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Post Info TOPIC: Week 6 Questons
Shannon E


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Week 6 Questons
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Who do you know in your school that is an example of a connector, maven or salesman? Perhaps you are one of them. Give specific examples w/o necessarily using their names.

We have some people who have some of the qualities of these three pieces.  We have a lot of people that just complain and do nothing about it though.  So the people that were once part of these roles have now kind of lost the ideas.  One of the teachers that shows these qualities is very sick and can not come.  I know that our leader is none of these things.  This is why we have not had very many meetings this year.  The people in our schools that have these qualities have their fingers in other things and are not the ones in charge of our membership. 

How would you use the theories in this book to build membership in your Local?

We need to spread the word again, but we still need to figure out how to allow the word to spread and not loose peoples interest because of the money in these hard times.  We have not gotten a pay raise in three years and things are getting more and more complicated.  People in our district would like to see change but do not know how the changes will benefit them.  They do not see anything immediate so they do not see the need in paying into the pot.

Now do it... build a Local membership plan for your school district.  Using Gladwell's theories and principles, show us a comprehensive action plan for the upcoming school year.

First we need to find out what interests people.  We need to again tell them what things the union brings to them that will interest them.  We have not done that in a long time.  The last meeting we had like that was just for the current union members.  We did not have anyone who was not enrolled or very interested.  We have to find a way to make sure everyone is there and sees what they can get that will benefit them.  We need to start with getting people interested.  Then talking about the things that can change.  Many of these teachers have been around for three years and see nothing from the union.  We need to get back out there and let people know who we are.  We have talked about this at several meetings but it has never gone anywhere.  We need to make sure we have some follow through.  This would get us out there and known if we are known and people know that there is something more than just spending money then maybe we could get somewhere!!!



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Mellissa D


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Shannon...I think getting people interested in something they have observed and seen nothing from in terms of progress is going to be an uphill battle. How many people do you have in your school that belong to the Union?
Melissa

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Shannon E


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WE dont even have half in terms of our whole district.



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Brenda F


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Shannon - I know we are all spread incredibly thin with so many duties in our schools. At Plainview we are very fortunate to have Ruth Fees as the SECEA rep. and she has been the one for many years. She's a one person pep person or cheerleader for the union. I would classify her as the 'Salesman' and she presents the facts and news at the beginning of the year (teacher work days) and does good follow-up, keeps the rest of us a breast of school board decisions and local or state education news. There has to be someone at your school that would take this on - maybe Norm or Ruth or someone from another school could help find this person. Sometimes it is surprising who steps up to do the job!

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Patty O


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Very interesting, Shannon. I have only been teaching a short time and I didn't know that meetings were a part of being a member and, quite honestly, am not aware of the benefits available.

With a staff of 11 teachers--dropping to 9 next year--we find ourselves struggling to find a night when there are enough teachers available to attend RtI meetings. With extra-curricular activities. We all cherish our evenings at home.

I'm thinking that the answer for us is in alternative methods of communication that permits viewing at leisure. It may seem distant and impersonal, but I can't imagine much of a turnout if we had meetings either.



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Patty O


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Brenda, What method does she use to communicate pertinent information: one-on-one conversations, e-mails, posts in the work room?



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Shannon E


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There has to be a way to make all of this work. WE too have a very busy schedule. This is why the meetings have not happened this year. At our elementary school we have meetings almost every day of the week. WE have no common time off. It is hard to have these discussions.

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Patty O


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I agree. Common time is also hard at the secondary level as many of our teachers are also involved in extra-curricular activities. People are very protective of their free time. With our small staff, if two or three can't make it, there is not much left! I think the one-on-one approach might be mosre effective in our situation.



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Betty B


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Some really good points you're making here.



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Penny I


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Amen...we need to let people know what they can do to make our organization strong.  Along this same line, being a part of a large union, we should be able to have a say, or at least have our voices heard in this day and age when our careers and our passions for teaching students are being jeopardized.  I guess that would be a good question for Norm, as to what we can do to stick up for our careers, our students, and our passions.



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Greg L


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Shannon, I think that not having meetings will really keep your local from growing.  Even if most people don't attend, those that do attend will maintain energy and focus to achieve things.  For awhile in Lamar, we barely had any meetings.  Consequently, the view of the local was that we didn't do anything.  Unfortunately, you have to dig deep make it happen.  This will start to invigorate others.  It takes time.  Good luck.



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Shannon E


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Greg that is exactally what is happening. They do not think we do any thing. We need more follow throgh. We get great ideas but no one is there to make them happen.

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