Finding the Through-line

When I was studying theatre education at Concordia College I remember a focus we had in directing class. As we studied the script, the text, we concentrated on finding the through-line of the text - the one thing tieing everything together. This through-line would become the central piece to guide the directing of the play.

I cannot help but see the parallels to school. I believe leaders, actually everyone, needs to slow down enough to put the pieces together and discover the through-line in schools. I use the words "slow down enough" very purposefuly. I often find people in schools moving at break neck speeds, both physically and organizationally. However, from my experience finding the through-line takes good thinking, meaningful discussion, and the time to ask the right questions. There should be a through-line in all that we do in a school if we say that we are aligned and working together; the pieces should be connected. Thus the question becomes - what is our through-line?

School Committes

I think that for all schools, no matter the size, committee conversations are an essential part to school effiency, effectiveness, and improvement. With the right structure, committees can function very well. The problem comes in with the communication after the great committe conversations. There often seems to be a hole in the communication conduit between the committee and the staff. I believe there needs to be a strong conduit from committe to the team, whether grade level or nongrade level team. I would like to establish a consistent use of chart paper at each committee. On this chart paper and throughout the committee conversations, would be placed the key talking points that committee members bring back to their teams. The writing on the chart paper makes the key talking points public and visible and prevents any misinterpretations from happening that may happen from a oral only discussion. The public writing takes the conversation to a new level.

March 30, 2007

I'm at the National Elementar Principal's conference. Currently working at creating this blog. I would like to bring staff from Rochester to this conference next year to present a session.