This newsletter covers what happened in November and will give you a heads up on what to look for in December and the months following.

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

Mark your calendar for a week of renewal, learning, and fun at the Academy Winter Meeting (January 3-5, 2022)!

[The Performance Measures Institute follows on January 6-7; learn more in this newsletter.]

Both events will be fully online. Participation in the Winter Meeting is included with your Academy Membership.

The Winter Meeting will include

•    Best Teaching Techniques from Process Education: An intro session for folks new to PE. Invite your curious colleagues and participate as a mentor to faculty learners!
•    Membership strategy and conference development
•    Advancement of our strategic planning work
•    Social time and competitions focused on fun!

The Academy's Winter Meeting has a been an annual highlight of my mid-term break, where I enjoy the opportunity to engage with fellow Academy members, re-experience the joy of lifelong learning, help advance the work of the Academy, and gain new inspiration for the upcoming term. I hope you'll join us!

Recent Board Meetings

Remember, you can find out the Board’s current work by checking the Academy Board Meeting Agendas and Minutes posted on the Academy members’ page:

October 2021 minutes (approved)

November 2021 minutes (not yet approved)

Summary of March Board meeting work:

In November, the Board

• Approved updated financial policies.

• Approved extension of the pilot for developing regional chapters.

• Discussed the adoption of a Partnership Memorandum of Understanding Template.

• Received updates on conference planning for the summer conference.

The Next Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 10, 2021 (at Noon CDT).

All Academy members are welcome to participate. You will be able to find the agenda for the meeting as well as the needed information to attend through Zoom on the Academy Member site.

[click to OPEN/VIEW a sharable pdf flyer for this event]

By clearly defining a skill or process and identifying the criteria that have the most impact on performance of that skill or process, it is possible to create a performance measure (rubric) for measuring performance. It is only through careful attention to both the design and application of performance measures that we can meaningfully and accurately assess (grow) and evaluate (judge) the performance of learners and growers.

Participant Benefits:

• Appreciate the relationship between performance, criteria, and measurement.
• Learn to apply a methodology for creating performance measures (holistic & analytic rubrics).
• Learn to write meaningful performance criteria.
• Explore the issues involved in implementing rubrics.

Facilitator:

Dr. Daniel K. Apple is the President of Pacific Crest, an educational consultancy that has provided development workshops for more than 20,000 educators.

Registration:

FREE to PE Expert Team Members
$50 for Academy Members
$250 for everyone else

To register for this event, please visit: https://fs20.formsite.com/pacificcrest/PM/

For more information, please contact: Dan Apple (dan@pcrest.com) 630-853-7535

Part A – The Different Flavors
Part B – The Barriers

The purpose of this workshop is to challenge academia’s reliance on grades. It is fair to say that most faculty have received end-of-term emails and grade appeals from students asking to be rounded up to (at least) the next letter grade. Most of us have become frustrated after spending hours providing feedback finding our work in the trash can outside the classroom. What if there is a different way? The intended outcome of the workshop is to plant some ungrading seeds in your gardens and see what happens.

If you plan to attend, here's how to prepare:

1. Please take time to read Ungrading by Jesse Stommel: https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-introduction. (Note that other blogs at the end are very good reading too!)

2. Answer these Exploration Questions on the forum for the session before the session begins. (If you do not have an account on the Workshop site, create one! Simply click on the link, "If you are new here..." and follow the instructions.)

• Dr. Stommel states that during the pandemic, grades measured how well students were able to pivot online and adapt to online learning. Please comment on how well this does or does not overlap with your experience.
  
• In his foundational questions about assessments, Dr. Stommell makes a statement that we are evaluators (judgers) of student work. What percentage of your grading is assessment versus evaluation?

3. Review the plans for both parts of the session, and prepare to contribute to the discussion and play one or more team roles noted in the full facilitation plan.

Please invite any non-Academy friends and peers!

They can easily create their own account on the Academy Workshop site (without joining the Academy)! It will take them only a few minutes. Simply share the workshop information (available at www.processeducation.org/2021_w5.html) and let them know to register for the workshop and complete the preparation tasks.

The AoPE Conference planning team has been hard at work since August when the Board approved the concept of a hybrid conference for 2022. We have been in contact with a major institution of higher learning who is becoming an institutional member and has similar interests in improving student learning and growth. We are on the cusp of forging a final agreement with this institution to host a Hybrid Conference (in-person or virtual) in late May of 2022. (pre-Memorial day)
 
While the details are still being worked out, we expect to be able to share the specific theme, dates, and opportunities for involvement by members from both institutions later this month. We wanted to make sure you were aware that we will be hosting an annual conference in 2022 that will offer all the exciting opportunities for members from across the globe to gather in-person or virtually to share ideas, methods, and scholarship about teaching and learning that leads to student growth and success.

So, mark your calendars for the end of May and keep your fingers crossed that we will complete this agreement soon. We all hope to open the call for papers, presentations, posters, and participation very soon. Stay tuned.

This is the time of year when many of us focus and reflect in getting ready for the new year.

We would love to hear from you as to how Process Education practices have impacted your life, with respect to teaching, learning, and other aspects you have worked with. To help us all gain insights from others, and share the gratitude of the community, below is a link to software called Padlet. (It is free and offers many ways to obtain information, share best practices, learn together, and much more. Have fun checking it out!)

You just need to click on the + sign and then you can enter your story in the box. It will appear as a sticky note on the corkboard wall. This way each of us can see others' stories and continue to build or community of practice.

Link: https://padlet.com/bettyhurd/3z63hwxr8wgxy7e

www.processeducation.org