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Boswell High School English Department Attends Targeted
Communication Workshop to Increase Their Team Effectiveness

The Learning E.D.G.E.
Chosen For its Experience in the Area Of Team Building and Communication

A real world, practical applications approach to improving your communication skills with your fellow teachers, students and administration was the focus for the Targeted Communication Workshop. The Learning E.D.G.E. specializes in corporate and school programs that enhance or change current performance to meet newly defined skill requirements.

The Learning E.D.G.E. Incorporated is a Texas based developmental resource team available for those companies and school systems/departments who have looked at the skill and knowledge base of their current sales, retail merchandising, project or marketing or teaching teams and need to improve the level of competency to meet the challenges of today's changing environment.

The Learning E.D.G.E. and their consulting resources have worked in several industries that include: consumer package goods, telecommunications, computer hard and soft ware, building, funeral, financial, chemical, pharmaceutical, educational and travel, to name a few, and have helped build more solid and productive business teams in each.

The Learning E.D.G.E. has worked for companies like: Aetna, G.E. Medical Systems, Pfizer, Mead Johnson, KFC, Wright Line, Capital One, Bayer Corporation, Nokia, Sabre, Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Airlines, U.S. Brick, Dell Computer, Mead Johnson Nutritional, Gadzooks, Lennox, Genuity, QualComm, Citigroup, Dobson Electric, Service Corp International, Dial Corp, Gillette, Johnson Wax, Kraft General Foods, M & M Mars, PaperMate, Rayovac, Capital One, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw School District, North Lake College, University of Texas at Dallas, Aether Systems, Zales and Reynolds Metals to name a few.

Boswell English Department Uses Targeted Communication Workshop to Become a More Effective Teaching Team!

The Boswell English Department Team came together to experience the communications workshop to improve their overall effectiveness as team leaders, level team members and teachers. They wanted their team to bond while increasing their knowledge and appreciation for each other as valuable resources. They wanted the team to experience a few activities that would challenge them to become more cohesive and productive, and deliver life applications to the team that could be applied in the classroom, at level meetings and with fellow teachers. The Boswell team also wanted to have some fun while addressing some very specific learning objectives that included:

Learning Point One- Effective Communication Is Critical To Effective Teaching Leadership.

Learning Point Two- There Are No “Good” Or “Bad” Communication Styles, Only Different.

Learning Point Three- Effective Teaching Leaders must Develop Flexibility In Their Styles To Reach Others.

Learning Point Four- Effective Teaching Leaders must Improve Their “PLR” Skills To Be Effective Communicators.

Learning Point Five- Effective Teaching Leaders Must Plan Their Communication Strategy Around Their Communication Partner(s).

With these goals in mind, Carolyn Hudson asked with The Learning E.D.G.E., to design a comprehensive learning and fun experience for the team. The workshop was held at Boswell High School for 20 minutes each morning during late December and early January and focused on the learning objectives listed above. Information and activities worked to get the teaching team members to know one another better, and understand the power of each individual while bonding together for a stronger Boswell English Team.

Each teacher worked to improve his/her communication skills in each activity at every session. The adventure learning challenges that were conducted at Texas Lil’s Dude Ranch on the final afternoon included: Connecting the Shapes, Expanded Horizons and Team Relay Roping. The Boswell English Department set out to conquer the Team Building challenges and turned in some incredible times.

The times recorded by event were: The team name agreed to by the team was the Pioneer Power. The Expanded Horizons was a difficult activity where the time expired on the team, but everyone gained life applications and was further challenged to take the learning from this activity and apply it to the next. The leaders for this activity were Blake Mabry, Rhonda Shulz, Heather Vigus and Casey Gause. The second activity with Debbie Garrett and Robin Hess as team leaders came very close to setting an Olympic record. The Relay Roping time was a minus 6 minutes, falling only one minute short of the current Olympic record.

The four communication styles include: Controlling, Analyzing, Advocating and Facilitating.

There are no “good” or “bad” communication styles, just different.

Ships are driven by their rudders, and our tongues are the rudders of our life.Flexibility is the key to modifying our style to reach other communication partners. We are charged with being the adapters.

Effective teaching leaders must first understand their Communication Style and then be willing to understand the communication styles of their Team Members.

Effective teaching leaders must learn to improve their Listening Skills to be more effective team leaders.

It takes 30 encouraging words or sentences to negate one discouraging word said in haste or anger. Let your brain engage before your jaw jacks.

Each team member is a resource no matter what the package. We are all given different skills, abilities and talents and have had different experiences. We come in a package that must be unwrapped and the contents used to reach our goals.

Effective teaching leaders must focus on each phase of the Communication Process to be effective communicators.

Master communicators have practiced and are effective in using their “PLR” skills.

Effective teaching leaders have “ODR” when probing, have “FUN” listening and “CARE” when responding to their communication partner(s).

Effective teaching leaders are master communicators.

Make sure everyone is on board with each step of the project

Don’t railroad people, but take the time to make sure we have agreement

Even if everyone doesn’t agree with the outcome once we have had our input then it is time to move forward with solidarity of purpose

I may not always get my own way, but I will be a team player once we decide on the course

Listen to your leaders and then follow their directions

Sometimes the leaders have a vision that we can’t see and should not question once the project is given.

Don’t lose track of time and not complete the project

Let the team leaders lead, and then we should follow

All the team members were in the same boat and working together for the same common purpose.

Be a little vulnerable and step out of your comfort zone to do what is necessary to complete the project.

We all may drop the rope, but we are still a part of the team and can get back into the team and work until the project is completed.

Even though we can fail on a project, we can learn from our mistakes and should be encouraged to keep moving forward in a positive manner

Sometimes we need to know that we have dropped the rope and why it happened, as this can be a valuable learning experience

We need to trust those in charge and let them do their jobs

We need to be patient with one another. There is no reason to attack anyone for any reason; it only separates the group and builds silos and fences

Encourage, Encourage, Encourage. We need to be constant encouragers. You get more done with honey than salt

Hold up your end of the rope. If you are part of a team, don’t let the team down and keep actively involved in the project until it is completed.

Sometimes others will need to take up the slack until the team member is back on the team.

Some will be asked to pull a little harder on their end to insure that the project is completed successfully

Don’t let your problems affect others on the team negatively. When we stayed positive there was nothing we couldn’t accomplish as a team.

Enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm, and it can affect the entire team

It is nice to have a partner who is continually encouraging you no matter what happens with the end of the lariat

If there is a better way to accomplish something, then you need to listen, give it a try and adapt it to your style and complete the project

Constant encouragement was healthy and caused us to perform at a higher level of effectiveness

Everybody should listen to one another as we are brainstorming, and then once we decide on our actions steps everybody should move into a positive action mode

Make sure we all become adapters with our communication style to reach out and make others more effective on the team

Put the experienced people in charge and on tasks that correspond with their experience, and the inexperienced should learn from the experienced

We must all learn to be more encouraging and less demoralizing in our comments to one another

Thou shall not sweat it! Throw the old baggage we carried as team members overboard and pick up the new communication skills we have learned, and make the English Department Team the best in the State!

Establishing communication guidelines for department meetings

Evaluation survey at the end of the year

"Thank you for the workshop. This has been extremely helpful. We are moving in the right direction!s"
Mahaley Nichols

"I really appreciate what we have learned in the communication workshop. I can use it not only with the department, but with my students and with my husband."
Dana West