Maybe it's just me, but I think our teaching/learning community has become more organized and cohesive since the administrator starting sending out the weekly memo. The memo, a shared Google document, highlights school priorities and invites educators to add notes about important events and reminders. I notice that when I open up that document on a Friday morning, many others are reading it right away too. Everyone likes to be part of a team. They like to know what's deemed most important, dates to remember, and information about important resources.
Our State sends out a weekly memo too. The Commissioner writes a memo each week that alerts teachers as to what's happening at the State level. This helps us to match our work and efforts to the State's priorities when applicable.
Both the State and school's weekly memo have a similar format, an unspoken sense of mission, and invitation for participation and collaboration. It's also possible to go back and look at past memos if you need to re-look at important information or share information with others.
I would like our teachers' union and system-wide leadership to start a similar practice. I think this simple, forward moving communication strategy is a powerful way to reach out to members with regard to building powerful teaching/learning communities. Don't you agree?
