You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘connectedness’ tag.
Terry Amaya is a history teacher at Giano Intermediate School. When this story was told she was a seventh grade math and science teacher at Giano.
It’s been nice to have had a chance to talk with teachers from other schools at the district-wide meetings arranged by Ball. I taught in elementary before this year, and the only teachers we ever communicated with during workshop trainings were from elementary. So it was really interesting to hear the perspective of high school and middle school teachers, and what problems they were dealing with. A lot of their issues were similar to what we were dealing with at an elementary level, like motivating students.
We tried to come up with ideas of how to motivate students, but first we discussed why this lack of motivation exists. What is it that happens to the students? Why do they lose their motivation to learn? What kinds of experiences can we create for them to become motivated? One of the high school teachers felt that some programs were made too available for the kids. For example, the Mt. Sac Community College program that helps Nogales High School students catch up with classes. They’re allowed to take night classes when they fail a subject at school. So we thought, “The students know they can make up the class so they relax about doing well at the high school, and then later try to make it up during the summer or in the evening.” I thought that there are probably many students who actually need to re-take those classes, but I could also see how some would rely on that opportunity. The next time the teachers get together, I would love to hear about some strategies for motivating kids that other teachers have tried that I can take back to my class right away and use.
It’s been interesting and beneficial working with different people. You don’t realize that there are so many other people with so many ideas. And that’s what I’ve enjoyed – talking to others and seeing the excitement in their eyes about what they want and plan on doing. It motivates me to say, “Okay, I’m going to try this.”
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Lee Austin is a sixth grade teacher at Killian Elementary School.
My last meeting with Ball was a really good learning experience for me. We watched the video about the artist from a Scandinavian country [Andrew Goldsworthy] who was putting together rocks on the beach to make a nature structure that would eventually be torn back down. My first reaction was that this art was pointless because it just gets destroyed. But then when we discussed the movie in our groups, the people in my group pointed out that the movie shows the building up of something and the learning from mistakes.
What the artist was trying to convey is that even though he was frustrated by the process, he was learning and progressing every time he rebuilt the structure. The structure got larger, and the artist was becoming more competent. He said, “That’s my art. I’m getting to know my stones better.” His goal was to make it look like some kind of a conceptualized idea that he had. He said, “I would like it to be this big, this tall, this wide,” but it kept falling in on him. He built the structure like four or five times. I don’t think he ever completed what he wanted, but it just shows that even though our goals may be higher than our achievements, we can still see growth even though we fall short of our goals.
There was an analogy that could be drawn from the movie. Building the structure was like working with your students. You learn to work with whatever stones you have and build the best you can. It’s very much like getting to know your students better even though all of them don’t necessarily build the house that you had anticipated or you don’t always get the cohesiveness of your goals. The structure getting torn down is similar to your class getting rebuilt ever year. Each year you get a whole new set of stones and you have to try to build your model again. You have breakdowns and trials and tribulations, but as you get to know the stones better, you can make a better structure out of it. Then hopefully the structure is better in June than it was in September.
I can see that analogy now, but I didn’t get it initially. My understanding of the video was brought out by the other people. So I think it’s important that people have the opportunity to interact because you can see so many different things from different perspectives. It helped me see a more positive message from that video than what I had understood on my own. I would have never gotten that in a traditional meeting where I would have just sat down, watched the video, smiled and said, “Thank you,” and then walked out the door.
I appreciate the fact that we have an opportunity to interact collegially for we don’t usually get to do that. I am sure you have heard many times that teachers are such isolated professionals who get very little chance to interact. With the Ball Foundation, we have gotten the opportunity to really discuss and collaborate on our thoughts and ideas without a lot of pressure or time constraints. It’s nice to interact with people that I have known for years and find out that some people still have real positive attitudes towards school and are looking on the bright side rather than the dark side of life.
I also shared the story of the film with my students, and like I am doing right now with you, I did the same thing with the kids. I said, “I went to a meeting and here is what I saw. I got to see that the point of this film was that we can learn from each other, and that sometimes, even if we don’t understand something, if we work together, we might be able to help each other understand it.” The students responded positively. They got it, they understood it. I’ve got a really good group of sixth graders, and we’ve done a lot of collaborative work together doing our science lab investigations. The kids are learning to work together and they can see the value of all that interaction.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Gayle Clements is a resource specialist teacher at Blandford Elementary School.
I started with the Ball Foundation with the very first meeting that they had, so I’ve worked with them for a while. Going into this work originally, I thought, “I don’t know how this is going to help me or what it’s going to do for my program.” But in the last six months, I can really see where we are headed and how this work will affect us. It’s like a little curtain has come up, and I said, “Aha! I can see where this is going.” So now it’s a little easier for me to get my feet underneath me and say, “I can do this. I want to do this.”
For example, at the last two literacy meetings, it was very interesting talking to some of the other teachers about what everyone was interested in and what communities of practice people wanted to join. But, at one point, I was speaking to another RSP teacher about the different ideas and different groups, and we both realized that a lot of what was being discussed didn’t pertain to Special Education. Some of it did, but overall the topics weren’t particularly useful to us. However, as we were talking about it, we thought that this was the perfect opportunity for us to create our own community of practice with other resource teachers. We are all very much out of touch with each other, but feel a real need for coming together. So the other RSP teacher and I thought, “Maybe if we started a community of practice – and not just for us, but opened it up to whomever – it would be something that would pertain to us and be a really good way to go.”
We came up with some topics that we’d like to pursue, including interventions for our students, differentiation in the curriculum, the different accessibility for students within our program within the regular classroom, and working with General Ed classroom teachers. We’d like to include regular classroom teachers in this community of practice for their input on how to best reach our students through the regular classroom and through our program.
It wasn’t my original intention to make a community of practice. I went to these literacy meetings to see what this was all about, and I thought, “Do I have time for this? Is this going to be practical for me? I don’t think so.” But when I saw how this could be relevant for Special Ed, I changed. I wasn’t willing to participate in the networks before, but now I think, “I’ll go ahead and do this.”
The possibilities are amazing. I’ve been around for a very long time, and things come in, things go out – it’s all just new labels. But these literacy meetings have given me a sense of purpose as to where we’re going as a district, along with the definite use and practicality of what Ball is bringing to the district. This is a totally different approach, and I think it’s something for the future that will work really well. A lot of times, things are mandated or decided upon at the district office, and then everyone has to try it. There’s no cross discussion laterally or horizontally. So often teachers think, “What else are they going to give us to do?” But by using the format of the communities of practice, we can pull out and work with the best practices. And by it not being mandated by the district, there will be a lot more buy-in.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Kathie Connaughton is an ELD teacher and ELD Department Chair at Rowland High School.
The work with the Ball Foundation has made quite an impression on me. I think that the change process that Ball is facilitating in the district is going in deep and changing things in a way that is going to stay with the district for a long time. I know it’s changed my life in that it has brought me into a different kind of thinking.
Let me give you an example. At one of the Chicago meetings, one of my most powerful moments of learning was when Stephanie Pace Marshall said, “You need to take a look at the understory.” The understory is the truth behind something. It’s the flushing out of assumptions and really taking a look at what are you dealing with here.
Stephanie had all of us at this meeting (which included people from two other school districts) make a huge mind map. She said to us, “I want you to put down all of the things that you think the district deals with that are important.” Everything that we put on this map were things that we recognized as problems, like no parent involvement, subgroups of students, just about every aspect that you could think of in an organizational structure. Then Stephanie said, “Well, what’s the understory to all of these things?” And there was this huge leap of understanding that came from making us look at the organizational structure and our practices in a different way than we ever had before.
For example, we have a huge subgroup of students here at Rowland High School that is made up of Hispanic students, English-language learners, and Special Ed students. Many times teachers will say, “Hispanic students don’t do very well because their parents don’t care. They never come to conference meetings, or if they do, it’s very sparingly.” Well, what’s the understory behind that? What are the real reasons they don’t come? Or why does it appear that parents don’t see education as a focal point? The truth of the matter is they do think education is important, but there are different reasons why they won’t come. Sometimes it’s because they’re embarrassed because they themselves don’t have a good education. They feel that if they go to a meeting, they may not understand what’s going on because of the language difference. Even though we have translators, the parents don’t understand the process or the words being used. So that can keep them away. Sometimes, if they come from a rural area in another country, they may not see education as a priority. Just coming over here to this country is a big first step for them. They might have what would seem to us a very menial kind of job here, but for them it’s a big deal because they’re putting bread on the table. It’s survival. It’s like one leg up for them and they’re satisfied. Many of these families will not change until the next generation. It’s not that these kids aren’t smart or that their parents aren’t smart or don’t care. It’s just that they come from a different environment and culture that speak toward a different kind of achievement for their children.
Going back to the meeting—after we made the mind map, we discussed some of the things on it, including the commonalities that existed between the three districts that were participating in the meeting. The upshot of that discussion was that even though we all came from different parts of the country, the very same problems surfaced in all the districts. That was a big eye opener to us. It made us realize how large of a problem and how human of a problem some of those things were. Many of us tend to think of ourselves in such a provincial way. We’re in our little boxes and we only think of things in one way. What this discussion did was open our scope of thinking and make us realize that these larger problems exist beyond our own demographic.
I have felt privileged to be a part of this process, and to be able to share my thinking, my talents, and my expertise. For me, this work with Ball has been tremendous because of the respect that is given, and I’m not saying that just for myself. I think that other people feel that way, too. Even the teachers in the networks make comments like, “You know, I’m not worried because I’m being asked what I think, and I’m dialoguing my ideas, my biases, and my concerns with other people.” It’s a new era of understanding that emerges when you respect people in the system. They then come forth with their best, and the system works better and is more coherent. It energizes the organization to have the kind of respect that says, “I value your work. I value your opinion.” We then move forward together.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
Sue Cook is an English and history teacher at Alvarado Intermediate School.
This is hard because I have more than one story. I’ve enjoyed the whole picture because I’ve been involved since the beginning. So, my story is more all-encompassing that shows the process we’ve gone through to get to where we are now, and how the Ball Foundation has directed our thinking somewhat, but ultimately has made us do the thinking. It’s been quite a learning experience in that respect. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve grown a lot. The Ball Foundation has given me opportunities that I might not otherwise have had. On a personal note, I have gained some really, really good friends through this experience that I may not have had the opportunity to meet. Some of the best friends I have right now in my life are part of this group, so that makes it very meaningful to me. On a professional note, the experience has been invaluable, and I almost wish I had had this when I was younger.
I have also taken to heart the leaderful behavior that Ball has instilled in us. I feel more empowered and have a different level of confidence in myself both as a leader and a teacher in my classroom, in the school, and in the district.
CHICAGO
The first trip to Chicago was very intense. It was all about being patient and learning to go with the flow of process. I kept thinking, “What are we doing?” I was used to the classroom where I have a lesson and I need to do this and this in order to go from point A to points B and C in order to end up at point D. So in Chicago, I was wondering, “Where are the points?” There was no definite structure, which taught me to be a little bit more patient and go with the flow. But by the second Chicago trip, I knew darn well what we were doing.
I was intrigued and excited to see where all this was going. I knew we would come up with an idea that would encompass the entire district and that would evolve as we went along. I got hooked in by that, and thought of the process as a kind of think-tank. That’s what intrigued me. We were going to actually delve into new ways of educating our diverse group of students across the entire district. We were going to do research on what we already had here and make it better. We weren’t going to do anything new because nobody has time for that, but we were going to take what we were doing and make better teachers. I thought this was a really good way to develop great teachers for our district who are forward thinkers. Not ones who are just “okay” in the classroom, but ones who look at the whole picture of what we’re doing for the entire child. When we were in these think-tank sessions, we were totally thinking outside the box, and we weren’t looking at this group of EL kids, or this group of junior high kids or this group of AP students who are seniors in high school. We were looking at the whole district and doing new research. Not book research, but a different kind of research that was more real to me.
At the first Chicago trip, there was no “You’re a teacher, you’re a principal, you’re a district administrator, you work for the Ball Foundation.” We were all in an equal plane on a first name basis. I think we got a little bit more done because everybody heard everybody else’s viewpoint, and we got to see a different side of things. I think that was really good for everyone. Occasionally, someone would stop and say, “You guys are in the classroom. How does this play out in a classroom as opposed to the district?” As an 8th grade teacher, I’m caught in the middle. My students are caught in the middle and so is the school. We’re kind of a renegade group because we teach junior high, and we’re rarely thought of when a decision is made at the district level. So, seeing that we were all in this together and that a 12-year old hormonal student is just as important as that five-year old in Kindergarten intrigued me and kept me going.
WORLD CAFES WITH STUDENTS AND STAFF:
I’ve incorporated some of the things that we’ve learned from the Ball Foundation—like the World Cafe—into my classroom and with the school staff.
Doing the World Cafe with a bunch of eighth graders is mind boggling. It’s kind of a free for all, and you have to set down rules because you can’t just say, “Move to a group without anybody who has been in your group before.” So, I had to adjust it a little bit. But I thought that it was a good way to get the kids up and moving and talking to each other.
The first time I did it was right after we came back from summer vacation. I wanted the students to write about what they did on their vacation, so I had three groups, each with a different question: “What did you do with your family?”, “What did you learn in the summer?”, and I can’t remember the third one. Anyway, I split the class in half and had them rotate through the three questions, writing answers in circle maps. Then, after we were done with the chaos, I had them go back to their seats and make their own tree map of some of the things they did during the summer. Finally, they wrote the standard, “What I did during my summer vacation,” but they had their three paragraph topics. Usually they say, “I can’t remember what I did,” or “What I did wasn’t any fun.” But after they did the World Café and talked to their friends, they could remember, “Oh yeah. I did this and this. I went to the beach.” They fed off each other which gave them more things to write about.
We also did the World Cafe with the school staff. Last year we were having issues with discipline, but nobody liked the school’s discipline plan. Everybody was complaining about it. So, as a team leader, I suggested to the principal and vice principal that we use the World Cafe process to discuss the discipline issues with the staff. The three team leaders came up with the topics for the circles. The principal and vice principal were involved, but they were not running the meeting. They could give their input, but they were just the same as everybody else. For most of the teachers, it was their first time doing a World Cafe. Everybody felt like they had their say. There wasn’t anybody who was left out or said, “So and so always dominates the conversation.” After, we created a discipline committee made up of about ten teachers, administrators, guidance assistants and counselors who made up a new discipline plan that everybody could live with.
It was a great experience as professionals. Everybody walked away saying, “I feel better about the issue now because I had a chance to say what I wanted to say.”
NETWORK DAYS:
I’ve noticed that people are changing as a result of the work with Ball. Some people are still negative – you’re always going to have those – but there are a lot more people who are positive about the work and are willing to step out of their comfort zone. They’re not being naysayers, and are more interested in what we can learn as professionals to help our students. Our school has the most people involved in the networks. There are 15 of us teachers out of 40. So, it’s making an impression. I think that’s to be commended because we’re a high performing school. We can sit back on our laurels and say, “You know what, we’re doing what we need to do,” but that is not what’s happening. People at my school asked me about the Network Days because they know I’ve been involved. They want to know what’s going to happen at them, so I tell them, “I don’t know. But jump onboard because there are lots of different ways this network thing can work – and we’ll make it work. What have you got to lose?”
So, on one of the Network Days during an Open Space exercise, our school met together. I had the idea to form a “Teachers as Leaders” network group. My colleagues said to me, “You’re already a leader. What are you talking about?” I said, “No, no, no. I’m not talking about that. I’m wondering how can we as teachers be leaders in our district? You have to start from the ground up because we are the ones in the trenches.” We came up with a whole plan for doing our own voluntary staff development. We thought we’d go back to our school and say, “I want to learn about this. Who wants to learn with me?” Then we could make our own networks and take responsibility for our own learning. Of course, this will all be voluntary, but we thought that with fifteen of us willing to do this, we can make it work.
The schools are having to take care of their own staff development now because the district is dropping the instructional support services. So somebody has to know what to do. Somebody has to step out on that limb. We have 200 people who are attending these Network Days who are willing and able and have the tools to help the other 700 do it as well – that, to me, has been one of the most powerful outcomes of all this work. If you have 200 teachers who are willing to say, “We want to learn about this,” and then go to whomever and say, “What can we do because we want to learn about this? Where can we get some resources? We just need to know who to talk to.” Then that person can answer, “Maybe you can start by looking at some educational books or maybe you should try this in your classroom or you can have this time to go visit other people.” Teachers are taking ownership of their own professional learning instead of somebody saying, “You must do this.” That would transform the teaching profession because it makes us responsible for our own learning. It makes us step out of our classrooms. Teachers helping teachers. What a thought. That’s what doctors and lawyers do. Anybody in a profession – this is what they do. They go and figure it out, and then they spread the word.
I call the work with Ball my “think tank.” I come home exhausted, but “thinking” exhausted, not “physically” exhausted. But I think it’s been great. People who have not experienced this are missing out, especially the young teachers because it will transform their lives. It’s not really cutting edge, but it’s a new way of thinking. I think that because we are all teachers, we’ve been in school our whole life and we think that there is a certain way to do school. But we need to get out of the classroom. I’m an out-of-the-box thinker – so I’m out there.
Word cloud created at wordle.net.
