Submitted by: Kelly

Present: Daniel, Kara, Jeanette, Kelly, Sherezada, Michael

We spent this meeting using the equity framework that we read about last time to try mapping a recent project or unit in our classes into the 4 dimensions of equity that were outlined in the paper we read. (We had this handout, a selection of slides from a presentation at a workshop I attended this summer, as a “cheat sheet” for our work.)

We each made whiteboards of our maps, and then we shared with each other and discussed.

We noted the similarities of the ease of filling the access and achievement boxes and the relative difficult of filling the identity and power boxes—something to return to in a future meeting.

We also discussed what it means to be focusing on equity in an inherently inequitable situation (private school).

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Math Department Meeting #2, 11/9/21

Submitted by: Pat Higgiston

We opened the meeting by discussing the revisioning that is underway in the high school math department. We reviewed some of the materials that came out of our workshop day on Wednesday 10/13, focusing first on the potential we see for a variety of exciting math electives for 11th and 12th graders.

From there, the conversation pivoted to what such a slate of electives would require in the 9th and 10th grade core sequence, how that could be organized, potential obstacles, and finally what the changes would mean for our colleagues in the middle school. We discussed how math as a secondary school subject is perceived by our students and their families, and what structural tensions we have to address when considering a revision to our approach. While the original agenda had included some activities related explicitly to DEI principles, several were addressed in our conversation about the organization of the high school program, including equity considerations by race and by learning difference, and the challenge of meeting the needs of diverse learners in both heterogenous and tracked math classes.

Next meeting we will explore the work being done in the middle school on standards-based grading, get a brief update on the high school’s work, and revisit the activities on the agenda for this past meeting.

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Learning Support Dept Meeting 11/9/21

Submitted by: Susannah Flicker

Learning Support Department Meeting Notes, 11/9/21

1. We started with each person sharing something that has been going well/a positive from the past few weeks. Examples: middle school learning differences affinity group formation and first meeting, groups for reading and math support in lower school.

2. Susannah shared about meeting with Kalil to discuss DEI work as it pertains to the learning support department, and reiterated the goal of working to collect best practices for equity and inclusion across the divisions.

3. Discussed different ways of approaching the idea of “best practices” specific to learning support: one way is to look at teacher practices in the classroom (ie differentiation, using learning specialists for push-in vs. pull-out support, differences across the divisions) and another way would be in terms of our own practice as learning specialists or the ways in which learning support is structured at the divisional and/or institutional level.

4. This led us into a lengthy discussion about ways in which access to outside supports and evaluations could be made more equitable. The HS learning specialists shared that they have had a lot of success with helping families to access free evaluations through the DOE and getting access to services through DOE providers, while the middle school and lower school has not had the same success and there is a concern about low or no cost services not being available for families who need them the most.

5. Plans for next meeting include more sharing of resources between divisions, and more explicit discussion of best practices for our department.

Ideas for next meetings-what would be most helpful to the department…. Judith and my MS faculty meeting coming up-share ideas if you have them

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Visual Arts Dept. Meeting 11/09/2021

Submitted by: james french

The Visual Arts Department met in the Middle School Science Lab – art rooms were unavailable – and all were present.

We began be touching base as we always do, checking in on what work/projects are being done in each others classes. We talked some materials and practices/technique.  Woven into that discussion was an examination of how our students are responding to being back full time this year and what it looks like.

Following that we dove into the DEI work. After sharing a version of the “What does equity and inclusion mean for our subject area? What are your goals? How will you approach it?” document provided by Kalil and Mark. We did a fifteen minute free write to consider what work we are doing and how we want to move forward and share our results. After the free write we each shared things we are doing in our classes that are responding to the questions posed. We came to the conclusion that since our classwork and approaches are so different that we could each take individual approaches. We intend to share our practices and results in a digital collection that will allow us to share and borrow from each other.

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PE DEIJ Work

Submitted by: Luis Hernandez

Notes for DEI in Gymnastics:

  • De-centering whiteness:
    • Always play music from people of color and include music from other countries.
    • When showing examples or videos of great gymnasts, choose gymnasts who are not white. 
    • I’m working on showing more men of color.
    • Working on showing some related skills from cultures/countries other than here, like Chinese Jumprope. 
  •  Inclusive Facilitation
    • Working towards hearing every voice in every class. I don’t call on the same kids twice in a class until every other voice is heard at least once. 
    • Choosing language that values the skills of a person with less ability as much as the skills of a person with more ability. A gain is a gain. 
    • Encouraging students to find ways to give feedback that is helpful and supportive while telling the truth. 
    • Working towards allowing more time for reflection.
    • I don’t have permanent outs or play competitive games in the lower grades. I do encourage kids to compete with themselves or against the clock, etc. 
    • Never divide by gender and include all kids in all events.
    • Only send kids outside in extreme cases, usually if there is a safety issue. 
  • Ability and differentiation
    • Always try to offer a scale of difficulty where kids can locate themselves. This is much harder without an assistant who is a gymnast. 
    • Working towards offering more difficulty. The lower end takes more teacher time and sometimes the higher skilled kids have to wait for attention. Again, this was easier with Randy.

Notes for DEI in 4-7th Grade P.E.:

  • De-centering whiteness:
    • Always play music from people of color and include music from other countries.
    • Acknowledging all ethnic groups 
  •  Inclusive Facilitation
    • Working towards hearing every voice in every class. I don’t call on the same kids twice in a class until every other voice is heard at least once. 
    • Choosing language that values the skills of a person with less ability as much as the skills of a person with more ability. A gain is a gain. 
    • Encouraging students to find ways to give feedback that is helpful and supportive while telling the truth. 
    • Working towards allowing more time for reflection.
    • Never divide by gender and include all kids in all events.
  • Ability and differentiation
    • Always try to offer a scale of difficulty where kids can locate themselves. 
    • Working towards offering more difficulty. 

 

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World Language Meeting 11/9

Submitted by: Adele de Biasi Pelz

The World Language Department devoted this meeting to discussing the abstract entitled: Diversity and Inclusion in World Language Instruction by Sheri Dion. The article talked about four main topics :

-Cultural Diversity
-Student Diversity in Assessment
-Student Interest
-Teacher experience
Our conversation focused on the area of integrating Critical Cultural Awareness (CCA) into our curriculum with the goal of preparing our students for intercultural relationships with greater diversity.
The role and inclusion of both student and teachers’ identities, monolingual classrooms, and multilingual students were also discussed and used to highlight the importance of personal experience and student diversity and interests, which are considered resources in teaching WL and empower students to reflect on their impact in a global world.
As a department, we navigated  beyond our cultural projects towards creating an environment of balance through culture and content which provides a safer space for our language learners.
We came away with enrichment activities to bring to the fore our students’ personal history and narrative by conducting interviews, making oral presentations and writing personal reflections.
El Dia de los Muertos celebration at the LS was discussed and we talked about putting together an interconnected cultural event in the Spring through a festival of languages throughout the dvisions.
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English Dept Meeting – 11/9/21

Submitted by: Jane Belton

The English department meeting on 11/9 had several goals:

1. To share aspects of our curriculum 5th-12th grade and resources across classes and divisions.
2. To continue to examine our explicit and implicit values related to DEI work.

English department members brought in an assignment and related materials/handouts from one of their classes, including student examples.

We examined these materials, using the following guiding questions.

  1. What do our assignments and materials say about what we value?  What are the beliefs (explicit or implicit) reflected in these materials? What are the values we are cultivating?
  2. How are student identities and backgrounds centered in course content, materials, and assessments?

Looking at the assignment and student examples, it became clear that many of our assignments allow students to bring their passions, interests, and full selves to the work. Student-driven inquiry led much of the work. In addition, student choice created opportunities to employ a variety of lenses when approaching the work, or to find the things within an assignment that speak to students, that offer windows / mirrors and chances for self-reflection. We also noted the use of mentor texts, to not only give access to assignments but to model a variety of voices, perspectives, and lenses.

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Nov 9th History

Submitted by: Tom Murphy

We continued our DEI work.

  • I posted the titles for discussion that Kalil gave to us in our department chair meeting.
  • We voted and settled on our top two choices: Decentering dominant narratives and Facilitating inclusive discussion.
  • We divide into two groups each focusing on one of the prompts.
  • Both groups then had a five-minute silent discussion posting their ideas under their respective prompts.
  • After reviewing the posts each group had a ten-minute conversation.
  • We then switched the prompts and repeated the process.
  • When both groups were done we finished with a quick round of takeaways. Each member of the department shared their key insight.
  • Everyone in the department was on time and the discussion was lively and informed.