I wrote to Mr. Hinds, the assistant principal of Q502, giving him a very preliminary agenda. I reqested the times of the retreat and assistance with questions we would need answered in order to plan the retreat. His response follows.
I followed up on his response that the teachers do have a curriculum mapping process in place, and he responded that they were in the very early stages of this. We're going to assume the answer to Question 6a is No.
- Bill
Weekend Workshop Schedule
Friday 6:00PM – 7:00PM Check in
7:00PM – 9:00PM Dinner, welcome and introduction, overview of the retreat, taking inventory
Saturday 8:00AM - 9:00AM Breakfast
9:00AM - 12:00(noon) workshop with 15 minutes break every hour
12:00 - 1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM- 4:00PM workshop with 15 minutes breaks every hour
4:00PM - 6:00PM Break
6:00PM - 9:00PM Workshop continues with 15 minutes breaks
1. What are the specific meeting times on each day? When the meals are breaks? Are there sections where the principal or other administrators wish to address the group?
2. How many participants will there be? (55) What grades do they teach? (9-12) What subject areas do they teach (All high school subjects)? How many of the participants are not classroom teachers? (6)
3. What does the training space look like? (IBM conference center at the Palisades) Is there room to move around? Is there space for breakout groups? (Yes- 3 break out rooms) Will there be chart paper and markers? (No) Will there be a projector for my computer? (No)
4. Will the participants have computers? (Yes) Will each participant have his or her own computer? (Yes) Will these computers have the Microsoft Office suite? Will there be reliable Internet access? (Yes)
5. How do teachers in your school currently collaborate? (Across school and by departments) Do they have team meetings? (Yes) Do they look at data and/or student work together? (Yes) Is there a school wiki? (No) Do teachers use e-mail? (Yes)
6. Does your school use a particular process for curriculum mapping? (Yes) Is this something that has already been done for next year, or is it yet to be done? (Yet to be done)
7. Does your school use a particular process for unit/lesson planning? (No) Are teachers familiar with backwards design concepts? (No)
I followed up on his response that the teachers do have a curriculum mapping process in place, and he responded that they were in the very early stages of this. We're going to assume the answer to Question 6a is No.
- Bill
Weekend Workshop Schedule
Friday 6:00PM – 7:00PM Check in
7:00PM – 9:00PM Dinner, welcome and introduction, overview of the retreat, taking inventory
Saturday 8:00AM - 9:00AM Breakfast
9:00AM - 12:00(noon) workshop with 15 minutes break every hour
12:00 - 1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM- 4:00PM workshop with 15 minutes breaks every hour
4:00PM - 6:00PM Break
6:00PM - 9:00PM Workshop continues with 15 minutes breaks
Sunday 8:00AM- 900: AM breakfast
9:00AM- 1:00PM Workshop, presentations, reflections/next steps, evaluation
1:00PM- Departure.
QUESTIONS FOR RETREAT PLANNING
1. What are the specific meeting times on each day? When the meals are breaks? Are there sections where the principal or other administrators wish to address the group?
2. How many participants will there be? (55) What grades do they teach? (9-12) What subject areas do they teach (All high school subjects)? How many of the participants are not classroom teachers? (6)
3. What does the training space look like? (IBM conference center at the Palisades) Is there room to move around? Is there space for breakout groups? (Yes- 3 break out rooms) Will there be chart paper and markers? (No) Will there be a projector for my computer? (No)
4. Will the participants have computers? (Yes) Will each participant have his or her own computer? (Yes) Will these computers have the Microsoft Office suite? Will there be reliable Internet access? (Yes)
5. How do teachers in your school currently collaborate? (Across school and by departments) Do they have team meetings? (Yes) Do they look at data and/or student work together? (Yes) Is there a school wiki? (No) Do teachers use e-mail? (Yes)
6. Does your school use a particular process for curriculum mapping? (Yes) Is this something that has already been done for next year, or is it yet to be done? (Yet to be done)
7. Does your school use a particular process for unit/lesson planning? (No) Are teachers familiar with backwards design concepts? (No)