Entry One:
We have arrived! It was a long trip on Sunday - flying from Springfield to Chicago and then Chicago to New York City. Then there was the shuttle ride to New Haven, Connecticut. The School Development Program conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning! We will share some of the things we learned in the morning and afternoon sessions in our next journal entry!
Entry Two:
Today is Monday, the first day of the Yale School Development Program conference. Dr. James Comer shared some of his insights regarding the effects that a developmental perspective can have on the success of a student in school. He is publishing a book titled Leave No Child Behind. Dr. Fay E. Brown spoke about the Comer Model and the developmental pathways. Students from a local high school and a local middle school were part of a panel discussion regarding their school experiences. In the afternoon we all attended different breakout sessions. Last night we went to dinner at Jimmy's!
Entry Three:
Dr. San Goldstein was the keynote speaker on Tuesday morning. The title of his presentation was "Overcoming Underachieving: A New Model to Understand Children's School Problems." He shared research perspectives regarding how children learn and the skills required for school success. Dr. Goldstein developed a ten-block learning model divided into three levels: foundational blocks, processing blocks, and thinking blocks. He identified various learning skills related to each of the blocks. The main theme of the four afternoon workgroups was literacy. The guest speakers shared some great information and strategies. We spent an evening with Kylene Beers. It was great to have a one on one session with such an excellent speaker.
Entry Four:
Wednesday morning Dr. Fay E. Brown reviewed the SDP framework. She discussed the model of the SDP process. The three guiding principles are: consensus, collaboration, and no fault-problem solving. The three teams are: Parent Team; School Planning and Management Team (SPMT); and the Student and Staff Support Team (SSST); The three operations are: the Comprehensive School Plan; Staff Development; and Assessment and Modification. The foundation of the SDP program are the six developmental pathways: cognitive, language, psychological, physical, ethical, and social. The morning speakers, Terri Stern and Laura Fawcett, were from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The two areas of emphasis of the professional development at the museum are content and process which in turn increases teacher confidence, interest, and ability. They linked there information with the developmental pathways. The presenters brought six bioaction labs that can be taken directly into a classroom setting. The interactive segment included some terrific science activities that we completed at our assigned tables.
In the afternoon we had a field trip to the Yale Peabody Museum. Yale University busses transported us to the museum. Museum curators provided us with a guided tour of the facility. The displays ranged from dinosaurs to Egyptian mummies! A group of us braved the cold, snowy weather to tour the Yale campus (Yes, we enjoyed several inches of the white stuff! Who said Spring was around the corner?). A Yale freshman was our tour guide. She very knowledgeably shared some interesting factual information and legendary stories about Yale.
Entry Five:
Dr. Kathleen Butler was the Thursday keynote speaker. She shared information about her research into styles of learning and teaching. We used an instrument designed by Dr. Butler to identify our personal learning and teaching style. We then divided into groups with other individuals who had similar results and developed a presentation that demonstrated our interpretation of the analysis. The presentations ranged from role-playing to charts to sing-alongs!
In the afternoon workgroups focused on effective teaching strategies for math and numeracy. The breakout groups included: Teaching and Learning Mathematics: An Interactive, Manipulative Approach; Visualizing Algebra with Technology; and Family Math.
Entry Six:
Elaina McClure: Our final day at Yale was cold and snowy, but lots of fun! We prepared for the final presentation throughout the week, but the details really came together on Thursday night. After rehearsing we all went to our rooms to prepare our props and costumes. All of the munchkins (the seven Drury students) sat in our room and made lollipops, lion whiskers, and talked about the week. It was a really nice time to debrief and visit among one another. Friday morning because of the snow the conference organizers kept things very brief to allow the participants time to travel. The other presentations were really good. It was interesting to see what concepts and ideas different groups thought were most important. Our presentation was awesome; I was so proud and excited to be part of the Springfield group! Dorothy's voice was beautiful, the tin-man was hilarious, the cowardly lion was both scary and fearful, the power point was a great accompaniment, and everyone had so much fun. It really brought our group together and summarized the Comer Model and the School Development Program in a fun presentation. As we finished we received a standing ovation! It was so much fun! After the presentations we gathered our luggage, had a quick lunch and were off to Springfield . I think we all felt inspired by the week's events and excited to bring our new information back home.
Erin Shy: The final day was great! The main thing that stands out in my mind is #1 Snow Storm, #2 Big Breakfast, and #3 Our rendition of The Wizard of AHa's!!! We stole the show with our performance and really outdid ourselves. The last day seemed to be rushed because everyone was trying to head out early to catch their flights, but I think the different presentations were very beneficial to tie everything from the week back together in our own words. I have to say that I really enjoyed our trip to Yale, and I feel that I have a much better understanding of the Comer Process and how it is applied in different school districts and communities.
Jennifer Dodson : Thursday night we finalized all the details of our Wizard of Oz skit. We figured out who would do and say what and made all our props. The Pipkin music instructor did a great job planning a lot of it. On Friday, it was great to see all the groups demonstrate the things they had learned. Everyone was pretty creative, from doing a cookie recipe with ingredients representing the Comer elements, to making a puzzle of a child and discussing the pathways or "puzzle pieces" that need to be considered to address the whole child. When we did our Wizard of Oz skit, it was so much fun. Everyone did a great job, and I loved how we incorporated a lot of what we learned and everyone from Springfield participated. The rest of the people at the conference really liked it too- we received a standing ovation! As the conference came to an end, we found ourselves boarding the bus again to go home. We were a little worried about the weather at first because it was so snowy that morning, but there were no flight delays and we had a safe trip. The week was really great- I gained so much from it- but I think we were all glad to be back home after all that traveling.
Kristen Yelton: As we ran through a quick rehearsal on Thursday night I knew that we were going to blow the crowd away. So many creative minds together in one room could have been a complete disaster, but for us, it was simply perfect. Friday morning we woke up with great anticipation. Presentations from other groups seemed to be geared toward adults and administrators for the participants to show what they had learned throughout the week. I took great pride in being part of a group that had a presentation that could be used with students. After we were finished, we discussed how we could take this back and present it to each of the schools in our Comer partnership. I cannot wait until we are able to use some of the ideas that were generated during the process of creating our presentation.
Jody Huntsman: On Thursday evening we met as a group and practiced our skit for Friday. Everyone was excited about our performance and there were a lot of laughs shared during our rehearsal. The CAT team went back to our rooms and reflected over our week while creating lollipops for our “Comer-Land” portion of the Wizard of Oz skit. We each represented one of the six developmental pathways and each had a lollipop to hold while singing… “We represent the physical pathway, the cognitive pathway, the language pathway, the psychological pathway, the ethical pathway, the social pathway we wish to welcome you to Comer-Land!” It was quite entertaining. We then meet with Dr. Beach and Dr. Edmondson to eat at Louis Lounge, home of the first hamburger. Our meal was delicious; it reminded me of the hamburgers my grandma used to make for me when I was a child. After dinner we went to some local shops and headed back to the Omni. Once we got back to the hotel many of us began packing and getting ready for the next day. Friday started with an upscale breakfast buffet featuring french toast, eggs, sausage, the works. We filled out surveys over the conference and were given some time to say good-bye to those we met at Yale. After that time we got together with our home teams and began our skits. Our performance was a big hit, which received a standing ovation. It truly represented a culmination of the Comer process, developmental pathways, highlights of the conference (such as learning styles), and realities that face all educators. The best thing about it was that it was a way for our group, and all others for the matter, to express what we had learned in a fun and exciting manner!
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