Friday, October 29, 2010

Logic Models

The majority of this week I spent reading and re-reading the text of the grant.  My mission was to understand the goals, objectives and timeline of the next five years of the life of this grant.  Also, I spent time looking at various logic model examples, reading a chapter about how to write one, and participated in an online training on creating one.

After my head was full of both of these tasks and I received a pep talk from Julie, I set out to create my first set of logic models.  As of now I have the beginning of twelve different logic models on paper.  Next week I plan to get them up electronically so our team can look at them and add and detract from them as necessary so that these may become our working documents.

Another task of which I am in the midst is creating a progress report for our Dean on the TQP goals.  I have the information in a word notebook, now to just figure out the best way of representing it to pass on.

Two other documents I have worked to create are letters of recruitment for information and participation.  I am anxious for Mary and Nadene to have time to review them to see if I am even in the right place.

Dan has been busy working to create powerpoint slides for the five targeted audiences on our horizon.  He and I came up with some of the pertinent information from our meetings with Nadene and Mary and then he diligently went forward and created slides to match the content.

It has been a productive week and I am looking forward to the weekend.  Busy time for Tripoli Panther Fans and also a crazy time for me as Monday my child that started my motherhood becomes an adult . . . sigh . . . she wil be eighteen!

Monday, October 25, 2010

IACTE

 Last Thursday and Friday I attended the IACTE (Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education).  This was a new place for me to be but I was excited to walk into a room where although the context was new, I found two people I knew and even recognized a few familiar faces.  The people I already knew and were able to connect with were:  Cheryl (Budlong) O'Brien, one of my education professors and early mentors from Wartburg College, and Barb Ehlers, a good friend and ICEC Co-Chair now teaching at Upper Iowa University.  The familiar faces were from UNI and UIU but also a couple from my time at IMSEP in August and one from GWAEA/U of Iowa.

Friday morning's session was presented by Circe Stumbo (West Wind Education Policy, Inc) and Nadene Davidson.  They presented the Model Core Teaching Standards form InTASK (Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium).  I liked Nadene's comment that, this isn't just about tinkering or tweaking but rather a major systems change!  This has been a continual theme I have heard in education over the last two years and I am glad I had the opportunity to talk about second order change in Advanced Contemporary School Leadership last year at GWAEA (Thanks, Susan Leddick).

I sat at a table with the staff of three from Faith Baptist Bible College and a UNI colleage, Dianna Briggs.  She said something that really resonated with me and that I want to keep with me and share with  others.  We need to move beyond the sage on the stage and guide on the side to "Mentor in the Center".  Wow!

Perhaps most stimulating were the comments about public policy related to teacher standards.  In the national arena there is movement toward measuring "Teacher Effectiveness" (what the teacher can do) and beyond the traditional from NCLB, "Teacher Quality" (what the teacher knows).  So how do we measure teacher effectiveness?  Policy folks are tempted to take the student test scores (which are known to be valid & reliable) and connect these to teachers and then to take the teachers and make the connection to their teacher prep programs.  Or another option is the value-added models but the psychometrics aren't strong enough to differentiate the "middle" 80% of folks.  Currently Iowa is involved with the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium to determine achievement on Common Core . . . perhaps through authentic measures.

The afternoon I attended the session on Iowa Core and what is happening with Assessment for Learning.  Kris Kilibarda (Central College) hosted the session and invited Julie Hukee (AEA 11) and Sue Uppdegraff (AEA 1).  I was amazed to learn how few in IHE knew about the Characteristics of Effective Instruction.  The moodle site was introduced and there was emphatic emphasis on the urgency of getting the teacher prep programs and the AEA Iowa Core teams on the same page and in the same conversation.

This made me feel like I had a place and role to play . . . I sent off an email to my GWAEA friends and we have engaged in the conversation and will continue to do so~

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Today I attended the IACTE (Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education) Conference in Ames. Mary, Nadene, Sue & Mary Beth introduced the TQP project.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Orientation

Today was Orientation for new employees.  Evidently they hold these sessions once a month.  It just so happens that I have begun my position already on October 1.  And I have already needed to take emergency leave even though I didn't know how to account for it until now.  sigh~

The session began at 8 am and it went until 4:30.  Many different campus personalities arrived at various times during the day to tell about what was offered.  Highlights included two free tickets to a Gallagher Bluedorn performance and a free day pass to the Wellness Center!

Besides learning about various services we were also informed about our benefits (of which there are several) and vacation/holidays.  As an 11 month P&S faculty member I will need to work 208 days with 9 paid holidays.  Mostly I think I understand but there is much more to this than I figured.  The UNI website is rich with information if I only take the time to look.  Something particularly new to me is that I will need to fill out a monthly time card.  This time card is for us to indicate when we are not at work and to indicate the reason why.  I hope I remember to do this!

Lunch was on Human Resources.  We ate right in the Union which I hadn't done since 1990 when I think there was a Hardees to choose from.  Times have changed!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

State Leadership

Today I traveled to Des Moines for the State Leadership Team meetings.  This is a new format for the Department of Education.  I was encouraged to see pK-16 representation and hope this continues.

It was fun to walk in and see my Grant Wood colleagues seated together~both math and science.  I was able to pull up a chair and join them.  It was so good to see them again and to be able to share our thoughts and to catch up on projects.

Kevin Fangman, acting DoE director, opened the morning session.  He gave an over view of the Common Core which now becomes the Iowa Core following the recent adoption (translates to standards, word for word).  He was excited to have the inclusion of IHE at this meeting.  Another highlight of which he wanted us to all be aware was that Iowa is one of several states participating in an assessment consortium~more information to come as they develop.

He also was very impressed with New Tech High and their interdisciplinary approach and hopes that we consider this during our discussions.  He mentioned that he had seen them on Saturday at UNI!

The key difference between the Iowa Core an Common Core is that the Common Core is by grade sections and the Iowa Core is organized by grade clusters.  The key similarity is they are both a set of shared goals and expectations for student success.

The next session was on STEM education, facilitated by Jeff Weld.  A common thread for all STEM topics is that of the Inquiry Process.  One group offered the thought of whether STEM was exclusionary . . . for instance, what about the Arts?  I quipped that it could be STEAM.  The discussion turned to integration rather than splintering.  Following this was teaching literacy through science as the content and including problem solving and higher order thinking skills.   Jeff encouraged us to become a member of iowastem.org (currently a group of 70)

Some "take aways" for me today that parallel some of the thoughts that I have had for TQP:
  • Integration of PK-16
  • Change Process (Institutional Constraints fo Development)
  • Theory of Action/Logic Model
  • Statement made:  Iowa put a schoolhouse on our quarter, are we living up to it?  It made me ask, should we be?  Should we limit education to brick and mortar and the four walls of a classroom?  I think not and challenge us to go beyond the schoolhouse and value all forms of education.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Unexpected

My blog has been interrupted for an unexpected chain of events . . .

Ever since my childhood when my father took our family to Canada for summer vacation I have had an affinity for the North Woods.  So when my sister said she had the use of a cabin in Ely for the weekend, I decided to go and clear my mind and rejuvenate; leaving Friday evening after Austin's football game Megan, Conner, Kenny and I arrived at 3:30 am.  We enjoyed our time on the lake, near waterfalls, at the International Wolf Center evening feeding of the wolves and then the drive along the North Shore for Gooseberry Falls and smooth stone collecting.

As we neared the Iowa border I received a text from my mother saying, "I just had my chair break and my foot was under it and I cannot put any weight on it."  Calls to my daughter, Erica, and sister, Ally,  sent them to her house and found her crawling on the floor.  Ally took her to the ER around 8:30 pm while Erica and Austin watched Cameron and Cade til I arrived at 10 pm.  Her ankle turned out to be broken in three spots and she will have surgery on Wednesday.

So yesterday morning I attended our research meeting and took notes.  After that I spent the day with mom at the hospital making calls and being proactive about her care with my sister, Ally.

Today I have been at the hospital for a short time this morning and then I created a Google Site for me to keep track of details of our work and then have been grappling with the timeline and the concept of a logic model to organize our work.

I am going to close for today and go back to visit at the hospital.  I will hope to post again on Thursday and get back "on track" on Friday as long as all goes well for my mom . . .

Friday, October 8, 2010

Reading . . .

On Thursday I met with Jody Stone and we worked on a crosswalk between the Iowa Teaching Standards, the Iowa Core's Characteristics of Effective Instruction, and the AACTE Teaching Standards.  What interesting work.  We were not able to get very far partially due to time but also because of the rich discussion that engaged us.

I also spent some time getting to know Ksenia and Zeina.  K is from Russia and working on her EdD here in Curriculum and Instruction.  She had taught in an elementary school in Russia before coming here.  Z is from Lebanon (we had fun talking about Tripoli (ee) and Tripoli (la)).  She is working on her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology. 

Today I have been reading and continuing to wrap my mind around the tasks ahead.  And a friend from my summer after high school graduation and a parent from my years of teaching at Fredericksburg, Linda Rosulek, was walking through the hall and saw me and stopped in.  How fun to see her!

This afternoon UNI's College of Education is hosting a Leaders in Education Lecture Series in the Maucker Union, Old Central Ballroom.  Mary and Nadene have both been quite involved with the planning of this.  The featured keynote is Sharon Robinson who currently serves as the President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).  Her topic is "Envisioning a Premier Pre-K through 12 Teacher and Educational Leader Preparation Program: An Institutional Commitment".  I am excited to hear her and hopefully meet her as well.

Following her talk a reception is planned to welcome the new College of Education dean, Dr. Dwight C. Watson.

If you are in the area and have an interest in teacher preparation, please plan to join us from 3:30 until 6 pm.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

At the end of a full day . . .

As I sit at my desk looking out at campus I am amazed by the swarm of Asian beetles that have chosen to make our bank of windows their temporary home.  I only hope they don't find their way in!  The trees are taking on their autumn colors and the late-afternoon sun gives them great highlights.

This morning was filled with three meetings.  The first was a teleconference with our Iowa Department of Education representatives, Mary Beth and Sue.  Our task was to put together a half hour introductory session about the grant for the October 21 IACTE Conference in Ames.

As I was leaving my office to go to Bartlett Hall I noticed a woman coming down the hall looking at room numbers.  Soon I recognized her as Ana Housel, a friend from my graduate school days!  What a pleasure to see her again!  She had heard I was on campus and brought me an "office warming" gift of a plant.  This is the first time in many years I have had an office with sunlight to have a plant so it is very appropriate.  What a wonderful and thoughtful gift.  It sure looks nice, too.  Thank you, Ana!

Next I met with Christie in the Office of Sponsored Programs.  She also introduced me to some of her staff with which I will consult.  It is their role to assist with all the details of grant programs and it is here that I will turn with many of my early questions.  All I have to remember is 4-3-2-1. It is also here that it sunk in that my title "Program Manager" truly means that I am a manager. (A what?!  Celina, help!)  After hearing it described that way for the third time, an uneasy feeling came over me and I exclaimed, "but I am an educator".   Sigh.  Guess I will learn to be both.  Two books loaned to me to read are:  "You're in Charge-Now What?" and "The Accidental Leader". 

Then the rest of the TQP (Teacher Quality Partnership) Team (Mary, Nadene, Dan) joined me in a meeting at the Office of Sponsored Programs with Christie, Paul and Anita.  Here we talked about the Logic Model, using TQP to build capacity, operationalizing the elements of effective instruction, documenting our process, whether or not we will be at the table for TPAC, process evaluation, our elevator speech, PAIT, a potential Brown Bag Lunch, and using social media to stay transparent.

For the afternoon Dan and I worked on a visual way of making sense of the goals and objectives for the grant and I went over to get my UNI ID card.  On the way back I stopped in to talk with Jane and Beth from yesterday.  They both made me feel welcome to the campus and we have vowed to find time to have lunch soon.

My mind is full and there will be more to learn tomorrow~

Room with a View

As I hit the top of the stairs on the fifth floor I look out onto the campus, catching my breath, and check the time on the Campanile.  Then I round the corner into 525 where I am greeted to an office with windows!  In the Schindler Education Center (sort of a roundish square building with a strange room numbering system)these are high commodity spaces and I am thrilled to have the view.  From the far side of the office I can look west and get a view of the UNI Dome.  Oddly enough, there are people walking on top of it as I write.  I am told they are doing repairs . . . not the type of work I would want to do.  I wonder if they do windows though (the windows here on the 5th floor need washing!)  From my desk as I look out I am oriented toward the south and I see West Gym, the Curris Business Building, the Strayer-Wood Theater, the Communication Arts Center and the Kamerick Art Building.  It really is a great view!  If you are ever on campus, let me know or stop by.  My phone on campus is 319/273-7631.

Yesterday (I am still not "on" the date yet~the remodeling project at home has me displaced and staying at my mom's for a bit and just don't have it all together yet) I received my keys for my office and this building.  One small step at a time it is feeling like a new home.  I have a picture of the kids in here and one from Isle Royale but due to the remodeling project at home I still haven't found all my items to bring to personalize my space yet. . . that day will come.

Mary gave me a tour of the building (six floors and a basement) yesterday.  Not only was I able to meet some new folks but I was also able to get reaquainted with several from my past.  Most notably, a former roommate of mine from my short stint off-campus during my senior year at Wartburg (fall of 1985).  When Mary said Jane Bentley-Gadow, my jaw dropped.  Although Jane was in class with students, Mary could see the urgency in my eyes to reconnect with this piece of my past.  Jane instantly recognized me and we shared a hug and laughter for a brief moment before Mary and I continued on our way and allowed Jane to complete her work.  I look forward to popping in on her again today.

Barb Hill from Tripoli is also in the building; a friend from my days as naturalist in Pocahontas County is adjunct and a doctoral student, Beth Van Meeteren; Greg Stefanich and Linda McCartney are here from my days in graduate school; Linda Nebbe is just down the hall, whom I knew in my naturalist days as a rehabilitator; Lois Lindell is also here and I knew her from Wartburg as well.  So many new and familiar faces and all very welcoming.  And the package comes with a room with a view~life is good!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

More Clarity

October 4 we had a conference meeting via Polycom with the external review team from the University of Iowa.  Our team on-site included our researchers (4 of 5 available), Mary, Dan, and myself.  Nadene was in Washington DC for a P21 meeting.  We are also missing a Department of Education representative.  We will continue these meetings each Monday at 8 am.   Mid-December is our deadline to have a draft of the initial research findings compiled.

Then Mary sat with Dan and I and shared the vision, ideas, and questions as well as some direction for each of us in the coming days.  We may just be on the right path at the right time.  Energized by Mary's comment, "If we get this right, Iowa will be leading the nation."   WOW!

I also now have a new email address:  stacey.snyder@uni.edu

Saturday, October 2, 2010

In the Beginning . . .

Yesterday was my first day . . . I was able to meet all sorts of people~even the President!  The morning was spent on paperwork and purchasing a parking permit and beginning the long process of internet and email access (still none!)

Spent the afternoon reading through the actual grant itself to learn what it is we will be doing.  Entitled "State of Iowa Teacher Quality Partnership Program" submitted by State of Iowa Department of Education and participating entities: Iowa Department of Education, University of Northern Iowa, and Stanford University School Redesign Network.

Mission: to increase the learning and achievement of Iowa PK-12 students by continuously developing more highly effective teachers from pre-service through the entire teaching career.  A key innovation is development and implementation of an integrated technology platform to store digital artifacts documenting effective teaching.

Some key phrases from the grant:  universal design for learning, teacher work samples, communities of practice (collaborative teams), and Performance Assessment of Iowa Teachers (PAIT).

For more information please see our website at  www.uni.edu/tqp

Friday, October 1, 2010

Transition

My life isn't necessarily new to change or transition and I don't necessarily shy away from it but this change seems to be different for some reason.  As a friend said, it is "pivotal" . . . I like that. 

It is strange to me to leave a position that I truly loved.  It was the first time in my professional career where I truly felt I was a respected and valued member of a team.  Actually, more than one team.  The relationships created will stay with me forever.  Memories of thinking till my brain was numb, being energized by conversation, creating and innovating new ways of approaching work with schools and the synergy of sharing in the work of doing what's best for kids.

"Best for kids" is the only reason I am leaving . . . maybe it sounds ironic, but now I am talking about my own 3 kids.  Traveling to Grant Wood AEA would have me on the road 2.5 hours a day.  As another friend said, decisions about job changes made for family are never wrong.  With my new position that starts today at UNI I will only be gone from home for travel about an hour.  And the opportunities to work with both pre-service and in-service teachers on something that matters: quality teaching, seems like a great place to be.

So the new journey begins today with the support of my friends at Grant Wood AEA and a new sense of eagerness to meet the co-workers with which I will join on this five year venture through the $9 million dollar grant.  Here we go!

Thank you for opportunities and courage to try the unknown . . . where would our world be without people who ventured in these ways~