ILD Meeting Summary for Wednesday, June 13, 2012 1. Kids Team a.

Food in classrooms - We are focused on ensuring that the food program is sustainable and are exploring various ways to limit food availability without negatively affecting the kids we're trying to help. b. MindUp Were looking at offering MindUp training to interested staff on the Aug 30th Pro-D Day. The cost and source of funding is still being explored but it appears quite reasonable. 2. Curriculum Team a. Collaborative Inquiry We agreed to distribute The Invitation for Collaborative Inquiry (see below) to staff and to each invite two staff members to participate in this process. 3. Structures Team a. PLC Proposal We agreed to submit the proposal below to our area superintendent after consulting with Andrew. We (Stacey Myrah, Nicole Summers, Tammie Stockli, Matt Brandt and Stefan Stipp) will then attend a follow up meeting to more fully make our case and to explore additional options. We want to make clear that the discussions at this point are preliminary and any agreements we reach are subject to staff discussion and approval.

An Invitation for Collaborative Inquiry An ILD Initiative Whats this all about? We invite you to participate in collaborative teacher inquiry in the fall 2012 semester. This means youll ask a question relevant to your practice and try to answer it through reading, observation, dialogue and classroom practice. Essentially, youre doing what reflective teachers do all the time in a slightly more formalized and supported setting. You and your inquiry will build knowledge to inform your practice and our work on the ILD team. You may conduct an inquiry individually or as a part of a group at any grade level. Whats in it for you? You could become a better teacher, discover the magic of collaboration and transcend a perplexing pedagogical dilemma. Why are we doing this? There is tons of research supporting teacher-led inquiry as a powerful vehicle to improved classroom practice. Whatever our ILD team comes up with should be grounded in the work of teachers at our school. Rather than including various elements in our Grade 8/9 framework based on our readings and observations alone, we think it makes sense for us to experiment in our classrooms first. These inquiry groups are a step in that direction. How will ILD support this? June James will give a workshop on June 25th (10:00-11:30 in C-109) about how to conduct teacher inquiry. ILD will also pay for one release day per participant and/or needed resources during the project. In addition, we plan to hold three to four after school touch-back sessions in the fall. What could you inquire about? Here are some ideas:

Focus on fewer PLOs and fewer assignments to facilitate depth Emphasis on authentic performance tasks that frame the learning (ex. Project based learning) Student voice/ choice Interdisciplinary projects Student collaboration Developing a culture of excellence Developing a culture of revision and serious peer critique Giving kids the opportunity to focus on a passion (to shine) Creating authentic tasks that contribute to the community Creating opportunities for critical thinking Push our student to become self-regulated learners Collaborate frequently with other staff Kids graduate from Grade 9 with portfolios which are defended like a minithesis Study the effectiveness of IEPs in supporting kids Create your own inquiry topic

OK, sign me up what do I do now? E-mail or visit Stefan Stipp to indicate your interest (individually or in teams) and come to the June 25th workshop. You dont need to commit to anything until after the workshop.

Creating a Professional Learning Community at Guildford Park Secondary School Background After our school received an Innovative Learning Design Grant last spring, the team that collaborated to write the proposal decided to open up membership to all staff on the ILD team. This led to the formation of a team that currently has 20 committed teachers who attend regular bi-weekly after school meetings to move our project forward. An overview of our progress to date is included on pages two and three. The need for PLCs Fairly early on in the process it became clear to us that creating regular time for our staff to collaborate is essential to get the necessary grass-roots engagement for the changes well be proposing. We began to research professional learning communities and developed a proposal which, after much consultation and subsequent revision, is now ready to present to staff, pending district and ministry approval. Our planned structure for PLCs We plan to shorten each block by 10 minutes on Wednesdays to facilitate collaboration (PLC) time from 8:20 9:00. Students would start school late on those days. To compensate for the lost instructional time, each teacher would be responsible for offering 40 minutes of tutorial time each week. This could be offered before school, at lunch or after school. It could be offered in one big chunk (ex. 40 minutes on Wednesday after school) or in smaller chunks (ex. 10 minutes after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). Individual teachers would have the freedom to structure tutorials how they see fit (ex. Drop-in for kids who need extra help, mandatory attendance for kids missing assignments, exam prep for whole class, etc.). Rationale for this structure As an inner city school, Guildford Park has a significant number of students requiring extra help. Our hope is that this formalized tutorial structure addresses that need. Many teachers already help students outside of instructional time. This structure gives those teachers credit for that time while empowering others to do the same. Instead of simply adding PLC time on top of teachers duties, this structure validates the work many already do. We believe this will help present PLCs in a favourable light leading to widespread participation while also serving our particular student population. Possible concerns This structure means a loss of 2.5% of instructional time per class. However, since the number of teaching blocks is not decreased, we believe the effects will be more than offset by the positive results of teachers collaborating weekly. Final thoughts We believe that PLCs are necessary to create the meaningful, lasting change our Innovative Learning Design team is working towards. So far on our journey weve felt wonderfully supported by our administration and the Surrey school district. We hope we can find a way to make PLCs happen at Guildford Park. Sincerely, The GPILD Team

Our Progress to Date Our first few months of meetings in the fall of 2011 were focused on process and purpose. We agreed to work on a consensus decision making model which has served us very well so far. Weve also agreed to the following Statement of Purpose and Guiding Principles: Statement of Purpose We aim to create a framework for Grade 8 and 9 which meaningfully engages students in learning. We want them to master essential competencies in literacy, numeracy and critical thinking through focussed, content rich curricula. Creating relationships based on care and trust is foundational to this endeavour. In addition we want our kids to be: Risk takers with a growth mind set Confident, resilient learners and self-regulated learners in school and beyond Contributors to the greater good Willing to put forward their best effort Guiding Principles Overwhelming support We require a very high level of support from those affected by any changes we propose. Transparent process We intend to openly communicate our processes and proposals to staff and accept responsibility for clearly communicating our plans. Supportive of meaningful relationships The framework we create must be supportive of the creation and maintenance of meaningful relationships within our school community. Sustainable The framework we create must be sustainable in the long term without putting undue stress on any part of our school community. We then began to work toward our purpose. The details of that work to date are documented on our website at www.gpild.weebly.com. The diagram on page three titled, Innovative Learning Design: A Big Picture Overview provides a good summary of our work to date.

Innovative Learning Design: Big Picture Overview