Making the Most of Your Weekly Admin Meeting

1. Making the Most of Your Weekly Admin Meeting Lake Forest Elementary School Sandy Springs, GA Follow Us on Twitter! @LFLions @TBarton42 @AGHamilton27 @LFLions_AP @LFLionsMath

2. A Snapshot of Lake Forest  • PreK – 5 • 800 Students • 93% Hispanic • 3% African American • 2% White • 1% Asian • 83% ELL Students • 94.35% Attendance Rate • 100% Free/Reduced Lunch

3. A Snapshot of Lake Forest  • International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme School • Spanish – English Dual Language Immersion Program • 2017-9 National PTA School of Excellence • School Based Health Center • Steel Drum Band & Orff Ensemble • Gettingsmart.com – 100 Schools Worth Visiting

4. Reading Achievement% of Students Reading On Grade Level This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

5. Overall Achievement% of Students Passing 5th Grade EOY Test

6. When you think of a typical admin meeting, what comes to mind?

8. Turn and talk with a neighbor What from that video resonated with you?

9. What is a Quad D Admin Meeting?

10. Indicators of a Quad D Admin Meeting • Learning is at the center of the meeting • Capitalizes on the collective intelligence of the room to solve problems • Is efficient, yet allows for personal reflection and professional growth

11. 3 Basic Steps for Running an Effective, Efficient Admin Meeting

12. Step 1 • Set Norms at the beginning of the school year, and revisit them periodically • What are the behavioral expectations for the group? • Phrase them positively • If necessary, assign a Normer?

13. Step 2 • Utilize technology to get nuts and bolts information out of the way • Create the agenda ahead of time on Google Docs or Microsoft OneDrive, and have participants fill in information that doesn’t need discussion • Absent Days for the week • Last minute agenda items • Thank you cards

14. Step 3 Stick to the agenda!

15. How the Lake Forest Admin Team Meeting Runs

16. Before the Meeting Starts • Fill in days out • Thank you card to a staff member • We keep a running spreadsheet to ensure that each of our staff members receives at least 1 handwritten thank you card throughout the year. • Sign up for Friday reading to a class

17. Check In • Time to connect as a team • Builds Comradery and Connectedness • Promotes Work/Life Balance • Allows team members to discuss what’s on their mind before jumping into the agenda • If you need a structure, use the “Connections” protocol from SRI

18. Lesson Plan Review • Each administrator is assigned a grade level or two • Check to make sure plans are uploaded • Check to see if plans are aligned to pacing • Check to see if groups are differentiated based on current levels

19. Reflective Journaling • Reflection is an important part of learning (Dewey, 1916) • "The activity of reflection is so familiar that, as teachers or trainers, we often overlook it in formal learning settings, and make assumptions about the fact that not only is it occurring, but it is occurring effectively for everyone in the group. It is easy to neglect as it is something which we cannot directly observe and which is unique to each learner." (Boud, et al. , 1985, p. 8) • Embrace the silence!

20. Your Turn!Take out a notepad or your phone, and reflect for 3 minutes on what you are thinking about right now. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY. This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

21. Turn and talk with a neighbor How’d It Go? In what ways can reflective journaling be useful for your admin team?

22. Other Elements That We Regularly Incorporate Into Our Morning

23. Article Studies • Professional Learning • Utilize protocols to facilitate discussion • Topics range from leadership principles to curriculum and instruction

24. Text Rendering ProtocolFrom School Reform Initiative 1. First Round: Each person shares a sentence from the document that she/he thinks/feels is particularly significant.  2. Second Round: Each person shares a phrase that she/he thinks/feels is particularly significant. The scribe records each phrase.  3. Third Round: Each person shares the word that she/he thinks/feels is particularly significant. The scribe records each word.  4. Discuss: The group discusses what they heard and what it says about the document. What new insights have you gained about the text by looking at it in this way? What do you think this text is essentially about?  5. Debrief: The group debriefs the text rendering process.

25. Let's Practice!from "Creating Powerful Principal and Coach Partnerships" by Diane Sweeney and Ann MausbachEducational Leadership March 2019 Select the phrase that is most meaningful to you in this passage "...Schools are complex systems, so it is no wonder that leading one is not easy. But strong partnerships can make the job less difficult. When the principal and coach are clear on school improvement initiatives, what high-quality instruction looks like within the school, and how the coaching model supports these efforts, things fall into place. Schools become more joyful, instruction becomes more precise, teachers are happier, and students learn. Leading is mired in uncertainty and ambiguity. As much as one might want to be strong and all-knowing, the demands of the job make that impossible. Being unsure is natural, and the mark of a great leader is when they aren’t afraid to seek help from others. The Avengers’ strengths lie in their number, much like the principal’s lies in knowing how to forge strong partnerships in service of student learning. "

26. Get in groups of 4 After you share your words, answer these three questions • What did you hear, and what does it say about the text? • What new insights have you gained about the text by looking at it in this way?  • What do you think this text is essentially about? How does it apply to you and your admin team? 

27. Learning Walks Based on Feedback From Teachers Admin Team Members Cover Classes and Teachers Observe Their Peers with the Curriculum Support Teacher (CST) Teachers Debrief with the CST after the Learning Walk Using Guiding Questions based on an area of focus

28. Learning Walk Protocol for Student Collaboration • What commonalities in teaching and learning emerged during the learning walk? • What did you see that was especially interesting to you (a new idea, a validation, an aha moment? • Questions, wondering, or surprises that resulted from the learning walk: • Identify an idea from the learning walk that you will apply in your classroom:

29. Data Digs • Literacy or Math data • Utilize protocols to analyze the data • Atlas Protocol • Describing the Data • Interpreting the Data • Implications for Classroom Practice • Reflecting on the ATLAS-Looking at Data • Debrief the Process

30. Coaching Cycle Feedback • Literacy and Math Coaches Record a coaching conversation with a teacher • See It, Name It, Do It Coaching Protocol • The admin team watches the sessions and gives warm and cool feedback to the coach in order to improve practice

31. Items up for Discussion • For example: • Anything that is upcoming and needs discussion • Teacher appreciation week • Testing windows • Counseling items/concerns • Leadership agenda

32. Big Work • Accountability for the team • Big work from last week • Big work for this week

33. What is a Quad D Admin Meeting?

34. Reflect on Your Meetings and What We Shared • How can your team grow in your meetings to have a Quad D Meeting? • What are some steps you can take right now to get there?

35. Start building your admin meeting agenda! Members of the Lake Forest team will circulate to assist you! Follow Us on Twitter! @LFLions @TBarton42 @AGHamilton27 @LFLions_AP @LFLionsMath

36. Go to _________________ to find protocols and templates for: • Admin meeting agenda • Thank you note log • Weekly reading log • Learning Walk Guiding Questions • Text Rendering Protocol • Atlas Looking at Data Protocol • Connections Protocol • Warm/Cool Feedback Protocol