Consent, Floor, Groups and Bundles – What do those labels mean?

You might notice that proposals have been grouped, bundled, and identified as “consent” or “floor.” So, what do all of those labels mean?

·      Proposed amendments that have “consent” next to them are amendments that the International Administrative Board have determined could be considered all together at the same time with one vote.

o   A “consent agenda” or “consent calendar” is utilized to expedite meetings and reserve time for items that need more discussion. The proposed amendments on the “consent agenda” are usually considered non-controversial and do not need discussion. Therefore, they can be voted upon with a single vote.

o   Any proposed amendment that is on the consent calendar can be removed and considered on its own. The presiding officer will ask the assembly if there are proposed amendments that should be removed. If you feel this is the case, that is the time for you to go to the microphone and speak.

o   Consent agendas help the sessions move more quickly.

·       Proposed amendments labeled “floor” are those proposed amendments that the International Administrative Board believe require discussion and should be considered individually. These amendments are identified as needing consideration on the floor or in other words debate.

Both “consent” and “floor” amendments require your careful consideration. 

·      Grouping amendments helps to identify categories: Committees, Publications, DKGIEF, Membership Classifications, Funds/Finances, International Events, Officers/Elections, Simplification/Latitude, and Name/Emblem. 

·      Bundling identifies the grouping’s proposed amendments into content similarity. 

o   As an example, Group I Committee bundles are: Arts and Humanities, Expansion and Membership, Golden Gift Fund and Leadership Development, Scholarship and individual, Committee Related Proposals. 

o   Additional grouping bundles include Editorial Board Publications, and Individual Proposals,  DKGIEF, Membership, Funds/Finances/Fees, International Event Sites, Officers/Elections, Name Changes and even Flag Usage, just to name a few.

·       Notice how the groupings and bundles are marked. They help members understand the connectivity among amendments. 

The proposed amendments can be found on the Society website in the Mar/Apr issue of the DKG NEWS. They will also be printed in your convention program. Each proposed amendment is important. Read through them carefully. Come and enjoy the experience voting brings!

 

Non-dues Revenue at International Convention

The Non-dues Revenue Committee has been preparing an exciting workshop for members at the International Convention in New Orleans this summer. Mark your DKG app or star your convention program to attend this informative entertaining workshop on Wednesday, July 13th at 2:45pm.

Non-dues revenue is exactly that… money that is generated through a variety of sources, other than dues, to serve members and benefit the Society. Attendees will participate in a fun Jeopardy game to learn about different insurance resources, business discounts and educational tours with other DKG members.

At the end, there will be a question and answer time and members can share what is happening in chapters, states and at international to help with fundraising. Hope you will be able to attend and learn about non-dues revenue.

If not candy, stickers, or a notepad, then what? What SEE really needs

Candy is nice. How about a package of stickers? Maybe a notepad? All of these “gifts” may be well received by an early career educator, but is that what they really need? Follow along for ideas that go beyond candy and goodies.

Technology

The past two years have demonstrated worldwide how difficult the teaching profession can be to all educators, but particularly to those with the least amount of experience. Assumptions were made that our digital natives (those who grew up in the digital age) would be adept at virtual teaching. Yes, these mostly younger educators understood more about technology, but they were not prepared to teach using technology. It was a tremendous learning curve for all educators. A chapter can recognize this need and use the strengths of their members to collaborate together. A teacher experienced in how to teach a particular content can be paired with an early-career educator who understands technology. Even with most learning occurring in-person, there is still a need for expertise in using technology to enhance and build upon content learning.

Grant-in-Aid

Budgets never cover all that is needed in a classroom. Nor do they cover the payment for professional development. How about a field trip to expose students to experiences outside the classroom? Providing Grants-in-aid that are specifically targeted to early-career educators give them a boost not only in monetary value, but in the message that says “you have important needs”. Simplify the process for application to make it easy and quick to apply. Advertise and accept non-member applicants to attract new members to DKG.

Volunteer

Schools are beginning to open up again to visitors. Early-career teachers say that volunteers can provide assistance in many ways. Some of those include: working with individuals or small groups of students, tutoring before or after-school, grading assignments, prepping materials, and the list goes on. Check to see what is available in your area and give of your time to lighten the load.

Go to the Source

The best source for information for what early-career educators really need is to initiate a conversation with these educators. Each community and location differ and the resources are varied. The list below is not inclusive, but offers insights that were gathered from several sources, including early-career educators as well as veterans who have reflected on what would have been important to them.

- Collaborate in grade levels, departments, or specialty areas. Experience counts but so do new and fresh ideas. Be open to actively listening to each member of the group from the experienced veteran to the often silent new teacher. Plan together and offer resources that can be shared by all.

- Develop timelines of what comes next – not only academically, but school and district responsibilities

- Provide training in how to maximize the use of para-educators or volunteers. As great as it is to have the extra body, it’s not always clear how to use those helping hands.

- Mentors – sometimes the school assigns a mentor, but an early career educator needs mentors for many other reasons. Just having someone to confide in without judgment or expectations is very important to new teachers. This mentor is one who the early-career educator will need to select for themselves. Chapter members can certainly fill this role if that connection is made.

- Early-career educators need to observe other educators as they teach. These observations offer the model from which inexperienced teachers can gain valuable knowledge. Equally important would be to debrief and discuss those observations. Many questions may arise and can be addressed through shared observations.

- Establish rituals – maybe it’s someone who checks in once a week, maybe it’s a funny card or something silly to pass around. One school had a painted rock that would end up all over the building.

- Acknowledge that the responsibilities of a new teacher are overwhelming. Emotions run the gamut of excitement, frustration, exhaustion, joy, bewilderment, and hopelessness. That can even occur in one day!

- The pandemic did not allow for staff to meet others beyond their duties. Now that schools are open again, new teachers need to establish relationships with others outside of their assigned role. They need to belong and contribute to the overall mission and goals of their educational assignment. They also need to have social times where they form friendships with other like-minded individuals.

- Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) can serve as a resource to all employees, not just early-career educators. These programs should be promoted for the wide range of services they provide, both personal and professional. Free and confidential, these programs offer another avenue for assistance that are often underutilized. Eliminate the stigma associated with seeking help and guidance.

- Local gyms or businesses can offer free or low cost classes and memberships to enhance minds and bodies. A spin class or lap swimming does wonders in releasing the tensions of the day. In fact, so would a quick yoga class offered in the gym after school once a week.

Each of these suggestions are much more work than passing out candy, stickers or notepads. The challenges of SEE require attention, time and effort. That effort will pay off when the needs of early-career educators are acknowledged and focused upon. Act now.

Please Join Us!

With this final blog during the 2020-2022 biennium, we hope these postings have given you time to pause and consider your own leadership styles and skills. We have written these not just for current DKG members in leadership positions, but for all members at all levels of the Society since every DKG member has the potential to be a leader.

We are looking forward to meeting many of you in person in July at the International Convention in New Orleans. The committee will be presenting a workshop there entitled, “How to Be a Leader and Still Have a Life” on Friday, July 15th from 12:30pm to 1:15pm. Participants in this workshop will have the opportunity to share their concerns about the demands of leadership and the time investment required.  Strategies and available resources for building a leadership team to assist in addressing these concerns will be shared during the session.

We hope you will join us in New Orleans for discussion of this important topic!

FOUR DKG – VOICES FROM EUROPE (Part II)

Here are interviews with DKG members telling how their membership in DKG has been of benefit to them. For one of them it was the support in a difficult life situation; for another it was the educational discussions locally and internationally. An early career teacher talks about the important support from an experienced chapter member.  A now deceased member said that she joined DKG because she wanted to have influence on situations for female educators. The full text that she left behind is found on the website of DKG The Netherlands.

The names of the persons have been omitted to protect the person’s integrity.  The texts of the voices have been brought to us by EEC state representatives and have been edited by Marianne Skardéus, International EEC.

Voice 3

Kadri, Estonia: I interviewed a young teacher about her novice teacher years.

Elena started working as a teacher 2 years ago. The teaching profession was not her first choice. Before starting as a teacher, she worked and studied to be a material scientist. Elena speaks many languages. While she was studying abroad, she started to help her friends and family who needed help with different languages. Elena’s native language is Russian, and she is fluent in English, German, and Estonian. Therefore, she tutored many people in language learning. This is how she discovered that she really wanted to teach for the rest of her life. So, she started studying in Tallinn University to get a degree for language teaching and in January 2022 Elena defended her master thesis.

“It has been the most interesting year of my life; I have learned so much. This has been such a chance for me, and I have been trying to make the most out of it.”

Elena was very motivated to become a teacher. Still the first year was hard for her. Besides the new occupation and new work tasks, Elena had to do extra work because the school she worked in was not a regular Estonian general education school and the methods that she needed were not taught at her university. Elena describes how chapter member M was a great help and support.

“I needed help to find teaching literature because I was not familiar with it. In the International Baccalaureate program, the grading is different, and I needed help to assess in a way that was adequate. These were overly critical components for me. I got more help than I was expecting. If I had any questions, then I could ask at any time any time for help from M." 

Elena also describes how M showed her how to organize the whole learning process and build up the course. This was very useful and important. All tips, big or small, were proven useful, especially the ones about classroom management. M also visited Elena’s classes to see and give feedback, which gave Elena more confidence in her choice of methods and planning. Elena emphasizes that in theory she knew how to do it but all the practical tips on how to really do them were extremely helpful.

Elena appreciates that M is still there for her even when not working at school anymore.

VOICE 4

Ria from the Netherlands:  Transfer thoughts from a deceased member

Cor, a member from the Netherlands, unfortunately passed away on January 5th. She was a dear member of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, and to commemorate her, this text, written by herself, is still on our website for a while.

Cor said:

“During an educational study trip to Russia in 1972, I had become acquainted with the then State Inspector for Secondary Education in Amsterdam. In 1977 this contact resulted in a question about if I would be interested in membership in the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. It had something in common with service clubs like Rotary and Lions. I knew the Lions Club, so I thought, ‘Why shouldn`t I become a member? I will find out by trying.’  And so it happened that in December 1977, along with others, I became as a member of the Beta chapter. The objectives were interesting. It was and is an organization for women. And in the 1970s, women's emancipation was a much-discussed topic even in education. We had just passed the period in which women who got married were dismissed by the school board. There were still very few women in managerial positions. The idea then, at least among the colleagues who joined, was that together we might be able to have influence; that by becoming more visible as a group, we would also be listened to and be more visible.

The international contacts followed, exchanging ideas and learning from each other's educational systems. There was also the opportunity to visit schools in other countries and meet new colleagues.”

Cor was asked:  What do you like/dislike about your membership? Here is her response:  “What I have pleasantly experienced with DKG over the years is that there is always a listening ear from someone who also knows what you are talking about, someone who does not think ‘here she is again’ but understands you and enjoys sharing experiences and new insights. The contacts with colleagues from other countries have also proved inspiring, especially in Europe during the Regional Conferences but also in the individual exchanges with members of chapters in Europe.

 My wish for Delta Kappa Gamma Netherlands is that it may grow and flourish until the end of days. As a society we have something to offer in terms of personal contacts and the possibilities of foreign contacts.

There is a saying about ‘Rise, shine and sink.’ We are certainly not ready for the latter yet.”

Things of importance for us in DKG:

Listening and giving good advice.

Being together, seeing energetic and skillful colleagues.

Strengthening professional skills and exchanging views.

Celebrating occasions together.

Increasing the international dimensions of the society globally and locally.

Honoring members, who are no longer amongst us, for their dedication to the Society.