ERG in Oz
When Sue Brookhart mentioned she worked a little overseas, we thought that was cool. It seemed like something that really accomplished researchers/professors/other people did. However, over the last 12 months, we have learned that working overseas is now something ERG does.
In August of last year, ERG quietly went to Panama to offer a two-day workshop related to Learning Targets. It’s not surprising that some people missed this bit of information. The project was very exciting for us, but our website was under construction at the time. We were basically remodeling and getting a much needed “up do.” Because of this, we limited our online chatter so people would not go to our old website (you only get one chance to make a first impression!).
When our new website launched, we started to send out more information about our new Classroom Assessment service to direct people to it and educate directly on what ERG can now offer schools and school systems.
As we settled into the fall, we started getting inquiries for more overseas work related to Sue’s content. Schools and organizations from Taiwan, Bombay, China, and Brazil all reached out for various topics around formative assessment. But none of them developed into actual projects. (Yet! #GrowthMindset)
And then, Australia happened. Here are some of the basic details of our recent week of work there.
Who?
Leonie Black, an innovative principal in the suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, is our point of contact. She is professional, a life-long learner, student-centered, and kind – some of our favorite qualities in a principal, and we felt this from the teachers, too!
Leonie coordinated the work on her end so ERG could work with educators from John Purchase Public School, Thornleigh Elementary, and Oakhill Elementary. Victoria agreed to disrupt her regular schedule in the US to do the work (it’s a loooong trip!) and Alice went with her to learn and understand more about how ERG can support the educators in NSW.
What?
The topics of Feedback, Higher Level Questions and Performance Tasks were dissected across the week. The structure of the work was like this:
Monday: A full day of content (workshop style) to a group of 80 educators from all three schools.
Tuesday-Friday am: Small planning sessions to apply the ideas presented during the workshop on Monday. Discussions around student work and success criteria for their real units were anchors to the work.
Friday pm: An afternoon learning session for administrators from John Purchase Public and Oak Hill.
It was important to us to differentiate the work so individuals got what they needed. No one wants professional development that is irrelevant, right? Leonie graciously pointed out that we “walked the talk and skillfully modeled high impact practices.”
It was wonderful and overwhelming and exciting- like all great things in life.
