Jigsaw+Groups+2009

STEM department vs discipline-specific departments

unsettling, large department

like the idea b/c sometimes the more innovative teachers in a department are NOT the department chair, so there would be protected time for those teachers to collaborate and share ideas

How can we align the curricula better but work in departments first. Have more members of our STEM departments come here. Collaboration requires additional time- Middle school has it easy because of grade level meetings Trying to get high school teachers together would only be in the summer a **study grant** How would you visualize the STEM Department- You would need STEM co-ordinator At first it would be all gung ho We need a task force, coordinator or chair to begin conversation across disciplines We need to move faster than a task force. We need to act- action points. We just need to do it. Take the action Science and Math need to **collaborate** In lower school we talk a bit more. Do you have people who are not willing to jump on this train? Train is leaving the station. No question that energy fades. Combination courses **Nature of Light** :English and Physics Kids compartmentalize- we Have you looked at Curriculum Mapping? Official collaboration - more informal discussions thats read in common. Hard to get teachers to change their book from "Anne Frank" to "Black Cloud" Anybody have successful inter disciplinary courses ? Not a STEM department but collaboration. Have a coordinator. It would be given to an administrator or release a teacher. Good to know that you don't know everything. We need to do research call on experts. Questions for **Biology** should be talking to. **Communication. Informally** They will get their licenses before they take High School Physics so I, as a middle school teacher, want them to understand the physics of driving those big cars around.
 * Engineering Room Group**
 * attrition?
 * expose reluctant teachers to conference and they might change
 * heads of middle and lower school are missing from this Think Tank comes from up here
 * Mythbusters** as combining Math Science and Engineering
 * we did it within our department it took a lot of work ( like a bill and a compromise bill!)
 * kids don't see the connections naturally
 * vocabulary is often height X base, vs. height x length X width.
 * we don't get results from it. It just sits on a server somewhere.
 * face to face talking maps worked.
 * It's when you do it at the end of the year. Record of what you did rather than a dynamic document as we plan.
 * have in-service time for curriculum reflection & planning. Cross divisional meetings right after school
 * Visit classes cross division. Our lower school is a different world.
 * It worked having 2 administrators teach it they had more flexible schedule
 * english history combo class co-teach 2 blocks 80 minutes. Takes extra **time** to collaborate
 * Different ways of seeing between the teachers
 * Sometimes you need a right person who can be a crossover teacher so it impacts hiring
 * Have people visit each others classes.
 * Conclusion:**
 * Collect data -Math
 * Statistics
 * Modelling with Excel
 * Ethics - Humanities
 * Professional communities on every Friday Morning. PLCs The girls have study hall with the after care people.

Patton Lobby Group** Just a new name? Advantage to a network – online Older teachers – retraining End goal? Transfer knowledge – application of knowledge Connect the pieces Do project within a particular class essentially incorporates STEM Loss of the Renaissance “man” - person - STEM department could facilitate Use Technology – after hours communication would help Time constraints Sounds like a good idea – logistics? Framework that will make this work? Will administrators yield time? Interpersonal skills between teachers? Necessary to facilitate interactions. More relevant to US students – need a certain amount of basic knowledge Robotics programs that incorporate teachers from all STEM disciplines – Deborah - a good example! Teachers who are willing to trade regular class time for collaboration time

Should we have STEM “departments” in our schools instead of discipline specific departments? What are the pros/cons of this idea? Pros:  Cons:
 * Upper School Conference Room**
 * Brings power to cross curricular expansion
 * Allow a chance to really look at curriculum mapping
 * Need a time to make this happen on a regular basis
 * Maybe a STEM Dean to lead this type of charge
 * Break out sessions with specific people in specific areas
 * More meetings
 * One more thing for me to do…
 * I already don’t have enough time.

Could this help move conversations forward within our schools? Yes. How would you present the idea of a unified department to your home school? We think that we could combine a STEM (using Science, Tech, Math) as a meeting group. To combat the "too many meetings" situation we would want to use an existing meeting a month and add a STEM meeting as a replacement (not on a Friday afternoon). This would free them up from one obligation and give them the necessary time to get together and address this issue. Focused time on STEM and THEIR curriculum. Also, the humanities would have the same opportunity to discuss cross curricular things for their departments... So there is equal opportunity to accomplish cross, dare I say, curriculum mapping? There may be a need for a Humanities Dean and a STEM Dean. These two individuals can be head person for keeping the meetings focused but also be the head persons to find outside opportunities. We believe there need to have a tech evaluation or “level” that we now that each class would have. IE. Freshman can create movies and know Excel… Sophomore’s… That way teachers would know where the students are and be able to plan better for what application may need to be integrated into their classes and taught instead of knowing what the students should be equipped with. A scope and sequence on grade level for learning technology.

???? How can we bring an online course or a way to use online for professional development?