Entry #28: A rich conference
about teaching, learning and leading
On Wednesday afternoon I left my classroom to attend "Opening the Door:
Teaching, Learning and Leading in the New Millenium," a conference
in Chicago.
"Opening the Door" was sponsored by a coalition of organizations
and agencies involved in efforts to reform public education. The Chicago
Annenberg Challenge; Chicago Public Schools, Dept. of Special Initiatives;
Chicago State University, Center for Urban Research and Education, College
of Education; Coalition of Essential Schools - Chicago; University of Illinois
at Chicago, College of Education, Small Schools Workshop, Teacher Leadership
Academy and more, all came together to share their ideas and experience
about the use of peer coaching to improve student achievement.
The conference was attended by about 240 educators. The majority of the
participants were from the Chicago public schools, but I met people from
KY, MO, ID, FL and OH too.
Many conferences and seminars separate those attending by job classification,
and we often aren't even at the same meetings with administrators or district
level folks. "Opening the Door" was different. The organizers
of this initiative made a conscious decision to bring everyone in at the
same level. Our name tags had first names printed in a bold, large font
and our last names and organizations printed in small text.
I liked the philosophy of leveling the playing field , but as a facilitator,
I was a little worried about how the arrangement would work. I wasn't sure
if the conversations in our sessions would be honest and open. I was concerned
about some folks dominating and others receding into the background, but
it all worked out well.
My group was very mixed in terms of gender, race, age and experience. There
were folks who taught from pre-school through college, regular and special
ed. There were outside partners and administrators. We came from different
schools, different cities and different content areas.
In a number of instances, folks could only attend for part of the three-day
session. Despite all these "differences," it worked!
We set the tone in our "homerooms" by asking people to read, write
and share their ideas and values about the importance of building learning
communities. The ice breakers we used helped people to identify and appreciate
the working and learning styles of others in our group.
An effective team-building activity
In particular, we used one activity called "Compass Points" to
characterize our dominant style of work. This activity reminds me of the
Myers-Briggs personality test, but on a much more basic level.
Using North for those of us who dive in and tend to be task-oriented, East
for folks who see the big picture, South for those concerned about how the
process feels, and West for those who are very concerned with details, we
broke into self-selected groups.
Once we were with like-minded people, we began to discuss our strengths
and what others might see as our weaknesses. We also talked about the type(s)
of personalities with whom we found it difficult to team. Then we shared
what we thought others needed to know in order to team effectively with
us. When we reconvened as a large group, one representative from each style
reported out. Finally, we discussed the benefits of the activity for our
aspiring community.
During the debrief of this exercise we connected this work to our classrooms
and students. We thought aloud about the different styles at work among
our students and their need to better know themselves, and each other, to
work at their peak levels of efficiency.
Most of us shared that we had rarely engaged our students in these types
of activities and some folks made commitments to try this exercise out when
they got back to school.
As one who is by degrees a North and an East, I shared with the group that
I had lobbied to delete this activity during a planning discussion the previous
evening. In my all too predictable rush to ensure that we could fit everything
in during our tight time slots, I proposed that we skip this team building
tool.
My fellow facilitators all disagreed and I bowed to their collective wisdom.
However, I must admit at the start of Thursday's session, I was not convinced
that this tool was needed or terribly worthwhile for a group whose existence
would be so short-lived.
Boy, was I wrong! Compass Points got everybody up, moving and talking. It
set the stage for deeper discussions of democracy, equity and valuing diversity.
We had some honest talk about the difference between tolerating other peoples'
styles and recognizing their critical value.
In particular, the Northerners talked about how they often misread the West's
need for attention to detail as excuse-making or a delaying tactic. Had
we not engaged in this exercise, those feelings would have been played out,
unchecked.
As I read my groups' reflections after our first day's work, their appreciation
for this activity was unmistakable. I was struck by my awareness that if
I had been planning alone or with just my co-facilitator, this opportunity
to connect would have been lost.
I wonder how many similar opportunities I've missed, routinely rushing past
these team building exercises, with my impatience cloaked as my/our urgent
need to get to the "real" work.
I shared these realizations with my fellow facilitators on Thursday evening
and we decided that, paraphrasing the words of Gene Thompson-Grove of the
Annenberg Institute, that we really are smarter together than we ever are
alone.
Examining student work
We used many tools to examine student work in our two and one half days
together. We used the Tuning Protocol to look closely at work samples. We
used the Collaborative Assessment protocol to try and see one of my students
by examining her writing. Everyone at the conference used a Consultancy
Protocol in triads to hold organized, focused discussions about the dilemmas
which each member came prepared to share.
Our time together was packed. During our lunches, there were presenters
identified from among the participants who were willing to lead conversations
during our meal. Many folks opted to participate in these talks, while others
sat in less formal gatherings sharing questions about their sessions and
their experience.
There's lots more to say about the conference and my learnings there, but
I've already lost an hour due to the changing of the clocks, so I'd better
close here. Returning to school after any absence is always a bit unsettling.
I hope things went well while I was gone.
Maybe my kids will enjoy doing the "Compass Points" activity tomorrow.
When they come in after 100 minutes of testing, they're usually pretty wired
and so am I.
Stay tuned for more on the conference next week, including my reactions
to Geoffrey Canada's moving speech about the need for a peaceful army doing
battle to save our boys.
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