Principal's Roundtable empowering students at Lance Elementary
Principal's Roundtable empowering students at Lance Elementary
“How was school today? What was your favorite part of the day? Did you face any challenges today?”
Those, and questions like them, are what families ask daily as they try to get feedback from their students.
However, at Lance Thompson Elementary, principal Amy Lawson is making sure her students are also empowered to answer those questions during the school day, and in a way that can provide meaningful change to their campus.
That need for students to express themselves and have ownership of their educational experience is what Ms. Lawson had in mind when she created her principal’s roundtable meetings. Now in her sixth year as principal at Lance Thompson Elementary, Ms. Lawson held her first roundtable of the school year a couple of weeks ago.
At least one student from each grade level joined Ms. Lawson in Lance Elementary’s administrative conference room. Ms. Lawson asked them questions ranging from “What is your favorite day at Lance?” to “What are we missing at Lance?”
“It truly helps us make decisions for our campus,” Ms. Lawson said. “Plus, I love hearing what the students think.”
Ms. Lawson stood at the front of the room and quietly listened as each student answered each question. She typed their responses into a document that she will later use to help share feedback with her staff, as well as each student’s parents.
The students were comfortable, honest and realistic. None of them asked for fewer tests or longer recess, but they did express a want for additional clubs and more solo time with teachers when they are struggling with a lesson.
Many of the students said their favorite day at Lance is the school’s upcoming Fall Fest, so Ms. Lawson will show this group some of her plans as the event approaches, allowing them to provide more input on an event they love so much.
Ms. Lawson plans to hold a roundtable at least once every quarter with a different group of students joining her for each session. Students are nominated by their teacher to take part in the roundtable.
In total, this year’s initial roundtable only took about 15 minutes, but in that short time the eight students that attended enjoyed lots of laughs and made a stronger connection with their campus and their principal, and the entire Lance Elementary experience will soon be better because of it.