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.