Orange+Meeting+Minutes+4-7-2010

Agenda

Sharing of Lines of Inquiry - each person presents their inquiry progress a- group asks with general factual questioning b- group asks in depth critical questions

Discuss Collaboration - How do we circle back to bring together our seperate parts?

Finalize Documentation - for each line of inquiry - for the group showcase

Meeting Minutes: -Cory reviewed agenda. -Discussion of time documentation. -Tracey presents idea for group showcase. Idea stemmed from SAS diagram. All agree that the idea is a good one and would work to bring our individual studies together under our one inquiry. -Discussion about using Googledocs for student surveys. -Cory is going to look into Prezis,

__Meeting Minutes for 4/7/10__

-Diane shared the accomplishments of her students. She reviewed her plans to try to implement technology. She is having trouble finding proper technology sites to use. Trying to make her room technology friendly…it currently is not. Developed lesson plans that use technology. Kids have not had a chance to do student surveys yet about the use of technology in the classroom. Found candy is a motivator for her classes. Found an overall improvement in student motivation.

-Jessica shared her results with special needs students in her guitar class. Had students create their own tab piece. Brought samples of student work. Wondered how to put student work on computer…someone suggested scanning. Did collaborative work…students had to work with a partner on a duet. Group gave ideas for how to document sample student music. Did student as a teacher strategy…it didn’t go as planned. Had to do a lot of leading. Played student music sample. Wants to journal observations. Did student surveys. Tallied results…plans to put into graph form.

-Joe discussed his inquiry of managing a diverse class of learners. Tried taking attendance in a time other than the beginning of class. Engaged students quicker…it worked. It is now the routine. Others gave ideas for taking attendance. Dianne offered a great idea for taking roll and self-grading daily class participation grades. The next plan involved the Q3. In two classes he recorded, played it back, discussed it. Seemed to be a hassle to download and upload. The next plan was the action plan. Utilized the auditorium next door for class. The change of scenery was a success. Students enjoyed that. Students engaged more. Worried about having too many free minutes at the end of class…started overloading lessons. Journals reflections. Have several sound samples on Q3. Plans to do a student survey.

-Lorraine modeled outlines for students to use. The next strategy was a graphic organizer…a Venn Diagram. She modeled how to use it…students loved it. Students asked to use it to help organize their thoughts. Another strategy was to use a web diagram to input findings from pictures. Found that if she had given a list of things to find…a treasure hunt…that would’ve been better. The next strategy involved learning vocabulary. She had kids do a drawing with a list of things to include and label. A student survey was given. Changes improved student attitudes but not student grades…we disagreed after seeing scores.

-Tracey showed where we could view her documentation for her line of inquiry. Discussed how to connect with students’ inner feelings. Recognized students’ strengths and weaknesses. Modified projects to those strengths and weaknesses. Student critiques. Spontaneous art experiments. Thinking outside of the box. Uses the computer everyday. Encouraged principal to visit classroom and give feedback. Challenges were in the collecting of data. Wanted kids to identify with their products. Got feedback from school social worker and school psychologist.

-Jackie discussed her line of inquiry…managing small student groups, reaching diverse learners. She tried different assignments that reached prior knowledge, tested technology knowledge, and reading comprehension. Students had to produce power point presentations, posters, and Image Theater. Other ideas tested were…changing classroom scene…moving to the auditorium for class. Getting kids out of their seats for the image theater. Test scores went up when using the image theater pictures on the test.