PowerPoint math cohort presentation (December 2013)

[Karl Romero]

Here you go!

[Karl Romero]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for sharing this good resource to everybody!

[Timothy Kim]

Ok, I know I'm being a little picky here but I like the idea of having a uniform mission statement and core values for the L4L math department to bring all our efforts together and even though this is not the right time for it, I just wanted to put my 2 cents in since we want to develop a dynamic and collaborative culture anyway so might as well apply it with the development of our mission statement and core values, right?
For the mission statement, I tried to keep all the content and message the same but just rearranged the wording a bit to tighten things up a bit but not sure if it works.
For the core values, I paired the original 10 listed into 5 pairs and it seemed that the original core values paired nicely combining 1/6, 2/7, 3/8, 4/10 & 5/9. I really did not think it was necessary to include the additional clarifications in parenthesis to explain what the core values were not so I left them out. If the wording in the core values were clear enough there should be no need to explain them further but not sure if my over-simplified version does the job.
See what you think, but I'm sure we will revisit this later when we have more time.

Revised Suggestion: Learn4Life Math Educator Mission Statement

Our Mission is to commit to the success of our students through collaborative design, implementation and enhancement of a personalized learning math program that provides relevant, conceptual and formative learning based on the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. We are dedicated to fostering a dynamic, data-driven culture encouraging academic growth through integration of individual learning styles in the way we teach, coach and mentor our students.

Revised Suggestion: 5 Core values

1.      1. Collaborative & Dynamic Culture

2.      2. Relevant & Data-Driven Instruction

3.      3. Academics Focused on Conceptual Growth

4.      4. Formative Teaching, Coaching and Mentoring

5.      5. Personalized Learning based on Individual Learning Styles

[Karl Romero]

Great job on making this revised statement and core values Tim! I encourage the other members to post comments and feedback. Hopefully during the January 2014 meeting we can finalize our mission statement and core values.

[Christy Knudsen]

The first thing that popped into my head was the word collaborative. From what I understood when Karl first presented, the word collaborative referred to us, teachers, working together to develop the curriculum. In the mission statement and the core values, I took the word as something the students are going to be doing. But I don't remember anyone saying that we are having the students work together. Unless I am miss understanding what is being stated, we might want to reword it all to mean that the teachers will be working together to develop the curricumlum.

[Karl Romero]

Thanks for the comment Christy! Any suggestions from the other members on how to reword it?

[Timothy Kim]

Personally for me, I think if we as teachers are collaborative it will naturally trickle down to our students being more collaborative with each other (even though it would be more of a challenge for our independent setting) and we as teachers can also be more collaborative with our students in terms of incorporating their work and perspectives to guiding and designing our curriculum to suit the student's needs.
Often times, I think as educators (I am guilty as charged) we forget to ask what our students want to see in their education. Granted, we cannot accommodate all input from our students but we were once and still will be students ourselves so it is always good to as educators to get different perspectives even if it is from a student.
I would like to keep the collaborative nature to be more inclusive to include collaboration with students as well even though it was originally intended for just teachers collaborating together.
What do you think?