session64

Susan Gunderman (sgunerman@comcast.net), Principal, & Mimi Dyer (mdyer@comcast.net), Magnet Coordinator, Kennesaw Mountain High School in Georgia July 1, 2007 Model Schools Conference 2007 – Washington D.C.

Kennesaw Mountain High School – Session 64

This multimedia presentation will chronicle the 2006-07 school year as teachers accepted the challenge of creating Quadrant D lessons within departmental collaborative groups. The journey, which incorporated staff development activities and collegial discussions across disciplines, concluded with a real-world application in a contest titled KM Idol. In this competition, juried by district-level personnel, each department submitted its best lesson. This presentation is designed for teachers and administrators who want to see how a multi-year commitment to the Rigor/Relevance Framework culminated in an exciting celebration of great teaching and learning.

Kennesaw Mountain High School in Cobb County, Georgia
 * 2nd largest school district in Georgia and 30th in the nation

The Journey Begins
 * 2000-2001 – KMHS opens, Dr. Daggett speaks to the new faculty
 * 2001-2002 – Rigor & Relevance handbook distributed to all faculty, collegial conversations begin
 * 2002-2003 – Helen Branigan conducts a Rigor & Relevance workshop with all faculty
 * 2003-2004 – KMHS creates its first D Quadrant lessons and is selected as a model school
 * Career tech and PE classes showcased the D quadrant – because those curricula were the most naturally relevant
 * Relationships added the following year

The road to D is a long and winding road, fraught with challenges and pitfalls throughout (possibility thinking)
 * 2007 – Destination G2G (good to great), mission statement

Good teaching and learning – R/R/R may be new terminology, but it is still foundational best practice, DI, MI, etc. Challenge is to bring the late adopters and resistant teachers (not everyone is getting to D at the same time and with the same level of proficiency and fluency) D quadrant Teacher of the Month award – students vote (students are vested in the process and understand the value of the style of instruction)

Staff development task for entire school year – create a D quadrant lesion and share with colleagues -not just understand, but actually produce Idea – record exemplars and make videos, blogs, and materials available to other teachers Staff development plan -Find your comfort zone – snack ‘n shares to learn tools (every Friday, teachers volunteer to teach their peers different skills, content, and/or practices) – empowered teachers -Work in collaborative groups (groups by planning period, subject, teaching team, etc.) – 1.5 hours/month and some entire work days (give you time and resources) -Develop a D quadrant lesson to deliver and share

Problem w/plan – overload of presentations (55 presentations in 3 months)

IDEA – Quadrant D Share Fairs (offer credit for teachers who participate as presenters or attendees), post materials and exemplars online

KM iDOL Survivors of the Academy Awards (application to showcase D Quadrant)
 * Incentives for participation in the contest – collaboration, creativity, support, money (for curricular materials)
 * Invited outside evaluators (district administrators and some stakeholders)
 * Judges needed training (engaged district administration in the process) – received a mini-lesson of R/R Framework, received copy of the framework w/action verbs, assessing rubric w/specific questions
 * The lessons were presented on video, in the auditorium, w/food, festive decorations, etc.
 * The competition was all about celebrating good teaching – slackers were uncomfortable

Next step – from theory to practice to culture