Help Your School. Let You Voice Be Heard. How to Hold an Effective SAC Meeting Help Your School. Let You Voice Be Heard. The School District of Philadelphia Office of Family and Community Engagement www.philasd.org/sac | sac@philasd.org | (215) 400-4180

Training Objectives Write an organized and effective Meeting Agenda, By the end of this training, participants will understand how to… Write an organized and effective Meeting Agenda, Set and follow meeting Ground Rules, Build Consensus among a group, Facilitate and participate in Brainstorming activities, And set priorities as a group.

The Agenda A framework/structure for the meeting The Meeting Agenda is a roadmap Make sure there is enough time allotted to the activities The agenda acts as the primary manager/organizer/ facilitator of the meeting Decide on the following: What will be discussed How attendees will gain common understanding What information or materials attendees will need What the group must reach a consensus on and how Set your agenda in advance to prepare your attendees for the discussion

Agenda Activities Get into pairs Compare the two sample agendas What are the differences? Which one do you think is more useful? Share with the group

Agenda Components Opening Purpose of the Meeting Old Business Closing New Business Old Business Purpose of the Meeting Opening

Compare with your partner Agenda Activities Draft your own agenda Compare with your partner

The Facilitator Set the atmosphere Set the pace of the discussion Circular, boardroom style; make space for breakout groups if needed Be open to all opinions, take in all ideas Set the pace of the discussion Stay on track within the allotted time Adhere to the meeting agenda, Ground Rules, and procedures Remain a “backseat driver” Keep the discussion going without lecturing Allow all voices to be heard; ensure the group gets perspectives from all stakeholders The facilitator is not the most important person/role—the members are the most important. The facilitator just needs certain skills that may need extra practice.

Facilitation Activity Free brainstorm—shout out ideas for Ground Rules Facilitator writes ideas on poster paper Writing everyone’s ideas down validates people’s voices. Putting words to paper creates an accepting atmosphere. Build Consensus on each Ground Rules Use the Fist-to-Five Method of Consensus-Building GROUND RULES

Building Consensus: Fist-to-Five Method Fist: “No, I don’t like this and I will block consensus.” One: “I think there is too much work to be done, but I won’t block consensus.” Two: “I don’t like this much, but I’ll go along.” Three: “I’m in the middle, I like some but not all of the proposal.” Four: “This is fine.” Five: “This is the best possible option.” We will go through the ground rules 1-by-1. Vote on each ground rule using the hand signals. If there are any fists, ones, or twos, we will revise the rule. We will only move on when everyone is holding up threes, fours, and fives.

The Organizer Welcome guests to the SAC meeting Keep a log of the guests so you can reach out after the meeting with more updates. Remind SAC members and guests of the dates and times of upcoming meetings. Reach out to the community with SAC updates. Organize and maintain SAC Sub- committees

The Secretary Prepare and monitor the agenda Follow along to support the facilitator. Prepare and maintain the sign-in sheet Take meeting minutes (if you wish). Fill out SAC forms and upload SAC Sign- in Sheets at the end of the meetings.

Welcome to the Dr. William Hite Jr. School SAC Meeting! February 21st, 2017

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$5,000 Grant! We need three of our best ideas to use our new grant on. Each group will brainstorm a list of as many ideas as they can come up with. The group will share out, and we will create one master list of ideas. We will all learn to prioritize our ideas to choose our Top Three.

Roles Facilitator: Keep conversation moving at a fair and efficient pace. Make sure the group brainstorms effectively. Secretary: Take notes of your group’s ideas. Organizer: Act as the Spokesperson for the group; report out once brainstorming is finished. Members: choose a role from your envelopes.

Brainstorm What should we spend our $5,000 on? List as many ideas as your group can come up with.

From our Master List, choose your favorite ideas. Prioritize From our Master List, choose your favorite ideas.

How did the simulation go? Debrief How did the simulation go?

What Did We Learn? How to Write an Agenda How to Facilitate a Meeting How to Build Consensus as a Group How to Brainstorm and Prioritize as a Group How to get results out of your SAC Meetings!

How else can we support you? Get In Touch How else can we support you? SAC Support Team Email: sac@philasd.org Phone: 215-400-4180 Shannon O’Brien SAC Program Specialist Email: sobrien2@philasd.org