Submitted by: Tom Murphy
We started by discussing our DEI goals. We decided on three areas: What we teach? How inclusive are our classrooms? How do we assess what we teach? For each question, we would develop rubrics. Next, we talked about the different types of rubrics we could use. Most of the discussion focused on the example I posted on the DEI resources document. Next meeting we plan on breaking into working groups that would focus on one of the questions.
Submitted by: Tom Murphy
We continued our DEI work.
Submitted by: Tom Murphy
12 October 2021
Elizabeth Simmons, Emily, Tom, CCC, Momii, Amanda, Ann, Michel
We started with brief intro and then watch a short video on Progressive Education in the 1940”s
In small groups we discussed the following prompts:
What does Progressive Education look like in my classroom?
How to bring in poc, working class in progressive education?
We ended with a full group conversation on the Goals for 2021-2022 school year
Submitted by: Thomas John Murphy
Attendees: Tom, Michel, Calvin, Jessica, Amanda, Momi, Suzane
We started the meeting by discussing the Curriculum Audit template that Momi shared. It was seen as useful for gaining insight into our teaching practices. We talked about our habits and assumptions should be examined as closely as our curriculum.
Next, we went into breakout rooms to work on a unit or activity that we wanted to use in the classroom. The goal was to produce materials that would impact our teaching sooner rather than later. After we returned to the main rooms the groups reported on their work.
Jessica and Amamnda
They were worked on adjusting their Isalm curriculum to COVID times. They could not take students to a Mosque or have a calligrapher work with students. They talked about various online resources and how they wanted to expand their discussion of religions around the world.
Suzane and Momi
Discussed their focus in the course and how to continue to use the DEI framework and the Curriculum Audit to continue to revise their next units.
Michel, Calvin, Tom
We talked about the DIA elective and how the civics focus lent itself to DEI work. It is Calvin’s first time teaching the course and we started by discussing the nuts and bolts of the term (SBG standards, types and number of assessments, the final). After this, we moved on to how each of the lenses we planned to use had a DEI component being with the contested nature of the Constitution.
After debriefing, we decided that next week would continue in our groups to again work on developing DEI material for our classrooms.
Submitted by: Thomas Murphy
Wed. 11/11
Tom, Ann, Peter, Charlene, Momi, Suzanne, Jessica, Amanda, Calvin, Michele
Submitted by: Tom Murphy
Wed. 10/21
Attendance
Tom, Ann, Peter, Charlene, Momi, Suzanne, Jessica
We started with brief introductions: name, how long at LREI, what you teach, and what you like most about teaching during a pandemic.
Next was a writing prompt (5 minutes): What do you consider an example of your best practices when it comes to DEI?
We followed with breakout rooms to discuss best practices (10 minutes paired high school middle school). As they shared they were to look for any common themes or issues.
We came back to the main room and shared. We discussed how to decenter the white narrative and include not just diverse voices in our curriculum but how to ensure all students felt represented. We shared examples from our curriculum. The need to look for sources written by POC’s was also highlighted.
The importance of student choice was emphasized as a way of getting student buy-in.
There was some sharing of teaching approaches. There was a consensus that allowing time for reflection through writing was essential.
Another challenge that was discussed was how to make it “safe” for POC’s to be fully involved in the class while not being responsible for educating or representing any particular community.
We ended with a conversation about to make sure that the voices we shared aren’t just those of the “oppressed” but that narratives also showed that the marginalized had agency. “Black joy” was a term used to counter the catalog of oppression that can drive an attempt to redress the traditional narrative.
As we looked ahead to our next meeting we examined the questions from the opening presentation.
We decided that we would bring our favorite resources and that someone would volunteer to share a particularly effective lesson.
Submitted by: Tom
In our last meeting of the year we started with the quick checking. What did and didn’t work during lockdown. Aside from some tech issues and the difficulty keeping students focused in online environments most of us felt that the term had gone better than anticipated. Student showed up and with a few exceptions did the work. The rest of meeting focused on the challenges for next year. The middle school was concerned about the impact of having no trips would have on their curriculum. How can they do experiential learning online? How much will have to change? The middle school was also asked to review the syllabus and to write down every unit they plan to teach. They weren’t sure if they were meant to be reevaluating each unit or just recording what they taught. That lead to a larger conversation on how to deliver Progressive education online. What were the resources we could use? Where their existing models? We talked about putting together a list of useful sources. We also discussed the challenge of onboarding classes that we had not met face-to-face. All of this was connected to the discussion of whether we would be in the building or out and What kind of schedule we would be teaching.
Submitted by: Tom Murphy
This was our first meeting since the lockdown. Most of the meeting was spent catching up on where people where and how they were doing. The last part of our conversation focused on virtual teaching best practices. The middle school teachers were having some success with breakout rooms and slide deck. In the highschool the share. focused on shorter writing assignments and moving to a class or project journal for assessment.
Submitted by: Tom
21 January 2020
Attended: Tom, Michel, Ann, Peter, Amanda, Jessica, Suzanne, Charlene
We continued our discussion of standards-based grading. In our divisional meetings, the high school had moved from discussing standards-based grading would work in our history electives to writing our first standards. We decided to focus on the 9-10th grade progression. In our meeting, it was invaluable to here from the middle school department members about their experience with jump rope. They shared their list of standards. The consensus was that the standards forced them to be more focused in their assessments and made them more thoughtful about how students received feedback. They said the challenges were that students still focused too much on the overall number they earn in the term. Also, given time constraints, not all standards could be repeated enough to get a clear sense of a student’s level of mastery. They cautioned us against developing too many standards.
After the cross-divisional discussion I met with the middle school teachers to hear what they wanted to work on. They decided they would like some time to work together on updating their curriculum. A half-day PD seemed best.
Standards-Based Grading Across the Divisions
Software: Jump Rope
Middle school range of grades from 1-4
Submitted by: Tom Murphy
Focus areas:
We continued to work on our cross divisional writing program. The high school has the additional task of developing our standards for the move to standards based grading. We will role out standards in the year long 9th and 10th grade classes. In addition, Michele will work on developing a model for one of his electives. Middle school teachers were interested in examining their curriculum. They want to explore whether the focus of their social studies program was best for the age groups being served.