Entry #27 - March 22, 1999
"Maybe we need on-going team-building activities....Feeling
out of touch seems to lead to misunderstandings. Add the fact that we rarely
have time to laugh and celebrate with each other and it amounts to a potentially
serious problem."
Today was an inservice day for staff members. We started our morning with
a baby shower breakfast for one of the gym teachers whose second daughter
arrived a few weeks ago. It was a great way to welcome his new daughter
while working some much needed social time into our agenda.
Recently on the Middle-L
listserv there's been a discussion about staff morale and its relationship
to the size and structure of middle schools. I've been very interested in
this topic as I've watched our school grow from one building with about
700 kids to two buildings with over 1000 kids and an ever growing cast of
staff members, 80+ at last count.
While there has been quite a lot written about the impact of large school
populations on students, I haven't seen much about its effects on the adults
who live and work in these large schools. A few years ago I was shocked
to learn that folks at Olney High didn't even know their co-workers. I saw
this anonymity as a significant piece of their overwhelming performance
and morale breakdown.
Now I find that I no longer know everyone's name at CEM. It's really hard
to get to know each other when we're all so busy. Not knowing each other
personally has meant that we can't always rely on informal connections in
our dealings with each other about student problems. Before, we could just
make a point of talking to a coach or club sponsor if we had a student-related
concern. Now we need a policy to dictate our procedures.
About five years ago, we adopted the small learning community model (SLC)
and created a "school within a school" identity, but what about
the need for a whole school mentality or spirit? We now have separate commencements
and 8th grade trips as well as assemblies. Where do we go next?
I like the SLC model because we really get to know our students, especially
when we "loop" and teach the same group for two to three years.
I like the fact that less kids slip through the cracks or pass through as
unknowns. However, the downside is that while we get to know the kids, we
do tend to get somewhat isolated from our colleagues in the other SLC's.
Is this isolation inevitable?
Maybe we need on-going team building activities at our monthly staff meetings
and at our curricular meetings as well. Feeling out of touch seems to lead
to misunderstandings. Add the fact that we rarely have time to laugh and
celebrate with each other and it amounts to a potentially serious problem.
Finally, if I feel out of touch -- and I'm on quite a few activities and
the type who freely walks up to new folks and talks to them -- how must
it feel for the shy teacher or the newcomer?
My principal and I were e-mailing about this the other day and came up with
the possibility of a staff retreat in the Fall. I hope we're able to set
up some organized activities, like a retreat, to bridge the widening gap
in the near future. I also think we need to mix things up at our next meeting
using assigned groups and name tags. I know that there will be groans from
some folks, but if we don't orchestrate it, people will just sit with their
same old group.
After the baby-shower festivities my principal introduced a discussion about
the "tone of decency" or type of atmosphere we want to maintain
at our school at all times. First we discussed it in general and then we
talked about it in terms of gender and sexual identity. We had never reviewed
this policy as a whole staff before. As an initial discussion, it went very
well. People were actively involved in the sharing of resources and the
voicing of concerns.
We are going to set up some assemblies that can help our students break
down the misconceptions and fears many have about homosexuality and AIDS.
We are also going to get films to use in our guidance classes. Perhaps most
importantly, my principal is advocating class meetings run by students in
our advisories. She is going to get the materials needed to train advisors
to facilitate the leadership development of students in their homerooms.
Our new principal has a middle school background and vision and we are already
reaping the benefits, even though she's only been at our school for a few
months. I feel almost disloyal saying this because I really respected my
previous principal and the changes he made, but he was an elementary school
leader at heart. Funny how you come to these realizations . . . .
Following the discussion about decency and equity we watched a piece of
video from my recent Critical Friends
Group taping. I edited the tape so it was a little rough, but folks
were very attentive. We showed a 25-minute segment of our CFG using the
"Tuning Protocol" to examine a lesson I taught my eighth graders.
The video showed brief sections of my presentation of the material, and
my question for the group's focus. My question was about whether the use
of models was really helping my kids get the concepts I was trying to teach.
This was followed by clarifying questions and then warm and cool feedback
on the part of my CFG members. I then responded to what I'd heard. Finally
the video included about five minutes of our group's "debrief"
of the process.
After viewing the tape, our staff broke into SLC's and one person in each
group presented some work and a focusing question. Another person facilitated
the "tuning," and we all participated in the steps we'd seen modeled
by my CFG.
It was a fabulous exercise! When we reconvened as a whole staff there was
an upbeat buzz in the air. People talked about wanting to use protocols
in their team meetings, about joining a CFG and about how great it was to
really accomplish something on an inservice day!
I am really excited about the direction we're moving in as a school. More
people took ownership of school leadership yesterday than ever before. If
we all see ourselves as leaders we're bound to make strides forward in our
work with our children.
We ended the day with a written reflection and a statement by our principal
about using protocols with parents and students in the future...it was wonderful!
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