I hope you enjoyed the snow days.  I know that I did.  Now, it is time to get back to the important work of supporting student success.

Prior to the snow break, I had the privilege of working with to MNPS teams--Learning Technology and the SE Quadrant Leadership.  During the two meetings, the collaborative inquiry process was used to facilitate discussion to dialogue to decision making.

To learn more about the work being done by both of these outstanding teams, click on the below links.

• Learning Technology: www.mnpscollaboration.org/mnps-learning-tech-jan-2018.html
• SE Quadrant Leadership: www.mnpscollaboration.org/mnps-se-quadrant-leadership-meeting-jan-2018.html

If you have a collaborative story to share or would like to request assistance, please contact Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

Drs. Erin Anderson and Craig Hammond have been part of the collaborative inquiry journey since 2014.  They were part of the initial workshops with Dr. Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman, helped inform the IC Map, and participated in the Spring 2016 and 2016-2017 Collaborative Inquiry Community of Practice.  It has been an honor having them part of our collaborative inquiry learning experience. 

Wishing you all the best in your new leadership positions.  I look forward to see how collaborative inquiry is used to inform your work.

On July 8, 2016, the JE Moss Elementary leadership team convened to begin the 2016-2017 SIP process.  The 3 ½ hour planning session was planned by Anthony Febles, executive principal, Ms. Abigail Reynolds, JE Moss’ SIP facilitator, and Margie Johnson, business intelligence coordinator.  The session was facilitated by Margie Johnson using the collaborative inquiry process from Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman.

 Activating and Engaging
The session began with the leadership team engaging in Looking Back and Looking Ahead.  Individually, they completed the chart about how teachers worked together when they were in school, how teachers work together now, and how they envision teachers working together.  After sharing in small groups, a whole group discussion compiled their multiple perspectives and great ideas.

Exploring and Discovering
Before establishing an SIP goal 5, the JE Moss leadership team made observations of multiple sources of data, including TELL survey, Teacher Attendance, and Teacher Retention data.  This phase of the process is all about going slow to go fast. During this phase of the process, small groups collaborated to take a deep dive into making observations only about the data.  They were to avoid making inferences and conclusions.  The pictures represent their observations from the multiple data sets.
 

Another exploring and discovering session we did was to take a look at core values.  We began by engaging in a Mountain and Valleys activity to identify personal values.  These values where then shared with the whole group.  A team values questionnaire was used to identify a rough draft of JE Moss’ core values.  The team decided to revisit and finalize the core values in the next leadership meeting.

Organizing and Integrating
Using the current vision and mission statements, the session ended with the JE Moss leadership team using the above data to inform the creation of revised Vision and Mission statements.  The below pictures represent each groups’ vision and mission statement. Again, the team decided to come back at a later date to finalize the statements.

Needless to say, JE Moss is well on their way to staring the 2016-2017 school year off with vision, mission, and core values, which will inform their SIP process.  I can’t wait to work with JE Moss again on July 25th to finalize this work and develop SIP goals for supporting student success.

If you would like to access the materials used for the meeting, please go to http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/je-moss-elementary-leadership-team-meeting.html

If you are interested in collaboration support, please feel free to contact Margie Johnson at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

On June 16, 2016, MNPS administrators participated in a data exploration where the collaborative inquiry process was modeled.  The purpose of the session was to model collaborative inquiry for facilitating a group data exploration about cultural issues throughout MNPS with the guiding question of "How can we unleash the power of data to foster a positive and purposeful learning culture throughout MNPS?"

Collaborative inquiry as defined by the MNPS Community of Practice is a data-based team process that consciously uses the collaborative learning cycle (activating and engaging, exploring and discovering, and organizing and integrating) and the qualities of effective groups (fostering a culture of trust, maintaining a clear focus, taking collective responsibility and data-informed decision-making).

To access the workshop materials and to see their observations and initial theories, go to http://www.mnpscollaboration.org/group-data-exploration-pli-2016.html.

I cannot wait to see how schools engage in collaborative inquiry during the 2016-2017 school year to support teacher and student success.

If there is anything I can do to assist and support you, please feel free to contact me at margie.johnson@mnps.org.

Happy Summer!