Team BuildingTeam Building

Why Do an Activity ?Why Do an Activity ?• It’s different It’s different

• You must put forth effort (active learning)You must put forth effort (active learning)

• It values It values relationshipsrelationships as much as content as much as content

• It is the intentional ‘cracks’ between agenda itemsIt is the intentional ‘cracks’ between agenda items

• It is a way to reflect by talking to colleagues who It is a way to reflect by talking to colleagues who understand what you dounderstand what you do

• Sharing craft knowledgeSharing craft knowledge

What an Activity is NOTWhat an Activity is NOT

• It does not ignore any person in the groupIt does not ignore any person in the group

• It is not a ‘sit & get’It is not a ‘sit & get’

• It is not passive learningIt is not passive learning

• It will not allow you to sit silently – you It will not allow you to sit silently – you must speak your assumptions and learn must speak your assumptions and learn from the discussion (trust & reflection).from the discussion (trust & reflection).

• It’s not easyIt’s not easy

Why ‘Conversation’Why ‘Conversation’

For most learners For most learners (especially educators) (especially educators)

conversational conversational interactions are criticalinteractions are critical..

… … printed materials, videos, web printed materials, videos, web pages, just don’t do enough. As pages, just don’t do enough. As educators, we need to ask for educators, we need to ask for clarification, ask for elaboration, and clarification, ask for elaboration, and see information presented in other ways see information presented in other ways to gain a deeper understanding of the to gain a deeper understanding of the material… material…

What happens if there is no relationship or

conversation?

Learning is not a spectator sport. Learning is not a spectator sport.

We do not learn much just sitting and We do not learn much just sitting and listening to lectures, memorizing listening to lectures, memorizing assignments, and spitting out answers. assignments, and spitting out answers. We must talk about what we are We must talk about what we are learning, write reflectively about it, learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and apply relate it to past experiences, and apply that to our daily lives. We must make that to our daily lives. We must make what we learn part of ourselves what we learn part of ourselves (Chickering & Gamson)(Chickering & Gamson)

..a Dialogue?..a Dialogue?By dialogue, we mean discussion – real By dialogue, we mean discussion – real discussion in which questions and ideas are discussion in which questions and ideas are exchanged with each other. Dialogue has exchanged with each other. Dialogue has been shown to improve student been shown to improve student achievement in both reading and writing. achievement in both reading and writing.

This research conducted at the National Research Center on Learning & Achievement

We learn -We learn -10% of what we readread

20% of what we hearhear

30% of what we seesee

50% of what we see & hearsee & hear

70% of what is discussed with othersdiscussed with others

80% of what we personally experienceexperience

95% of what we teachteach someone else

We learn -We learn -10% of what we readread

20% of what we hearhear

30% of what we seesee

50% of what we see & hearsee & hear

70% of what is discussed with othersdiscussed with others

80% of what we personally experienceexperience

95% of what we teachteach someone else

SLCRelationshipsRelationships

Fullan……..Relationships

Barth……..Collegiality

Murphy….WFSG

Hord…….Learning Communities

Comer: School improvement is Comer: School improvement is rooted in child development, rooted in child development,

human development and human development and relationshipsrelationships.

SLCRelationships

Whole Faculty Study Group

Teacher Team Activities

Department, Grade Group, Building Wing….

Committees

Friday at…

SLC

Why Why Relationships?Relationships?Relationships = InvolvementRelationships = Involvement

Involvement = Commitment Involvement = Commitment (ownership)(ownership)

Commitment = SuccessCommitment = Success

Never doubt Never doubt that a small, that a small, group of group of thoughtful, thoughtful, committed committed citizens can citizens can change the change the world. Indeed, world. Indeed, it is the only it is the only thing that ever thing that ever has.has.M.MeadM.Mead

Culture• Barth…you can tell more about a

school from the relationship of the adults then anything else.• Teachers working together.• Teacher efficacy. • What will a new teacher learn

about your school’s culture?

SLSLCCResearch

(and experience) tells us there are only two ways to improve schools * Get better kids * Help teachers get better

Why do you teach?SchoolLeadersAre TeachersToo.

MMAAGGIIcc

We learn -We learn -10% of what we readread

20% of what we hearhear

30% of what we seesee

50% of what we see & hearsee & hear

70% of what is discussed with othersdiscussed with others

80% of what we personally experienceexperience

95% of what we teachteach someone else

Last year at P.S. 209, a K-8 school in Brooklyn, New York, principal Howard Leibowitz asked each teacher to select a quotation that would be printed in large type, laminated, and hung over the classroom doorway. "Initially, many teachers thought this was a hokey idea," teacher Elyse Hunt told Education World, "but it caught on quickly. Teachers -- and students -- eagerly read and sometimes pondered the meanings of those quotations."

Leibowitz encouraged teachers to initiate discussions about the quotations, added Hunt. Teachers reinforced them in a variety of ways.

"The greatest value I see in this project is that it encourages deep thinking in children who are already grappling with complex issues," Crossley concluded.

Galileo – You can’t teach a man

anything – you can help him find it within himself.

Everyone is ignorant …only at different things. Will Rogers

Education is when you read the fine print – experience is when you don’t. Pete Seeger

Civilization is a race between education and catastrophe. HG Wells

I do not know what weapons will be used in WW III – but in WW IV they will use sticks and stones. A. Einstein

Lord Brougham – Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave (1778).

Everyone is ignorant …only at different things. Will Rogers

Education is when you read the fine print – experience is when you don’t. Pete Seeger

Swedish Proverb Those who wish to sing, always find a song.

• "When a teacher calls a boy by his entire name, it means trouble." ~Mark Twain

• I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about - - besides homework.  ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

• It's easy to make a buck.  It's a lot tougher to make a difference.  ~Tom Brokaw

• Dr. Mark Springston has recently completed (spring 2005) research indicating that teaching team skills through team building games works!

• Mark conducted an experiment with 294 (99 teams) first year college engineering students at Virginia Tech.

• This large group of students was divided into two smaller groups and on a Saturday morning in October 2004 Mark worked with half of the group for 3 hours, leading them through a series of experiential team building activities

• After lunch, the students (all of them) were placed in teams of 2, 3 or 4 and then assigned a technological problem to solve. It was challenging, taking four hours to complete.

• And the results? Dr. Springston reports that group sizes of 2 and 3 experienced little or no benefit from the "treatment" HOWEVER, the teams of 4 that received team training did EXCEPTIONALLY better than the groups of 4 that received no training.

"Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Txes M&A Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

It’s magic

Five Issues to Be Considered in Teambuilding Darwyn Linder, Department of Psychology & Susan Ledlow, Instructional Innovation Network, Arizona State University

A strategy that can help groups develop into real teams is teambuilding, “the process needed to create, maintain, and enrich the development of a group of people into a cohesive unit.” Teambuilding exercises are very important in the development of teams that will work together for an extended period of time on a complex project or a series of activities. Teambuilding is not a silver bullet for fixing dysfunctional teams, or assuring that all of your teams will work well. But, teambuilding exercises can be helpful in developing effective teams, if they are selected to enable teams to explore the five critical issues identified in this outline.

Cohesiveness This term refers to the attractiveness of group membership. Groups are cohesive to the extent that membership in them is positively valued, and members are drawn toward the group.

Roles and Norms All groups develop a set of roles and norms over time, whether or not these are explicitly discussed. Norms are the rules governing the group

Communication Effective interpersonal communication is vital to the smooth functioning of any task group.

Goal Specification It is very important for group members to have common goals for group

achievementInterdependence This is the issue of how each team member’s success is determined, at

least in part, by the success of the other members.

• Born to a middle-class family. His parents were concerned that he scarcely talked until the age of three. He often would build tall houses of cards and hated playing soldier.

• At the age of fifteen he quit high school disgusted by rote learning.

• Entered the Federal Institute of Technology graduated with an unexceptional record.

Geo. Clooney Demi Moore Halle Berry

Angelina Jolie Bruce Willis Elton John

J Lo Jennifer Aniston Julia Roberts

John Lennon Robert De Niro Jimi Hendrix

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.  The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.  ~Carl Jung

Children will Listen

What’s the reason for the last 15 slides?

Building relationships with teachers models for them, and demonstrates to them, how and why to build relationships with students.We build relationships through team building and conversation.

Lets have some fun