Tip Sheet - Robert's Rules of Order

Awesome reference

PDF from 25-Jul-2014 https://www.ptotoday.com/filesharing/document/1786-roberts-rules-tip-sheet

Improving How Schools Relate to Communities

8 Things Teachers Can Do To Improve Their Bedside Manner:

1. Talk like a human being.

Schools should communicate to people like they’re people, not co-managers of the walking knowledge vessels that will eventually reflect the failures and success of the school in a future pie chart.

Education serves people, not the other way around. Our teaching and learning systems exist to, among other things, create literate citizens that can live well. In that way, the terms of communication between schools and communities should be grounded in human compassion, language, and tone.

Just as even a brilliant doctor can struggle with their bedside manners, our teachers, administrators, and superintendents suffer from the education-equivalent as well.

...

If it doesn’t sound like a caring human being speaking on equal and non-patronizing terms to another caring human being, don’t send it.

2. Communicate with, not to.

...This is affected by…

1. What’s being discussed (topics that can benefit from dialogue, not already-made decisions)

2. How it’s being discussed (debate, conversation, collaborative, board vs crowded room with one microphone, over chili and bad punch, etc.)

3. Where it’s being discussed (in-person, the phone, ... conferences, etc.)

4. Why it’s being discussed (to problem-solve, to brainstorm, to clarify, to iterate, to revisit, etc.)

If it doesn’t sound like a caring human being speaking on equal and non-patronizing terms to another caring human being in a way that benefits from or allows for a useful response, don’t send it.

3. Have a point and make it actionable.

Not all communication will fit this characteristic, but in large part, communication ... should have a purpose that leads to something outside of the heads it’s being communicated between.

Put another way, that message should change something, and since communities are why schools exist, it makes sense that families (even if they are non-responsive and don’t show up and never write back and don’t understand, etc.) should often act in response to any ‘communication.’ Turning back to business language, if every message has a specific call-to-action, then it follows that every message would lead to something changing.

Have a budget issue to communicate to local businesses? Ask them to provide a tip or resource via Google Forms.

Have a new program to introduce? Ask [supporters] to attend a meeting–or even a simple webinar–on what the program is and what you hope it accomplishes for them.

Audited by the state and want to get out ahead of any confusion about the results? Create a visual with the data and your response, then start a conversation around the plan that can lead to community-wide support in the forms of donations, committee formations, voting, work with students through project-based learning, and more.

If it doesn’t sound like a caring human being speaking on equal and non-patronizing terms to another caring human being in a way that benefits from or allows for a useful response or action on the part of the reader, don’t send it.

4. Be consistent.

In both frequency and message, help [supporters] understand what to expect from you and when and how to expect it–and how they can help.

Consistency is the difference between forming a message or forming a relationship.

5. Try to tie the purpose of the message to the purpose of the school.

Don’t send a newsletter home about paving the school parking lot or asking for door prizes for a school dance if they haven’t heard the first word about the learning and well-being of [students] all year.

6. Make it about [the student].

...

When communicating with [supporters], not every message will directly affect [the student], but try to map out how it could affect them–or even all students at large.

In a perfect world, every message would be different for every reader, referencing the student, their history, how this communication affects them, and what they should do based on their specific circumstances. Of course, that’s not possible, but the more personalized the message is, the more precise and effective that message is.

7. Make sure they can read it.

Every wonder how pharmacies can read the scribble of a doctor?

This is closely related to the ‘personalized’ characteristic above. Whether that means form and platform (e.g., a letter versus a tweet versus a blog post versus a phone call, etc.), the native language of the reader, reading level, or some other facet, the accessibility of a message is obviously critical.

And as much as possible, it should be timely. The right information at the right time through the right platform. It’s difficult to be accessible, actionable, or personalized if it’s not timely.

8. Embrace the contradictions 

Good teaching requires an educator to be many things at once, and sometimes they can contradict one another: Compassionate and clinical, authentic and professional, consistent and kind. These are a few of the many ‘soft skills’ of teaching, and may be the most impactful in regards to creating an approachable ‘bedside manner’ for teachers.

Sometimes these characteristics may seem at odds. The point is, it’s possible to be a clinical and compassionate, authentic and ‘professional,’ compassionate and empathetic and kind. In fact, the most successful professionals are often the ones best able to pull this off.

Reference
Staff. (n.d.) . 8 Things Teachers Can Do To Improve Their Bedside Manner: Improving How Schools Relate to Communities. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/8-things-teachers-can-do-to-improve-their-bedside-manner/

Assets congregate toward affordable funds

• ETF data provided by Bloomberg points to the fact that 60% of the assets inside the $7T U.S. ETF market fall inside funds that have expense ratios under 0.10%. Over 75% of ETF assets find themselves in funds with expense ratios below 0.20%.
• 
• Traditionally actively managed thematic exchange traded funds typically find themselves generating expense ratios of 0.50% - 0.99%. With that being noted, the chart below shows that the overwhelming majority of ETF assets appear to be geared towards lower passively managed ETFs.
• The SPDR S&P 500Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) is the world's largest ETF with $397.15B assets under management, and an expense ratio of 0.94%, which represents a sliver of the 58% bucket. Stocks held onto strong gains at the close of Tuesday's trading, pushing the S&P 500 back above its 200-day moving average.

Reference
Capul, J. (2022 February 15). Chart Talk: ETF assets congregate towards cheaper funds. Seeking Alpha. https://seekingalpha.com/news/3800488-chart-talk-etf-assets-congregate-towards-cheaper-funds