Piney Branch Action Team

Warm & Welcoming Open House

2010-10-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

Piney Branch held its Open House on Monday, October 11th. The event was an opportunity for parents to see their children's classes in action. Also, it was yet another opportunity for the Action Team to put the Multicultural Criteria into practice. The Team primarily focused on taking steps to ensure that:

* The school fostered a warm and welcoming multicultural drop-in environment.

* Clear/transparent/consistent communication was provided between parents and other school stakeholders that was multiculturally sensitive.

Action Team projects included hanging posters announcing the event in apartment complexes surrounding the school. Parents were greeted in the school lobby by friendly patrols handing out school maps and Open House Tip Sheets for parents. The Tip Sheets were designed to help parents understand the purpose of the Open House and how to get the most from it.

Fifth grade student patrols were posted in the hallways as escorts to help guide parents to classrooms.

Parents were encouraged to provide Open House feedback via an Action Team-created survey. More than 70 parents expressed their views. School staff, the PTA and the Action Team will use the feedback to inform ongoing efforts to promote a thriving, multicultural Piney Branch!

PBAT Y2 Retreat

2010-10-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

The PBAT kicked off its second year of school transformation with a retreat on Saturday, October 9th. The team has grown to include new teachers and parents: Kathy Rutledge (paraeducator), Kerry Danner-McDonald (3rd grade parent), Kristen Dunlap (3rd grade teacher), Ally Zevin (PTA co-president), Tasha Winns (Speech/language specialist).

The retreat was a moment for relationship building, visioning, and strategic planning. The team spent the morning engaged in interactive exercises to help break down barriers and create connections. After lunch, we revisited the mission statement and began crafting operating principles to help give definition to the team. The draft principles include this suggestion from Ally: "It's the blending of our ideas that enables us to create the widest/best opportunities for parental involvement." Ken offered: "The members of the Action Team have found that by initially building personal relationships, we are able to more effectively blend our voices."

The end of the day was devoted to working on action projects that will impact Piney Branch's October 11th Open House. The team wants to encourage more families to attend the Open House and to have it be a more meaningful experience for parents and teachers. Look for a report on the projects in the next blog post.

Ken closed the retreat by sharing a poem that he was inspired to write during our day together. Enjoy!

End of the Year Reflections

2010-06-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello PBES parents, teachers, administrators, and students, Nora
Stephens here, Lanita's summer intern. I'm helping Lanita write a
final report for this pilot year of the Action Team and I want to hear
what you all have to say about it!

We're interested in what everyone thought were the original goals of
the program, if these goals were achieved, or if maybe they turned
into other goals. Did certain events make more of an impact than
others? What are some of your fondest memories of the year? Have any
of your opinions on the school system changed/stayed the same? What
recommendations would you have for others interested in being apart of
an Action Team at their school?

Please reply to whatever questions pop out at you and elaborate on
anything else you feel is relevant to the program. The more people
that reply, the more accurate our report will be, helping us to
possibly reach out to other schools and undoubtably make next year's
Action Team at PBES even more affective than it was this year.

thanks,
Nora

To comment to this blog all you have to do is click on COMMENTS below this entry and type whatever you feel appropriate!

Door Knocking Opens Hearts as well as Doors

2010-06-04T16:30:00.001-07:00

I participated in the Piney Branch Action Team (PBAT) door knocking, and much more than doors opened for my partner, Lanita and me. It didn't take long for us to connect to the tentative Sligo Elementary door openers. As soon as we introduced ourselves and shared our welcome to the Piney Branch School community, we became instant celebrities in the neighborhood. Children and family members gathered around us eager to introduce us to other families. We invited them all to the PTA event on June 3 and to tour the school. They asked lots of questions and were most excited about the swimming pool. I truly believe this very personal touch will make a difference in the transition for these families and their children to their new school in the fall. It was my first time as a door knocker and it will not be my last. I am sold on this very intimate way of connecting with others. And this personal touch reflects the spirit of the Piney Branch Action Team and the whole school community!

He's On Our Team!

2010-04-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

NAACP Principal of the Year

Piney Branch principal and Action Team member Bertram Generlette has been named by the NAACP as the 2010 Montgomery County Public Schools Principal of the Year! The award is given yearly to a county administrator who's shown an outstanding commitment to closing the achievement gap through programs designed to meet the academic and social needs of all students.

We believe that Bertram is truly deserving of this award. As an engaged and dedicated Action Team member, he has set a standard of commitment that's been a model for others.

The Action Team has been working hard to create a more inclusive school culture that works for everyone by:

>developing Multicultural Criteria that guide what a thriving multicultural school should look like and feel like,

>creating a more welcoming, multicultural environment at parent-teacher conferences,

>helping parents and teachers gain more from their time together during conferences,

>increasing awareness for parents about the MSA and the achievement gap,

>providing MSA test prep practice and materials for families,

>experiencing the two-way benefits of taking the school out into the community,

>modeling a new way of collaborating among diverse parents, teachers, and administrators.

Although the accomplishments of the Action Team have certainly been a "team" effort, the brave and whole-hearted participation of the school's leader (every step of the way) certainly helped to set the tone and create the environment necessary for getting the work done.

Bertram, congratulations and thank you!

To read more about Bertram Generlette and the NAACP award follow this link to the MCPS Bulletin :
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/bulletin/article.aspx?id=114512

Our Culture Is . . .

2010-04-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

Now this is a culture worth spreading!

The Action Team Culture is . . .

-speak what you feel

-have courageous conversations

-patient listening

-share your vision

-a sense of togetherness

-trust

-no fear, it's all good

-open horizons

-join humanity

-welcoming smiles

-commitment

-inclusiveness

-respect differences

Sharing the Story

2010-04-20T12:11:00.001-07:00

Want to hear Action Team members sharing their amazing projects with principals from other schools? Check out this clip.

On Thursday, April 15th Action Team members and IMPACT staff partnered to share the story of ongoing school transformation at Piney Branch Elementary School.

Listening to the story were administrators from six Montgomery County schools:

Richard Rhodes, Sligo Middle
Joe Rubens, Jr., Colonel E. Brooke Lee Middle
Ruth Green, John F. Kennedy High
Aara Davis-Jones, Georgian Forest Elementary
Adrienne Morrow, East Silver Spring Elementary
Carmen Van Zutphen, Bel Pre Elementary

Also in attendance was Bronda Mills, Community Superintendent of the Downcounty Consortium.

Chapter. 1 What Does IMPACT Do?

IMPACT Executive Director, Frankie Blackburn, began the story with the big picture. She explained the organization's mission as one of closing the gaps that often exist between diverse people--gaps that result in cultures that work for some to the exclusion of others.

How do you close those gaps? It often requires . . . change.

Chapt. 2 IMPACT's Theory of Transformation

IMPACT has been working in the community for years to bring about the kind of change (transformation) that results in neighborhoods, institutions, and organizations working equally well for everyone. Although the positive impact can be on entire systems, the "change" begins with individuals.

The story continued with the sharing of IMPACT's theory of transformation.

Chapter 3. Transforming a School

So, IMPACT took its Theory of Transformation and (in partnership with a courageous principal) decided to apply it to closing the achievement gap in one local elementary school. How did we do it?
By creating an Action Team that:

> Brought together 14 diverse parents, teachers, and administrators.

> Kicked off with intense relationship-building at an overnight retreat.

> Embarked on a 9-month journey of bi-weekly sessions facilitated to help team members:

- craft a new school vision,
- build relationships of trust,
- define multiculturalism,
- create safe spaces for difficult conversations,
- effectively move into action.

Chapter 4. A Happy Ending?

Yes, we have a story to tell, but it's not a fairy tale. The diverse school stakeholders on the Action Team are certainly modeling a new way of problem-solving in a multicultural environment. And, they are definitely initiating projects that will sustain change and honor the school's diversity. But, there is much work yet to be done. The Action Team will be continuing at Piney Branch for the 2010 - 2011 school year.

Keep following this blog to read the sequel and find out if this work moves beyond Piney Branch and into other school communities!

The Action Team in Pictures

2010-04-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

The school year is winding down and the pilot year of the Action Team is drawing to a close as well. Although perhaps our most ambitious project is ahead of us (more about that in a moment), we find ourselves in a reflective mood. During our most recent session, we took time to revisit the original program goals to determine just how well they've been met. Of course, this being the Action Team, we found a creative way to share our conclusions . . . through drawing. Below are the goals, the drawings created, and the ideas shared.

(1) Action Team members will increase their knowledge, skills, and awareness of their personal power and how to use it to effect change in the school community.

"WIth our newfound personal power we feel like the world is now open to us and we have the ability to make positive changes in it."

(2) Team members will have a deeper understanding of their own racial and cultural identities and how to work with others of diverse backgrounds.

"We can now see other races within ourselves. The picture also represents the transfor-
mation that we feel."

(3) Team members will create a new guiding vision and way of being within the school.

"This picture represents the school embracing families. The rainbow represents our new vision. All of the ideas in the rainbow have been a part of our projects."

(4) Team members will develop action projects to build toward the new vision.

"The ground is the community. IMPACT and the school are the strong stem. The projects emanate from the stem, supported by the ground. The projects have been helping the school grow into a limitless, positive (smiling question marks) multicultural (all the different colors) future."

Final Project (for this school year)

Action Team members brainstormed several fantastic ideas for the next and final project of this school year. Some of the suggestions included creating a family resource center at the school, increasing the amount and quality of volunteer opportunities for parents, and outfitting the school building with multi-lingual signage. Although Team members intend to pursue each of these actions in the future, it was decided that the next project should be welcoming the 60 new students to Piney Branch who will be coming to the school for the 2010 - 2011 school year because of re-drawn school boundaries. This is a big and potentially high impact project. Check back with us soon to find out how the planning is going!

The Action Team in ACTION!

2010-03-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3, Testing
MSA testing
Testing for racism, testing your patience
Shaping your experience
Your culture
A culture of racism, cultural or institutional
Testing our institutions, our resolve
Our children are testing
Our preferences, bias, and power
The power of a test
The racism of the test
Testing

--Ken, Action Team Member

Written after our last session during which we evaluated our MSA Night project through the lens of racism. Powerful conversation. Powerful poem.

Action Team members join with IMPACT's Neighbors Campaign volunteers to go door-knocking at Essex House apartments on Maple Avenue in Takoma Park. We knocked on 130 doors to share info and make connections with our neighbors living at the complex. We also invited residents to a Neighbors Exchange being held in their community room the following Tuesday.

The Neighbors Exchange at Essex House had record breaking attendance! Here, Ken (5th grade teacher at PBES and Action Team member) chats with a parent about the upcoming MSA. Ken staffed a resource table at the event.

MSA Night!

2010-02-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

By all accounts, the February 24th MSA Night event at Piney Branch Elementary School was a big success! MSA stands for the Maryland State Assessment—the state standardized test taken by 3rd through 8th graders. MSA Night provided an opportunity for parents and children to learn more about the test and gain tips for improving student achievement.

The large turnout (more than 100 parents and children!) showed that there was a high level of interest in the topic. The parent-child event brought out diverse families, with representation from just about every demographic group at the school.

The MSA Night event was a project developed and implemented by members of the Piney Branch Action Team. The MSA event embodied many of the Multicultural Criteria developed by the Team. It was an event that:
 Created trust and relationship building opportunities across cultures.
 Fostered a warm and welcoming multicultural drop-in environment.
 Encouraged passionate teaching, learning and parenting to support all cultures.

Action Team members thought long and hard about ways to make the event inviting and interesting to the multicultural school community. Amharic and Spanish translation were provided and handouts were offered in those languages as well. Childcare and dinner were provided. The test prep book used during the event was trimmed down to make it more accessible. An MSA Night information table was staffed by Action Team members during the previous night’s Black History Month event. Nine of the families engaged at that event came out the next night to the MSA event!

Principal Bertram Generlette began the evening with an overview of the MSA that included information about how the test is administered, what is covered, and statistics on Piney Branch’s performance. Also included in the overview was a discussion of the achievement gap and how it plays out related to the MSA.

One of the highlights of the evening was a segment called “Taste of the Test.” Ken Allen, a 5th grade science teacher and Action Team member, led the interactive session that had parents and kids working together to answer sample test questions. Ken had this to say about the segment:

“After I handed out the tests and explained what I wanted them to do, everyone got to work. Ten or fifteen minutes later I looked out over the parents and children and saw how hard they were all working. I commented to someone that this was the ‘perfect class’: a low murmur of conversation exactly on task. The conversation was going both ways: children explaining some things to their parents and parents encouraging and challenging their children. Perfect!”

The evening ended on a fun note as ESOL teacher Rachna Rikhye (also an Action Team member) raffled off prizes that parents could use at home to help children learn math skills. Kids enjoyed coming up front to receive clocks, measuring cups, tape measures, and cake pans. Action Team members hope that this event represents the first of what will become an annual school gathering.

Check out this video of what PBES parent Tina McGuire and Principal Generlette had to say about the event.

The Snow Can't Stop Our Momentum!

2010-02-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

Despite having to cancel two consecutive meetings because of snow, Action Team members were able to connect today to continue planning for the next round of action projects. Just how did we do that? Via conference call. Hurrah for technology!

Even though our last meeting was a distant three weeks ago on January 20th, Team members were able to quickly pick up where we'd left off. We'd already determined that our next round of projects would have an MSA (Maryland State Assessment) focus. Today we reached consensus on holding at least three MSA Night events--one at the school and two in the community (most likely at apartment complexes close to the school). Bertram suggested that February 24th would be a good date for the school event.

Why an MSA focus? Well, the Action Team's larger concentration is on student achievement and, as Jane put it, the MSA can be a big hurdle to that achievement. Vineda offered that the MSA is an interesting case study for our group's ongoing conversations about the achievement gap. Tebabu said that his assessment is that, "for immigrant parents the MSA is totally foreign to them." Lora offered that the MSA can be a mystery for many parents. One big goal of the MSA action projects is increasing parental awareness and empowerment.

Our next Action Team meeting is on Wednesday, February 17th. Prior to that meeting, Ray and Tebabu will develop action research questions that Team members can take out into the community to gather MSA feedback. Team members will be dividing into smaller groups to plan each of the MSA Night events. Undoubtedly the community feedback will be helpful to that planning.

There is much to be done in a very short period of time, but as the saying goes, "Many hands make light work."

Personal Thoughts About Joining the Piney Branch Action Team

2010-01-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

Joining the Action Team has been, for me personally, a surprisingly powerful experience. I strongly believe in making the world a better place, but I'm also an introvert, and trained as a scientist/computer programmer, so I gravitate to work that is solitary, and hope that others will be able to use what I produce in a good way. How to create change in a community setting, with all of the competing interests that implies, has always been a discouraging mystery to me.

The most important part of this experience for me was the retreat. To be honest, when I came to the retreat I was rather cautious, feeling that I wouldn't have anything to talk about for two days. The early conversations made me feel even more isolated, as it became clear that the group as a whole had a strong religious / spiritual foundation which I did not share. However, several of the sharing and trust building exercises helped me see the human experiences I had in common with people, and in the end I talked about non-belief with the entire group and found that it was not a barrier. This was a first for me, because in the I've never shared my atheism with a large group -- and usually I've only joined groups where non-belief is assumed (as in many scientific circles). It was also (literally) a frightening moment for me, as I'd slowly come to the conclusion that I actually wanted to be accepted by the group.

Often, living in Montgomery County, I feel like I'm walking back and forth on a daily basis between two different counties -- one very diverse community at Montgomery College and on the metrobus and at Action Team meetings, and a different and less diverse community at Girl Scouts and carpools and play dates and doctors' offices. Takoma Park is filled with people of good will, but good will without actual exposure and activity doesn't get you very far. It would be amazing to see the kinds of trust-building experiences we went through repeated on a smaller scale in, for example, the PTA, or among parents within homerooms.

I also feel that my ties to the school itself have been strengthened. Ten years ago, I pulled my two older children out of this same school after meeting with teachers and counselors, and I continued homeschooling them through graduation. I decided to try the school again with my daughter (now in third grade) but I was skeptical. When I found out about the Action Team, I decided to join partly to try to avert another meltdown. Hearing so much about the school and its efforts has certainly allayed many of my concerns, and knowing that the school administration is open to changes and improvements has been *hugely* important in helping me be more comfortable.

So, thank you everyone who has made this possible and participated along the way. Can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes...

Sharing With the Community

2010-01-18T08:26:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, January 7th Tebabu Assefa and Ken Allen spoke to members of the Piney Branch Elementary School PTA about their experiences as members of the Action Team. IMPACT staffer Lanita Whitehurst was on-hand to give background on both the organization and the program. Also there, lending moral support, were Action Team members Rachna Rikhye and Bertram Generlette.

This forum was a great opportunity to share with others what is happening with the Action Team. It was also a time to begin spreading the work and experiences to the larger school community. Action Team members extended an invitation to sign-up to be a part of the spring Action projects. That work will be kicking-off soon with even more members of the PBES community participating!

Thanks to PBES PTA co-presidents Ally Zevin and Adrienne Tilton for the opportunity to be a part of the meeting.

Check out this clip to hear Tebabu and Ken.

Bringing Multiculturalism to Life

2009-12-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

During the November 18th PBAT session, participants did a bit of exploration of the term "multicultural." The term is central to the Team's work of of creating a culture that more fully acknowledges, supports, and celebrates Piney Branch Elementary School's multicultural identity. Because of the significance of the word in our context, it's important to explore its various meanings and how it's understood by individual Team members.

One of the activites on the 18th had Team members collaborate to create three collages made up of pictures that, for individual Team members, represented the word “multicultural." This week’s session (December 2nd) had participants revisit those collages to gain a deeper understanding of the term.

With the three collages hanging on the wall, our facilitator, Kimberly, asked participants to choose one picture, word or phrase (in any of the collages) that spoke to them regarding the term “multicultural.” After the choices were made, Team members were then asked to try to embody the chosen picture, word or phrase--to actually bring the picture to life.

After warming-up a bit, each Team member took a turn sharing his or her choice from the collages by striking a pose that represented the picture. Although it was clearly often challenging to symbolize a picture or word with the body, participants were very creative and enjoyed the opportunity to breathe life into multiculturalism.

In addition to using their bodies for representation, Team members were asked to explain their choices. The conversation was rich and the ideas around defining multiculturalism were broad and imaginative. Here are a few highlights:

* I am The Gift of Transformation – I am for everyone. I can be messy and uncomfortable, but through me we all become more beautiful. Being able to change is a gift.

* I am Love – We must first love ourselves to love others. Recognize and accept your own prejudices first, and then you can accept others without hate.

* I am Embrace -- I am a woman of color who embraces her blackness, her physical features. Show children of color positive images that look like them in books, magazines, movies. Embrace differences.

* I am Hope and Resistance – We put up boundaries that we’re unwilling to cross, but if we can talk and expose our vulnerability, we can create balance.

* I am The Duality of Multiculturalism – The duality is in the essence and form. Embody by celebrating the form, but put trust in humanity. We are human beings at the core. Respect form and embrace others to strike balance.

* I am a Spigot – From the flow there is no change only added value. We do not change who we are, but we shine more brightly.

After the individual sharing, participants debriefed the exercise in large group. Bertram (PBES' principal) shared that he appreciated using this method to explore the definition of “multicultural.” Rather than trying to come up with a linear statement, this approach allowed for a more expansive meaning of the term to surface. Other Team members echoed his comment, saying that their understanding of the term had been enlarged.

Evaluating the Action Projects

2009-11-30T18:40:00.001-08:00

The Action Team met again on November 18th. This session took place after the long-awaited Piney Branch parent-teacher conferences. Those following this blog will remember that the Action Team developed and created action projects meant to enhance the conference experience for teachers and parents alike (see November 12th post).

With the action projects completed, the Team was in a celebratory mood and opened the session by sharing a giant chocolate chip cookie and conference day stories. Check out this video to hear Team members' thoughts on the projects and participation on the Action Team.

These parent-teacher conference projects are a pilot and are meant to help Team members hone their "moving into action" skills. During our debrief of the projects, we identified several lessons learned that should be helpful as we look to implement deeper and wider culture-shifting projects in the future. Here are a few of the learned lessons:

It is necessary to have the help of others outside the group.

For larger projects, we will need to allot much more time for planning.

For these types of projects which affect parents, kids and teachers, there needs to be complete transparency and open communication with all three before, during and after implementation.

In addition to the anecdotes shared about the projects, there was also sharing of hard data. One of the action projects was to create a parent evaluation that would measure the effectiveness of the projects on enhancing the conference experience. Here is an actual evaluation form:

Parents were asked to complete conference evaluations before leaving the building post-conference. In total, 107 parent evaluations were received--almost every parent attending a conference completed an evaluation form! The feedback on the projects was overwhelmingly positive. Here are the compiled evaluation results:

Did you get to review your child's report card before the conference?

97% did, 3% did not (their conferences were prior to the actual conference day)

One a scale from 1-5 (5 being very helpful), was it helpful to have the report card before the conference?

Average score: 4.6

Did you receive a conference planner via backpack mail?

80% did, 20% did not

On a scale from 1-5 (5 being very helpful) was the planner helpful to prepare for the conference?

Average score: 4

How would you rate the school environment on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the highest)?

Average score: 4.6

Action Projects in Pictures!

2009-11-12T15:28:00.001-08:00

Parent Teacher Conferences at PBES

Outside it was drizzling and cold, but inside it was warm and friendly. Yes, I'm talking about inside Piney Branch Elementary School! PBES held its parent-teacher conferences on the rainy days of November 11th and 12th.

If you've been following this blog, you know that the Piney Branch Action Team has been focused on these conferences for the past several weeks. The goal for Action Team members has been to come up with relatively simple, doable projects to help strengthen the parent-teacher relationship building component of conferences.

The Team developed projects that would help parents be more prepared for the conferences, feel more welcomed upon arrival at school, learn more about school staff, and evaluate the impact on conference experience of the different projects. Here are pictures from the two days. We'd love to hear what you think. Post a comment!

A family watches the video blog in the media center. The blog features school staff (teachers, administrators, paraeducators, office staff, specialists) sharing a bit about their personal lives. The blog is meant to help parents make personal connections to teachers.

A parent receives her child's report card before going into the parent-teacher conference. This is a change from the past when parents received report cards during the conference. This gives parents a bit of time to process their child's performance prior to going into the conference. This should help foster a more productive conversation between parent and teacher.

Piney Branch principal Mr. Generlette poses with a family post-conference.

Lora offers a conference evaluation form to a parent. Evaluations were designed to gauge the impact of Action Team projects on parents' conference experience. Action Team members will review the feedback from these evaluations.

Tebabu acts as the Piney Branch Action Team ambassador. He was in the school lobby both days to engage parents--sharing with them information on the conferences and the Action Team.

Cathy and Tracey set-up a hospitality table full of international goodies while a teacher helps himself.

Janice turns in her evaluation form along with many other parents.

Cathy had students in after-care make a poster for the lobby. They did a great job!

The Many Hats @ PBES

2009-11-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

The Action Team met on Wednesday, November 4th for another great session. Team members were treated to a presentation from Piney Branch principal Bertram Generlette.

Lots of Hats Working for Good

Bertram opened the presentation by asking Team members to choose a number from 1 to 16. Beforehand each number had been assigned the name of a school stakeholder—i.e. teacher, student, parent of a GT student, university partner, team leader, PTA president, etc.

Team members then wrote the name of their assigned stakeholder onto a newspaper hat. By putting on the hat, participants took on that persona. Bertram then began to share a bit about the make-up and work of each school improvement team. The list of teams included:

(1) The Core team, (2) Professional Learning Community Institute, (3) Instructional Focus Team, (4) PTA, (5) School Improvement Team, and (6) Piney Branch Action Team.

When explaining the make-up of the team, Bertram had each “stakeholder” come into the middle of the room. It was a great way to visually understand who is on each team.

Team Blogging

Those following this blog should soon see that many members of the PBAT are posting to it. That's because Team members have decided to adopt a team blogging approach to broadcasting the work of the Action Team.

We've decided on this approach for a couple of reasons. Team blogging should help to ensure that the content of the blog stays pretty fresh. It will help to build even more collaboration within our Team. And lastly, the hope is that that spirit of collaboration will spread out to the larger community.

We're excited about the work that we're doing and we want people to know about it. Team blogging allows us each to share information, opinions and revelations in a way that is easy and has almost endless reach.

How Are the Projects Going?

Parent-teacher conferences are this week! What's the progress on the action projects?

*We are partnering with the PTA to set-up a hospitality table that will be at the conferences. It will have multicultural goodies and "peace offering" cards. PBAT members will be manning the table to answer questions about the Action Team and to offer general assistance.

*A Parent-Teacher Conference Planner went home with kids on Tuesday. The planner gives tips and offers questions for parents to consider as they prepare to meet with teachers. The handout will also be available on the day of the conferences for parents who are there early and have not had a chance to review it.

*Arrangements have been made to have report cards copied and handed out as parents enter the school. In the past, parents were handed report cards once they arrived at the conference—this didn’t give them much time to process the information and formulate questions. Paraeducators will be helping to distribute the report cards.

*All of the classroom teachers have been “flipped” and the remaining staff will be filmed on Thursday. A member of IMPACT's staff has offered to edit the video. The video (which is meant to provide an opportunity for parents to get to know teachers on a personal level) will be burned to DVD and shown throughout the building on several TVs.

*We have one team member who will serve as a multicultural guide. He will be on-hand in the lobby of the school to engage and guide immigrant parents who are new to the conferences. He suggested that he would like to wear a button announcing that he is a Piney Branch Action Team Ambassador.

*The PBES assistant principal will work on creating a parent evaluation that will be given out in the lobby. The evaluation will try to measure the positive effectiveness of the PBAT actions on parents' conference experience.

Team members have been working hard to make these projects happen. We hope that they will help to make the PBES parent-teacher conferences more meaningful for parents and teachers.

Conferences are November 11th and 12th.

Check back in with the blog to find out how things go!!!

2009-11-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

Put on a Hat

Which hat are you wearing today?
The children achieve, you say
parents receive the news
I'm relieved he's doing well
Young man, do not try to deceive me.
Take off you hat and look at me.
How well do you do this dance
of learning and growing,
independence and showing,
Of parenting, teaching, and organizing.
I take off my hat to you.

This poem started with this week's spelling list which was all ie/ei words. The hats made it easy to get the image. And we had to line up according to how well we dance. So it almost wrote itself. Thanks for the inspiration.

Video Blog

2009-11-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

Our action team is creating a video blog for teachers and staff at PBES to share information about themselves with the PBES community. Short video clips of staff were recorded and will be available to view during the parent-teacher conferences. Staff were asked to share information about themselves to provide more personal knowledge of their lives to help parents and families build connections with staff.

ACTION FOCUS: Parent-Teacher Conferences

2009-10-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

The Piney Branch Action Team met for it's third session on Wednesday, Oct. 21. As always, there was amazing energy in the room. Parents and teachers came together to continue the conversation about parent-teacher conferences at the school. Team members shared the findings of their action research.

What is Action Research?

Well, in this case, action research is a way to discover what parents, school staff, and children think of parent-teacher conferences. PBAT participants went out in the school community to hear about the joys, fears, and uncertainties that surround these conferences. Each Team member reported out on his or her findings. It was great to hear from teachers who'd interviewed students, parents who'd interviewed other parents, and administrators who'd interviewed both students and teachers. The thoughts were captured on flipchart and will inform not only the action ideas for improving parent-teacher conferences, but also the ongoing work of the Team.

Additional Voices

John Landesman (Coordinator of MCPS’ Study Circles Program) joined us to share information on parent-teacher conferences from the county perspective. John answered Team members' questions like, "Why are conferences 20 minutes long?" and "Why aren't full school days devoted to conferences?" He also shared a handout being used by some schools called Planning for the Conference. The document is a guide to help parents prepare for their teacher meetings.

John gave exmaples of specific projects happening at other schools around parent-teacher conferences. He shared the story of a school that created a “buddy” program that pairs new parents with veterans to help walk them through the conference process. John also offered his ideas on how schools can successfully carry out such action projects:

(1) Take small steps,

(2) Evaluate things as you go, and

(3) Comeback and reflect on what you’ve done.

What's Next?

Team members have formed four sub-groups to work on ideas for enhancing parent-teacher conferences. I won't describe the projects here--I'll let individual teams post to this blog about their projects. But, I will say that even though the projects are each very different in nature, they all are intended to help build stronger parent-teacher relationships through the conference experience.

Check back in to this blog soon to get project descriptions and progress reports!

Get Up!

2009-10-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Action Team met for its first "work" session on Wednesday, Sept. 30th. One of the big goals for the evening was to create a feeling of inclusion. Because not all of the Team members had been able to attend the retreat, there was a bit of an "us" and "them" dynamic developing. A lot of great personal sharing and relationship building had taken place at the retreat that we wanted to try to replicate, in some small way, for those not there.

We started off the evening with line dancing. Yes, line dancing. Thanks to a fabulous a cappella rendition of Bob Marley's Is This Love by Ray Moreno, we were able to share line dancing steps that we learned at the retreat. Maybe it wasn't pretty, but it was fun!

We got a little bit more serious with a socio-drama activity that allowed us to get all of the feelings out on the table from those in attendance at the retreat and those not. This created a really authentic coming together moment that was cemented by having retreat attendees share their recollections of the retreat experience and what made it special to them.

We also started taking some first steps into the visioning process with an exploration of the diversity-based approach to problem-solving. We'll be using this approach as a framework for visioning and ultimately moving into action. The diversity-based approach asks us to look at our assumptions and then ask ourselves what is really going on before trying to tackle tough problems. There's a lot more deep work to be done here (personally, relationally, culturally), but this framework offers a good grounding.

When I got home after the session, I found an e-mail in my "in" box from Team member Ken Allen (a fifth grade teacher). The e-mail was titled "Response to this Evening." To my surprise and delight the e-mail contained a poem that I think summed up the evening quite nicely. Enjoy!

Get Up!

Ray sings, Scott leads,

We step to Bob Marley toward perfection.

The group regrows, solidifies, and stretches

to the beat of optimism.

Questions are posed, chances taken,

Courage is needed to keep

moving together.

Paint the halls, decorate the entrance

Now invite everyone into

the chorus line of dreams for our children.

This is our vision, an invitation,

a decision

to dance as one.

Add a twirl, a flourish of creativity,

that will warm the school

for our families.

Now get up.

PBAT Retreat

2009-10-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

The Piney Branch Action Team is made up of diverse parents, teachers and administrators from Takoma Park's Piney Branch Elementary School. Team members have come together to embark on a nine-month journey of self-discovery, team building, cultural awareness, visioning, and acting. The goal of the program is to create a community-owned culture that supports and celebrates Piney Branch's multicultural identity.

The program kicked off on September 25th with an overnight retreat at the Smith Center in Rockville, Maryland. MCPS Community Superintendent Bronda Mills joined the group for the opening session. She started the evening by sharing her personal story and why she believes the work of the Action Team is important. Piney Branch's principal, Bertram Generlette also attended the opening session of the retreat. He is a member of the Team and will be on the school-year long journey as well.

Team members spent a day and a half getting to know themselves and each other better through group discussions, sociometric exercises, physical activities, and just hanging out together. Personal awareness and relationships of trust are essential to working together effectively as a group. Time was also spent on beginning the visioning process that will ultimately guide the actions of Team members.

By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around the disparate group of parents, teachers and administrators were exhausted, but more closely bound together. One parent commented that normally she was an introvert who met one new person a year, but because of the retreat she'd managed to make eleven new friends in one weekend!

The first Piney Branch Action Team work session is scheduled for Wednesday, September 30th. Team members will meet every other week for the next several months. Stay tuned for updates on their work to create a more inclusive, celebratory culture at Piney Branch.