Learning about Baldrige

How will I learn about Baldrige?

You will learn about Baldrige in your class(es) under the guidance of your teacher(s).

How is a classroom culture developed?

The first thing your teacher will do is work with you and your class to create a classroom culture in which everyone can become comfortable with asking questions and giving opinions and suggestions for improvement.

 

Asking students about their comfort level in the classroom or with the subject matter using consensograms at the beginning and the end of the week or month.

 

Why? By studying this information, the teacher and class can see what needs to be changed or improved (continuous improvement!)

 

Inviting student input or questions using issue bins.

 

Why? Students can post a question or raise issues that can be addressed at another time other than during instructional time.

 

Developing classroom ground rules cooperatively that will help everyone learn.

 

Why? When everyone in the class has part in writing the ground rules, these rules are more likely to be followed.

 

Establishing what the jobs are of students, teachers, and parents in the learning process (see examples of “My Job, Your Job, Our Job”).

 

Why? Everyone has a role in the teaching/learning process; however, when students learn to take responsibility for their own learning, they have more control over the progress they can make.

 

Learning about core values or best practices that will support learning

 

Why? The Baldrige Core Values are researched "best practices" that can help any organization improve.

 

Introducing quality tools such as the plus delta, force field analysis, and surveying to check to see if the class is on the right track with their ground rules, jobs, and core values.

 

Why? Through frequent assessment, the class can determine quickly what is working or not working. The class can then study results to see what can be changed or improved (continuous improvement!)

What happens after the classroom culture has been developed?

Once the class has developed a culture of trust and acceptance, the teacher and students go on to:

  • Learn about the expectations of the curriculum and of next year’s teacher or school, higher education, and even the world of work.
  • Write a class mission
  • Develop measurable goals
  • Outline action plans to meet your goals
  • Create graphs to measure progress

What strategies can the class use to improve the classroom culture and learning?

Students learn to use quality tools such as:

How can I remember what my class mission, ground rules, and goals are?

All of this will be captured on the class data center: the mission, ground rules, goals, core values, My Job, Your Job, Our Job, and graphs. Examples of quality tools may also be exhibited.

 

Why? The data center provides a quick reminder for everyone regarding class priorities for learning.

So where does my own personal learning fit in?

Working as a class should prepare you to:

  • Write your own personal mission and goals as well as tools to measure progress.
  • Create your very own personal data notebook or folder to keep track of progress for each subject.

So what’s in it for me?

Working as a class should prepare you to:

  • No more guessing about what tests will cover.
  • If things aren’t going well, you will have tools to fix things quickly.
  • You will have a say in defining what works or doesn’t work for you as a learner.
  • You will know how you stand grade-wise from week-to-week. No more surprises at report card time! In fact, you should be able to tell your teacher exactly what grade you have earned based on your own data.