Sasha explains why classroom teams need a written mission statement that clarifies shared values and prevents conflicts. Use three questions: what you want for students, your team, and your school. Have everyone sign it and post it where you'll actually reference it.
Hi, this is Sasha from The Autism Helper, and in this episode of the mini video training series, I'm going to talk about creating a team mission statement. This is one of my favorite things to talk about, you guys, because it can make such an important impact on your entire school year. So if you're watching this at the beginning of the school year, it's a perfect time to create a team mission statement. But if you're watching this in the middle of the school year, it's not too late. You can create a team mission statement at any time. So what a team mission statement is going to do is to take your group, your paraprofessionals, your classroom assistants, whoever is working with you on a daily basis, and create a shared list of values for your team. And it sets the tone in such a great way. Instead of it being, "I am the teacher and you are the staff," it's We are a team and we are working together. And I think it really acknowledges your paraprofessionals as an important member of that team. Remember, classroom assistants work so hard and they're not paid that much, and they are here because they love and care about these kids because it's not the easiest job, especially being a one-on-one paraprofessional or working with kids that have aggression. They are on the front lines every single day. So doing activities like creating a team mission statement is going to really make sure that everyone in the team feels valued and a part of that team. So it really sets the tone in such a great way. So there's a really simple way to create a team mission statement that I love, is you're going to talk about and discuss 3 questions. First, you're going to talk about what do we want for our students? This is a great question to start with because it gets everyone thinking about the needs of the kids. And really, that's why we're all here, right? Like I said, our paras love our kids just as much as we do. So think about as a team what we want for our kids. We want to create independent adults. We want kids that can communicate their wants and needs. We want kids that learn new skills. Write that down. Value everyone's input. Make sure everyone is included and giving their opinion and write it down. This isn't just a discussion. You have to write it. So first you're asking, what do we want for our students? Then we ask, what do we want for our team? It's important to create a work environment where everyone wants to be there. People don't like going to work when they don't like the people they work with, let's be honest. So starting to really focus on what your classroom culture is for your staff is really important. And writing that down— again, what are things we want for our team? We want a team that collaborates, we want a team that works together, we We want a team that all takes data. We want a team that feels like they're heard. So put all of that in there. And then the third question is, what do we want for our school? So one team that you are a part of is your little classroom team of you and your paraprofessionals. But another team that you and your paras are a part of is the school, right? The whole faculty. So what do we want for our school? This is a great time to talk about things like inclusion and things like What does the rest of the school think of our kids and our classroom and our staff? So include all of that in there. Write it all down, have all of your staff members sign it and date it, and then post it somewhere in your classroom. Maybe if you have a closet where your staff keeps their coats, post it somewhere we can all see it, because these are your shared values. This reminds you of why you're here. So the team mission statement does a few really important things. Not only does it set the tone of your, your team as a cohesive group that works together, but it also will help prevent some staff miscommunications. And I say miscommunications and not staff conflicts because a lot of conflicts just start from a miscommunication. So if you can be really clear on knowing what your team wants and needs, you're going to avoid those miscommunications. And then when you have miscommunications or a little bit of a conflict, you can refer back to that team mission statement because this is the— these are the core values that you all agreed upon. So if you have a staff member that's maybe going on their phone a lot and during like kids' work time is on their cell phone, pull out that team mission statement and be like, hey Judy, we talked about us all having a goal that we're all taking data and that our kids are all making academic progress. You being on your cell phone is not in line with these goals that we want for our kids. So it's really putting the onus back on that person because some actions we take, we all do it, maybe aren't always in line with those bigger goals. And it's easy to highlight that. It doesn't feel confrontational, like you shouldn't be doing this just because I want it. It's you shouldn't be doing this because this is what our team wants and that's not in line with that. So it really helps dealing with those kind of little small problems a lot easier. So I hope this encourages you to create a team mission statement. I love working on this. I love seeing seeing people's mission statements they create. This is an easy process, but it's one that is so valuable and so important at any time throughout the year. So I hope you enjoyed this episode of the mini video training series. To check out more episodes, head over to theautismhelper.com.
