Closing Conversation
Michael: I’d like to open up the floor for comments about the work we have done last evening and today.
-- A lot of what we have done has to do with communications, with fairness and with accountability. Most of the suggestions fall into these three categories.
-- I see that the teachers are willing to do what they need to, and now we see the problems, and we’re letting administration know where we need some help.
-- This tends to be something like my marriage. The better I listen and pay attention, the smoother it runs. The farther we get into it, the more interdependent we become, the more I need to listen and get input. Anything from scheduling to busing… The deeper we get into it the more we have to reply on all of you to tell us what you need to make it work. Listening, just like at home, helps me keep out of trouble.
-- It’s harder to come up with the answer than the problem.
-- It’s kind of like my marriage. A little rough at first, but after 40 years I can accept it…
-- I think we’ve probably discovered the value and the need for sharing each others’ appreciation for the work that’s being done. I had some parents say some very kind things. That goes a long way. Maybe we need to out there and ask people.
-- All of us continue to look at what we can do to give our kids the best education possible. That can be the ideal that keeps us motivated.
-- The fifth graders at Wynot that I talked about last night show the ideal. They don’t really understand the situation, but they took on a project to help. That’s what we’re all working for.
Michael: Several times I thought about the idea of teaching as facilitation. How many of you know or think about what facilitation is… I always have heard that time is an issue. When we design these interactions, what do you think we’re doing when you’re working in small groups? One thing is observing. We’re being aware of the content. We’re planning. Very often, we don’t know what’s going to happen beyond the next round of work. I want to make the invisible visible here. There is planning that is done before, and there is a lot of planning that goes on during the event. If you had to sit there all day could you imagine … After 20 - 30 minutes you would be so gone and not listening. The brain works similarly for 1 year olds, 31 year olds, and 71 year olds.
Dan: Last night was our celebration. Today is a time for us to do what we call conflict management. Where do we go from here? We have a planned staff day on April 18 to take this work forward.
When we get any part of this done, the administrators will take this information.
Some fear that all this will happen. Some fear that none of this will. In the past the administration made all the decisions. We’re trying not be to that kind of system. Where do we go from here?
It’s all about how you perceive and respond to change. I went back to something that I got a couple years ago. It gets me up in the morning, and it’s worth sharing.
(click the image below to download a copy of the Powerpoint presentation)
It’s not the administrators, not the board, not the kids. It’s you people. It’s your attitude, your beliefs, your passion. The InnovationLabs people come to us and help us create the story, identify concerns and conflict. You have so many good things happening right now, and I encourage you to focus on the good things.
We will put together a schedule as we did last year. We will make sure that’s you’re more involved this time.
Please encourage the people who didn’t come to access the internet.
Thanks you for the last two days!
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© 2008 InnovationLabs LLC and the Coleridge, Laurel, Newcastle and Wynot School Districts
This process facilitated by InnovationLabs LLC.
