This first pillar may potentially be my favorite. This pillar ensures that all stakeholders feel welcomed when they attend the school. This pillar includes students, visitors and other staff members. Dr. Pumpian discussed with us that chioce is a necessary condition for engagement and engagement is a necessary condition for learning. For this reason it is important that I ensure all students, staff and visitors feel welcomed so that we can all learn from one another.
Feeling welcomed to me is expressing an interest and or concern for every individual and their wellbeing. NOT just their well being as it is associated to work or school as a student or employee, but being a fellow human on the same journey willing to learn and support one another. Having a human conversation with students, staff and visitors can quickly build a bond and create trust. These conversation often are not even academic related but a probe into the individuals life that shows you are truly curious about them and their success. Through these conversations connections can be created and relationships built because an individual chooses to listen, relate, and engage.
The following are a few prompted questions:
effective welcoming are the "quiet" students. These students are the ones
that stay close to their friends and are hesitant to engage in conversation.
This group includes every academic level, and includes both males and
females. I found that overly social students are easily welcomed as
well as students who are a "high priority", academically or behaviorally.
But the students that fly under the radar are easily overlooked in a
simple welcome salutation, but more often human dialogue that validates
them and their work.
3. Future Sphere of Influence: What would you do to improve welcoming
this group if you were a school leader?
I would encourage each grade level, team, or teacher to ensure that they
had contact with each of their students.
4. Current Sphere of Influence: What can you do in your present position
to enhance welcoming these stakeholders?
Recently as a team we created a Google doc and split the entire 11th grade
between the 6 team members. Each team member is to contact all the
students on the list at least once throughout the quarter with a letter home.
At the end of the quarter we will shuffle the list and continue to send letters
home. This will ensure by the end of the year that all students have been
contacted.
Current Sphere of Influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more welcoming place:
1. "Trash it don't pass it": if I see a piece of trash around campus I will pick it up. Students see this and recreate the behavior on their own.
2. Greet at least 20 students with a hand shake each passing period.
3. Greet and have a short conversation with at least 2 staff members during passing periods.
4. Continue to invite all students to the mountain bike club.
5. Use the phrase, "how can I help, I have the time" at least once a day.
Feeling welcomed to me is expressing an interest and or concern for every individual and their wellbeing. NOT just their well being as it is associated to work or school as a student or employee, but being a fellow human on the same journey willing to learn and support one another. Having a human conversation with students, staff and visitors can quickly build a bond and create trust. These conversation often are not even academic related but a probe into the individuals life that shows you are truly curious about them and their success. Through these conversations connections can be created and relationships built because an individual chooses to listen, relate, and engage.
The following are a few prompted questions:
- How is the challenge of making stakeholders feel welcome to your school (or place of work) connected to your school mission? The 3 person approach is used to pass on the message of welcome in our school. Each day is started with a standing meeting. Prior to this meeting we all have a few moments to catch up and connect about work or other topics. At the end of each meeting we have a personal team building activity that validates a specific individual as a teacher, a leader, and a fellow human. Teachers and staff members in turn embrace this strategy and send home letters of recognition, acknowledging hard work that can sometimes go unnoticed, essentially celebrating daily accomplishments. This connects to our mission where the first pillar is welcome.
- What did you do to assess which stakeholder group (or subgroup) could be more effectively welcomed? And what did you find?
effective welcoming are the "quiet" students. These students are the ones
that stay close to their friends and are hesitant to engage in conversation.
This group includes every academic level, and includes both males and
females. I found that overly social students are easily welcomed as
well as students who are a "high priority", academically or behaviorally.
But the students that fly under the radar are easily overlooked in a
simple welcome salutation, but more often human dialogue that validates
them and their work.
3. Future Sphere of Influence: What would you do to improve welcoming
this group if you were a school leader?
I would encourage each grade level, team, or teacher to ensure that they
had contact with each of their students.
4. Current Sphere of Influence: What can you do in your present position
to enhance welcoming these stakeholders?
Recently as a team we created a Google doc and split the entire 11th grade
between the 6 team members. Each team member is to contact all the
students on the list at least once throughout the quarter with a letter home.
At the end of the quarter we will shuffle the list and continue to send letters
home. This will ensure by the end of the year that all students have been
contacted.
Current Sphere of Influence: Commit to 5 things you are willing to do this semester that will make your school a more welcoming place:
1. "Trash it don't pass it": if I see a piece of trash around campus I will pick it up. Students see this and recreate the behavior on their own.
2. Greet at least 20 students with a hand shake each passing period.
3. Greet and have a short conversation with at least 2 staff members during passing periods.
4. Continue to invite all students to the mountain bike club.
5. Use the phrase, "how can I help, I have the time" at least once a day.