1. Building Relationships
Pandora Bedford
Astrid Fossum
Laura Maly
Cynthia Rodriguez
October 2009, MTL meeting
The Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership (MMP), an initiative of the Milwaukee Partnership Academy (MPA),
is supported with funding from the National Science Foundation

2. A Framework for Leadership
“Leadership is needed for problems that do not have easy answers.”
Purpose: This framework is a new mind set for thinking about and leading complex change more powerfully and effectively.
The Five Components of Leadership:
Moral purpose- means making a positive difference in the lives of others (teachers, students, etc.). Moral purpose is concerned with direction and results.
Understanding change- Understanding the change process is less about innovation and more about innovativeness. It is less about strategy and more about strategizing. Change is a process, not an event.
Relationship building- If relationships improve, things get better. If they remain the same or get worse, ground is lost. Therefore, leaders must build relationships with people different from themselves.
Knowledge creation and sharing- Turning information into knowledge is a social process, and for that you need good relationships. Creating and sharing knowledge is congruent with the previous three components.
Coherence making- Effective leaders tolerate enough ambiguity to keep the creative juices flowing, but along the way, they seek coherence.
Energy, Enthusiasm, and Hope- are personal characteristics that all effective leaders possess. “Effective leaders make people feel that even the most difficult problems can be tackled productively.”
Member Commitment- leaders who are steeped in the five core components generate long-term commitment in those with whom they work.
External commitment- triggered by policies and practices that enable employees to accomplish their tasks.
Internal commitment derives from energies internal to human beings that are activated because getting a job done is intrinsically rewarding. “No one can bulldoze change.”
Results- the outcome of effective leadership and commitment is that “more good things happen” and “fewer bad things happen.” Possible examples of good things: enhanced student performance and increased capacity of teachers.
Michael Fullan, Leading in a Culture of Change, 2004

3. Session Goals:
To deepen our understanding of the importance of relationships and trust in our work as MTLs.
To understand the role emotional intelligence has for effective leaders.
To learn to see resistance as an opportunity, rather then a roadblock.
To articulate leadership areas for personal growth and development.

4. Activity
Individually read and complete the Initial Thoughts column for each of the 8 key points about building relationships.
How do these key points relate to your work as an MTL?

5. Examples of what it looks like in action
Key Points
Initial Thoughts
Examples of what it looks like in action
1) It’s the interactions and relationships among people, not the people themselves that make the difference in organizational success.
2) Leaders must be able to build relationships with and among diverse people and groups, especially with people different from themselves.
3) Most people want to be part
of their organization, to know
the organization’s purpose, and
to make a difference or
contribute to a larger purpose.
4) Leaders need to pay as much attention to how they treat people as they pay to structure, strategies, and statistics.

6. Debrief
Take a quick moment to decide which key points to begin conversation with at your table.
Share your initial thoughts around the idea with the table group.
Record an example of what the key point would look like in action.
Now that you have done this on your own, in your groups you will determine which key points meant the most to you and/or your group and begin there. Please be considerate and allow for voices to be heard at the table. As you share your initial thoughts around this idea move that conversation into what the key points look like in action for a leader, for an MTL. You do not need to go round robin and share everyone’s reactions, but use your reactions as a stepping stone for the action column.
As facilitators, we will be using the “Post-It Note Debriefing” Strategy here. Pass out a post- it labeled 1-8 as pertinent conversatios are heard.

7. Key Points About Relationships
1) It’s the interactions and relationships among people, not the people themselves, that make the difference in organizational success.
2) Leaders must be able to build relationships with and among diverse people and groups, especially with people different from themselves.
3) Most people want to be part of their organization, to know the organization’s purpose, and to make a difference or contribute to a larger purpose.
4) Leaders need to pay as much attention to how they treat people as they pay to structures, strategies, and statistics.
Possible notes to use if the bullets do not bring about discussion. Use “Post-It Debriefing Strategy” for the next 2 slides.
1) “I know that a certain teachers is my go to person when it come to using CABS and providing student feedback. She is having tremendous success in her classroom and the students are showing progress. But, she isn’t willing to share at grade levels or staff meetings. The success in her classroom isn’t going to benefit the school success as much unless I can get her to share so that others can hopefully experience the same success.” (CCR)
2) “My background in middle school so I tend to work more with middle grades teachers. They have developed a great PLC that collaborates on a regular basis. I need to think about how I can develop that same type of relationship with other grade levels that I rarely work with such as Kindergarten teacher when I am not as familiar with that grade levels needs. I also need to think about how to include the special education teachers that I have hardly worked with over the years.” (CCR)
3) “When working with the teachers, especially difficult teachers, I need to recognize that they all chose to a be a teacher for a reason. They also all chose to work for MPS. I need to work with them to help them remember why they decided to become a teacher, to collaborate with them to make sure they feel that they are working to educate our students, no matter how difficult it seems, and to create an environment where it is evident that everyone is working toward the common goal of educating the students of our community. I think at our next meeting, I am going to ask teachers to reflect on the following questions: 1.) Why did I initially chose to become a teacher? 2.) Why did I chose to work for MPS? 3.) What am I currently doing to make a difference in the lives of our students? 4.) Do I bleive that all of the adults in my school are working toward the common goal of educating our students?” (LM)
“Many of us work with someone in our buildings who isn’t a contributing member to the staff, to their grade level/math department. What can we do as MTLs to work to include each and every member of our school community in our conversations about strengthening the teaching and learning of mathematics?” (AF)
“I have been so wrapped up in analyzing data, complying with paperwork requests, and implementing mandates from CS, that I have forgotten about paying attention to the math teachers’ personal needs. I need to really see them as individuals, rather than a s the workers necessary to get everything done. I need to say “good morning, how are you doing” first before asking if they have the assignment ready to turn in, or the CABS recorded, or the feedback written. If I help nurture their souls, it will be easier to get doen what needs to be done, rather than trying to forget that personal stuff exists, and trying to push through it.” (LM)

8. 5) Leaders must create professional learning
communities that enhance the skills and knowledge
of the people in the organization.
6) There must be a common culture of expectations; individuals must be held accountable for their contributions to the collective result.
7) Collegial communities are effective if members collaborate to share knowledge and make breakthroughs in learning.
8) The role of the leader is to ensure that the organization develops relationships that help produce desirable results.
Michael Fullan, Leading in a Culture of Change, 2004
“ As an MTL, I work hard to encourage collaborative conversations while I work with grade level groups/ the math department. We are focused on the evidence of learning and how to make more informed instructional decisions to help our students understand. We have moved past the trivial conversations that were not helping us make any gains.” (AF)
“It was hard when teachers were not bringing student work and were not providing our group of teachers with CABS information. I didn’t force them to do that, but as time went on, they saw that they were being left out of the conversations and soon they brought work too. It helped to include people and have common expectations for everyone. As an MTL these are not “my” teachers, and I can only hold them accountable by allowing them to see excellent models, maybe then the positive message will spread and there will be a desire to be more accountable, especially when others are depending on me doing my work too.” (AF)
Moral purpose, good ideas, focusing on results, and obtaining the views of dissenters are essential, because they mean that the organization is focusing on the right things. (PB)
Strong professional learning communities can positively affect student learning. (PB)

9. Elements of Relationships
Emotional Intelligence
Resistance
Relational Trust
There are three elements of relationships that Fullan outlines in this Chapter. Briefly explain each of them…. We have heard you over the last year through evaluation responses, conversations…etc…that you would like strategies on how to deal with difficult people. If that pertains to you, pay careful attention to the Resistance element, as you read. There are strategies as well as theoretical ideas here, that could help you back in your buildings. As well as the elements of EI and trust may help you with your rapport with teachers/Admin. This is very reflective reading and the session is going to get quite personal. However, it is when we are able to reflect on our own strengths and weaknesses that we are better able to improve on our weaknesses and develop our strengths. Take this time to look at yourself in regards to the elements in a truly reflective manner.

10. Read – Write – Reflect Elements of Relationships
Read pp on Emotional Intelligence
Read pp. 13 – 16 on Resistance
Read pp. 16 – 18 on Trust
1.) Jot down the main ideas from each section.
2.) Make connections between the reading and your role as an MTL.
What does this mean?
What do I need to work on?
So, we are now going to read each of these three pieces. As you read, jot down the main ideas about each element. For example, jot down ideas about EI and then write about what it means to you, what you need to work on, maybe there is a little scenario attached to your thoughts. Then move to Resistance and do the same thing, jot down main ideas and then take the personal route…meaning to you, needs you have and follow that with the third reading on trust, jot notes and then write a personal connection.
This will take some time, we will just keep you posted on time as we observe a need to move on or remind you of our time limitations.

11. Sharing Connections
Share your initial reactions and responses with your small group.
Commit to one area for growth and write a personal goal, focused on the elements of relationships.
Share your initial reactions and responses with your small group.
Is there anyone that is willing to put themselves out there and share with the whole group?
As an MTL…working on impulse control, working with a resistant staff member, seen as credible with the grade 2 teachers….now how will I goal set from those? I want to first work where I know I can make a difference and where I think I need more practice. So I am going to write a goal to work with those grade 2 teachers and help them see that I do know their grade level, their content and the needs of a 2nd grade classroom. I think I will observe, ask to model a lesson, bring them some CABS I have run off and give them credit for the hard work they are doing, because maybe I am not gaining trust because they don’t think I value them either.
Use your 3 personal connections from the reading, to help you forma goal/area for growth.

12. My Personal “Building Relationships” Goal
Action Steps:
Results:
With that we are going to have you write your goal onto the template and commit to working on this goal in the area of building relationships. It is our expectation that the MTLs will work on this and bring it back with action steps and results recorded to the next MTL meeting in December.

13. Session Goals:
To deepen our understanding of the importance of relationships and trust in our work as MTLs.
To understand the role emotional intelligence has for effective leaders.
To learn to see resistance as an opportunity, rather then a roadblock.
To articulate leadership areas for personal growth and development.
Review the goals for the day.

14. Reflections
Talking about these issues with others helps you to widen your lens. What have you learned about “Building Relationships” that you will hold onto and revisit as you continue to develop your leadership abilities?
Time to complete the reflection question on their monthly feedback form. We do read these and get suggestions from you as well as evidence about the effectiveness, timeliness and value of our sessions.