Discovery Middle School’s
Professional Development Retreat
Joe Wheeler - August 15, 2012
Norms
 Be open to ideas from others
 Be an active participant
 Avoid side conversations
 Cell phones on vibrate
 Be present (Avoid checking your e-mail/messages
and working on other projects except for during
lunch)
 Take care of your creature comforts
Learning Target
 To collaborate and work as a team to develop positive
relationships
 To begin the creation process and plan for the
implementation of our One Page Instructional
Improvement Target
Activity #1: Getting to Know One Another—
Commonality, Uniqueness, Expectations
WHAT?
CUE—Commonality, Uniqueness,
Expectations
WHY?
To develop connections across our
team and PLC
HOW?
Working in your table team, identify
an interesting commonality that exists
among you, a uniqueness of each
member, and shared expectations for
this school year
Activity #2: The Compass – An Informal
Leadership Style Inventory
WHAT?
North, South, East or West
WHY?
To understand the leadership style of all
members of our team
HOW?
Individually read each of the four
directions and decide which one best
describes you. Then proceed to the
section of the room labeled with that
compass direction
Activity #3: The 17 Essentials Qualities of a
Team Player
WHAT?
The 17 essential qualities of a team player
WHY?
Becoming the kind of person every team
wants
HOW?
Read “The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team
Player.” What do you think is the most
important quality of being a team player
and why? Prepare to share your thoughts
in a moment when you get the
Networking Ball.
Form a Band
One of each instrument means you have your band!
Activity #4: The Marshmallow Challenge
WHAT?
The Marshmallow Challenge
WHY?
Figuring out our teams’ nature of
collaboration
HOW?
Your band will use 20 spaghetti sticks, one
yard of tape, one yard of string, and one
marshmallow to build the tallest
freestanding structure in 18 minutes. The
marshmallow has to be on top of the
structure.
The Marshmallow Challenge
http://marshmallowchallenge.com/TED_Talk.html
Lunch Time
One Page Instructional Improvement
Target Development
 Reflect over last years target individually
 We will read the except from Unmistakable Impact by Jim




Knight “The Target”
Look at Columbia Elementary ‘s One Page Instructional
Improvement Target as an additional example
Community Building, Content Planning, Instruction,
Assessment for Learning--What are our non negotiables for
teachers and students at Discovery?
Our student team will be brought into review our
suggestions and to add to our work
Voting will come later-everyone has to be in agreement
before this process will end, even our student team!
Teams
There is a list of teams on the front of your afternoon
packet
Find your four person team and sit together at the table
that has your team’s number in the middle of the yellow
paper on the table
Each team should be at their own table
Teams 1-4 will rotate together while teams 5-8 will
rotate together during world café
World Café with Your Team
Engagement and Rigor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMOQHsWfOB4
&feature=fvst