Fall+08+Retreat

// Focus: Understanding ourselves and our students as learners  // Objective: Create a visual representation of faculty/staff skills in a variety of areas while whetting appetites for what is to come at the retreat. Plan: Three IOI team members will hold cards to create a continuum across the meeting room. ·  Card One reads: I haven’t got a clue. ·  Card Two reads: I know a little bit, but I would like to know more. ·  Card Three reads: I am pretty proficient. In fact, I could probably teach others. A fourth IOI team member will introduce the activity by describing its purpose. The person will read the following terms: ·  Differentiated Instruction ·  You Tube ·  TeacherTube ·  Animoto ·  Diigo ·  De.li.cious ·  Twitter ·  Ning ·  Wikis ·  iTunes ·  blogs ·  Flock ·  Facebook ·  Wii ·  Web 2.0 ·  Executive Functions ·  Brain based teaching/learning ·  Gender differences ·  Diversity ·  Service Learning ·  Sustainability ·  Wellness ·  Sensory Integration ·  Kids and Medication ·  Global Studies ·  Whiteboards ·  E-Books ·  Distance Education ·  Gaming Faculty and staff will place themselves along the continuum and observe where others are. IOI members might point out some significant observations. They will remind other faculty and staff to make note of who knows what as a possible resource. Close by letting them know that we are focusing on ourselves and students as learners in the 21st century. We are excited to have them fully engaged in our upcoming retreat. It might be helpful to ask at this point for everyone to make an effort to think about how they are learning and how their students are learning between the meeting and the retreat. This might provide some valuable input as we meet. As people enter the room, they will be given a colored strip of paper (Gillian will collect these from scraps during the first few days of school). Some number (10?) of tables will be set up with the following items (certainly can be adjusted): ·  Computer ·  Calculator ·  Books – random ·  Popsicle sticks ·  Cotton Balls ·  Clay ·  Glue ·  Thumbtacks ·  Rocks ·  Sticks ·  Leaves ·  Construction Paper ·  Markers ·  Legos I know we talked about having the groups create a specific something. I have been struggling to find something that I think is appropriately connected to what we are doing. I thought it might be a good idea to have the groups identify the greatest difficulty they have understanding/reaching /teaching their students and then create some type of device to improve/fix the situation. For example, a group might define the biggest problem as meeting needs of diverse learners. They might create the ‘brain scan printer’ comprised of some popsicle sticks, legos and a computer. The device scans the students’ brains to determine exactly what they need as learners and it prints a teaching ‘prescription’ for educators and even at home version for parents. This way, we get people thinking about learners and using their learning skills to create something that doesn’t exist
 * __ IOI Retreat 2008-2009 School Year  __**
 * __ Full Faculty meeting prior to retreat __**
 * Geocaching
 * __ Hands-on event to kick off retreat __**