Structures group Meeting Summary November 17 , 2012 3:15-4:45 In Attendance: Chelsea Campbell, Nicole Calla, June James, Tammie

Stockli, Brent Schieve, Andrew Holland, Sean Chambers. 1. We discussed the proposed criteria and structure below and agreed that we needed to talk to elective and SESM teachers to get input and ideas. Well schedule a meeting with elective teachers ASAP to get some reactions. As we try to find a structure for a possible pilot for next year, heres a proposed list of criteria against which we could measure any proposals we generate: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Closer relationships with kids fewer kids per teacher per year Extra time for kids with low skills within the program and beyond it (ie. 1.5-2.5 year program) Integration/ interdisciplinary teaching Team teaching End of grade 9 assessment that shows mastery of core competencies (reading, writing, numeracy, metacognition) 6. Teacher sanity (sustainable) 7. Teacher collaboration time 8. Maintain or enhance our Junior elective programs One idea for a Structure 3 teachers, 75 kids, 6 blocks Put enough LST/ Skills kids in there so its two full blocks (around 20). Make sure there are not many others that need extra help. Courses Eng, SS, Sc, Ma, Fr, LST/ SD, Integrated Studies (a course we make up to facilitate extra time for integrated inquiry projects Is there a way to include electives in there Drama, art, IE, IT? How could we get specialists to teach it? ) It starts out as a one year program with the potential to go into grade 9 with the same teachers and kids. Monday IS 8 IS 8 IS 8 PE/ elective Prep for teachers Tuesday IS 8 PE/ elective IS 8 IS 8 Wednesday IS 8 IS 8 PE/ elective IS 8 Thursday PE/ elective IS 8 IS 8 IS 8 Friday IS 8 IS 8 IS 8 PE/ elective

Possibilities: Divide the cohort into three heterogeneous classes of 25

One of the three teachers is each kids homeroom teacher who looks after that kid communicates with parents and other teachers, advocates, etc. Have other configurations depending on needs o Two classes of 37/38 for lecture based classes to free up a teacher for one on one instruction time. o Ability based groupings for certain activities could be different numbers so kids can get extra help ex . 35 strong kids, 20 weak, 20 weak. In the pilot year we buy two preps using ILD money and convince Andrew to give us one extra one meaning that each teacher in this program only teaches 6 of 8 and shares common yearlong prep when the kids are in other classes. The IS 8 block could be used for some kids to get even more help with basic skills while others are working on inquiry projects.

Problems: What about electives? Can we find three teachers qualified and willing to staff it? Is this sustainable without the extra prep? Is this desirable for all of Grade 8 and 9 or something that would only suit some students and teachers? Is teaching nothing but the same 75 grade 8s for a whole year sustainable?