JIGSAW+Groups

__**Break Out Jig Saw: Upper School Conference Room**__ **Topic 1 How do we help each other out?** - keep it positive - can we clarify what this means? - be generous with your time - be open to new ideas - actually give the time – build into the schedule Ex’s dept. chair can cover classes for dept. members to develop initiatives Set aside time for sharing ideas (pedagogy, tech, content) - write proposals for curriculum work to be done in summer - remuneration for teachers who offer professional development instruction, rather than hiring externally - look for pro-D opportunities **Topic 2: Help from other disciplines?** - Establish a common language between diff. disciplines - Flexibility with unit sequences to match up to curricular needs, communication, pedagogical approaches, find opportunities to reinforce learning - mutual prioritization of STEMing our disciplines - thoughtful articulation of goals within departments and then collaborative time to work on mutually identified goals (rather than covering logistics) - positive language “oh I hated math when I was your age”

- small steps to enhance collegial collaboration and growth à don’t grow too fast, hand holding - professional development not tied into evaluation at most schools - where is the accountability for not meeting professional development goals?
 * Side topic ish**

- when you have an attractive program then other disciplines must be more innovative to keep students - try to coordinate what you are doing to match up common areas (coordination board in the staff room – jot down a topic, and other teachers might pick up on it) - visit other discipline classrooms – possibly team teach certain topics - invite colleagues into our classrooms - communicate genuine respect for and interest in what is going on in other disciplines - make transmission of info about our course/discipline easy for others to access
 * Topic: What can we do for other disciplines? **

- profession development tied to evaluation, transparent communication - prioritizing of STEM collaboration - curricular review (regular, rigorous, and ongoing) - teeth and accountability - mentoring of colleagues to build innovation - financial incentives for innovative teaching - time built into schedule
 * Topic: What admin support do we need? **

Audio files of discussion: Both files combined are about 40 minutes and are an unedited recording of the entire discussion. media type="file" key="STEMing part 1.mp3" media type="file" key="STEMing part 2.mp3"