Staff meetings... we
I remember back to teaching, we all dreaded that Wednesday meeting. Two hours of being talked to, getting information I could have read in a memo. Sitting in a chair thinking about all the things we could be doing instead of this.
I also get it, the principal's job is busy. To organize a staff meeting correctly, you need to plan. Just like a great teachers plan for amazing lessons. It is hard work and takes time.
I set a goal for myself this year, to plan awesome (hopefully) staff meetings. I don't want to waste people times. I want staff to value the time, learn together, build community and have fun.
I had my first staff meeting last Wednesday. I spent 3 hours planning for 1 and 1/2 hours. One thing that works for me is having a presentation to show. It helps me stay on time and kept us moving. Here is the one I used at my last staff meeting.
We started the meeting with writing postcards to students. Each teacher wrote at least 2 students a "great work" postcard. After the meeting, I spent 30 minutes addressing and stamping all the postcard.
Next was a district presentation. It was boring, but I could not do anything about it. So, I followed it up with a game. I used Popsicle sticks to make groups for my staff. After grouping the staff and passing out paper, I told them the rules. "Here are the rules, there is only one. Figure out the game and you have 5 minutes." They flipped over the paper and started the YouTube timer video. They were collaborating. They were using tech to look up things. They were inferring information based on a picture. They were laughing and building relationships.
After we played the game, I set the tone with a quote.
Rotations were next. We had some information to gather and new people for them to meet. I hit play on the time YouTube video and I was able to move around/listen to conversations. The video would beep after 5 minutes and the staff would rotate.
Next was some quick announcements by staff for staff.
We end with this amazing Ted Talk by Rita Pierson: Every Kid needs a Champion. It is a funny and very uplifting video.
Of course, we needed a new staff picture. So, we took care of that too. What a hard working, great looking, fun group of colleagues!!!
