At the heart of the philosophy of QHST are several key concepts. Structured SLC meetings, Critical Friends Groups (to those who are new to QHST we used to have these), Inclusive Mixed Ability Classrooms, Advisory/DEAR, three small learning communities, and supporting distributive leadership throughout the building are pillars in our school.
We just voted to continue having SLC meetings. We are staying the course.
But there is concern among some of the professionals in the building. Those voices need to be heard. Attempts at these conversation electronically have proved fruitful in the past.
"Maybe we need to have a conversation about why those 13 people wanted to do away with SLC meetings. " -Lori
"Good idea. I am curious as well and it may lead to changes in what is happening in SLC's that may not be considered beneficial." -Dierdre
Why are 13 fellow union members unhappy with our current structure? What are we doing to support these teachers? How might administration address this potentially philosophy changing vote in the future? How might QHST benefit from not having SLC meetings? How do SLC meetings change our practice as teachers?
Monday, June 09, 2008
Does QHST need SLC meetings?
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5 comments:
I don't think this is anything to overanalyze. I think it is plain and simple. Some people do not believe in the philosophy of this school, or some people did and with the growing number of unexpected changes believe that the philosophy has "flown out of the window."
It is important to acknowledge the fact that the other building who opened up with us "Law, Enforcement" something or other had the same philosophy but has gotten rid of DEAR, SLC's and ADV's. Their main complaint was scheduling. Very similar to our scheduling problems. Maybe people see the absence of SLC's as a start of re-structure?
it is not the nature of the slc that may be in question, but rather how we spend our time. some of us would like to see the time used to plan with our ctt partner to develop meaningful collabortive lessons.
SLC meetings are a great form of communication however we always forget about the paraprofessional who also plays a major role in the upkeep of the students. Maybe if they had the chance to touch base with their cohorts in an SLC and talk about students and modified lessons, we would have a complete communication base. Is there anyway that paras can be included in at least 1 SLC a week? They should not only attend faculity meetings, but a true SLC particularly during "Kid Talk"!
Signed the invisible ones.
Could SLC time be used to speak with Paraprofessionals and plan meaningful CTT lessons? How can we use our CTT time more effectivlely is a grat conversation.
Maybe if time were used in a more efficient manner thirteen people would not be suffering discontent.
I agree with Brown. How can we use SLC time more effeciantly? One suggestion is to dedicate one SLC per week for parent outreach. Calling a parent with the whole "team" is more effective than calling by yourself! As teachers, we can always use more parent contact for both positive and negative reasons. In fact one of the Dean's complaints is that NOT ENOUGH TEACHERS CALL HOME. Problem solved.
It also seems that CTT is a reacurring theme throughout the year. SLC should also be the perfect venue for this as well.
My frustration with SLC is that it is a place to discuss alot of ideas, none of which become reality.....acountability is key. How do we make ourselves accountable for the great ideas in which we develop?
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