Vertical alignment department meeting agenda april 5

1. Vertical Alignment Department Meeting Agenda
April 5, 2019
Clearing Protocol (10 minutes):
On a blank piece of paper:
1) Of all the topics/texts/units you teach, which do you love
teaching the most? Why?
a) You can also consider this question by asking
yourself, which topics/texts/units have you had the
most success with and why?
2) What are you most worried about with Vertical Alignment?
AND/OR what questions do you have?
Notes:
Mission Statement Reading (1 minute):
Our mission is for students to fall in love with Language and Literature, and
use it as a powerful platforms to be critical of their world and take creative
risks, while confidentiality discovering and developing their own voices.
Norm Setting & The Room (3 minutes):
Other than the norms posted in the room, are there any more that
you want to add? Can we all agree to these norms?
Volunteers for scribing?
Today’s Work Overview (5 minutes):
Today we will be using the guided questions formed by the VA team
and myself, as well as some lenses we determined during our last
meeting
Brainstorm (60 minutes):
Guiding Questions:
- Which ​genres​ are we teaching?
- Which ​authors​ are we reading?
- What ​regions​ are our authors from? Can we make I&S
Connections?
- What L&L topics do we feel are so important to students’
emotional, intellectual and cultural development​ that they
must be taught between 6-12?
- What L&L topics do we feel are so important to students’
development as ​politically astute citizens​ that they must be
taught between 6-12?
- What L&L topics do we feel are so important to students’

2. media savvy ​that they must be taught between 6-12?
- Have we ​removed all repetition​ of L&L topics grades 6
through 12?
- Is the L&L content in all grades ​culturally responsive​? Can
all students ​see themselves ​in the content at some point
each school year?
- How does the L&L content line up with ​IB-related tasks
(Community Project, Personal Project, Extended Essay)?
Are there any other questions you think are important to ask?
If you get stuck on a text title, think to yourself -- what are the salient
features of that text that could be applied to other texts?
For example, ​Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun​ is an successful book to teach
because:
● It’s a memoir
● The author grew up in NYC
● The topics of family, violence, and childhood are addressed
in a new and engaging way
● It compliments discussion around race, manhood, and class
Prioritizing Protocol (20 minutes):
● You will each get 10 stickers. You are allowed a maximum of
3 stickers for each thing.
● You will walk up to the chart paper now and get the stickers.
Discuss:
● What surprised you about the top choices? What didn’t
surprise you? Where should these top choices live?
Mission Statement Reading (1 minute):
Our mission is for students to fall in love with Language and Literature, and
use it as a powerful platforms to be critical of their world and take creative
risks, while confidentiality discovering and developing their own voices.
Closing (5 minutes):
At the beginning of our time together, we determined what we loved
to teach and why we loved to teach it
● Where do you see your ​what​ and your ​why​ in the list?
● Where do you see our mission statement in the list?
● What are you hopeful about?
If necessary: What frustrated you about this process today? OR any
final notes to ht