PTC - From Apprehensive to Astounded!

All of last week I was secretly dreading this parent teacher conference. I had heard through the rumor mill that numerous parents were not pleased with the IZ classes and especially the notion of group work. We are making great changes in the world of education at North Marion and anytime there is change, there is conflict! I kept preparing myself, going over possible questions that the parents would pose and attempting to have a ready-set of answers to give them. When 5:30 hit and I glanced outside of our door, what I saw made the knot in my throat get bigger! There was a line of parents waiting and that line never got smaller until 6:40. To amazement my apprehension was built up for no reason! As the parents began to trickle in, I quickly realized that they were not opposed to what was happening in the Innovation Zone. They were however, anxious to learn about this new way of teaching. As April said in her post, we broke it all down for the parents. We explained everything to a t! We had examples of group projects, which the parents were absolutely amazed at! They couldn't believe that their children were producing such professional products! Personally, what I think made a huge difference, was the fact that April and I were not shy to let the parents know that this is new to us to. We stressed to them that this was a learning experience for us as well as the students. Every parent was responsive to the fact that we would make mistakes along the way and they were incredibly supportive of us and our innovation zone! Many told us that even though we had mistakes here and there that they felt this was a wonderful experience for their children! We apologized to almost every parent for the misconception we gave the students when we introduced the classes at the beginning of the year. We realized quickly that we gave the students and parents the impression that our grades in our class were going to be based solely on group work. When we showed the parents that the students were in fact receiving more individual grades than group grades they were very relieved! With this being said, they were instantly more open to the concept of their students working in groups! It was amazing to see how quickly the parents made the connection between how our classes were functioning and how the real world functions! They thought it was wonderful that we were preparing their children for the real world! Also, we took the time to make sure that each parent we saw knew how to use edline and if they didn't we logged into our page and showed the parents how to use it. They were very happy to have this process explained to them! Also, every parent that we saw wanted to be involved in their student's education they just needed assistance in knowing how to be involved. Speaking of involvement, we actually had one parent tell us that herself and a group of other parents wanted to work with us in the innovation and provide any help that they could! This was such a positive thing to hear! It let us know that not only are we engaging the students but the parents are eager to be engaged as well!! We had many thank yous from the parents for various reasons! We had thank yous for exposing their children to technology because that was something that they wouldn't be able to get home. We had thank yous for caring for their children and the outcome of their grades! We had thank yous for hearing their concerns and taking the time to explain things to them! As April said when 5:30 came and the announcement was made that parent teacher conference was over, we walked out in the hall and told the line of parents that we would stay and see them all. They were so appreciative that we made this gesture and each parent that came in our room after 5:30 thanked us for staying to see them! We ended up staying until 6:40 to make sure to see every parent and we generally spent at least twenty minutes with each parent. The thank yous were worth more than the parents would know! This change is stressful for everyone, teachers, parents, and students, but we're doing great things and it's not gone unnoticed! Who knew parent teacher conference would be such a motivating experience!! Oh and an important fact to note, we saw very few parents who had children that A's. No parent put the blame for the lack of an A on anyone other than their student! They didn't blame April or I and they had no other excuses for that matter! Simply that they would work with us to ensure that their students were working harder!
P.S. - Every parent LOVED the calendar that keep on edline! It allows them to be more in touch with their student's education on a day to day basis, as well as, making them a more active part of daily instruction!

Our 1st IZ PTC

I will be honest in saying that I have never really enjoyed parent - teacher conferences; I do believe they are necessary, however. I was extremely nervous about tonight's conference specifically because we have implemented this new way of teaching. Surprisingly, we had not one parent who was angry or challenged us in any way, shape, or form. I WAS SHOCKED!

Here's why I think it went as well as it did:
1. We were able to explain PBL and how our classroom works so that parents were able to get a clear understanding of what goes on.
2. We had an example of student work readily available (they were shocked at the amount of rigor their child was able to endure and amazed at their final products).
3. We listened to their concerns and addressed them in an understanding manner.
4. We explained that we were new at this way of teaching and that we are doing our best to work out the bugs as we go along.
5. We apologized for any misconceptions or issues.
6. We expressed that we want all of our students to succeed and that we would be willing to work with students to help them understand the content/directions for assessments/skills to complete assignments.
7. We made sure that parents knew that we wanted to include them in this new process as much as possible. (They're input was extremely eye opening because they have a different perspective)
8. We also made sure parents and students knew that we wanted to empower students to take charge of their learning and have an active role in education. (We reiterated the firing process)
9. We showed them how to navigate through Edline - which we still need to have a parent seminar for this. Many of them expressed that it would be beneficial and that they would help their children with their work, but they can't because they don't know how to use it.
10. We told them we appreciated them.

It was great to hear from the parents and know what they're thinking. We heard that many parents were not happy about the group work and the IZ, but we had such a great response that we were worried about nothing. I believe they are just concerned and they walked away from us feeling a little better because they had more of an understanding about what we do. Most of the parents seemed to agree with our professional business culture approach as well. They really like the fact that we are teaching them to work together and use technology to reach a common goal. They also like the firing process because "that's what happens in the real world". Again, I cannot believe that we had 23 conferences and not one of them was bad!

By the way, we were there until 6:40. Every parent after 5:30 thanked us for staying and told us that it meant a lot for us to speak with them. Teachers make a lot of sacrifices and that was one that was well worth it! :D

Deck the Halls

So, it's not hard to tell upon entering the second floor that it's homecoming week in Husky Country! The halls are decked out with school spirit ... something that hasn't happened in this school for a long time! Being the sponsor for the Freshman class allowed me to have the opportunity to encourage the Freshmen to go all out when they decorated! It was a success! The freshmen loved the idea of showing their pride in their school by decorating a hallway! To my amazement, the energy and and enthusiasm of the Freshmen trickled downward almost immediately! When the Seniors and Sophomore classes, who were working on their hallways at the time as the freshmen, saw how much pride and spirit the Freshmen were displaying .... they followed in suit! Within a short time the seniors and sophomores had regrouped and gone back to the drawing board! They too were going to get involved and show how much they cared about their school! What a wonderful moment to witness! I couldn't stop smiling! It made me realize what a difference this staff is making at North Marion this year! I draw from the popular movie, "Remember the Titans", "Attitude reflects leadership"! And  that is exactly what is happening at North Marion this year! The innovation zone began as just a far fetched thought, sometime last year and much like the students with the hallways, it has trickled downward to the majority of the staff! A major component of teaching this Freshman class was to teach them a culture. We wanted the freshman to have an attitude filled with respect, trust, and responsibility! If you look down the hallways you will find that not only has this been instilled in the freshman class, but it has also began to filter throughout the school! The deal breaker? Well, that would be the hard-working staff at North Marion! Staff members give up countless hours of unpaid time to make this school and their students better! The innovation zone, the innovative teaching of all teachers, and the fact that North Marion's teachers aren't afraid to roll their sleeves up and go to work is changing this school for the better! Oh yes, and not to be forgotten.... the Juniors have jumped into the running of the homecoming hallway battle!

Empowering Our Students

As Amy, Joetta and I were discussing student voice during a grant meeting this evening, I kept thinking about all the ways Kristin and I are empowering our students in our classes. I just had to share this story with everyone because I think it is so extremely powerful.

Today, I had a young lady approach me with a concern about one of her group members. She explained to me that her male peer had done something that was inappropriate and she and her group members wanted to fire him from the group because he had not been taking his work seriously. So, instead of approaching him upon hearing this information, I talked it over with Kristin and we decided that we should try the mediation approach because we both agree that it would be more powerful coming from his group members than a teacher telling him that his actions were not appropriate and....we were right.

I had Mr. Shaffer, our assistant principal, sit in on the mediation session so that the group knew that it was a serious matter. I gave everyone a chance to speak and express how they were feeling about the situation. I was so impressed at how they conducted themselves. The student that had caused the issue was very accepting of the process and did not become angry that his group members had brought the problem up. Instead, he owned up to this mistakes and realized that what he did, did not make his group happy and that he would make sure he stayed on task from here on out.

To see freshmen students conduct themselves in a way that they could problem-solve and discuss an issue within their group was certainly eye opening. It didn't turn into an argument. It wasn't a blame game. It was a genuine conversation from several peers to another, letting him know that they wanted him to work with the group and not distract the group from their work, otherwise, they were going to fire him.

I feel that if I or Kristin had approached this student on our own without the other group members, it wouldn't have had the same effect. This empowered the students to have a say in how their peer "got in trouble" so to speak. They were able to have an honest, open conversation with a great end result. I may be assuming when I say this; however, I believe that students respond better to their peers (when executed in the right way) than to teachers, even parents maybe.

I'll have to keep you updated on the student's behavior for the rest of the PBL, but if I had to guess I'm sure he'll be working diligently from here on out.