faculty meeting

FACULTY MEETING

Thursday, September 4, 2014Lecture Hall

GREAT OPENING!

• SOME DATA• CHECK IN WITH ALT AND MMSI• HOW I GOT INTO COLLEGE• CHRIS KENNEDY• FACULTY BOOK STUDY

SOME DATA

• Class of 2014 Exit Survey• MCAS

CLASS OF 2014 EXIT SURVEY

Though limited, the survey data can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-J25ZB6KL/

83%87% 80%

72%

92%91%97%

81%

56%51%58%49%

CHECK IN WITH ALT AND MMSI

1. AP Teachers? Guidance?2. AP KICK OFF – Wednesday, September 10,

10:00 a.m. in the auditorium

“HOW I GOT INTO COLLEGE”a few thoughts from your colleagues …

• “The most significant lesson/theme from the podcast: As teachers we must always consider the fact that we can have a tremendous impact on the future of our students, and act accordingly”.

• “The thing I take away from this podcast is the fact that we all perceive our own “realities” and those realities often do not coincide with one-another or even with what we would call objective Truth”.

• “What I found the most interesting was the paradox that top colleges want students to be unique, genuine and creative, but their own application process is anything but that. If colleges want the type of students who think outside the box, then perhaps the admissions process should be more creative!”

• “I agree that the writing prompts are boring. I agree with you when you say that good writing involves risk taking. Over the summer my college professor shared with us an essay that her niece wrote about reading David Sedaris, which (along with her GPA etc) got her into a number of prestigious universities. I don’t remember which of the common app prompts her essay was written for, but she certainly took a risk and succeeded. I think one of the issues our students face is knowing how to take risks”.

Thoughts continued…• “The lesson I took away from this is to always be cognizant of the fact that what we

say and do – how we treat our students – can and will have an impact on at least some of them”.

• “When preparing them [students] to live on their own, it is important that we teach them to be self advocates before they head out into the working or college world. From the story about the refugee, I think it is important that we, as educators, must realize that even the most trivial act of kindness can go a long way in these students’ lives”. Follow up: This from the Washington post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/09/02/how-helicopter-parents-are-ruining-college-students/

• “One of the most interesting aspects of this podcast was the nature of memory and perception in the classroom. As teachers we are in a position of authority and it is important to recognize that students may perceive events very differently and as a result”.

• “…The other thing that stood out was the number of applicants to Columbia, which I am sure is similar to most other colleges. What can we do to help make our students stand out or be that 1 in 3000 that get in?”

A Parent's Wishes for His Child's Teachers: Chris Kennedy at TEDx WestVancouverED

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzvrDkzKyl8 (note to self - start at 2:18)

FACULTY BOOK STUDY

“GRADING SMARTER NOT HARDER”A BRIEF PRE-TEST

2014-15 FACULTY BOOK STUDY

Dueck, Myron. (2014). Grading Smarter Assessment Strategies That Motivate Kids and Help Them Learn. ASCD

Prior to October 2nd, please read Chapter 1 and make some notes in response to the following questions:

1. Consider the four accounts of students in this chapter who were unable to show evidence of learning - do these accounts serve as a measure of learning? Why or why not?

2. Can you identify times when you use punitive grading to manipulate behavior? Is there an alternative approach you can take to establish or maintain grading accuracy?

3. Do students in your school receive grading penalties for factors that lie outside of their control?

4. Which is more prevalent in your department or school, the 4-point scale or the 100-point scale? Would you reconsider the use of zeros in a 100-point system?

5. Consider the four CARE conditions for punitive action. Which one do you think is most powerful and what steps might you take to make sure that you comply with the four conditions in your classroom?

6. Do the zeros that you hand out represent both missing assignments and assignments in which students fail to demonstrate understanding? If so, how do you tell the difference between the two?

7. Note the number of interventions listed in Figure 1.3. To what extent does your school inform struggling learners of the supports and interventions that are available to them?

THANK YOU!