Spring has sprung and the last thing any hard working staff desires to do at the end of the school day is march down to the library or your standard gathering space for staff meetings and listen to me or any one else for that matter, delivering information to an already full plate.
However, just because it is spring, does not mean the information that teachers need to know just magically disappears or can simply "wait until next year".
It is a dilemma school leaders face. How to balance giving teachers the time they need with delivering information that needs to be shared. While you are figuring out the balance, do not forget to keep spirits up and morale high. Never fear...You Can Do It!
I introduce to you The 7 Minute Staff Meeting, shared with me by my #txpvi colleague and friend Conrad Streeter, Princpal at Colleyville Heritage High School or @ConradStreeter. While the meeting it self is more than 7 minutes (27 to be exact) it allows for the delivery of information, in small chunks and keeps the teachers moving.
How it Works:
1. Identify what needs to be shared, delivered or what feedback you need from teachers.
We had three things that needed to be shared this afternoon. A reflective survey asking teachers to consider their proficiency on the different components that make up a guided reading lesson, providing information about our Community and Student Engagement Accountability System and reviewing expectations with the implementation of accommodations for students.
2. Break teachers into the appropriate number of groups, based on what will be shared, delivered or what feedback is needed.
Since we identified three topics, we divided the staff into three groups. If you google random group generators, several will come up. I went with this one: Random Group Creator. I simply copied and pasted the staff list and viola. I had our groups for the afternoon rotations.
3. Assign each group a place to start.
We shared a google document with the groups and a brief description of where to meet and what they will need.
4. Provide refreshments.
In the middle of our main hallway was a table with refreshments for staff to grab as they transitioned from group to group.
5. Identify a time keeper.
We have an after school program who work in our front office. She made an announcement saying "Your 7 minutes begins now." We would share/discuss and get feedback and when time was up and announcement was made saying, "You have 3 minutes to transition to your next rotation." This repeated until teachers had rotated through each of the three rotations.
Research supports the use of movement in learning and studies have shown we can only sit and attend so long before we begin to get distracted. While I cannot put my fingers on the exact study, for the sake of The 7 Minute Staff Meeting, we agreed today that we could attend for about 7 minutes and after that, it was time to move.
Going to give The 7 Minute Staff Meeting a try?
What was your moment today?Labels: #oneword, #txpvi, 2016, 7 minutes, Moment, staff meetings