The question that got both presidential candidates to be reflective last night, and caused the audience to stop and think, was one that can help SAM teams, too. “Donald, what do you admire about Hillary?” “Secretary Clinton, what do you admire about Mr. Trump?”
These were my favorite questions as they caused both candidates to stop and think. Do you do this in your SAM Daily Meeting? “What did Mrs. Stevens do in her lesson that you most admired?” Are we in such a hurry that we miss the opportunity to recognize the “wins” that occur in each classroom every day?
Recognizing good performance allows the leader to build on success. It allows the leader to model and build the kind of learning culture we all desire. Some leaders worry that saying something positive about a teacher’s work communicates that there are no areas of need or improvement. This won’t happen if the observations of and the conversations with the teacher are frequent.
Try this in your SAM Daily Meeting today. Talk about a teacher who is struggling. Start with the graph from the dashboard showing the leader’s time with this teacher so far this year. Ask: “What are two things this teacher is doing well? Then, schedule a Feedback Celebration meeting with the teacher. If the leader can’t identify anything the teacher is doing well.. ..schedule a 15 observation and ask the leader to intentionally look for good practice.
Making sure good performance is recognized, and used as a lever for further improvement, is a key feature of your TimeTrack. Recognizing good practice takes practice. You can use your TimeTrack to make sure this happens.
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