Newbie Audits

Steve Ruder

from LinkedIN

As you start the new school year, I encourage you to try an exercise I call a 'Newbie Audit'. This exercise is conducted for both new teachers and new students entering your school for the first time. The audit is completed separate and apart from each other and at different times. The goal is to get new viewpoints by affording students and teachers the time to walk the halls, look through classrooms, explore the cafeteria, etc. The end goal is that you may find new areas of need and perceptions that can be improved upon, fresh suggestions to food service, classrooms, outdoor grounds, etc. I have conducted this audit at several locations and the discovery process can be school-changing. 

One year a group of new teachers came back and reported that the campus didn't feel like a school, that besides the athletic trophy case, you'd never know this building was a school and that it didn't feel like kids went there. Similarly, the student group reported the school's energy was stagnant and it felt like the students had no ownership of the facility. We took immediate action. Hallways were painted with murals, ceiling tiles became works of art, poster and literature contests adorned the locker banks and inspirational quotes were stenciled throughout the school. 

The Newbies reported major educational climate issues that any administrator must address, as the aesthetics of a school and subsequent 'energy' transcend into every classroom, hallway and into the minds and hearts of all who are affiliated with the school. Sometimes we become so accustomed to our surroundings, that we no longer see them for what they really are and our awareness becomes blurred or obstructed. 

This is a great rapport builder/ice-breaking exercise and when you add in anonymity by letting participants type or write responses and submit them unsigned, one usually finds truth and insight. So, via art, mosaics, poetry,morning music, wall quotes and other creative outlets, we gave the school back to the students and desensitized the institutional. sterile and stagnant feelings. 

All new teachers should participate in this audit, and I'd suggest 6-10 students from varying cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. This activity allows both teachers and students to feel invested in an environment that is unfamiliar to them, especially when they are responsible for positive change occurring. The teachers also tend to do an excellent job of identifying facility issues, such as moving a copier to a more efficient location, network suggestions and many technology ideas stemmed from both the teachers and students. 

This program costs you nothing but a little time, yet the results can be staggering and felt campus-wide and positively affect all.