Hi Everyone -

 Just a couple important announcements to follow up on our great meeting last week --

 1.  Remember to read Chapter 5 of The Reflective Educator's Guide to Professional Development.  This is a GREAT resource for preparing for and planning your data analysis meetings that will be coming up soon.  I think you'll enjoy the "scrap booking" metaphor that opens the chapter, and this analogy for data analysis can help you help your inquirers think about what data analysis is all about!  Also, remind your inquirers to read Chapter 5 of their book, The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research. This chapter will take them through the process of data analysis step-by-step.  

2.  As your inquirers continue on with their work, remember the importance of literature as data (pp. 81 in The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research).  As last year, CSI will utilize the UF Library and do literature searches for each one of your inquirers to help support them in figuring out which pieces of literature connect to their wonderings and will give them insights as their study is unfolding.  We'll search for you and forward to you the top few resources we find.  We've done this already for a number of facilitators.  If you haven't yet submitted your list of inquirers and their topics/wonderings to Katie Tricarico and would like to take advantage of this service, please do so as soon as possible.  We have more inquirers than ever this year, and each search takes approximately one - two hours!  Katie's email address is:  k_tricarico@hotmail.com.

3.  At our last meeting, Jack asked me to post a resource on questions you might want to ask during data analysis . . . I think he might have been thinking about the probing questions figure that actually was created to help coaches probe during wondering development, but I've attached it here in case you think it might help with the data analysis meeting.  

 Sometime this week I will work on the letter to your administrators announcing the Showcase and suggesting they provide comp time for teachers to attend.  Have a great week everyone!  

 -Nanc

Hi Everyone -

SO WONDERFUL TO SEE EVERYONE
YESTERDAY!  While a large portion of our meeting was devoted to taking
care of a lot of business, we got an incredible amount accomplished, including:

• Discussing
  our role in Teachers Network Leadership Institute and planning a
  post-Showcase organizational meeting for any NEFEC teachers interested in
  working with this organization next year

• Planning
  the 4th annual Showcase, fine-tuning the schedule, and discussing ways to
  get more people involved other than presenters (Within a week, I’ll draft
  a letter to administrators suggesting comp time be provided as an
  incentive for teachers who aren’t presenting to attend and post it for
  your use)

• Revisiting
  our on-line community (with Chris' Help) and revitalizing this important
  mechanism to keep us connected to each other, and maximize the individual
  and collective learning that we are all engaged in about both teacher
  research and coaching teacher research  (Remember our new ground rule:  Each member of the community will
  post at least once every two weeks as a reminder to us all that our
  on-line community is alive and vibrant)

• Reviewing
  the data analysis protocol and planning for this local meeting

• Sharing
  the ways support for Inquiry is being shifted from NEFEC/CSI to districts,
  and identifying issues that are important to address as plans for this
  work continues

I will be working on a number
of things on my end to keep all of our ideas and planning moving forward as you
meet and work with your teacher inquirers over the coming months on data
analysis and Showcase preparation . . . I’ll keep you abreast of updates and
developments, as well as send our reminders as we approach critical dates (Like
Titles/Abstract Due On or Before March 17!)

During our small group work
yesterday around the data analysis protocol, in my group I shared a little bit
about a consultant I had gone to see that helped teachers teach test- taking
skills.  With FCAT season upon us,
Rhonda and John were both interested in what I learned, and asked that I share
it with them . . . As I was preparing to send them an email, I thought some of
you might be interested as well, so thought I’d fold it into our on-line
learning community.  So here goes .
. .

The gentleman I saw present
believes our bottom quartile students perform poorly on the FCAT because they
are not familiar with 12 common words that often appear on standardized test.
 Oftentimes, these learners might know the content to be able to answer
the question, but don’t know what the question is asking them.  The 12
common words that are frequently found on standardized test, as well as how
they can be explained to kids are:

Trace – List in steps

Analyze – Break apart

Infer – Read between
the lines

Evaluate – Judge

Formulate – Create

Describe – Tell all
about

Support –Back up with
details

Explain – Tell How

Summarize – Give me
the short version

Compare – All the ways
they are alike

Contrast – All the
ways they are different

Predict – What will
happen next

His premise is that we can improve kids test scores if we
“teach” these words and use them every day of the school year with our
students.

I share this with our community for whatever it’s worth to
you . . . I think in this era of high-stakes testing and accountability, it’s
important and necessary for us to devote some time to the teaching of
test-taking skills.  Sometimes I am
saddened, however, when the intense pressure the permeates our schools today
leads us to focus more on test-taking skills and test performance than on good,
sound, teaching and learning practice. 
In the spirit of inquiry, I wonder how we, as educators, can balance
preparation for tests and the teaching of test-taking skills with continued
meaningful teaching and learning. 
I know there is no answer to this constant tension we all feel each and
every day, but perhaps through engagement in inquiry, we can learn to navigate
that tension in the best possible ways . . .

Ahhh . . . Another inquiry for another day!

Have a great rest of your week! 

Best!

Nanc

Something I'm looking forward to when we meet on January 22 is seeing everyone again, and hearing about how your school years are going, how your holiday breaks were, and how inquiry is unfolding in your districts this year. I'm a bit nervous about Sabrina leaving NEFEC - she's been the anchor on this project since its inception, so I'm also looking forward to getting some reassurance from everyone and hopefully from Brandy Arnold that inquiry will continue to move along at the incredibly wonderful pace we've set. We've come so far in such a short period of time -- it's both WONDERFUl and SCARY -- Can we keep up the pace we've set for revitilizing teacher professional development in NEFEC districts through inquiry? . . . and, as we continue to grow and expand, how can we best manage our growth? I also have some great ideas and plans for this year's showcase expansion I can't wait to share with all of you, but again, I'm a bit scared -- will it all go smoothly and will participants continue to enjoy it as much as they have in the past as we continue to grow? I definitely feel that one word that describes most what I am looking forward to at our January 22 meeting is reassurance (that we're doing some good and important work, that everything will turn out OK, and inquiry is moving along and ahead in your individual districts)! I'm also wondering how many of you are in need of reassurance as well. Miss everyone and looking forward to seeing you soon!

Happy 2008 To Everyone!

I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable break, and an as stress-free as possible re-entry back into school yesterday!

As well as getting back into the swing of school, it's time for us to get back into the swing of inquiry this year! I am looking forward to seeing everyone on January 22! As a reminder, we'll meet in the Terrace Room at Norman Hall, but you should park at P.K. Yonge. Susan and I will meet you in the parking lot of PK, and Susan will drive the College of Education van from PK to the Terrace room at 8:55. I'll lead the folks who want to walk over at 8:50, so whether you are going to ride or walk, please plan to arrive between 8:45 and 8:50 at the P.K. parking lot so we can all be in the Terrace Room ready to go at 9!

This meeting will be important for all of us to get our inquiry momentum going, as well as discuss some very important details to the success of our work this year as well as in the future. We'll spend time getting updates on TNLI work, discuss showcase planning (there's some new things happening this year!), revisit our on-line community and have a discussion about where we are to head in the future (beyond this school year). Another reason this meeting will be important is that Sabrina Crosby has left NEFEC for a new position at Flagler County. We are happy for her and wish her well but will miss her leadership on this project. Brandy Arnold from NEFEC will be taking over where Sabrina left off, and I'm hopeful she'll be able to attend our meeting to meet everyone, and answer NEFEC related questions you may have about our work.

We'll revitalize the face-to-face component of our learning community of inquiry coaches on January 22, but in the meantime, it's important to revitalize our on-line learning community communications as we head into the new year. Therefore, I'd like everyone to post SOMETHING between now and our meeting on January 22nd. Any thought, reflection, comment, or response at all is fine for posting, but please do post SOMETHING! Some ideas you can pick from for those of you who like prompts:

Something I'm looking forward to when we meet on January 22 . . .

Something I'm wondering about my own inquiry this year is . . .

Somthing I've been thinking about regarding coaching inquiry is . . .

One idea for getting back into the swing of teaching and inquiry after the holiday break is . . .

Have a FANTASTIC couple weeks and I'll see you face-to-face on January 22 and in cyberspace sometime between now and then!!

-Nancy

Hi All -

I just received word from NEFEC that they'll fund up to three teachers (Travel, Registration, and Hotel) to participate in the National Staff Development Council Summer meeting to present our inquiry work! Mickie's on board -- I hope two more will volunteer!! You'd LOVE this conference! Let me know by Wednesday as I'll write our proposal on Thursday and it's due Friday! -Nancy