At Beethoven, teachers meet regularly and share ideas. Formal grade-level meetings occur weekly, giving teachers an opportunity to discuss difficulties students are having, design tests or brainstorm new activities. Each cycle meets monthly, which helps teachers keep track of what material other grade levels are covering so that skills and content aren't neglected or needlessly repeated. In addition, classes start 10 minutes early each day. This cuts teachers' morning preparation time from 30 minutes to 20 minutes, but the faculty recoups the time every Friday, when children are dismissed at noon.
Teachers typically use the concentrated prep time for meetings and workshops.
At Beethoven last spring, the Adler Planetarium taught science projects in the library to some teachers while visiting artists worked with others on dance, drama and art projects to enhance the reading program. A week after the disappointing test results arrived, Oden called a faculty meeting in the all-purpose room to rally her troops. Because we are not going on probation. The room erupted with applause. Later, Oden spread reams of computer printouts on her desk to compare each child's 1997 and 1996 reading scores.