How to CreateDynamic Faculty

Conferences

Presented by: Edward Aguiles –Principal Sandra Paul – Director of

Technology

NJASA/NJAPSA Spring Conference 2014

Why have a faculty meeting?

What does your faculty meeting look like?

Changing the Paradigm

KEY TO EFFECTIVE CONFERENCES

• DESIGN

• CONTENT

• PROCESS

Classroom Meeting

DESIGNTIME IS VALUABLE –TREAT IT THAT WAY

• Respect your faculty/staff’s time• Set and stick to a start time• Set and stick to an end time

ESTABLISH IN ADVANCE THE LENGTH OF THE CONFERENCE

• The agenda will dictate the conference length • Conferences should last no more than one hour • Optimum time for feeling positive about a

conference is 30 minutes

DESIGNPREPARE AND DISTRIBUTE AN AGENDA AHEAD OF TIME

• Send a draft of the agenda out early enough for staff input to be solicited.

• Send a final revised agenda out guaranteeing that there are a reasonable number of items to be covered.

CONTROL THE CONFERENCE BY CONTROLLING THE CLOCK• Allow for discussion but make certain to keep dialog on

track.• Don’t allow one group or one teacher to monopolize the

discussion.• Steer the discussion back to the topic and prevent people

from filibustering.

DESIGNON A POSITIVE NOTE…Start the conference:

• By greeting people as they arrive.• With a cheerful atmosphere.• With a funny story or humor to provide a relaxed

atmosphere,• With positive comments from community members

( students, parents, community at large) about the school or programs.

• With cohesion – focus on the group and away from individual success stories.

CONTENTWHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?

• Focus on central issues that are essential to everyone

Top three (3) answers are on the board. Name three things that are vital to having a productive conference

• Professional development• School improvement• Opportunities for staff members to communicate with

one another.

Faculty meeting toolsPadletLivebinderSmoreBackchanneling

Food!!!!

Remind 101Flipped Meeting

Google DocsGoogle Hangout

Food!!!!

Using Padlet

Livebinder

Remind101● Faculty meeting time and dates● Parent/Teacher conferences● I & RS meeting● Announced Observations/Post

Observations● Parent communications

SmoreSpot On - Spotswood School DistrictLAC - Look Out - Lower Alloway Creek School District

Back ChannelingToday’s Meet - TodaysMeet works like a chat room – you create a room, choose a

timeframe for how long the room stays open (two hours to one month), enter your name, then start chatting. The text box is limited to 140 characters, just like a tweet.

PollEverywhere - PollEverywhere approaches the backchannel a bit differently,

identifying itself as an audience response system. First, it’s anonymous; there is no space to enter a name, which could generate interesting responses.

Socrative -Socrative is a smart response system that empowers an administrator by

engaging their teachers with a series of educational exercises and games within a meeting. Socrative runs on any mobile device.

MicroMobs-Chatzy - Chatzy provides a free platform for hosting your private chat area. To

use it, simply name your chat area, select your privacy settings (you can password protect it), then send out invitations. Instead of sending out invitations you could just post the link to your chat area.

Google Docs

Google Hangout

Flipped Faculty Meeting

CONTENTGROUP DISCUSSION

Large Small

ANYONE ANYONE…• You can’t always be the profit in your own land.• Invite guest speakers whenever possible• Have teachers present • Provide time for team building

CONFERENCES SHOULD BE PLACES WHERE…

“Vital information is presented and discussion can occur to tackle problems

or develop policy.”

Brainstorm Let them be part of the solutionWe all agree

BUILDING CONSENSUSAsk for- Consider-Value

Procedures and Routines

Shut Up!

Conflict HappensDEAL WITH IT

• Don’t let it fester.• Discuss the conflict openly then and there.• We all have views learn to accept them.• Teams don’t always agree but they ALWAYS

listen to and respect each other’s views and opinions.

• Settle for resolution – Don’t settle for false harmony.

“Teachers can read the calendar.”

• Reduce or eliminate time spent discussing the calendar.

• Communicate the calendar through other forms of communication.

• If you discussed it in a memo there is no need to discuss it again at your conference.

Changing the Way● Edcamp style● App Smackdown● Learning Centers● Faculty Meeting Tools

“If a meeting is to take place, it should be both

necessary and effective, or it should not be held at

all.”- Grant Wiggins

R-E-S-P-E-C-T• Never meet for meetings sake.• Never meet with the entire staff when

the information only pertains to a small group.

• Never meet when a memo, or other communication format will do.

PROCESSAgenda – If you set it- Follow it.

Be direct.• Keep your

conference quick moving

• Don’t belabor points

• Be concise• Get to the Point!!!

ProcessGive them something to take from your conference.• A sense of accomplishment engagement and/or

participation.• More knowledge than when they entered.• Something useful • An article• A book• A website/app• A resource

ProcessSpeak Up• Ask for participation.• Meet as a small group first to

maximize teacher participation then reassemble as a whole group to share their collective ideas.

Process• Don’t let one person or group monopolize

discussion.• Don’t allow a staff member ( including yourself)

to interrupt while someone is speaking.• Don’t allow conversations to take place that:

• Are off topic• Steal focus

Whole group means EVERYBODY

COMMITMENT AND ENERGY

• Build morale.• Leave your conference with a sense of purpose,

excitement , and commitment.• Leave uplifted not downtrodden.• Build in “teacher time”.

Like show and tell – allow teachers to discuss books, articles, projects with colleagues.

Edcamps are unconferences for educators where learners share their experiences and their professional expertise in a collaborative, interactive learning environment. Edcamps are based on Open Space Technology (OST) which states that “whoever comes are the right people and whatever happens are the only things that could have” (Boule, 2011).

App Smackdown

HAVE FUNMEETINGS CAN BE:

• Boring• Stiff• Pompous• A waste of time • Unproductive

CONFERENCES SHOULD BE:

• Fun• Informative• Interactive• Time sensitive• Rejuvenate

References The Three Most Important Secrets Of Successful Meetings: design, content, and process (In Mind Communications, 2001)

Thank You

Twitter: @spaul6414Email: spaul6414@gmail.com

LinkedIn: Sandra PaulCell: 908-433-7076Website: sspaul.blogspot.com

Twitter: @eaguilesEmail: eaguiles@yahoo.com

Phone: 732-525-5229