5 Thoughts on Facilitating Better Meetings

One of the items lacking from any of my school administrator preparation courses was how to facilitate an effective meeting, but I've since discovered that we as school leaders facilitate a lot of meetings for a lot of different purposes.

Rare are the days when I'm not facilitating some sort of meeting, and rarely do meetings happen that don't leave me reflecting on how I can do better next time.

When planned right and executed well great meetings can produce important results and generate innovative solutions to persistent problems; the facilitator's role is crucial but also different with each circumstance for meeting. How I prepare will determine if the outcomes match the purpose.

I've learned 5 things about facilitating better meetings this year; please read below.

Prepare like you want your teachers to prepare their classes

• good meetings require the same type of preparation as a good class
• prepare opening remarks beforehand so that you start the meeting off intentionally and don't gobble up too much time up front; use your words to establish the purpose and direction of the meeting
• adapt the principle of backward design to your next meeting
• start with what you want the meeting to produce and plan from there
• base your agenda on your objectives and intended outcomes; use every minute intentionally

NB: using backward design to plan my meetings has yielded great results. The meeting planner template linked above is something I put together adapted from Ubd lesson planning templates.

Facilitate like you want your teachers to facilitate their classes

• post and review the objectives, intended outcomes, and agenda before starting; leave it projected / posted throughout the meeting
• get everybody talking and sharing but always bring it back to the objectives
• settings where a small group listens to the leader talk about something aren't the same thing as meetings
• it can't be your meeting; it has to be everyone's meeting
• just as classes can't be completely teacher-centered, nor can meetings be completely leader-centered
• let them find your conclusions on their own

Communicate for purpose

• don't tell me about the problem; tell me about the solution and actions needed to get there
• don't be afraid to be honest 
• be clear - identify what you need people to hear and do beforehand
• prepare your questions as carefully as you prepare your statements

Identify and follow up on further action items

• establish at the beginning what actions are expected following
• don't make it just about the meeting; what's most important is what happens after the meeting
• meetings that don't produce or lead to anything didn't need to happen
• you'll know how good it was a couple of weeks later after the action items from it are reviewed

Don't get nervous; get prepared

Your response to your own difficulties or problems will go a long way in determining the outcome

— Eddie Evans (@ewevans3) April 22, 2014

• if you're expecting confrontation or hostility, then your best strategy is extra preparation
• visualize yourself responding to certain claims or talking points
• anticipate where the hostility may come from and plan for it
• nervousness is pointless; thinking and dreading is not the same as thinking and preparing
• don't dwell on it, but don't avoid it - be ready for whatever it is
• focus on what you can control; how someone else intends to behave is outside of your power

6 Easy Ways for a School Administrator to Get Out of the Office

Before I was a school administrator I cavalierly wrote and spoke about how easy it ought to be to get out of the office and onto the floor, and chalked it up as nothing more than time management and possession of mobile technology.

I'm now privy to a bit more reality; a lot more goes into getting out of the office (for non-walkthrough/evaluative purposes) than wanting or even needing to get out of the office.

It's hard. Earlier this year I was 99% of the way out of the door to go out on the floor, and the phone rang; I never made it out.

I love being out on the floor; it's by far my favorite part of the job. I always learn something new; I always find opportunities to connect more with students and staff.

But it doesn't happen by chance.

I've learned that calendars get filled quickly; finding the time to be on the floor and enjoy the school culture I'm trying to build is almost impossible sometimes, but there are quick little practices that get me out multiple times a day to interact with staff and students.

1.Hand Deliver
Instead of emailing documents as attachments that I know will be printed anyway, I'll print them myself and hand deliver. It always leads to 5 minute conversation, and the whatever the document is means that much more. A little bit of efficiency is an insignificant price to pay for the value of getting out on the floor.


2.Follow Up
After a staff meeting, a student assembly, class meeting, etc. I always make a point to get out and engage folks in quick follow up conversations about the content. Any excuse to get people talking and listening is good.

I'll oftentimes follow up an email to a teacher with a pop in during their prep. It usually takes less than 5 minutes and both strengthens the impact of the email and gives me an excuse to intentionally get out of the office and onto the floor for even the briefest of time in between appointments.

3.Collaborate Publicly
If I'm planning something or creating something with another teacher or administrator, and it's not of a confidential or unsavory nature, then why not do it in the media center or school common area?

Some things are private and need to remain private, but a lot of things aren't. Thoughtfully determine whether the meeting needs to be behind closed doors.

Photo Source

4.Go to Them
Whenever I have the choice between my office or their classroom I choose their classroom.

When appropriate, I'll go to where a student is to deliver news or have a conversation rather than call them to my office.

If someone needs to speak to me I'd rather try to go see them than do it over the phone if the timing is right.

5.Say Yes
Anytime a teacher or student asks me far enough in advance to be a guest judge, moderator, speaker, etc. I say yes. It's great to be able to walk in to a classroom or common area and not see folks tense up or lose their place for a second.

Create for yourself multiple follow up opportunities with the students and teacher; take and share photos with the class afterwards. You'll have potential conversation starters for months.

6. Schedule It
You'll never have the time to get out if you aren't purposeful with it.

I've found great results by simply scheduling 30-60 minutes of "floor time" right in my online calendar. The office staff doesn't schedule appointments because it's already blocked off, and once it pops up on my phone I stop what I'm doing and get out. Sometimes it's coupled with walkthroughs or other little errands or chores, and sometimes it's just leading and learning by walking around. It's always empowering though.

Getting out is refreshing; it reminds me of the why. It's not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but priorities are rarely convenient.

#leadership #mobility #education

5 Paths for Better Professional Development

I was inspired by week 22 of the #savmp blog about differentiated professional development for staff and some selections from a couple of books I've read recently.

I've been thinking about how to make the professional learning opportunities schools offer their teachers better; by better I mean more likely to lead to the learning of whatever is trying to be taught or developed.

What can be done to make it more likely that whatever is done as part of PD is transferred into classrooms with students in various situations?

1. Make it More Than "Have To"

If folks are doing anything only because they have to do it or be there, then they’re not in prime position or mind-set to learn anything; this is true for people of any age or credence.

If the avenues that schools are taking to create opportunities for collaboration and interpersonal professional learning become seen as just another obligation to be half-heartedly crammed into limited contractual hours, then the outcomes will never justify the efforts.

It has to be interest-based; it has to be driven by personal relevance. Anything short of that will be seen as “have to.”

If they’re learning what they know they need to learn, then they’re obviously more likely to learn it.

"By verbalizing options for improvement, students are able to see that they control their own choices and outcomes, which leads to better decision making." - Margaret Searle p. 148

2. Have Them Make Something

“Although some...remember more by hearing and others, by seeing, most remember by doing because action involves multiple sensory inputs.” - Betty Garner p.38

They have to do it to learn it; they have to produce something for it to be possible.

We spend a lot of time and devote a lot of energy to the perfect kind of input, but our time and energy would be better spent designing opportunities for output.

For every minute of input give them a minute of output; what good is the slideshow on how to essential questions if nobody gets to write essential questions?

If producible action doesn’t or can’t come from professional development I planned, then what I planned probably isn’t worthy of the name.

3. Make it More Than an Event

“Integrated information is more likely to be remembered and accessible than disconnected bits of data.” Garner p.37

It takes longer to learn something than it takes to teach it. Whereas “teaching it” can be done with slides and 30 minutes, learning it requires input, reflection, practice, feedback, etc.

Sometimes learning it takes year(s).

Focus on something tangible; identify relevance or need and then address it until moving on to a new focus is appropriate.

Better to learn one thing slowly than nothing efficiently.

4. Make it About Us

“A variety of of emotions can affect physical and cognitive functions. To enhance memory, students benefit from emotional engagement with information.” Garner p. 138

Being on a team feels good. Being a part of something bigger is both motivating and empowering. Researching and implementing formative assessments of higher order thinking skills is better in a group.

Purposefully and organically get teachers with similar interests and passions to connect with each other, and work and learn together. I was in a cohort in my Masters Degree program; why apply that same structure to professional learning for staff?

Build communities around professional needs and interests rather than superficial labels like department or tenure.

5. Mix it Up

"Lessons that follow a mixed pattern - listen, talk to your neighbor, listen, draw and example, listen, read and discuss with a partner - followed by summary are more likely to hold anyone's attention longer than the 'listen for what seems like forever and then do independent work' model." - Searle p. 105

People can only sit and get for so long before they stop listening. Adults are more compliant and less rude than kids a lot of the time, but they’re equally likely to tune you out if it’s boring.

Get them doing, talking, moving, creating more.

Most things get old quickly; break it down into segments; they’ll retain more.

Effective lesson plans include variety whether the lesson is being planned for 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, and / or 65 year olds.

Why I Lead #SAVMP

I’m happy to be a part of the School Administrator Virtual Mentoring Program, and with my first post wanted to highlight an experience that best captures my “why” in regards to leadership.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Barker

The last meeting I led at my previous school was everything a gathering of professionals should be. What started as a collaborative writing of indicators for a school-wide rubric for Creativity & Innovation evolved into a long conversation and diagramming of what great teaching looks like and how we can best facilitate learning. All of us, ranging from novice teacher to school administrator, freely offered perspective, concerns, insights, and stories. We created support documents with strategies and observable elements to accompany the rubrics, and it felt effortless as we did it. We took advantage of the collective capacity of the group, and we surpassed our own expectations by embracing and having fun with the collaborative process. In speaking to the folks who were there after the fact, it was evident that we all walked away from that session better able to support the learning outcomes we wish to see. Is there anything more satisfying as a leader then to hear colleagues say they not only enjoyed the session but also felt empowered to be better afterwards?

That's why I choose to lead; it's the power and possibility that comes with bringing people together in a manner that will yield the best results. Programs and systems don't move people; the folks who others in the organization look to as leaders facilitate the moving. It's about creating organic opportunities for people to connect and get better as a result of those connections while having professional fun in the process. Nothing inspires people more than the actions and attitudes of other people, and bringing individuals for collective gain is my favorite part about of what I do, and it's the best example of why I lead.

Lesson #1 - Give Them Something to Make

As it comes to a close this week, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my first year in school leadership; the first lesson from this year is groups and committees need something to produce.

Our Principal’s Advisory Council, a group of 8-10 students grades 9-12, designed two meaningful programs this year that should have a long-lasting positive impact. The school’s participation in Project Purple in January and the crafting of a Class of the Month program for this September are both the handiwork of the PAC; their efforts were efficient and high-quality.

Monthly meetings were productive and outcome oriented; we never had one of those awkward sessions where someone was on a rant or nobody has anything to do or talk about. We always had something that needed our attention and cooperation, and we needed all of the limited amount of time we had together.

It was always the committees and meetings where all we did was talk about problems that I dreaded the most. It’s the groups that create solutions and products that people want to be a part again next year; that’s what benefits school communities. When leading committees in the future I ought to apply the lessons learned from leading the PAC this past year.

Responding to Bad Staff PD As A School Leader

We had some bad PD last week on an important school matter - writing curriculum with UBD. It lacked for 3 key reasons

• The presenter did little to engage the group
• The examples and documents had little alignment with district vocabulary & direction
• The presenter had difficulty answering any questions teachers had

Writing curriculum is too important to allow a bad presentation be the excuse why it doesn’t happen, and from this I learned a couple of lessons about how to respond to bad PD from a leadership position moving forward.

1. Roll Up Your Sleeves - The PD wasn’t aligned to any of our district vocabulary, curricular categories, etc so I made some templates and design tools to distribute to the staff. I’ll share them with everyone in the school via Google Drive, and they’ll be there when folks need them. The presentation being poor doesn’t change the importance of UBD in the eyes of the district and school; if the speaker didn’t get it done, then it’s up to the leadership team to help staff get better. Leaving the result to chance and allowing bad PD be the reason folks don’t improve isn’t an option.

2. Find Authentic & Convenient Ways to Do It - People need to be able to conceptualize how they’re going to do whatever is being asked of them; I’ve found in my brief leadership stint that modeling pays huge dividends. I needed to plan for our next Staff Tech Club meeting, and I needed to make use of the bad PD on UBD; I did both. It takes care of multiple birds with one stone. To promote it further, I screencasted my efforts and put in the staff resources section of my school website
   
   
   
   

3. Make Staff Sharing Easy - I set up a community on Google + for our teachers earlier this year when we moved to Gmail, and it’s worth it’s weight in gold. During the PD one of our science teachers posted from his tablet that we should create a discussion category regarding UBD. Since Friday’s “PD” we’ve seen resources, articles, and commentary regarding UBD posted from teachers in various departments. There hasn’t been any talk of the performance of the speaker; even though the speaker performed poorly the community is keeping the discussion about UBD and professional learning alive and on point. Creating the community was a low effort / high reward idea that gets better with every new request to join and resource shared.

4. A Little Goes A Long Way - Maybe only a few people will even click on the documents I created at first. As of now, only a small sampling of faculty is engaged on Google+. But, there’s more talk and action happening in regards to UBD and other edu topics than there would have been otherwise, and all of those resources and perspectives already shared will be there forever; someone may not look at it for a few months, but it’ll be there. I reckon folks simply seeing leadership working to salvage a poor PD session through creation and community has an impact even without specific engagement; people respond to effort.

The lessons I learned here can easily be applied to the inevitability of more lackluster professional learning engagements over the years; even if I’m using outside speakers to facilitate the session, I still have multiple opportunities to insure the outcomes and changes in practice I wish to see.

"How to Create a Culture of Achievement" Chapter 1

After I read chapters of the books on my summer reading list I intend to reflect on some of the key quotes I highlighted as I read. I just finished reading chapter 1 of Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian's How to Create a Culture of Achievement in your school and classroom, and selected four quotes that jumped out to me from my duel perspective as a classroom teacher and school administrator for next school year and beyond.

"We believe that no school improvement effort will be effective, maintained, or enhanced unless school culture and academic press are both addressed and aligned." -p.5 

 How many great ideas for professional learning, assessment, etc. have you had stifled because nobody else was into it? Have you ever brought something into the classroom you were absolutely convinced was going to be a hit only to have to drag students through it like a reluctant pet going into the vet? Even the most innovative initiatives are destined to remain ideas in the wrong culture. We tend to focus on the more tangible aspects of our lives, and spending our time on the academics surely makes sense with any school reform, but in order for us to avoid wasted time and effort attention must be paid to developing the culture needed for meaningful change.

"An effective school culture will provide students a respectful mediating experience through which they can understand, examine, affirm, modify, or change understandings of the world and how they want to engage in it." -p.9

We all have our personal dogmas and beliefs that will always affect who we are and how we think, and effective cultures use that to their advantage.  Open dialogue, an emphasis on the art of listening,  and emphasizing the process of learning and reflection rather than common understanding. That's how enlightenment happens; that's how the society we're preparing our students for best operates.

"A shared definition of quality also enlists all members of the culture, not just a few, to take an active part in the effort. Importantly, it also empowers people by sending them the message that they are of value and their contributions are essential." -p.11

Sometimes I seek people out simply because I know I haven't sought them in a while; folks that feel included are invested.  Whether someone is a superstar, backbone, or mediocre teacher or student, they are a member of your team and learning community. No matter what, quality and quantity of output will be superior from members who are invested.  While turning everybody into a superstar is unrealistic, finding the way to get maximum physical, emotional, and intellectual effort from the entire team is paramount the overall health of any organization.

 " If mission building and revisiting is designed as a pivotal and integral driver of a school's ongoing implementation revolution, it is unlikely that the mission will be treated as something you did two years ago in a...meeting room." -p.13 

Do what needs to be done to ensure that your work is meaningful and leads to the results you intend for it produce.  Agreeing to a common mission and vision on paper is the beginning, and whether it not it leads to anything of value depends on what happens next. Like with anything that matters, the real work lies in the middle. What you do with your mission will have a far greater impact on your culture than the simple act of putting one on paper.

What else can be done to create a culture of achievement? How can we as school leaders promote the openness, inclusiveness, and constant reflection required to produce optimal school environments?