The view from where we are conducting our workshop. That is the Mediterranean Sea where it is warm enough to swim. The mountains through the haze have snow on them. You can ski in the AM and swim in the PM!
Today was the first day of our three-day training. In September we conducted the Part A of our training for three days with two groups of twenty each and now are conducting the Part B portion with another three days of training of the same people. Up until today we have been visiting teachers in their classroom and providing feedback on how they are using the SPEC (Student-centered, Problem-based, Experiential, Collaborative) approach in their classroom. The majority of them are doing a very good job, especially when you consider that they have only had three days of training. This morning, before we checked in with them we had them create rebus name tags. A REBUS name tag is a picture representation of the person's name. It was so much fun to see three different languages at work creating their Rebus'. Using English, Arabic, and French they were very creative in making their name tags. After the check in we put them through a challenge (lesson) where they shared in small groups what the highs and lows of their experiences have been so far and then they created an annotated "map" of their journey to share with the entire group. We also introduced the use of product exemplars to demonstrate how useful they can be in the classroom. In was a fun and very useful exercise. The debrief (based on the question, "what did you learn or relearn about SPEC/EBD?") was insightful. The teachers appreciated the opportunity to review the nuts and bolts of the approach which took the entire morning.
In the afternoon we put the students through a number of exercises to prepare them for the big challenge that we gave them later in the afternoon. We used the initiative game "Tower of Power" to explore process and the need for a process strategy. After the completion of that activity we gave them our "process strategy cards" which are eleven cards each containing a process strategy step. These strategy cards were developed by teachers in New England and found useful in planning large group problem solving. We asked the teachers to put them in an order that would work for them. They could discard some, add new ones, or use some as "wild cards". i.e., use them at any point in the process. They efficiently completed the task at which point my Lebanese teaching colleague provided them with a Knute Rockne caliber pep talk before handing them their big large-group challenge. They received it at 2:45 PM and have to present their findings to a outside panel at 11:00 AM tomorrow. It will be a hectic morning tomorrow but I am confident they can pull it off. They did an excellent job of "chunking" the challenge and determining the tasks to be completed and questions answered. They are fun group to work with and it is a real joy to work with them. My Lebanese colleagues Nawal and Maha are great and I am confident that they and their colleagues Nayla and Georgette will continue on with the work we have started.
Tonight was restful as we have no special work to prepare for tomorrow. I'll download today's photos and call it a night. Tomorrow is a different story. We'll be burning the midnight oil writing up observations and perhaps even preparing a PowerPoint presentation.
In the afternoon we put the students through a number of exercises to prepare them for the big challenge that we gave them later in the afternoon. We used the initiative game "Tower of Power" to explore process and the need for a process strategy. After the completion of that activity we gave them our "process strategy cards" which are eleven cards each containing a process strategy step. These strategy cards were developed by teachers in New England and found useful in planning large group problem solving. We asked the teachers to put them in an order that would work for them. They could discard some, add new ones, or use some as "wild cards". i.e., use them at any point in the process. They efficiently completed the task at which point my Lebanese teaching colleague provided them with a Knute Rockne caliber pep talk before handing them their big large-group challenge. They received it at 2:45 PM and have to present their findings to a outside panel at 11:00 AM tomorrow. It will be a hectic morning tomorrow but I am confident they can pull it off. They did an excellent job of "chunking" the challenge and determining the tasks to be completed and questions answered. They are fun group to work with and it is a real joy to work with them. My Lebanese colleagues Nawal and Maha are great and I am confident that they and their colleagues Nayla and Georgette will continue on with the work we have started.
Tonight was restful as we have no special work to prepare for tomorrow. I'll download today's photos and call it a night. Tomorrow is a different story. We'll be burning the midnight oil writing up observations and perhaps even preparing a PowerPoint presentation.
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