2017-2018 CFG Dates

Here are the dates for our 2017-2018 Meetings.  Monday meetings will be 3:15-5:00; Thursday meetings are 7:30-8:30. 

Monday 9/18
Monday 10/9
Monday 11/13
Thursday 12/7
Thursday 1/18
Monday 2/12
Monday 3/5
Thursday 4/12
Monday 4/30
Monday 5/7
Monday 6/11

Pause

Happy summer!  I came across this blog post about Pause and thought you might enjoy reading it in this season of pause and reflection. I continue to feel grateful to our group for the sense of pause it gives me during our busy school year--thanks to all of you for being a part of it.

December Meeting

Agenda—December 13, 2016

Charlton Room, 3:30-5:30



To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.  

–Wendell Berry-

3:30  Reflective Writing

3:40  Touchstones

3:45 Video and Conversation: The Power of Yet

4:15 Charette Protocol

       Focus Person: Claire

5:15 Future Planning

Becoming

In honor of the upcoming Community Conversation on 10/6, our meeting on 10/4 will focus on the concept of identity. 

We'll read "The Beautiful and Terrifying Process of Becoming" by Chelsea Fullerton. Our reflection question is:   What evidence of ‘becoming’ have you seen in your classrooms these first few weeks? Where have you seen it in yourself?

We'll use these student profiles to do the Profile of a Student Activity. 

We'll also watch a video of David Foster Wallace's Commencement Speech to Kenyon College titled 'This is Water.'  Our follow-up questions are What is real and essential to your grade level, your classroom? How do we bring awareness to ourselves and our children?

Suggestions for teams this week:  Consider trying the Probing Questions exercise to practice the kinds of questions you might ask your teammates and to prepare you for protocol work in the months ahead. 

Meeting Dates 2016-2017

The following dates have been submitted to the Events calendar for CFG days--all meetings are held on Tuesdays from 3:30-5:30, in the Charlton Room unless otherwise stated.

October 4th (this is a change from the original date in our first email)
October 18th
November 22
December 13
January 24
February 21
March 14
April 18
May 23
June 6

Looking forward to this year together!

Beginning a New Year

Hello, Friends!  

This summer I read Erika Christakis' book The Importance of Being Little.  In that book she describes how she and her husband had a friend who was a sociologist come over to babysit their 4 month old, and how her skills as a sociologist helped them learn to observe and understand their child differently. She writes:

But it's not necessary to be a famous sociologist to cultivate good observational abilities. First, we need to develop a mental state that a British psychoanalyst once described as having 'no memory, no desire.' This is the art of suspending preconceived expectations and assumptions about a person in order to understand where he is coming from, what he is thinking, and what he is feeling...to see a child fully, we have to allocate the time and space to observe.

In the Lower School Critical Friends Group, we strive to find ways to allocate time for observation in our teaching lives, to practice suspension of judgment together as we learn to listen more deeply to our students and our colleagues, and to nurture habits of reflection with one another. It is ongoing and intentional work, and we hope you consider joining with us in this reflective community. 

Each year we hold an introductory lunch gathering where we invite interested faculty to ask questions and learn about the CFG, and to set our calendar for the coming school year.  Whether you are curious about our work or are already a CFG participant, we hope you can join us on Wednesday after the morning portion of our LS Faculty meeting (around 12:15).  Pick up your lunch from the dining hall and meet in the Charlton Room in Morris House (I've submitted a calendar request to reserve the room--I'll let you know if we have to change venues for any reason). 

If you are interested in the CFG but can't attend Wednesday's lunch, please let me know so I can make sure we have your calendar feedback or know to keep you updated on future meetings. 

Are you wondering what a Critical Friends Group is and what it does?  Please visit our FAQ page for more details:

http://www.oesburrow.blogspot.com/search/label/FAQ 

Also consider talking to someone who has participated in the LS CFG about their experience:

Tina Akehurst

Tracy Arensberg

Deborah Bridgnell

Beth Breiten

Carole Burton

Lauren Endicott

Tonya Griffin

Kristen Haferbecker

Dori King

Claire Kucera

Kirstin McAuley

Erin Moulton

Asha Sathyaraj

Janet Schilling

Rachel Taylor

Colesie Tharp

Chris Thompson

Alysa Williams

Hope to see you there!

Kirstin

Theory U: Presencing Emergence

At our ending CFG retreat this year we're going to utilize a framework/method called Theory U.  I'll bring you a copy of a diagram I created for us, but as I was researching I was so interested in all the many ways other people illustrated the framework.  Here are a few!









To see these images in a larger format, try a Google images search for Theory U and follow the links .

To learn more about the Theory U/Presencing model, visit the Presencing website.