1) This chapter was interesting. I have been on some shared decision making committees for the district and the school. I think they would have worked better if it was set up as in the book. Usually after doing the research and work many of the teachers always felt the district or the principal did want they wanted to do in the first place. Right now our district has strategic planning committees, which we all need to participate in. When decisions our made at meeting, it is usually done by a vote and consensus wins. So the teachers, who didn’t win the vote, do not put forth much effort. For awhile our administration kept changing and trust was hard to come by. Administration needs to recognize that and slowly rebuilt that trust and support between teachers and administrators. If a classroom teacher is going to take risks there has to be support and communication with the principal.
2&3) At the middle school we have a very active student council. It consists of a team of students and teachers; they sponsor food drives and donations to go to certain events. If they are going to be any spirit days, the student council must meet with the principal for approval. In my classroom I do not have students working together on any social causes. If there is any decision making going on, it refers to the content. Students help by setting deadlines when working on a project, selecting groups, and developing or helping with a rubric. Just like the faculty if there is a decision to be made we usually just voted. I would like to introduce the 5-1 voting next time. I have some students who like Steve, their mind wanders. By asking students like this to explain their vote, or give more clarification they are now more part of the decision being made. This would hopefully stop the separation of the doers and the waiters. The doers have the skills needed to move forward and the waiters have learned to be quiet and let them do the work.
I have given up on majority rules because as you say Julie, there are winners and losers...toward the end of my administrative career I never had votes...we worked on an issue until we came to consensus..that is could we all live with the decision...It worked so much better...I still do this today in workshops...My last 7 years in the system was unbelievable...we had leaderships teams at every level consisting of teachers, parents,board members and administration ...the district leadership team selected the Superintendent because the board member on the team said they have to work for him let them decide..and every decision was made that way...we had consensus bargaining where there were no arguments like I had remembered as chief negotiator for the teachers...the last two contracts I was involved with the sessions lasted 6 hours and everyone walked out and had a beer...but one April election took care of that...everything changed with one board member...but it was a great way to step out as I knew that there was a better way...BArney
1) In a typical classroom children are given a set of rules to follow and do not have much input into their creation or the decision process. Many teachers have their group of guidelines that they like to have their students follow. The teachers do not seek out student input in the decision making process and decide on rules and guidelines that they feel will work best for them. I feel we should allow students to assist in the creation on class guidelines, projects and jobs. How often do children really get to make important decisions that affect them? I think the team decision gradient would be an easy thing to implement in any classroom and would give students a chance to voice their opinions and ideas in a safe and engaging environment. Unfortunately the school I work in does not allow class to plan parties or bring in treats unless the entire grade is doing the exact same thing with the exact same items. Kind of a bummer from my perspective, but when enough parents complain I guess you do what you have to do. 2&3) After my classes this summer I decided to give my students more responsibilities in my classroom/ groups. My groups worked together to decide what our classroom guidelines would be for the year. After I had a list of guidelines I had each group vote on the ones they felt were the most important for our classroom to be functional and respectful of everyone in it. I also allow my groups to pick their homework. I give them 2-3 options and then as a group they vote on which assignment they will do. It works out well because sometime they get the one they voted for and sometimes they don’t. I have not seen any pouting or acting out when a student doesn’t get their way because they know they always get to choose again next week.
Hi kristin..theres a presenter named Corwin Kronenberg who was the inspiration at the last middle school I was at where every teacher in every class asked kids to tell what the Mission of the class was...then they would write on post its as manyof things they could think of ...then we asked what was my job(teacher) using the same procedure...then what was their job(student) and had them write on post its...then we divided the class up into 3 groups to deterimine the mission, my job and your job...they then came up with a poster listing the various answers to the questions...we then held each other accountable for accom;lishing the mission...it worked slick and every class had its "rules" and all the teacher had to ask was "what part of your job are you violating or what part of the mission are you not meeting" ..worked slick..and had few problems...
4 comments:
1) This chapter was interesting. I have been on some shared decision making committees for the district and the school. I think they would have worked better if it was set up as in the book. Usually after doing the research and work many of the teachers always felt the district or the principal did want they wanted to do in the first place. Right now our district has strategic planning committees, which we all need to participate in. When decisions our made at meeting, it is usually done by a vote and consensus wins. So the teachers, who didn’t win the vote, do not put forth much effort. For awhile our administration kept changing and trust was hard to come by. Administration needs to recognize that and slowly rebuilt that trust and support between teachers and administrators. If a classroom teacher is going to take risks there has to be support and communication with the principal.
2&3) At the middle school we have a very active student council. It consists of a team of students and teachers; they sponsor food drives and donations to go to certain events. If they are going to be any spirit days, the student council must meet with the principal for approval. In my classroom I do not have students working together on any social causes. If there is any decision making going on, it refers to the content. Students help by setting deadlines when working on a project, selecting groups, and developing or helping with a rubric. Just like the faculty if there is a decision to be made we usually just voted. I would like to introduce the 5-1 voting next time. I have some students who like Steve, their mind wanders. By asking students like this to explain their vote, or give more clarification they are now more part of the decision being made. This would hopefully stop the separation of the doers and the waiters. The doers have the skills needed to move forward and the waiters have learned to be quiet and let them do the work.
I have given up on majority rules because as you say Julie, there are winners and losers...toward the end of my administrative career I never had votes...we worked on an issue until we came to consensus..that is could we all live with the decision...It worked so much better...I still do this today in workshops...My last 7 years in the system was unbelievable...we had leaderships teams at every level consisting of teachers, parents,board members and administration ...the district leadership team selected the Superintendent because the board member on the team said they have to work for him let them decide..and every decision was made that way...we had consensus bargaining where there were no arguments like I had remembered as chief negotiator for the teachers...the last two contracts I was involved with the sessions lasted 6 hours and everyone walked out and had a beer...but one April election took care of that...everything changed with one board member...but it was a great way to step out as I knew that there was a better way...BArney
1) In a typical classroom children are given a set of rules to follow and do not have much input into their creation or the decision process. Many teachers have their group of guidelines that they like to have their students follow. The teachers do not seek out student input in the decision making process and decide on rules and guidelines that they feel will work best for them. I feel we should allow students to assist in the creation on class guidelines, projects and jobs. How often do children really get to make important decisions that affect them? I think the team decision gradient would be an easy thing to implement in any classroom and would give students a chance to voice their opinions and ideas in a safe and engaging environment. Unfortunately the school I work in does not allow class to plan parties or bring in treats unless the entire grade is doing the exact same thing with the exact same items. Kind of a bummer from my perspective, but when enough parents complain I guess you do what you have to do.
2&3) After my classes this summer I decided to give my students more responsibilities in my classroom/ groups. My groups worked together to decide what our classroom guidelines would be for the year. After I had a list of guidelines I had each group vote on the ones they felt were the most important for our classroom to be functional and respectful of everyone in it. I also allow my groups to pick their homework. I give them 2-3 options and then as a group they vote on which assignment they will do. It works out well because sometime they get the one they voted for and sometimes they don’t. I have not seen any pouting or acting out when a student doesn’t get their way because they know they always get to choose again next week.
Hi kristin..theres a presenter named Corwin Kronenberg who was the inspiration at the last middle school I was at where every teacher in every class asked kids to tell what the Mission of the class was...then they would write on post its as manyof things they could think of ...then we asked what was my job(teacher) using the same procedure...then what was their job(student) and had them write on post its...then we divided the class up into 3 groups to deterimine the mission, my job and your job...they then came up with a poster listing the various answers to the questions...we then held each other accountable for accom;lishing the mission...it worked slick and every class had its "rules" and all the teacher had to ask was "what part of your job are you violating or what part of the mission are you not meeting" ..worked slick..and had few problems...
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