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1Running head: PROJECT PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT

PROJECT PROPOSAL

CROSS-CURRICULAR SCHOOL PROJECT 2016-2017

Name of School: Westfield Elementary

Project Title: Team-Building Project

Date of Presentation: August 2017

Names of Team Members: Lyndsie Butt

Alexa Desrochers Lynn Douville

Heidi Dimou

2PROJECT PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

PROJECT OBJECTIVE(S):

Our students benefit when we as teachers, support and promote positive, interpersonal school community. Too often, the effort and desire required to foster such a dynamic across the school staff is pushed aside in the wake of the daily stress and responsibility the job demands. We as teachers build working relationships with our cycle team, but the relationships rarely exit these prescribed groupings. More often than not, the relationships built amongst same-cycle teachers are maintained out of necessity rather than genuine like and appreciation for team members and the wisdom they may have to offer. As a result, we become a disengaged and disconnected teaching team, the consequences of which reach our students and hinder additional strategies to ensure their success.

Our project seeks to change the nature of the relationship amongst the staff to one that promotes inclusion, community and cooperation. A teaching community that cares about each and every one of its members, is a teaching team that teaches together, as a whole. The benefits of fostering such a dynamic among teachers are not selfish ones; the students’ experience within the school both socially and academically will also see an improvement. With stronger bonds being built across the teaching staff in its entirety, each cycle team works with the others to create a smooth, fluid educational experience for each student across their 7 years of study. Teachers will be able to share classroom management, teaching, and learning strategies across cycles that have worked for them personally, and for students with special needs, that others may adapt to suit their current needs in the classroom. Moreover, the curriculum can be more meticulously scaffolded across cycles to ensure the students are at level when they enter a new cycle. Instead of teachers playing the “blame game” and accusing other cycle teams of not having “done their job,” the teams could work together to plan the skills, knowledge, and strategies the students will learn and make use of as they move up in their education. The students will thus feel better equipped when they step foot in a new classroom at the beginning of the school year and confident in their ability to learn and grasp the new material they will be presented. Finally, students with special learning, behavioral, or psychological needs will be familiar to all teaching staff so that their care, safety, and progress is maintained in all interaction with the staff, be it in a classroom or in the school yard.

To begin laying the foundations on which such a teaching community can grow, we are proposing a series of team-building events that will occur once a month, the biggest of which occurring on the pedagogical days prior to the start of the school year. The events


will have as their goal to unite the staff in team-building exercises and challenges that require them to work together, get to know each other, and experience success through cooperation.

Professional Competencies:As the professional competencies govern and develop our professional actions in regards to students, parents, and peers, this particular program directly targets three out of the twelve competencies that we as teachers strive to develop over the course of our teaching profession.

First, the team-building program will significantly develop each teacher’s abilities in regards to competency 2, “to communicate clearly in the language of instruction, both orally and in writing, using correct grammar, in various contexts related to teaching” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.63). Competency 2, is largely concerned with the way in which teachers communicate with their students, the parents of their students, and of course, their fellow peers. In this line of thought, this program specifically touches on the following key features: “uses appropriate language when speaking to [peers]” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.64) and “communicates ideas concisely using precise vocabulary and correct syntax” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.66). In regards to using appropriate language, the entire premise of this project is to develop a team and community amongst all staff members, and one of the most vital aspects contributing to the development of that community, if not the most important aspect, is communication. The success of the teachers in completing each activity will depend on their ability to use appropriate, inclusive and respectful language, express their ideas clearly and concisely to avoid confusion when completing tasks, and lastly, to communicate with one another in order to develop an effective strategy to complete the task. Therefore, in participating in each activity, the teachers will have the opportunity to apply their communication skills, which will inevitably involve using appropriate language. The same can be said when focussing on “communicates ideas concisely using precise vocabulary and correct syntax” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.66). As previously stated, the ability to communicate ideas clearly and concisely will significantly affect the teachers’ ability to be successful for each task, as unclear communication will lead to confusion which will in turn impede the possibility of successfully completing the task. As such, each team building activity provides a platform to practice their communication skills, in order to ensure that they are clear, concise, and appropriate at all times.

The team-building program will also develop competency 9, “to cooperate with school staff, parents, partners in the community and students in pursuing the educational objectives of the school” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.103). More specifically, this programs directly targets the following key feature: “Collaborates with other members of


the school staff in defining orientations, and developing and implementing projects related to educational services in areas falling under the responsibility of the school” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.104). Essentially, this feature highlights the importance of teachers supporting school projects, actively becoming involved in or supporting school projects, and cooperating with one another in order to ensure that the objectives of the projects are met. Taking this idea into consideration, the success of this program will depend on the school staff’s ability to see merit in regards to the program’s goals, objectives, and outcomes. If the teachers do not value the benefits of the program, both academic and social, then it will be impossible for the program to be effective or successful, as it is the teachers who are actually participating in the team-building activities. Therefore, this program is dependent on the development of competency 9, as teacher support and cooperation will decipher the success of the school project.

Lastly, this program also contributes to the development of competency 11, “to engage in professional development individually and with others” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.113), focusing particularly on the key feature “spearheads projects to solve teaching problems” (Teacher Training, 2001, p.115). In referring back to the objectives section, the creation of this project came about due to a significant problem being identified: there was no collaboration or meaningful communication happening between cycles. This not only affects the ability to create a school community, but it also affects the students academically as well. As a result, the following program was developed as a solution to the above problem. In order to ensure that this program is carried out efficiently and effectively, a team building committee will be formed in order to organise the activities, carry out the evaluation of the program, and inform teachers on the progress of the program. As such, the teachers on this committee are taking it upon themselves to develop team-building activities that will increase communication amongst teachers of various cycles and ensure that the activities are effective by implementing evaluation strategies. As such, the committee members are actively organising and implementing the team-building project as a solution to the absence of cross-cycle communication, participation, and cooperation. In regards to the teachers who are not on this committee, they are still developing competency 11 by actively participating in the activities and by providing constructive criticism and feedback on each activity through the online evaluation system of the program (further details below). In doing so, every teacher is providing a vital source of information as to how the program and activities can be improved in order to yield a higher degree of success. Therefore, by joining the committee and providing feedback and constructive criticism on each team-building activity, all of the teaching staff are actively working towards solving a teaching problem, which is directly in line with competency 11.


Dimensions of teacher leadership addressed:While this project’s primary concern is team-building, the project is also developing other dimensions of teacher leadership as well. Seeing as this project seeks to increase the communication and cooperation of the teachers belonging to different cycles, it is also providing the platform for the development of mentorships for new teachers, or teachers currently employed by the school as well. For each activity, the school staff will be divided into groups comprising of at least one teacher per cycle. In doing so, all staff members will have the opportunity to work with each of their peers, at least once, over the course of the year. In this way, new teachers are able to work with veteran teachers or teachers who have been employed by the school for an extended period of time. As a result, relationships can be formed and mentorships developed. The new teachers can then seek the advice of their mentor in regards to teaching and classroom management strategies, and the same can be said of the mentor in regards to their mentee. Therefore, in creating open lines of communication between teachers of various cycles, the opportunity of developing professional and pedagogically beneficial mentorships are created as well.

This program also falls within the dimension of “designing and delivering staff development” (Parkay, Stanford, Vaillancourt, Stephens, & Harris, 2012, p.305). This entire program is considered professional development, as the project is providing the staff with the opportunity to practice and develop their communication skills in order to create a community within the school. Moreover, there is a specific committee whose sole responsibilities are to organise the team-building activities and carry out the activities. As such, the committee members are “designing and delivering” (Parkay et al., 2012, p.305) the professional development program, while the rest of the teaching staff is participating in it.

In addition to mentorships and implementing professional development, this program also falls within the dimension of “program/school evaluation” (Parkay et al., 2012, p.305). In order to ensure that the team-building project is successful and has met the project outcomes, an evaluation method was developed. In short, the teachers will be required to fill out an anonymous Google forms quiz in which they will answer short questions in regards to the effectiveness of the program and provide constructive criticism for how to improve the program (more details provided below). In doing so, all members of the teaching staff are actively participating in evaluating whether or not the program has met its objectives and outcomes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF HOST SCHOOL:All of the team building activities conducted will take place at our own school, Westfield


Elementary, ensuring that the teachers will not have to go out of their way to attend these activities. Westfield Elementary is a public elementary school that caters to a diverse population in regards to academic ability, socioeconomic status, and culture. While the majority of the students are from a middle socioeconomic status, there are some students who fall below the poverty line. Moreover, Westfield also caters to students with special needs, particularly autism spectrum disorder, behavioral issues, and learning disabilities.

In regards to the teaching staff, there are six classes per cycle, i.e. three classes per grade, and 3 kindergarten classes. Moreover, each classroom has, on average, 20-25 students. Due to the number of special needs students, almost every classroom at Westfield Elementary has been assigned an integration aid. The school also has access to specialists, particularly in physical education, music, and science. There is also two resource teachers and two behavior technicians. In regards to administration, Westfield has both a principal and vice-principal.

EXPECTED OUTCOME OF TEAM-BUILDING PROJECT:Seeing as our program is concerned with team-building, our expected outcomes are largely concerned with long-term communication and cooperation amongst teachers belonging to various cycles. More specifically, we expect new teachers to have an easier time integrating themselves into their new school thanks to the activities and icebreakers. Also, through the various activities during the school year, we hope that teachers from different cycles interact and continue to interact outside of the activities.

As previously mentioned, teachers within a cycle will have the opportunity to interact with teachers in other cycles through a series of planned activities throughout the school year. As such, by the end of the school year, we expect teachers will have built new relationships with teachers outside of their cycles by working and communicating together in different situations. By working in teams during these activities, we expect to have positives outcomes such as improving team bonding, assigning and appreciating different roles in the groups, overcoming the challenges in some of the activities through cooperation and communication, and to inspire problem solving skills. We also hope that these activities will help maintain a positive team culture and learning to work with different people. We expect the teachers to have fun and enjoy their time participating in these activities while at the same time building relationships with teachers in other cycles. Through implementing these activities, with time, teachers will feel more comfortable with one another, which will lead to improving the workplace atmosphere and the academic experience of all students.


PRE-LAUNCH OF TEAM-BUILDING PROGRAM

As the success of the program depends on the school staff’s full support and active participation in each team-building activity, prior to launching the program, a staff meeting will be held on the first day back, on August 23rd 2017. At this meeting, the administration will inform the teaching staff of the team-building program, why it is being implemented, the expected outcomes of the program, and the days in which activities will take place. As such, after the teachers have been welcomed back, the school principal and vice principal will introduce the program to the teachers. It will be explained that over the course of the year, the school will be participating in a new team-building program. The program consists of a series of team-building activities that take place once a month during a pedagogical day, and on the rare occasion, after-school. These activities take no longer than an hour and are done in groups comprising of at least one person from each cycle. Each activity requires every group to complete a task, but the completion of the task is dependent on the group’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely while using appropriate language.

Once the program itself has been explained, the principal will then go on to discuss the reasons for which the program is being implemented. As such, the principal will highlight that there has been a lack of cross-cycle collaboration and communication within the school. This not only impedes the ability of developing a school community, but it inevitably affects the students academically as well. Seeing as there is no collaboration amongst the teachers from various cycles, there is absolutely no consistency in regards to teaching strategies, classroom management, and adaptations and accommodations over the students’ 7 years of education at Westfield. As such, the goals or outcomes of this project are relatively simple: to lead to long-term relationships built on healthy and positive communication between teachers of various cycles, in the hopes that this will create a community that will work together, develop meaningful relationships with teachers from various cycles, and create the best possible academic experience for each student.

Once the program, why it is being implemented, and the expected outcomes are made clear, the teachers will be given a list indicating the days in which the activities will take place and whether or not they are on a pedagogical day or will take place after school (See Appendix A for the team-building activities list). This list will only inform the teachers of the dates of the activities and will provide no further information in regards to the actual activity itself. This is because teacher’s may develop strategies individually as to how to solve each task, as opposed to developing strategies as a group on the day of the activity, which completely defeats the purpose of the program. Therefore, to ensure


optimal participation, teachers will not be given any indication as to what activities they will be participating. With that being said, the teachers will also be told that all team-building activities will take place first thing when they arrive, i.e. 9:30 AM, so that they can organise themselves accordingly.

Once the teachers have been given the list, a team-building committee will be formed to organize each activity and implement the evaluation system. The team building committee will consist of one teacher per grade, i.e. two teachers per cycle, which is a total of 7 teachers. Once the committee has been formed, they will be given an information sheet that states the responsibilities of the committee members, particularly in regards to what needs to be done before and on the day of the activity (See Appendix B for responsibilities of committee members’ information sheet).

Once the teachers have been given their list of activity dates and the committee members have received their list of responsibilities, the entire staff will participate in a discussion regarding the importance of team-building and how it can improve communication, collaboration, and the academic experience of the student body. The ideas, concepts, and questions that will be discussed are in the following section.

Identify important questions, ideas, and concepts in regards to team-building and how it can improve communication and morale amongst staff members, to be discussed at the pre-launch meeting.During the discussion at the pre-launch staff meeting, the following ideas, concepts, and questions will be discussed in order to shed light on the importance of the team-building program:Ideas and concepts

● What team-building is and how it contributes to creating a school community● The connection between teacher collaboration and academic opportunities of the

students● The social and academic benefits of both the teachers and students in regards to

team-building.Questions

● What can I do to ensure that this program is a success?● How can I encourage my peers to support the program?● How do we ensure that the benefits of this program will be long-lasting?

PLANNING STRATEGIES AND TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIESThe following section outlines the activities that will be completed during each team-building activity meet. This includes the month and date of each activity, a description of what the activity entails, and a list of needed materials for each activity. NOTE: the


following list will be provided to the team-building committee on the day in which it is formed, so that planning can commence immediately and at their convenience.

August 30th, 2017: Dynamix Time: 9:30 AM Where: School yardDynamix is a company that will go to schools to orchestrate team-building activities with the staff members. This activity will take place on August 30th, which is a pedagogical day. Moreover, the Dynamix team will explain the instructions to the teachers and bring any materials needed for the activities. As such, committee members simply need to ensure that the rest of the staff knows where to convene and at what time.

September 8th, 2017: Get to know me! Time: 9:30 AM Where: GymFor the first team-building activity taking place after Dynamix, the teachers will participate in icebreaker activities. The goal of the ice breaker activities will be for each staff member to learn the names of the rest of their peers and what grade they teach. The game they will use in order to do this will be “the name game.” Essentially, this is when all the staff members get into a circle and say their name aloud once. Then, one person begins by pointing to the person directly across from them and stating their name. The person whose name was just called will then do the same thing. This process will continue until each person in the circle has gone. With that being said, if someone makes a mistake or does not know the name of the person directly across from them, the game restarts from the beginning. This game will be used to learn the name of each staff member, and will then be repeated to learn what grade/subject each staff member teaches.Necessary preparations:

● Staff members need to be aware of when and where to meet● No additional materials are needed

October 11th, 2017: The human knot/ all tied up Time: 9:30 AM Where: Gym The “Human Knot” and “all tied up” activities will take place on October 11th, which is a pedagogical day. These activities should take no more than an hour. For the human knot activity, no additional materials are required. For this activity, the entire staff will be divided into groups of four, comprising of at least once teacher from each cycle. Each group will then form a circle. Once each group has formed a circle, each person will put their right hand up in the air and grab the hand of the person across from them in the circle. Each person will then repeat this process with their left hand and grab a different person. As such, each person must be holding hands with different people who are not standing next to them. Following this, they must untangle themselves to form a circle without letting go of each other's hands. If they do let go of each other’s hands, they must start over again. Once the group has untangled themselves and formed a perfect circle, they will immediately begin the “all tied up” activity. Essentially within their groups, they must form sub groups of two. Once they have divided themselves into groups of two, they


must tie one of their wrists to their partners using a skipping rope and hold their untied hand behind their back. Once they have done so, they must dribble a basketball and try to throw it into the net. Once they have successfully done so, they have will have completed the task!Necessary preparations:

● Skipping ropes (1 per group of two)● Basketballs (as many as the physical education teacher has, groups will have to

share)● The staff must be divided into groups of four and be notified of the time and place

of the activity

November: No ActivityThere will be no team-building activity in the month of November due to the end of the term responsibilities, including report cards and parent-teacher interviews. Moreover, the only pedagogical day is reserved for teachers to attend the teacher’s convention (QPAT).

December 20th, 2017: Dynamix Time: 3:00 PM Where: GymDynamix will once again visit our school to organise and administer another set of team-building activities. With that said, the activities will be more challenging than the activities conducted at the beginning of the year, as team-building and communication skills should have increased during the three month time period. Again, the Dynamix team will bring any materials needed for the activities. Note: this activity will take place after school, and will be no longer than 1 hour.Necessary preparations:

● Staff will have to be notified of the time and place to meet

January 9th, 2018: “Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces” Time: 9:30 AM Where: GymOn January 9th, which is a pedagogical day, the staff will participate in what is known as the “jigsaw puzzle pieces” activity. For this activity, the staff will be divided into groups of five comprising of at least one teacher from each cycle. Each member within the group will then be given a bag with puzzle pieces in it. With that being said, each group member will only have some of the pieces to complete the puzzle. As such, each individual group member must begin solving the puzzle on their own, and through observation and communication, the group will soon realise that they must work together in order to complete the puzzle.Necessary preparations:

● The staff must be divided into groups of five● Each group will need one puzzle divided into five bags

○ Note: use puzzles already in the school (i.e. from daycare, teachers, and resource staff)


● The staff will have to be notified of when and where to meet

February: No activityThere will be no team-building activity in the month of February due to the end of term responsibilities/workload (i.e. report cards and parent-teacher interviews).

March 27th, 2018: “Sneak A Peak” Time: 9:30 AM Where: GymOn March 27th, which is a pedagogical day, the staff will participate in the “sneak a peek” activity. For this activity, the staff will be divided into groups of four and they will have to build an exact replica of a pre-built sculpture. With that being said, only one person in the group can look at the image of the sculpture for 10 seconds. As such, each group will decide who will look at the image. An image of a sculpture will then be given to each group and 10 seconds will be timed. Once the 10 seconds is finished, the “looker” can then describe the sculpture to the rest of his/her group members. Once they have heard the description they can then begin building the sculpture using the provided materials.Necessary preparations:

● Staff must be divided into groups of four● One image of a sculpture per group● Materials to build a sculpture: pipe cleaners, construction paper, glue, scissors,

cardboard (materials already present in the supply room).

April 18th, 2018: “Bridge build” Time: 9:30 AM Where: GymOn April 18th, a pedagogical day, the staff will participate in a bridge build. In groups of five, the staff will have to build a mini-bridge out of the provided materials. The building process will happen in two phases. First, three group members must build one half of a bridge, while the other two members look in a different direction, only listening to the conversation. Once the three members have completed building one half of a bridge, they must then describe to the other two group members what the bridge looks like in order for them to build the other matching half. The materials needed for this can vary from newspapers, straws, paper, cardboard, tape, pens etc.Necessary preparations:

● Materials to build a bridge (using materials already present in the supply room)● Staff needs to be divided into groups of five● Staff needs to know the time and place of the activity

May 18th, 2018: “Guide me” Time: 9:30 AM Where: GymOn the day of May 19th, which is a pedagogical day, the teachers will participate in an activity known as “guide me.” In groups of five, each group member will have to walk


across the gym blindfolded. To increase the level of difficulty, obstacles will be randomly placed all over the gym (soccer balls, basket balls, benches, hockey nets etc.). As such, the individual walking across the gym will have to be guided by their group members in order to get across the gym safely and efficiently. To begin, each group will have to line up at one end of the gym. The first person in line will put on a blindfold and begin to walk forward. The next group member in line, staying in their place, will have to call out instructions tell them when to walk straight, turn, stop etc. This process will continue until each group member has walked across the gym.Necessary preparations:

● Staff must be divided into groups of five● Staff must be aware of the time and place of activity● Obstacles must be placed all over the gym (note: using obstacles already present in

the gym area, i.e. soccer/basketballs, chairs, benches, hockey nets, skipping ropes etc.)

● Each staff member requires a blindfold (note: use pinnies already in the gym, staff members can simply tie it around their head to cover their eyes)

June 22nd, 2018: Food stations Time: 2:30 PM Where: School yardFor this activity, each group of five staff members will be preparing a type of food to sell at the end of year food station fundraiser. Each group of five will be given a budget of 20$ to buy all the necessary ingredients for their food of choice. Note: teachers will be encouraged to make simple foods such as: rice krispie squares, cookies, cupcakes etc. Each group will be given an allotted time during the day to have access to the staffroom kitchen, if a stove or microwave is necessary. On the last day of school, at 2:30 PM, each group will have a station in the schoolyard in which they will sell their food for 1$ each. In order to involve the community, parents will be notified of the fundraiser and invited to come as well. In order to ensure the safety of the students, a permission form will be sent out two weeks before the event in which parents will state if they are coming to the event or not. On the day of the event, a committee member will stand at the entrance of the schoolyard and only let in those who are on the prescribed list.Necessary preparations:

● Staff needs to be divided into groups of five● Each group must receive 20 dollars● Each group must be given an allocated time to have access to the staffroom

kitchen (this can happen during the entire week of June 22nd)● Each group must have a station to sell their food● Permission slips must be sent out to parents● A list of parents who are coming to the event must be created and updated as

permission slips are returned


Exercise classes: Every second Tuesday and Thursday for the entire yearThroughout the year, the team-building committee, along with the physical education teacher, will organize Zumba, yoga or exercise classes every two weeks on a voluntary basis. These classes will be held in the gymnasium and teachers have the choice to attend. These workout classes will take place after school for an hour and teachers will be informed of the classes beforehand.Necessary preparations:

● Place sign-up sheets at the beginning of the week in the staff room for teachers and other staff to sign up

● CD player for music

*All team-building activities were taken directly from the venture Team Building website. See reference list for more information.

REINVESTMENT ACTIVITYWays on how to share the team-building project with parents, community members, other schools within the school board and any other institutions that may be interested.

Seeing as our team-building project has the potential to create benefits for both the teaching staff and students, we wish to share our program with the parents of our students and other schools within our school board. To do so, the team-Building committee members will share the team-building project proposal, without the description of the activities, on the Westfield Elementary School website. They will do so by creating a separate tab on the website entitled “Team Building.” It is in this section in which the committee members will inform teachers, staff members, parents, and community members about the project’s objectives, the development of the program, and its success.

In addition to informing parents through the website, Westfield will also invite the parents of their students to the food stations fundraiser, which is the final team building activity. As previously mentioned, each parent will receive a letter inviting them to the food stations fundraiser on the last day of school. In order to attend, they simply have to return the signed permission slip by June 15th, 2018. On the day of the fundraiser, a committee member will stand at the entrance of the school yard only allowing individuals on the prescribed list to enter. Allowing the parents to come to the final team-building activity, provides them the opportunity to see the effort and progress the teachers have made in creating a community amongst themselves, which in turn benefits their children as well.


Westfield will also post the project proposal on the school board website. More specifically, one member of the team-building committee will post the team-building program under the “News” section, where other schools can take a look at the program objectives and team-building activities list, and get inspired to incorporate these activities into their own schools. Moreover, Westfield will also email the administration of each elementary school within their school board inviting them to come visit Westfield Elementary on one of the team-building activities day. In doing so, any school interested in the project being spearheaded by Westfield will be welcomed to join the activity and actually experience the benefits of building a community within a school that includes all staff members, not simply members within specific cycles. By sharing the team-building program with other schools within the school board, it will incite other schools to create an open and welcoming community to build relationships between staff members.

EVALUATION

Evaluation for this project will come directly from the teachers taking part in the project, as the objective for the program is to increase communication and cooperation amongst teachers from various cycles. As such, the evaluation of the program will be conducted on both a small scale, following each team building activity, and on a large scale, twice a year on a Google response forum.

The small scale evaluations will take the form of exit cards, filled in anonymously following each team building activity. These exit cards will focus on the overall experience of the teachers during the activity. Teachers will be asked how comfortable they felt during the activity, how well they enjoyed themselves during the activity, how well they used this time to interact with members of the teaching staff they do not know well and how willing they would be to participate in this activity again in the coming years. These four questions will be graded on a scale of 1- 4, with 1 being the worst score and 4 being the best. This type of evaluation will help gauge which activities are most efficient in getting the teachers to work and bond with others they do not normally do so with, as well as which activities are generally most enjoyed by the staff. With this insight, the team-building committee and administration can better curate activities for the coming months. As previously mentioned, these exit cards will be filled out anonymously by the teaching staff, as they do not have to put their name on the card. Moreover, the cards simply need to be dropped into the team-building committee mailbox in the office by the end of the day on which the activity took place. This ensures that the staff will be completely honest in answering the questions, as they do not need to identify themselves on the exit card and because the committee will not see the individuals when they submit their cards. (Note: See Appendix D for team-building exit cards).


The large scale evaluations will take place twice a year in December and June to evaluate whether or not the project is successfully meeting its objective. These evaluations will take place on a more official and anonymous basis by taking place online through a quiz created on Google Forms. Through this program, answers to the quiz will be confidential and anonymous, even to those tabulating the results. Moreover, the teachers will also be able to complete the quiz on their own time, as it can be accessed through any computer. As such, a quiz will be created that asks questions about overall feelings of community, working with new staff members, feelings of comfort and openness at work, relationships across cycles etc. Answers will be awarded points so that we can achieve an overall score to track the success of our program.

Sample question:

Since beginning the team building project, how likely are you, at this point in the year, to seek out the advice of a member of a teaching staff that is not part of your cycle team:

a) Much more likely than before - I will strongly seek out and consider their adviceb) More likely than before - I will likely seek out and consider their advicec) The same/neutral - I may or may not seek out and consider their adviced) I prefer to continue only seeking the advice of my cycle members

In this scenario, an answer of a) will be worth 4 points while a d) will earn only 1 point for the project.

After each large scale evaluation, the team-building committee will meet with the principal and vice-principal to discuss the results of both the exit cards after each activity and the results from the Google forms quiz. The team-building committee will share with the administration which activities received the highest scores and why, as well as discuss the results of each question on the Google forms quiz. In doing so, the administration can immediately create a plan of action in regards to which activities can remain in the program for the coming year, and which activities need to be modified in order to be much more conducive in achieving the objectives of the program. At the end of the year, after the second large scale evaluation and meeting with administration, there will be a staff meeting in which the administration will share with the teachers the progress of the program. In doing so, the staff will be able to see the benefits of the program and the degree to which it enabled the development of a community. Also, the teachers will also be made aware of the changes to the program and be given one last opportunity to provide any additional feedback, so that the program can be “perfected” prior to implementing it during the following year.

*All information in regards to Google forms and how the program operates was taken


directly from the Google forms website. See reference list for more details.

BUDGET

For this program, there are only two costs, which include the cost of Dynamix and the cost of the food for the food stations fundraiser, as all other materials being used are already readily available at Westfield (i.e. art supplies and gym equipment):

Cost of FoodFood station = $20 per group of five teachers (note: there will be one group of six).4 x $20 = $80

Cost of Dynamix program1 hour = $4002 x $400 = $800*Cost of Dynamix services was taken directly from the Dynamix website. See reference list for more details.

Total cost of program:800$ + 80$ = 880$Note: the 80$ for the food for the fundraiser will be covered by the profits made at the fundraiser. As such, the actual cost of the program is 800$ for the entire year.

Appendix A- Team-building activities calendar


Monthly Team Building Activities

The following list outlines the month, day and time of each team-building activity. The list also indicates whether or not the activity takes place on a ped day or after school.

MONTH DAY TIME PED DAY OR AFTER SCHOOL

August 30th 9:30AM Ped day

September 8th 9:30AM Ped day

October 11th 9:30AM Ped day

December 20th 3:00 PM After school

January 9th 9:30AM Ped day

March 27th 9:30AM Ped day

April 18th 9:30AM Ped day

May 18th 9:30AM Ped day

June 22nd 2:30 PM Last period before end of year

Appendix B- Responsibilities of team-building committee


Team-Building Committee

As a member of the team-building committee, you will be tasked with organising, implementing, and putting into place evaluation strategies to assess the effectiveness of the program. Listed below, are the responsibilities of the committee members that must take place before an activity, during an activity, and in regards to evaluation.

Before each activity, the committee must:● Collect all the necessary materials for the activity and set it up accordingly.● Divide the staff into groups, as described in the timeline of activities.

○ Note: groups must change for each task and all groups must be comprised of at least 1 teacher from each cycle.

● Create a notice indicating the groups, the place, and the time for each activity and place it into each teacher’s box on the morning of the activity.

During the activities, the committee must: ● Explain the activity to the rest of the staff. ● One committee member will act as the “referee” during the activity, to ensure that

each group is participating and following the instructions. ● Put away any materials that were used during the activity (other teachers should be

encouraged to help).

To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, the committee members must:● Must create a Google forms quiz and exit cards in which teachers will answer

questions and provide feedback in regards to each activity and the program in general

● Reevaluate and re-structure team-building activities based on the feedback received from the staff

● Convene with the principal and vice-principal in order to discuss the success of the program and any changes that need to be made based off of the feedback provided by the teachers.

● Update the “team Building” section on the Westfield Elementary website.

Appendix C- Food stations permission slip


Food Station Fundraiser

For our end of year celebration, our staff members have decided to create food stations.

After lunch, the school yard will be filled with food stations, with each station having a different

type of food that will be for sale for 1$ each. All proceeds will go towards “Dans La Rue”

Foundation. Students will be able to buy food from the stations of their choice and play in the

schoolyard until the final bell has rung!

We would like to invite the parents to join in on the food stations celebration as well!

This fundraiser will take place on June 22nd, 2018 at 2:30PM. Please let us know if you are able

to join us, by filling out the form below and returning it by June 15th, 2018.

Thank you,

Team-Building Committee Members

Please fill out the following form and return it by June 15th, 2018

I, ____________________________ will attend the Food Station Fundraiser that will take place on June

22nd at 2:30 pm.

Parent/Guardian Signature _______________________________ Date ______________________

Appendix D-Team-building exit cards

EXIT CARD


Please fill out the following exit card and return it by dropping it in the team-building committee mailbox by the end of the day. You do not have to write your name, in order to ensure anonymity.

QuestionsCircle the number that best corresponds to how you felt during the activity, with 4 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest score

How comfortable did you feel during the activity? 1 2 3 4

How well did you enjoy yourself during the activity? 1 2 3 4

How well did you use the time during the activity to interact with staff members outside of your cycle?

1 2 3 4

Would you want to participate in this activity again? 1 2 3 4

Comments:

References


Dynamix. (2017). Professional development. Retrieved from:

http://www.getdynamix.com/montreal/eng/index.asp.

Google. (2017). Create a quiz with google form. Retrieved from:

https://support.google.com/docs/answer/7032287?hl=en .

Government du Québec. (2001). Teacher training. Québec: Ministere de l'éducation.

Parkay, F.W, Stanford, B.H., Vaillancourt, J.P., Stephens, H.C., & Harris, J.R. (2012). Becoming

a teacher. Toronto, ON: Pearson Canada.

Venture Team Building. (2016). Team building activities. Retrieved from:

http://www.ventureteambuilding.co.uk/team-building-activities/ .

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