Agenda for 12/4

I am not sure who's turn it is but.... Fuller - Time Keeper, Wentz - Minutes

I want to try to keep this meeting productive and positive so....

1. Rose (no thorns!!!) 10 min
2. Final Exam - details, grading, dates, etc 30 min
3. Homework Hierarchy results 30 min
4. Break 8 min
5. Homework survey - who, what, when, why, how? - 30 min
6. Wrap up - 10min

I look forward to it, see you then!!

Homework Completion - Meeting with Michiko Bozic

PLC’ers,
I was finally able to meet with Michiko Bozic, an LHS Japanese teacher, about strategies to improve homework completion. If you don’t remember I was supposed to speak with her at the recommendation of Stacy Geyer. I thought I would share some of the ideas I took out of the meeting.
She recommended giving up to 70% credit for late work. (I currently only give 60%.) Michiko said that she feels the students (and parents) respond better if the student has a chance at a passing grade.
She splits up her class in half each day between the students that completed the homework and the students that didn’t complete the homework. That way she can have the students that didn’t complete the homework work on that work while the other students get a chance to work on other work during work time in-class. In addition to this she allows the students that completed the homework on time to earn extra credit (she made it a point that it is only minimal) if they help another student complete their homework.
Michiko said that it is essential that she praises the students, both one-on-one and in front of the class, that are setting the high standards in the class. She has actually tried praising the good students in one class and using more critical comments in another class of the same of the same prep. She said that the difference was huge between the two classes as time went on.
Another recommendation that Michiko made was pairing her students into groups of 2 students. She does this because she likes the group work interaction but has found that 3 or more students lead to more talking amongst the members. She said that she tries to pair one high achieving student with one low achieving student. She has found that in this one-on-one setting that the interaction has been productive for both students.

I am pretty excited to try some of this out. I will probably give my students up to 70% credit for late work next semester and will try to keep praising my students as much as possible. I know the praise thing is far from a secret, but I have found it hard to stay positive in my IMP 2 classes due to the low achievement and I need to try to stay aware of my demeanor

I personally have not seen any added benefit between having groups of 3 or 4 students. If there is something to be gained from groups of 2, I would be willing to give it a shot. The other strategy, dividing the class into homework completers and non-completers sounds good…I just don’t know that I have had a lot of extra “class work time” for my students. Most of the class work time is material that is intended to be worked on for the discussion that is to follow the work time. I would be interested in hearing everyone’s input on how they think these strategies might work within the IMP classroom.

-Jason

11/7/07 Minutes

Minutes for 11-7-07 Meeting

(slightly beyond the Sell-By date)

7:00- Data collection on passing/failing scores on Bees topics

7:25- Rose and Thorn

Marchetti

Very frustrated, especially with 8^th hour IMP 2 class.

Assessment show little progress.

Feel of class is similar to IMP 1.

Planning to take time off.

Gonshor

Same general thorn as Marchetti.

What can we do to get kids to work?

Some kids are working hard and getting the material.

Wentz

4^th hour class is very involved but low performing.

7^th hour class suffers from contagious poor work ethic, but outperforms 4^th hour on assessments.

Honors class shows good results.

Fuller

Pacing and layout of materials is proving frustrating- disconnect between 50 minute IMP days and block schedule.

There are a number of kids who “get” the idea of math.

Brief discussion ensued about the difficulties surrounding this year’s schedule. General complaints included the long waits between classes as well as the idea of teaching on back-to-back days.

7:45- Revisit Norms

“Group food” will no longer be acceptable in the IMP 2 PLC.

7:50- Homework Hierarchy and Student Survey

Wentz brought a teacher survey and a graduating senior survey he found on the Internet. They provided a starting point for the IMP 2 survey, but were extremely detailed.

The Homework Hierarchy from Race was evaluated and reworded. It will be used in all IMP 2 classes with “stickies” to get an initial feel for how students perceive themselves in terms of homework completion and the reasons for doing assigned work outside of class. Fuller will e-mail the reworded version (just like he will promptly post the minutes).

8:15- Break

8:25- Wiki Demo

Marchetti has set up a Wiki (which is so cutting edge that Word flags it as a misspelling) for contributing survey ideas. He will send e-vites. Fuller is delighted.

8:30- Data Discussion (ELOs on assessment for Bees)

Wentz

No real correlation between homework and comprehension.

Marchetti

The passing kids do the homework.

There are kids who do homework but still struggle with comprehension.

Kids who do not do homework do poorly.

Gonshor

Revision completion is the best predictor of success.

Fuller

Homework completion is not an issue in Honors classes, but the few kids who do not do the work are the ones who struggled the most on the assessments. In general, the students did well.

8:45- Revisit Planned Intervention Strategies

Marchetti

Previewing homework- not really working.

Wentz

Encouraging Calculus students to help. None have stepped forward.

Gonshor

Intended to call home after each missed assignment. Changed mind due to enormous time requirement.

Previewing homework- working on clarifying wording of assignments. No noticeable increase- last few weeks have been “pretty bad.”

Fuller

Not previewing as well as planned. Homework completion strong nonetheless.

8:55- Wrap-up

Need to discuss exams.

Will give a two-part Matrix Final.

Agenda for 11/7

Fuller - Minutes
Gonshor - Time Keeper

1. Rose and Thorn 10 min
1.5 Revisit Norms 3.14 min
2. Homework Survey 30 min
2.5 Break 10-3.14 min
3. Bee's Unit Assessment Data 30 min
4. Final Exam 30 min
5. Wrap Up 10 min

10/24/2007 IMP 2 PLC Minutes

• Questions from Kathy about the homework dilemma.
• Have we asked kids about why they do not do the homework?
• Mickey's previous data told him that 80% said "they just didn't do it", 15% "had other commitments", and 5% "just forgot".
• Rodney and Kym asked this question on a questionnaire last year.
• Eric will get questionnaire and data from Rodney and Kym if possible.
• Jason will speak with Ms. Bozic about strategies to get students to complete homework that would not originally have completed it. (Bozic was recommended by Stacey Geyer as a good resource on this topic.)
• Is homework essential for all students to improve achievement? Could formative assessments help us to evaluate their readiness?
• Have we taken a look at how homework completion relates to CSAP and MAP scores?
• Grading Rubric for Bee's Assessment
• Is there a way to make the findings from the process of common assessment data accessible to next year's IMP 2 PLC? Do we really need to keep starting at step one in our IMP PLCs?

IMP 2 PLC - Minutes - 10/10/2007

-State of the Union

• Chris is quite frustrated with one of his IMP 2 classes.
• Jason is frustrated with the lack of students taking advantage of revisions and the inevitable result of this being leaving students behind.
• Eric does not see the buy-in of for the students...it is a "grade chase", not a "pursuit of knowledge".
• Mickey is frustrated by poor algebraic manipulation skills of his classes.

-Inservice (Thursday 10-18-2007)

• Choice of three breakout sessions surrounding vocabulary development.
• We will attend the "Vocabulary Development: Linking to Learning Styles" in room 137.

-Data Collection Update

• Is there a correlation between grades and homework in our individual data?
• Eric said that his data shows no correlation, Mickey's data is unclear, Chris' classes have a correlation between missing assignments/revisions and low grades, Jason's classes show a correlation between missing assignments/revisions and low grades.

-Intervention Strategies

1. Sending students with incomplete homework to math lab to complete homework. (Note: This strategy has been rejected by administration.)
2. Setting deadlines and making phone calls.
3. Eliminating revisions and instead redoing a similar problem.
4. Posting completion percentage on graded works perhaps creating a competition between classes.
5. Assigning reasons for doing homework.

Summary of interventions that each person will be trying

• Chris will try stategies 4 & 5.
• Jason will try strategies 2 & 5.
• Mickey will try strategy 4.
• Eric will try strategy 5.

-Common Assessment for Bee's

• Chris wants a more objective part of the test. (Chris and Jason will make up a more objective skills based test.)
• Is the take home "Barn Problem" too hard? Perhaps, but there is great value in the question. Jason will change the wording of the problem to state specifically that the best answer is not a square.
• IMP 2 Honors - Change the pool problem to include a generalization. Mickey and Eric will change this part of the exam for the honors test.

-All common assessment parts must be completed and sent out by Friday 10-12-2007.

Agenda 10.10.2007

Minutes - Gonshor
Time Keeper - Wentz

1. State of the Union - 10 min
2. Inservice - 10 min
3. Common Assessment for Bees - 30 min
4. Break - 10 min
5. Data Collection Update: Homework Completion - 15 min
6. Intervention Strategies - 30 min
7. Summing up and next steps - 10 min

Agenda for 9/26

So here we go again....

Minutes: Wentz
Time Keeper: Fuller

1. State of the Union 10 min
2. Revisit Norms 5 min
3. Review ELOs and Smart Goal Conversation 10 min
4. Baseline Data Discussion 20 min

Break 10 min

5. Interventions for Homework Completion and Algebraic Manipulation 45 min
6. Closure and Next Steps 10 min

Minutes: 9/12/07

1. State of the Union 5 min

Gonshor
Misses team planning time from last year. Common off hour and “full group” meetings had value. Frustrated by low homework return rate. Liked “Conference” feature in Infinite Campus.

Marchetti
IMP 2 revised curriculum map proving to be a bit optimistic for non-honors classes.

Wentz
Seconded all previous comments.

Fuller
Has ever deeper belief that the separation of “honors” and “non-honors” students is a mistake. Observing the conversations and behaviors in the honors classes clearly demonstrates that the kids in the middle would really benefit from some peer support and modeling.

2. Revisit Norms 10 min

Accepted “Fist or Five” decision-making protocol.

3. Talk about the Blog 2 min

Minutes will be posted in the blog. Only the blog administrator can set up e-mail notification for new comments or posts.

4. Look back at last year 15 min

Last year’s Fall ELOs are no longer appropriate, because the unit order has been changed. Current order is: Bees, Cookies, supplemental statistics (“Is There Really a Difference?”), Pit, Fireworks, Alice.

5. Break 8 min

6. ELOs 30 min

Sticky Note Protocol used to derive following first semester ELOs:
The Student Will:
Compute the area and volume of polygons and prisms.
Solve problems using right-triangle trigonometry.
Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to solve area problems.
Implement the Linear Programming process to solve maximum and minimum problems.
Solve systems of linear equations using algebraic and graphical methods.
Recognize and manipulate linear equations in multiple representations.Demonstrate proficiency in independent problem solving and technical writing.

7. SMART Goal 15 min

Sticky Note Protocol used to derive following first semester SMART goal topics:
Homework Completion
Algebraic Manipulation

Joined by Jackie Weber and Will Crookston to clarify some SMART goal requirements.The “measurable” piece does not have to rely on a common assessment.

8. Closing 5 min

Will continue to think about SMART goal while tracking homework completion and grades for next meeting.

Agenda 9/12/2007

Minute taker – Fuller

Time Keeper - Gonshor

1. State of the Union 5 min

2. Revisit Norms 10 min

3. Talk about the Blog 2 min

4. Look back at last year 15 min

5. Break 8 min

6. ELOs 30 min

7. SMART Goal 15 min

8. Closing 5 min

No, seriously. I find the format for this thing to be slightly aggravating. Mickey, stop being mendacious and laconic.

grrrrrr

testing.

I'm here

Hi.

Minutes from 8/28

Members in attendance - Marchetti, Fuller, Gonshor, Wentz

1. Norms Discussion

• Be on time, prepared, present
• Be sensitive, recognize that it isn't personal
• Everyone speaks honestly about each issue
• Minimize tangential voyages
• Choose/Create a Decision making process
• Allow time for processing
• No one person has veto power
• Fist or Five?
• Have an agenda
• Break
• Revisit Norms
• Roles (Minute taker, time keeper, faciliatator)
• Don't speak ill of teachers or students
• Be willing to step outside comfort zone
• Support Each other

These norms are a work in progress.

2. POW / Portfolio Discussion

• The IMP 2 PLC supports the new POW and Portfolio initiative
• We must coordinate between IMP 1 and 2
• We should also call the Portfolio something else.

Next time we will get into ELOs and revisit where the group has come from.

Chris,
Just thought that I'd let you know that I had accessed the blog.
-Jason

Here it is!

Well guys, this is the blog. I will post the minutes of our first meeting, including the norms list, and a summary of our discussion about POWs and Portfolios.