Synergy in Action

We crossed a threshold this week and stepped into a new era at our school. After a summer of perpetual meetings it was time to roll out our school makeover plan to staff. On the agenda...the end of teaming, the reintroduction of student SEAL certificates, and a deliberate approach to positive reinforcement. Why? The official line went something like "We have to rethink teaming given our current staffing." Okay fine, but who will do the rethinking? In an odd twist...not the administrators at our school! It turns out that five teachers, who had to apply for the position, got the job....I happened to be one of them.

THE ROLLOUT

We introduced concepts of positive reinforcement from the book Don't Shoot the Dog and talked about the need to move away from the punitive measures that have been in place for years. The focus on positive reinforcement was created by a district initiative, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and the work of a group of teachers in the building. While PBIS is designed to be an information system that uses school data for decision making, it's main goal is to teach students positive behaviors rather than be a punitive response to poor decision making. For our purposes, we implemented a Pride Point system to be used throughout the school to reinforce positive behaviors, created four Prides (social houses - North, South, East, & West) that will handle non-academic decision making, revamped our major & minor infraction reporting system, and reintroduced SEAL certificates. Our hope is that students will identify with their Pride as they did with their academic teams.

In addition to this structure, we supported teachers with team-building and class-building activities they could take to their classes and use right away. Since Kagan Cooperative Learning is also an on-going district initiative, we used many of the structures and games provided in the materials available to us. As for the certificates, we brought back an unpopular (and expensive) system of reinforcing student achievement, only this time we created clear guidelines for how students earned the seals.

The final piece of our roll-out was an ambitious 30-hour series of professional development opportunities for staff members that would satisfy a clause in our teaching contract regarding PD time throughout the school year. The centerpiece of the PD was two 7-hour days (last week) where staff members would learn more about the system and provide valuable input as to the final details of the system.

Teacher-Led PD

There is something to be said for sitting in a staff meeting and listening to your admin tell you what you need to know and moving on. This was not one of those times. Over the course of the two days, with over 50% of staff in attendance, there was a noticeable lack of admin presence. This created some issues during discussions as the topic spiraled in all directions on occasion, but in the end, it was a good thing. We were talking about our beliefs, our passions, our hang-ups...and debating the merits of a broken system...one that many were trying desperately to hang on to. The conversation was intense. It started with Daniel Pink's TED Talk on motivation. With the absence of admin, I think it set the tone for autonomy, mastery, & purpose! We (the leaders) introduced topics and allowed a debate to ensue. The debate that yielded the most fruit centered around student activities and eligibility criteria.

A New Era

For years criteria centered on grades and honor level status. The only activity free of criteria were our observances of Veteran's Day and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. During an intense 3-hour debate, we were able to move our school off it's punitive foundation and agree to put students ahead of our egos. While we aren't criteria free, we did agree to make all assemblies and school-wide socials criteria-free! What I am most proud of, however, is a simple two-part agreement: (1) We would rethink our end of year "Moving Up" ceremony and (2) ALL students will be allowed to participate whether they "earned it" or not. We also are in agreement that it should not have the look or feel of a "graduation" ceremony. Our end-of-quarter reward activities are still tied to grades and honor level status, and as punitive as that can be, it is how we plan to stress the importance of academics. Does anyone accomplish this any other way? What does your end-of-year ceremony look like?

Showtime!

On Wednesday students will arrive to experience the changes for themselves. They've been informed about the changes to teaming, and given a brief description of the new system. How they react? I suspect they will embrace the changes as the staff did, but the long-term success will come from focusing on the positives, not looking back but continuing to point the way forward. As one of our passionate leaders said during our PD, "You cannot steal second based with one foot still on first. You have to be all-in." We're all in...we're passionate about what we've created!