Energizing Staff Meetings

Sheila Eller has worked in a multitude of educational settings during her career. In addition to her current position as a principal in the Fairfax County Virginia Public Schools, she has served as a middle school principal in the Moundsview Minnesota School District, as a principal in other schools in Minnesota and Illinois, as a university professor, as a Special Education Teacher, a Title I Math Teacher, and a self-contained classroom teacher in grades 1-4. Sheila has also been a member of the Executive Board of Minnesota ASCD and has been a regional president of the Minnesota Association of Elementary School Principals. She has advanced coursework in educational administration and supervision from St. Cloud State University, her Master's Degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, and a Bachelors Degree from Iowa State University. Sheila is a regular presenter at the ASCD National Conventions sharing her expertise on the topic of effective staff meetings and multiage instruction. While she served as a professor at National-Louis University in Evanston Illinois, she worked on the development team for a classroom mathematics series that was adopted by several districts in the region. Her classroom and instructional techniques were featured on a video that was produced as a complement to this series. She works with educators in developing energized staff meetings, school improvement initiatives, multiage teaching strategies, employee supervision, and other teaching and learning content areas. In addition to this book, Sheila co-authored the best-selling Energizing Staff Meetings and Creative Strategies to Improve School Climate. through Corwin Press. John Eller has had a variety of experiences in working with adults over the years he has been in education. His experiences include work educational leaders at Virginia Tech University, developing teacher leaders in a Maters program, serving as the Executive Director of Minnesota ASCD, work as a principal's training center director, a position as an assistant superintendent for curriculum, learning, and staff development, and several principal positions in a variety of settings. In addition to the work he does in training and supporting facilitators, John also does work in the areas of dealing with difficult people, building professional learning communities, employee evaluation, conferencing skills, coaching skills, strategic planning strategies, school improvement planning and implementation, differentiated instruction, leadership for differentiation, employee recruitment, selection, and induction, supervisory skills, and effective teaching strategies. He has his PhD. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Loyola University-Chicago and his MS in Educational Leadership from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. John has authored books on substitute teaching, wrote The Training Video Series for the Professional School Bus Driver, The principals' Guide to Custodial Supervision contributes articles for the publication Superintendents Only. He wrote Effective Group Facilitation in Education: How to Energize Meetings and Manage Difficult Groups, and co-authored So Now You're the Superintendent, the best selling, Energizing Staff Meetings and Creative Strategies to Improve School Culture all through Corwin Press.

Preface Acknowledgements About the Authors Chapter 1 - Why Energize? Chapter 2 - Barriers to Good Staff Meetings and How to Overcome Them Chapter 3 - Great Beginnings Chapter 4 - Keeping the Group Engaged Chapter 5 - Building on the Positive Emotional Connections of Staff Members Chapter 6 - Extended Meetings . . . When You Have More Time Chapter 7 - Closing the Meeting With a Bang! Chapter 8 - Closing Thoughts and Next Steps Bibliography Index

"Sheila and John Eller have used their experiences in educational institutions to frame their suggestions in ways that are easy to relate to our own uses. One of the strengths of the book is the manner in which the authors examine each meeting aspect, described how problems might hamper the effectiveness of a meeting and them provide numerous approaches to positively impact a meeting. The book is filled with fun and engaging activities. It is very easy to read and see the applicability of the content. I recommend this book to anyone who plans meetings." -- NACADA Journal, Spring 2007 "The helpful suggestions and creative approaches will help school administrators create an atmosphere conducive to productive relationships that can transform a school's culture." -- Curriculum Connections, Fall 2006