100 Posts in 100 Days
No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.
James Comer
It’s “Newbie Week” at my school, which is orientation for all of our new faculty. As the week goes on, we have a mix of informational, training, and social events. It’s a great time to get to know the new faculty and to get to know them in a variety of ways.
We are a couple of days in to “Newbie Week” and I want to gauge how well I’m doing getting to know my new colleagues. I created a simple sheet, “Who Do I Know”, to help me.
Down the left side, I list the names of the new faculty members. I selected some categories or “ways of knowing” them across the top and I’m “testing” myself to see what I can fill in.
Role: Do I recall what they will be teaching?
Family: Can I list the names of their immediate family members?
“Home”: Because we are an international school and many of our faculty are foreign hires, do I know the city or country they consider home?
Hobby/Interest: Do I know something they like to do outside of school?
Other: What else do I know?
When I’m unable to fill out some basic information about one of our new faculty members, I know it’s time to make a point to have a conversation. Sitting with them at lunch time or during a faculty meeting, talking to them during a coffee break in our pre-service days, or joining them at lunch time are some opportunities to learn more about them.
This tool is adaptable for many educator roles. It can easily be used by school administrators and principals, instructional coaches, team leaders, and school counselors. The categories can be customized to any role or context. Classroom teachers can adapt it to think about their students.
I’m excited to use this tool over the next few days. I’m more excited to get to know all of my new colleagues.