Maximizing the ripple effect

Colleagues,

MVP: Clear procedures are an easy win when there is common language and expectations.

Today’s episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast features a coaching call with Mitchell Hall, certified Gifted and Talented Education Specialist with Garrett County Public Schools in western Maryland.

Mitchell completed my free course on Classroom Culture Foundations and was inspired to put in place a couple important classroom procedures for the students he had once a week. Two interesting things happened:

1. In conversations with other teachers, Mitchell discovered that nobody was teaching kids how to work in groups. That is not a criticism, just something that either hadn’t been thought about or had been assumed to happen elsewhere.
   
2. When Mitchell began teaching group work skills to his students, those students began taking the skills into their other classes and helping other students be better at group work.
   

As Mitchell and I discuss, there is still a lot to do, but the preliminary impact is exciting.

What if, by developing common language and using common frameworks, we could create environments in which it became easier for everyone to do what they need to do?

If there are key operations, procedures, or methods that people need to be able to do, is everyone looking at them the same way? What impact does common understanding have on the ease and quality of the tasks?

If you are interested in taking the free version of my Classroom Culture Foundations course, email me and I will send you the link.

Today’s intention: Monitor processes and procedures. Are there opportunities for simple improvement through building common understanding?

Cheers!

Frederick