Learning at the Heart

100 Posts in 100 Days

In my role as Director of Teaching and Learning, one of my responsibilities is to facilitate our weekly Academic Leadership Team (ALT) meeting.  Our Academic Directors, Principals, and Associate Principals carve out 2 hours each week to come together and focus on instructional leadership in our school.  I’ve been a principal and an associate principal.  I know how big of an ask it is for 2 hours each week.  I know how supportive and impactful those 2 hours are when they are focused and used well and I know how draining they are when they are unproductive.

Last year, I adapted Elena Aguilar’s Team Effectiveness Self-Assessment  and had all of the ALT members complete it.  I then used the results and made several “upgrades” to our meeting design for this year.  Here are 10 shifts I made to the way I plan and design our meetings:

1  Using the survey:  We did not have a “measurable” form of self-assessment prior to using this last year.  It was helpful to have the ratings and a place for comments.  It was also helpful to allocate time in a meeting to complete the survey.  I had a 100% response rate.

2  Clarity of purpose for each agenda item:  I’ve been at my school for 6 years and we’ve always used an agenda template that included a space to note the purpose of an agenda time.  I expanded it, though, to hone in on what we really need to be doing.  The choices used to be Informing, Understanding, Discussion, Recommendation.  Now I include the whole list of options next to an agenda item and check all that apply.  The options include:

1. • Information Sharing
     
   • Information Gathering
   • Teambuilding
   • Learning
   • Planning
   • Reflecting
   • Problem Solving
   • Decision Making
   • Other:

3  Defining the “level of empowerment” for each agenda item:  Along with the purpose, in our notes, I indicate what role individuals or the team will play in the discussion and decision-making process.  For example, will they be providing input?  Making a recommendation?  Making a decision?  I find that when participants know what role they play in a discussion or decision-making process, their contributions become more specific and focused.Here’s a good synopsis of levels of empowerment. 

4  Pre-determining the decision making process we will use when the purpose is to make a decision:  Decision making was an area that our ALT team rated ourselves relatively low in.  We felt that many voices were present during discussion, but that we weren’t always clear on who or how a decision would be made.  By adding “Decision Making” to the list of purposes, it’s easy to plan ahead and make sure that a process for deciding has been established and communicated.  This may be the single most impactful change this year.  Tomorrow, I will share a document I have created for myself with a number of decision making processes and resources. 

5  Utilizing a timekeeper and notetaker when we have many items to work through:  It can be really challenging to be both a meeting facilitator and participant at the same time.  When we have a full agenda, I want some assistance.  So, I ask others on the team to help with keeping time and taking notes.  It allows me to focus my energies on being present in the meeting and it also shares the responsibility with other team members.  Together, we keep us on track and we document the important aspects of our meeting.

6  Less is more.  Fewer topics on the agenda each week with more time to do the work (work sessions):  When I first joined my school, our leadership meetings tended to be mostly tactical and managerial.  Over time, we have been shifting our focus.  Often times, now, they are work sessions.  Notice, the kinds of purposes that have been added to the list in item #2.  Learning, planning, and reflecting did not exist before.

7  Inviting others to the work:  My original list was “9 shifts”. But as I wrote about #6, it was obvious that the list was incomplete without noting that our ALT meetings are not just for ALT members anymore.  Effective school leaders do not work in isolation, and often we need leadership from or collaboration with other members of our school.  When the work we are doing will benefit from broader participation, we invite others to join us. We’ve had counselors, curriculum coordinators, instructional coaches, and teachers join us when their perspectives add value to the work.  

8  Chunking the nature of the items and work (strategic & tactical):  Let’s face it, as valuable as it has been to have learning-focused meetings, sometimes there are logistical and tactical things to be taken care of.  So, when I design the agenda, I sequence it carefully.  Strategic work and tactical work are often approached with different mindsets.  I “bundle” strategic items and put them on the agenda first and then I bundle “tactical” items and put them later in the meeting.  If we end up running short on time, we have found that we can often introduce a tactical item and get to the final resolution using asynchronous strategies. 

9  Adding a break:  Two hours can seem really short.  It can also seem really long.  I’ve been adding in time for a break this year.  When it makes sense, it comes between the strategic and tactical items on the agenda.  If nothing else, the break gives a few minutes for participants to do a quick check of messages, stretch their legs, and get a drink of water.  Adults benefit from brain breaks as much as our students do.

10  Filtering what makes it to an agenda (“learning focused meeting”):  More than years prior, I really do take on the role of “director” and direct some proposed agenda items to other venues.  I also work with members of our team when they have something to bring forward to be really clear about purpose, empowerment, and decision-making.  Yes, it feels a bit like gatekeeping, but as I already mentioned, it is draining to sit through something that is unproductive.

Here is the basic template for our meeting agenda.  I just add as many rows for each section as are needed.

Anecdotally, I’ve had several ALT members share positive comments about these changes.  They’ve noticed that our meetings run with purpose and they’ve compared them to other meetings.  I am planning to survey our team again in the next couple of weeks to see how we assess ourselves now.  I suspect we will be able to identify areas where we have grown together and have information that will help us set new goals.