Looking to inject peer observations, positive staff morale and competition into your district?
Start a March Madness Tournament!
How our peer observation tournament began...
Working in a small community with an even smaller school district on an island 30 miles out to sea, one may think that our teaching staff is just that. Close-knit, collaborative and supportive. With staff turnover, a student demographic that is becoming more and more diverse, initiative overload and burnout, it felt that as a district, we were the exact opposite of that. Doors would close, judgments were made without any real grounds to go by. The overall attitude of our district felt disconnected, down and in need of some love. A sincere acknowledgement of the work that we were putting into our students and our classrooms was what we needed. That is where the idea of supporting our colleagues originated. We needed a boost and it had to come from within. A group of secondary teachers from Nantucket put our heads together to develop a structure that we could put in place to get staff out of their classrooms, making peer observations and celebrating one another. Spring Madness was born, a format to mimic the March Madness basketball tournament, where teams of three signed up. We encouraged teams to step out of their comfort zone when creating their make up. (Different buildings, grade level, disciplines, etc.)
The whole idea behind the madness was to catch teachers being awesome, doing peer observations and shouting out what was seen, while also logging it in to a Google Doc so points could be tallied. After a week of observations the scores were tallied and the team with the most points moved on to the next round. We also encouraged people to post on our Padlet (we changed it weekly) so everyone could follow along in the fun. The Padlet "blew up!" with not only participants following the posts, but community members, school committee and others who heard the buzz about the Padlet.
After reflecting over the the first year's implementation, we made some slight adjustments for this year. Instead of elimination rounds, we wanted to keep everyone involved, so it is 3 weeks of open play. There will be head to head match ups that will earn extra points at the end. We also added a celebration off campus at the end of the month. We think the timing is perfect, as March is such a long month for all of us and everyone in our district could benefit from some positive camaraderie.
1. Enlist the help of your colleagues. Get a small group together and define each person's role & responsibility.
2. Present to administration.
Encourage not only their support but for them to participate. A really important message to keep in mind is that this is NOT evaluative! It is meant to celebrate the awesome work and learning that happens each day with our students.
3. Anticipate the negativity. Plan for it!
Example: The biggest complaint you will hear is "I don't have time to do this".
Remind staff that this is an opportunity to grow professionally and emphasize the power of peer observations. It is also nice to have a little team pressure (you don't want to let your group down).
One thing you could consider is enlisting the help of your administrators! Encourage them to offer help with coverage while someone visits another classroom for 10-15 minutes. This idea has great power for administrators. It sends the message to teachers that they value the power of peer observation AND are willing to get into the trenches and help out.
4. Be ready to troubleshoot tech help and other support ahead of time.
Example: We knew that some staff may be turned off with Padlet, if they haven't used it before. We went ahead and created a video that walks them through how to use Padlet. Check it out on our website! Link to Website
5. Celebrate the Awesomeness!
Acknowledge that this is meant to be fun, and an opportunity to step out of one's comfort zone. We encourage all staff who make observations to leave a positive note before they leave or send a quick email later in the day. The key objective for this entire tournament is to celebrate one another and the work that goes on in our schools!
How to implement in your school...
Important tips to consider when
implementing in your school/district...
1. Enlist the help of your colleagues. Get a small group together and define each person's role & responsibility.
2. Present to administration.
Encourage not only their support but for them to participate. A really important message to keep in mind is that this is NOT evaluative! It is meant to celebrate the awesome work and learning that happens each day with our students.
3. Anticipate the negativity. Plan for it!
Example: The biggest complaint you will hear is "I don't have time to do this".
Remind staff that this is an opportunity to grow professionally and emphasize the power of peer observations. It is also nice to have a little team pressure (you don't want to let your group down).
One thing you could consider is enlisting the help of your administrators! Encourage them to offer help with coverage while someone visits another classroom for 10-15 minutes. This idea has great power for administrators. It sends the message to teachers that they value the power of peer observation AND are willing to get into the trenches and help out.
4. Be ready to troubleshoot tech help and other support ahead of time.
Example: We knew that some staff may be turned off with Padlet, if they haven't used it before. We went ahead and created a video that walks them through how to use Padlet. Check it out on our website! Link to Website
5. Celebrate the Awesomeness!
Acknowledge that this is meant to be fun, and an opportunity to step out of one's comfort zone. We encourage all staff who make observations to leave a positive note before they leave or send a quick email later in the day. The key objective for this entire tournament is to celebrate one another and the work that goes on in our schools!
How to implement in your school...
Welcome to NPS March Madness!
2018 Spring Madness Winners!
Below is an email that was sent to all educators in our district
We are so excited to launch our second year of competition around peer observations. We have made a few adjustments to the format upon reflection and think that this will keep it fun, competitive and more people involved longer.
Wondering what NPS March Madness is??? It is a healthy competition open to anyone working in our district. Teams are made up of three members. We encourage you to step out of your comfort zone. We will spend three weeks of shouting out the wonderful things that are going on in our district and celebrating the people in our district that go above and beyond on a daily basis. We will keep track of points and the team with the most points at the end of three weeks wins!
How do we sign up? We have created a website to keep everything in one place. Your team will sign up through the website! Link to Website
Sign up your teams by next Friday and competition will begin the Monday we return from break. Please feel free to reach out to us or others in your building for additional information. We are so excited to get going!
Overview:
This year, we have decided to have 3 weeks with open competition for all participants.
- Teams are made up of 3 people in our district (could be administrators, teachers, teaching assistants, SPED liaisons, etc)
- Each week, teams will be paired up in head to head competition
- All teams will participate in all three weeks
- If your team wins your head to head competition on any given week, you will be awarded bonus points for that week
- Team with highest total points at the end of the 3rd week WINS!
- Each week everyone must submit their observations and shout outs through the Google form
- Shout outs made on social media or the Padlet, yet not entered in the Google form WILL NOT be counted
- All NPS Staff are encouraged to participate
- Any staff may put a pineapple in front of door to show you are open to a "pop-in" (this is true for anyone, even if you are not on a team)
- Next week, each staff lounge will have a sign up sheet for pineapples. Anyone open to having a "Pop-in" please put your name on the sheet & grab a pineapple sign to hand outside door
- We will be using #NPSMadness19 on Social Media
Encourage all staff to hang a pineapple sign out in front of their classroom so that people know they are comfortable with people popping in for a quick visit.
It will also get students buzzing about them all over the school.
Remember: the pineapple is the universal symbol for hospitality ;)
How does the point system work?
Record Observations/Shout Outs/Points-
Above is a sample. Create a Google Form with a drop down of all of your team names to make it easier for participants.
How the scoring works...
3 Points for your team if you make a 5-7min. observation
2 Points if you shout out or celebrate someone going above and beyond (on social media or on the Padlet) - Observations do not count
1 Point for your team if someone shouts you out
1 Point received for your team if you shout yourself out
Want more information? Email at lombardia@npsk.org
