School and Community Planning Workshop II
Check-in
Michael: Good morning. How are you this morning?
-- Good!
For a couple minutes please talk in pairs about your experiences last night, and what impressed you.
[Discussions in pairs]
Is there anyone who would like to share what you talked about?
-- A year ago we were anxious about how this would work for everyone’s good. Last night it was more relaxed because we have had some success. It’s a good feeling.
-- Last year Wynot absolutely had to have this happen. This year we know it can.
-- Watching that video last night of credit recovery and how proud the students and parents were was very impressive.
-- We are being watched and actually followed by other districts. It may be easier for them to follow this path.
Michael: I have been on the phone with boards from three different Nebraska school districts who are interested in learning about what you’re doing. There are a lot of school districts in rural Nebraska that are experiencing similar challenges. You are a beacon of light so far.
-- Last year the feeling was caution; this year the feeling was like celebration.
Michael: There is a saying that success can lead to failure. Often more successful businesses fail because they get complacent. If you get too comfortable in your success you may miss something important.
-- How do we create a model that is sustainable? Right now we’re running at a sprint pace. How do we sustain that if this is really a marathon. We have to find a way to change some dynamics.
-- It was a lot more relaxed last night. It was easier for the young people to participate.
-- The people in this room who are doing the educating are working together on a daily basis. We used to be a department of one, but now we are in teams. We can respond better to each student.
Michael: Your comment says to me that it’s about learning to see the system holistically. The more you communicate and understand the system, and how the system works, the more effective you become.
Michael
I would like to walk us through our plan for today.
We expect to do 3 rounds of work today. That means working in small groups, iterating, and possibly reporting. A lot of what we will work on is focused on what’s next, and also developing the vision for where we want to be in three years.
In the first round of work, three groups are imagining that it’s 2011, and seeing where we will be. Another group will be talking about organizational model. There are different types of organizational models being discussed and this team will look at those. Another group will have a conversation about the middle school in the four communities. And then many groups will be talking about next steps in a number of areas. Let’s see if we can map out the next few years.
In the second round we will have one group looking at the vision work from round 1. We will have a group take the Next Steps work and mapping it all out. We will have groups looking at the survey data.
In the third round we have a nice blank slate, for other work that we discover we need to do.
Now, with a new partner, please talk about your expectations for today and see how the activities I have just described fit with what you know that needs to be done.
[Groups and pairs in conversation]
Are there objectives that are not covered in this list up here? If we got to the end of the day and we did all this, you’d feel comfortable that this was a successful day?
-- Provided this means what we think it means, then yes!
How many people were not successful in taking the survey? 10. As part of your transition to this next round of work, please take the survey using the computers at the back of the room.
You have two numbers on your name tag. The first number is the group you will be in for this round of work.
Thank you very much.
© 2008 InnovationLabs LLC and the Coleridge, Laurel, Newcastle and Wynot School Districts
This process facilitated by InnovationLabs LLC.
