Team Development

One of my favorite places I've ever worked was an elementary school where I taught pre-k. Of course we had our ups and downs, but for the most part our team felt like a family...so much so that we still have strong relationships to this day. It was hard to leave this team because of the "family" feel. We all had each other's backs, supported one another (both professionally and personally), and laughed like no other. When I left this position there were a lot of tears and reminiscing, and soon after I left many people from the school moved on as well due to a change in leadership. A closing ritual we implemented was getting together for dinner to reflect on the good times, which served as a confirmation that we would all keep in touch. We turned this into a tradition, and at the end of each school year we still get together for dinner to catch up.

From this program, I would like it if all of us could adjourn by congratulating each other for completing the program and posting a photo of our degrees to some sort of photo thread. This would allow me to see that all of the colleagues I've met along the way completed this journey with me and that we were all successful.

Adjournment is so important because it gives everyone a sense of completion and accomplishment. Even though adjournment is celebrating the ending of something that was once good, it still serves as  time to reflect and celebrate accomplishments.

NVC & The Three R's

I recently had a conflict with one of my teachers regarding non-submission of lesson plans. This is a repeat offender whom always has issues with submitting things on time and fulfilling classroom responsibilities. She also has a tendency to be combative when addressed with feedback. While having the conversation (or any conversation with her) based on our history, I tend to enter the conversation already agitated and visibly frustrated. Through what I have learned, what I give people is what I will reciprocate...which is one element of the three R's. In order to have mutual respect between the two of us, I must also learn to listen for understanding, rather than just listening as a requirement or just to respond.

I asked one of my fellow EC's for advice on communicating with staff, and she explained that I should commit to going into conversations/feedback with a mindset of understanding rather than walking in with a plan as to how the conversation should go. When you go into a conversation with pre-conceived ideas and actions, you tend to not listen as effectively as you should.