Tag: collaboration

Digital Collaborative Tools for Staff Meetings

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Digital Collaborative Tools for Staff Meetings

Mentimeter:  Mentimeter is a collaborative platform that provides interactive options for presentations and group meetings. The key feature of Mentimeter is the variety of options for the collaborative displays and questions. The creator can generate a question and display choice to embed in any variety of presentation programs. Attendees or participants do not need an account to engage in the collaboration. Using a smartphone or device, participants go to www.menti.com and enter a short numerical code to participate.

We recently used the word cloud feature during a staff meeting. Staff were asked to share one word they wanted to associate with their teaching legacy. As staff added words, common choices enlarged.

You can use Mentimeter to:

  • Gain feedback from staff and students
  • Collect formative or summative data from assessments
  • Ask staff or students to reflect about a particular event and then analyze the results for continuous improvement and school goal planning

 

Padlet: Padlet is a virtual bulletin board that allows collaborative feedback and sharing. A question or problem can be posed and staff and students can add their feedback or reflections. Individual students or staff can also use it as a bulletin board to post or pin resources, ideas, or concepts. You can use this tool in real time during a face to face session or invite staff or students to collaborate via a link to add their ideas, thoughts, or photos.

You can use Padlet with staff to:

  • Encourage staff to share specific elements of their classroom learning environment
  • Have staff share their favorite learning links, apps and resources
  • Gain feedback about an event, professional learning day, or activity
  • Share staff book recommendations for professional reading or classroom read-louds
  • Post pictures of student work samples to compare during PLCs

Poll Everywhere: Poll Everywhere is as simple as it sounds. It is simply a virtual way to get a poll of a question or idea. A presenter can pose a question and respondents answer based on the criteria that is presented. I used Poll Everywhere after a back to school staff meeting to gauge where the excitement and energy was. It gives quick information that can be used to drive meetings, professional learning, and leadership action items.

Other ideas for Poll Everywhere could include:

  • Asking feedback for professional learning topics
  • Determining the number of staff members that can identify and communicate key school goals
  • How staff use media to communicate with parents or colleagues
  • How involved staff feel as a member of an IEP or intervention team
  • To get a pulse on school culture items

Crowd Purr: Crowd Purr is an “audience engagement platform” that allows users to create mobile-driven experiences. Examples of their options include:

  • Multiple-Choice Poll
  • Text-Answer Poll
  • Like/Dislike Poll
  • Yes/No Poll
  • Live Trivia
  • Social Media Wall

There are many tools available to administrators to engage staff during meetings, gain feedback, and assess school needs. These are just a few. Jump in and try a few!

DGS Learns at Institute Day

District Strategic Goal #1: Continuously Improve Student Growth and Achievement

The K-5 Elementary teachers engaged in professional development today that was focused on learning about improving instruction of the common core state standards and continuing development of their understanding of the PARCC assessment. Leading the professional development was Cindy Dollman from the PROE Center. Cindy serves as the Assistant Regional Superintendent and led teachers through various activities to deepen their understanding of the shifts in the Common Core. Teachers worked in grade level teams to analyze lesson plans and activities using the Equip Rubric to determine quality of the lesson. This professional development afternoon was hosted at Hickory Grove Elementary School.1972275_808475835850939_4055505405262206975_n

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DGS Morning Meeting

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District Goal #2 is:

To obtain a satisfying and productive classroom and school learning environment

The morning routine at Dunlap Grade School looks a little different this year. To align with the other  elementary buildings, Dunlap Grade has implemented all school morning meetings. Students that arrive by bus are dropped off in the rear of the building and car riders or walkers enter the front of the building. Students then enter the gym where they sit in rows by their classroom. These rows are identifiable by the classroom flags that were created the first day of school and paraded at our school year opening ceremony.

Mrs. Ellis and 5th Grade Student during Morning Meeting

The meetings begin promptly at 7:35 am and conclude by 7:39 am. Students than proceed to class ready to begin their days. Because many teachers are able to take attendance and lunch count during the meeting and students experience minimal transition time, this new process has increased instructional time by nearly 10 minutes daily or 50 minutes weekly. That adds up to over 30 hours a school year or over 4 days of instructional time! This change has already made a big impact!

 

The morning meeting is focused on developing a community of learners. We use this time to celebrate attainment of goals, reiterate our mission and vision, communicate our direction, discuss building expectations, and share announcements. Students that are celebrating birthdays are recognized during the meeting and receive a coupon to redeem a birthday book in the office. Additionally, individual students practice their public speaking skills by sharing the daily lunch menu with their peers. We end the meeting with a school-wide recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

This new routine aligns to our DGS mission of “promoting active engagement of all members to ensure that students have the skills to succeed in the 21st century!”