SamTastic Weekly Tip: 6/1/20 - Use two magic words to increase trust and connection

School leaders, like leaders in any organization, are pressed for time and sometimes answer questions too quickly. To build a better school culture SAM teams show what they value by slowing down, making eye contact and listening. Getting the other person to share can seem daunting, especially in a virtual setting.

In her book, Ask For More: Ten Questions to Negotiate Anything, mediation expert Alexandra Carter suggest using two magic words to start a real conversation. She refers to these two words as the “ultimate open question”.

What are the two magic words: tell me.

“No question unlocks trust, creativity, understanding and mind-blowing solutions like ‘tell me,’” Carter says in her book. Basically, it’s all about switching perspective. “It helps us move from a black-and-white (and often biased) view of a situation to what some negotiation experts have called a ‘learning conversation,’ where we grow in our understanding of an issue rather than remain stuck.”

SAM leaders can use these two words in a lot of different ways:

1. Tell me.

2. Tell me more.

3. Tell me about a win with a student this week.

4. Tell me how you are feeling. I know this is a stressful situation.

5. Tell me about the best part of your day.

6. Tell me about your most challenging student.

7. Tell me how I can help.

In fact, Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air told the New York Times that “tell me about yourself’ is the best thing to say to open up an interview or conversation.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 5/25/20 - Have a Great Memorial Day

This week’s tip: Have a Great Memorial Day.

The holiday was originally called Decoration Day and started after the Civil War. It became an official US holiday in 1971, serves as a time to remember sacrifices of others, past and present, and is the unofficial start to summer.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 5/18/20 - Improving Practice Goes Beyond Evaluation

This week’s tip: Improving Practice Goes Beyond Evaluation.

Improving teacher practice requires thoughtful coaching. A good evaluation structure can help... but only if there is a strong coaching component.

SAMs usually schedule their principals to be in classrooms daily. With remote delivery in most schools the SAM and leader must be creative to stay connected with teaching practice. Participating in an online lesson gives the leader an opportunity to better understand, and help, teachers improve.

Frequency, the number of times a principal connects with a teacher, is a strong indicator of success. It is unlikely you will get much improvement if the space between interactions is long. Your TimeTrack gives you a running record of the time you spend and the frequency of interaction.

A conversation with each teacher about their frequency of contact with students is a good start. Keeping the conversation non-directive will likely increase the chance teachers will be open to talking about how to best connect with students remotely. Celebrating the teacher’s success, no matter how minor, often allows new ideas to bloom and encourages the trying of new ideas.