2008+-+2009+Discussions

=Weekly Meetings - Each Monday at 3:30 = =NEW BUSINESS= LG: I wanted to let you all know I asked Craig about the CC..he said that all the projectors for the smartboards will be changed out and new ones added for the CC ...he coldn't give me any date or much info on if this was in house cc or what so stay tuned. All new smartboards will have the correct projectors for CC. Okay...just a quick note for those that are posting...I am SOOO excited about what we are doing....lets show Key what "Rigor" is about...right girls? Laurie
 * 1) Please prioritize topics for discussion (see next bold section) and respond by email to ewhiteside@mcsdga.net before 3/2/09. I will compile responses and we can decide order of discussion on 3/2.
 * 2) What do you think of this idea: Work smarter, not harder? Instead of each group member researching all topics, we could each pick a topic of interest to specialize in and research in depth. For example, I could select "vocabulary lists", research it, post links on a page for vocabulary lists on this wiki, and add my own thoughts to the page. Other members could read what I have found, as they are interested. They could add to my resources, comment on my thoughts, add their own thoughts directly to the page I created. Then, according to the order of priority that we have determined (see item 1 above), we can add that topic to the agenda and discuss on that date. I went ahead and set up pages for each topic. If we don't decide to parcel out assigned areas individually, we will still have the organizational structure set-up for adding resources.

= = =Topics of Discussion= EW: I really like the idea of finding grade level planning time for this and other administrative discussions. That way, we can continue to use our Monday meetings for enrichment. We definitely need time to address department operational issues (scheduling students and interpreters, FTE and IDEA issues, etc.), but if we use Mondays to for those discussions, we'll never realize our vision of exploring new ideas for instruction and learning. EW: I definitely like the idea of shared resources. I wonder if a virtual inventory might work as well as a physical inventory. I created a page (Resource Inventory - linked on navigation panel) here on this wiki so that we can give it a try: list resources, descriptions, locations. LG: Could we add another topic..correct use of interpreters (substantiated by email we received for sp.ed. this week ..Tiffany, I think you sent an email out regarding this too). Re: not for students that don't need sign language-they can get sp.ed parapros per IEP, no office help, no sub teaching for teachers (reg. ed or deaf ed.)..try to make appt. after school if possible...I just want to do legally what is right and have the days flow better as much as possible...sorry if this sounds like a gripe. Any thoughts?
 * 1) Literacy for Young Deaf/Hard of Hearing Students
 * 2) Uniformity of Signs among staff to support language development
 * 3) Basic Vocabulary Lists - Prioritized
 * 4) Educating Parents
 * 5) Co-teaching issues
 * 6) Faculty staff development
 * 7) Technology (closed captioning, video, videocasts)
 * 8) Instructional Materials and Methods (Fairview Learning and Visual Phonics are two that we have expressed interest in)
 * 9) Discuss possible scenarios for students next year ( we may want to discuss talking about this at a designated time ..perhaps early release but we know how that goes or seeing if Mrs.Hart will allow a special "grade level planning time" similar to all the reg. ed grade level planning time so we will not have to stay after school so late...any ideas???? We may have to get creative with this or think outside the box if you know what I mean. Let's don't kid ourselves...this may be a long discussion as some of you may agree and we need to plan accordingly if it's afterschool or during school hours.
 * 1) Also, for further thought...perhaps we could consider pooling our resources and share what is working and our ideas with each other and pool resources(sort of like a hearing impaired resource room..or closet) and use it sort of as needed like a library or resource center. We all have resources we use and order and some may be in our rooms not being used at the time for various reasons. We could discuss pooling teacher resources since 5 heads are better than one (Emily..i know your case may be different with speech resources but technology aid would be beneficial as well)


 * ==TOPIC== ||  ||
 * Literacy for D/HH Students ||  ||
 * Uniformity of Signs ||  ||
 * Basic Vocabulary Lists ||  ||
 * Educating Parents ||  ||
 * Co-teaching issues ||  ||
 * Faculty staff development ||  ||
 * Technology (closed captioning, video, videocasts) ||  ||
 * Instructional Materials and Methods ||  ||
 * Grade Level Planning - could this be discussed at a different time - not Mondays. ||  ||

=Agenda/Minutes= If you have items that you would like to discuss, please add them in the table below. Laurie has suggested that we discuss:** 1 - 10 minutes on signs - Everyone bring 5 signs that you would like to have a consensus opinion. 2 - Fairview Learning cost components - what parts do you find feasible research to support it 3 - Closed Captioning 4 - Visual Phonics
 * 3/2/09

For future meetings, let's discuss: Pledge Key Creed Closed Captioning

2/23/09
Sharing instructional ideas with a vignette model || || Fairview learning ; adapted Dolche words with ASL signs and the Bridge method to link ASL and English instructional models (coteaching) Prioritize the above subjects to what you think is the most important to least important. ||
 * __Team Member Agenda Suggestions:__**
 * Tiffany:   || Dolch ASL-based link; http://www.fairviewlearning.net/
 * Laurie:
 * Jackie ||  ||
 * Wynn ||  ||
 * Emily ||  ||



2/16/09
President's Day Holiday; No meeting

[|Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students to Use Spoken English] (Easterbrooks & Estes, 2007) Chapter 4: Interventions for Children in the Primary Grades Read chapter. Met from 3:30 - 5PM. Discussed points of interest in Chapter 4. Also included resources listed in chapter 3: Ellen Rhoades' Sound-Object Association. Of particular interest: collaboration and lesson planing, strategies for effective teaching, including a quiet listening environment. Discussed barriers to effective collaboration amongst ourselves as a team, as well as in the general classroom setting. Discussed pp. 91, 92: team members

//Helping Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students to Use Spoken English// (Easterbrooks & Estes, 2007)
Chapter 1: Listening and Spoken Language Interventions: A Model and Activities for Helping Children

1/26/09
Discussed what we'd like to discuss. We believe that improving our students' phonological and vocabulary skills, as well as being consistent in how we present both spoken and signed language, will improve literacy.

1/19/09
Discussed Visual Phonics. We are seeking ways to improve language functioning to support reading comprehension and writing skills.