A brand-new school year can bring hope, energy and excitement, as we want to build on successes and enhancements and continue to march toward our goal of success for each learner. Now is the best time to be developing a Collaborative Team Meeting (CTM). To do that, we will utilize a professional magnetic glass board mounted plainly on the classroom walls.

Whether taking a look at students in grade-level teams, divisional group, subject groups or around pods of students, Collaborative Team Meetings can end up being a vehicle for effective collaboration and analytical related to supporting students. Especially in conjunction with an excellent sizeable magnetic whiteboard where you can collaborate, brainstorm and mark the development of your CTM.

Here are some things to think about:

1) Behaviour prior to beliefs-- Michael Fullan reminds us that trying to change a person's belief is a daunting task and one that is often counter-productive to the modification process. We need to engage staff teams in behavioural modifications (how we operate) frequently prior to we can receive the buy-in. When we first initiated Collaborative Team Meetings, not every team member saw the full value of the process, and sometimes the conversations were not as efficient as they later on became. The point here is that all of us need to begin someplace and believe in taking a collective technique to attending to the needs of trainees will come, as we continue to work together taking on how best to support trainees. Modification theory informs us that we simply need to begin-- beliefs and buy-in will progress as we continue to position focus on the requirements of students.

2) It's not a popularity contest-- Douglas Reeves (2009) reminds us, "If your objective is appeal, then you are completed, and expert collaboration will satisfy the exact same fate as every other change that failed because the true standard was popularity, rather than effectiveness. If, however, you are committed to reliable modification, then determination through the initial obstacles to achieve the essential short-term wins will be needed, even when that perseverance is unpopular." (p. 48). As leaders, we require to continue to discover the best methods to meet the needs of trainees, and this might mark a departure from some standard practices in schools. Writing tasks on dry wipe boards and utilizing some of the job management methodology displayed on large magnetic glass boards will suffice. Staff will come to see the Collaborative Team Meeting as a supportive structure that can bring along a sensation of "we're all in this together". Nevertheless, it will take time to create that level of buy-in.

3) Consider handling utilizing glass board task-- We have actually written prior to on the worth of piloting modification. Consider starting CTM's with a specific grade level, leveraging those team member most supportive of the process and let them become the champions that produce other staff interest across the school.

4) Include CTMs in your annual calendar-- We have actually found it most efficient when you can prepare CTM's right into the annual personnel planning calendar. Installed on the staff's office wall, we utilize a professional magnetic glass board to add to-dos and techniques easily. By figuring out the dates through the year for CTM's, it becomes simpler to plan for (and to not abandon when things get busy). Anything essential is worth dedicating to at the outset. To learn more about this, see how a large glass board might present the calendar in your office.

A Collaborative Team Meeting can serve as the catalyst to school-wide structural changes to how we address the needs of students, shifting the focus from "my trainees" to "our trainees ". For us, it the natural initial step to establishing an effective Collaborative Response Model in your school!

Finest desires as you move forward in your strategies to satisfy the needs of all your students in your school!