follow up case study

I’ve chosen two examples of follow-up from this school year. Being a Chicago PA means that follow-up is not only done in the traditional sense (with teachers after seminars or workshops), but I also have to follow-up with the Teacher Leadership Team teachers and the two teachers participating in our Polk Dialogue. The three teachers in the following represent the latter – Meg Arbeiter is on the TLT and Dave Stieber & Lia Baubin are participants in the Polk Dialogue.
Meg and I met when I joined the TLT a number of years ago and I have always been impressed by her dedication to her students. I was honored that she asked to have me as her PA when she found out I was joining the staff. Our conversations in the first half of the school year were productive; however, we have been unable to re-connect since the winter. This was in no way due to a communication issue between us, but due to transitions being made at ACT Charter. As a result of the foundation laid this year, more teachers have been trained and impressed with what FH has to offer. Even though some of the staff will be transitioning, I am confident that many of them will carry FH with them to their new schools (I met 1 former ACT teacher today…now a principal…who is ready to get FH going at her school)!
Although the Polk Dialogue will not be completed until late April, I feel my work with thse teachers has been successful in the sense that their students have had the opportunity to not only learn more about Chicago history, but they have gone in depth in their learning about their own communities. Vocalo.org has stepped in to teach them interviewing techniques so that the students’ community interviews can be uploaded to the site and merged into 1 audio program (the April 16 showcase will serve as a listening party). In addition, this is an excellent opportunity to encourage dialogue across neighborhoods, which doesn’t really happen between these two communities. I have built a great rapport with these teachers and have a great deal of respect for them.


School: ACT Charter School, Chicago
Contact: Meg Arbeiter, Humanities Dept.


Background
Meg Arbeiter has been a Facing History teacher since 2002 and has served on the Chicago Teacher Leadership Team since 2004. She received the Margot Stern Strom Award for travel to South Africa and work between her students and South African contacts in 2007. Since 2002, Ms. Arbeiter has attended several FH trainings, brought students to community events, has hosted speakers at her school, recommended students to the SLT and has worked with students and FH to plan the student portion of annual benefit dinners.

Communication History

Email: Meg and I began discussing and settling on a date for a departmental meeting via email starting the week of August 25, 2008 up to the date of the actual site visit – October 24, 2008. As a way of preparing for her initial scope and sequence meeting with her department, I offered (emailed/faxed) her suggestions based on my work as teacher and co-facilitator of the humanities department at the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago. In September and October, Meg began sending me the social studies standards and their alignment along with access to their curriculum maps, minus 7th & 8th grades.

Conference Call: On October 18, we set the meeting agenda and discussed ACT Charter’s humanities scope and sequence, in light of the YWLCS documents and what ACT Charter’s humanities teachers came up with to start. I emailed her FH Initial Connections sheets for 9-12th grades.

FH Initial Connections assessment tool: I created a tool to better assess what the teachers were currently doing related to FH and where new connections could be made using their curriculum maps and syllabi. This was done for each grade level of humanities (Ms. Arbeiter’s is below).

TEACHER:
Ms. Arbeiter

SCHOOL :
ACT CHARTER SCHOOL, CHICAGO

COURSE/GRADE LEVEL:
12th Humanities

SCOPE & SEQUENCE & FH VOCABULARY CONNECTIONS
 Identity/Individual & Society
 Membership/We & They
 Choosing to participate

FH TEXT/RESOURCE GUIDE CONNECTIONS
 “FH Approach to Literature” handout
 Poems of Survivors (various genocides- check website) & from Race & Membership, chapter 1
 “Hangman” poem

FH A/V RESOURCE CONNECTIONS
 “Ascent of Man” video/dvd
 “The Lunch Date” video
 “Eye of the Storm” dvd
 “Blood Money: Switzerland’s Nazi Gold”
 “Hangman” video
 “The Killing Screens: Media & the Culture of Violence” video

OTHER IDEAS/CONNECTIONS
 Have you considered the Kenneth Branagh version of hamlet (starring Mel Gibson)?
 Music ideas (to aid in variety among groups): “All about the Benjamins”, “Bling Bling”, “Ghetto Life” (all rap songs)
 Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org/ - try “Techniques of Persuasion” & their glossary of advertising/media terms

Site Visit: The entire staff was present at the session, which was truncated due to a last minute mtg called by the principal. We looked at the scope and sequence documents, I spoke about what was done at each grade level at YWLCS and how we infused Facing History. There was some Q & A and then, I met with the 11th grade humanities teachers individually to offer some ideas.

Follow Up: 7th and 8th grade FH Initial connections sheets were emailed; as well as, requests to Naomi regarding resource availability for 8th and 11th grade courses. Their newest staff member was sent information regarding our upcoming PD in the spring. A second follow-up is in the works.



School: Manley HS & Team Englewood HS, Chicago
Contact: Lia Baubin & Dave Stieber
Project: Polk Dialogue (polk grant, Race & Membership)


Background
Lia Baubin, Manley HS
 Teaches 10th grade US History
 Held a preliminary meeting with students and is looking to select 10 for participation in the Dialogue, which will be a service learning project that will build off their Great Migration/20th century studies in Lia’s US History course
 Will have 12 participating students reading The Promised Land & Color Me Dark
Dave Stieber, Team Englewood HS
 Teaches 9th grade Reading and 9th grade African American History
 Will create an after-school club that will build off the Englewood/Chicago History research done in Sept-Oct in his African Am History courses; as well as, correlating to their Great Migration/20th Century studies in that course in the spring
 Will have 12 participating students reading The Promised Land & Color Me Dark
Communication History

Email: Since August 2008, communications around the Polk Dialogue have transpired. The initial contact was to clarity interest level of applicants (a series of questions were emailed out and finalists selected from that communiqué). Once the 2 schools were selected, ideas were thrown around for the direction of the project in September and a meeting was scheduled for October 6, 2008. Following that meeting, teachers emailed book titles (student readings around migration) for purchase, curricular samples and essential questions. Mid-October, Ganae left the project. Reports were emailed and also faxed to participants.

Meetings & Conference Call:
October 6, 2008 – planning mtg
December 2008
February 17, 2008 – check-in conference call 2
February 24, 2009 – meeting with vocalo.org
March 22, 2009 – check in conference call 2
April 3 – vocalo check-in
April 13-15 – mtg/check-in for Culminating Showcase

Polk Dialogue Event Calendar:

Event Location Dates Transportation Needs Resources Needed at Site
Kick-Off Event featuring Dr. Dominic Pacyga Manley HS March 9
4-6pm 1 bus (for TEHS) LCD, DVD player, Mic (if available)
Vocalo Trainings Manley
Team Englewood March 16 (MHS)
March 20 (TEHS) 2 buses ---
Online Book Chat Polk Discussion Forum March 23 --- Computer lab with internet access
Culminating Showcase Team Englewood April 16
4-6pm 2 buses (for TEHS & MHS) LCD, DVD, Mic (if available)
Chicago Boat Tour downtown April 24, 2009?? 2 buses --