RtI Nugget

On Thursday, I stumbled upon the primary team having a stand up meeting--minus one member who had another obligation at that time. Obviously, my excitement bubbled over. Stand up meetings are quick, 2-5 minute meetings in a place where you HAVE to stand. Standing is a requirement because once you sit you tend to go deeper. It's a way to talk about business issues: the field trip coming up, sharing a copy of something you are using that day, giving the team a heads up about a student, answering a survey question for your admin. team representative. It is a time to be productive, infect one another with positive energy, and to discuss logistics of the clerical sides of our job. Seeing that same level classrooms are miles apart because of our pole organization, this is a perfect solution and a great way to stay in touch. It also fosters great team communication. What in the world does this have to do with RtI?

As mentioned last week, how we meet as a team matters. With an RtI approach to team meetings, Mattos, the guru of RtI, recommends 45 minutes a week to discuss all things RtI, while using four central questions as the focus: What do we want kids to know, understand, and do? (Kud) How will we know they have it? (assessment) How will we respond? (interventions). I would argue that our current team meetings are meaningful, but that it is easy to spend the time talking about the business of our jobs because there is never enough time for it all. This helps to clear that up a bit so you can feel less overwhelmed and have a small, but deep, to-do list at level and department meetings.

Consider what might happen if you had 1-2 of these a week with your team/department to discuss business. Our cafeteria monitors have started this practice and do a daily huddle at the end of lunch (no more than 3 minutes). The little things we do can alleviate work stress, build a collaborative--we are all in this together--spirit, and become a glue that holds a team together during these busy months.

Core and aspiration values being shown through this approach: all, minus mindfulness.

WE are QUEST!