Group Work Norms

Group work is integral to any successful organization. In schools, group work can be fantastic or the source of much concern if teachers fail to establish sound practices. Concerns include, “Why am I getting the same grade as others when I did more work?” or “I was left out and didn’t have a clear role to play.” This year, our Middle School faculty collaborated to develop a set of group work norms. We’re very proud of them and we want your feedback to help iterate them. They are… * Launch the Project * Group the Troops * Cast the Characters […]

Two Revealing Questions About Your Team

What difference has this group made? What would be the effect if this group no longer met?   Plus a few other helpful questions for clarity… What is the purpose of this particular team? (Have each team member write a response. Then share. How closely aligned are the answers?) Is the common purpose being achieved? How could our team meet/work more effectively towards achieving our purpose?

#23 The Tension is Good

Notes from Catalyst Conference 2010 The Tension is Good  The Opposable Leader: Why Organizational tension is essential to progress by Andy Stanley Every organization has problems that shouldn’t be solved and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved. For example: What’s more important? If you “resolve” any of those tensions, you will create new tension. If you resolve any of those tensions, you create a barrier to progress. Progress depends not on the resolution of those tensions, but on the successful management of those tensions. i.     Examples of tension between… Fulfilling all responsibilities at work vs home Excellence vs careful stewardship Research […]

Commitment Is Better Than Compliance

Commitment Is Better Than Compliance Adopt this philosophy and you will live long in the land. Great leaders know the difference and how to achieve it. One can apply this philosophy to any team, organization, group, family, etc. Today, let’s apply it to the discipline philosophy of a school. When the goal is simply to get kids to follow the rules in the handbook a specific culture is created. It is a culture of law. Teachers spend their time nagging students to stop chewing gum, tuck in their shirts, get in line, and hush up. The nature of the teacher/student […]

What Swimming Taught Me About Leadership

What Swimming Taught Me About Leadership Be the first one off the blocks “Swimmers take your mark. Bang!” Any swimmer will tell you that in a race, every detail matters. The start, the turn, the position of your body are all critical to keeping the edge you need to win a close one. Swimmers are fanatics. We shave our arms, legs, and heads just to shave one second of our fastest time. Your first and best chance to win a race is to be the first one off the blocks and into the water. It takes a lot of practice, […]

The Team You’re On vs. The Team You Lead

The Team You’re On vs. The Team You Lead Last summer our leadership team read The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni and the quote below has stuck with me ever since. I will confess, I have not been as strongly committed to this ideal as I feel I should be. “The team you belong to must come ahead of the team you lead: this is putting team results (e.g., organizational needs) ahead of individual agendas (e.g., the team or division you lead).” – Patrick Lencioni  I love the people I work with. I love my team and my teammates. I feel a […]

Tear Down Classroom Walls With Learning Walks

One of the most untapped and useful resources available to us is the experience, practice, and expertise of the professional colleagues on our own campus. Learning Walk are a fun, inexpensive way to immediately impact your own educational practice. As lifelong learners, we seek professional and personal growth through many avenues including conferences, webinars, articles, in-service workshops, presentations, twitter, blogs, etc. These are all elements of our PLNs (Professional Learning Networks). Learning Walks are another powerful, yet underutilized element. This practice is one key towards establishing a professional learning community. Each teacher is expected to complete one learning walk per […]

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