After listening to the lecture concerning Senge's 5 disciplines, I believe that my campus can be classified as a learning organization.

Following is my evidence , based on Dr. Senge's disciplines. Systems Thinking: Our staff is committed to student achievement and the belief that all students can learn. We have supervisors who all have "open door" policies, although they are seldom in their offices, they are out among the students and teachers. Also, we celebrate all types of student success, whether it be fine arts, athletics, or academic achievement. Our campus goal is to have each of students ready for what they will face in high school and beyond. Personal Mastery: As part of our Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), each teacher is required to keep an Individual Growth Plan. The purpose of the IGP (which I believe is very close to the Professional Development Plan that Senge mentions) is to allow our teachers to reflect on their teaching and, based on data collected, search for ways to improve it. Most of our teachers are proficient and passionate about what they do. This sometimes causes conflict, but those conflicts are always able to be worked out. Finally, we have a support system in place so that teachers who may be struggling can get the help they need. Mental Models: This may be the area where we struggle most. We have some veteran teachers who have been successful in the past that have been resistant to new initiatives that our campus leadership has introduced (I regret to say that I have been one of them). However, most have agreed to give these initiatives a try and have been pleased with the results. On the other hand, several of our young teachers learn about the population of our campus (we are a Title 1 school) and come in with preconceived ideas about what our students are capable of. However, because we believe in data driven decision making, we are able to dispel those ideas and make decisions that best serve our students. Our staff also embraces the collaborative planning process that we have in place. The veteran teachers appreciate the ability to share their experiences and still learn new ideas, while the young teachers appreciate the insight of the veteran teachers while still knowing their ideas will be heard and implemented. Shared Vision: I believe that we all share the same vision for our campus, which is that our students can excel in all areas. I mentioned earlier that our passion for our particular subject area sometimes causes conflict. It is our shared vision that allows us to work through these conflicts and do what's best for kids. Because we are a data driven campus, our personal IGP's support our campus improvement plan goals and our CIP goals are in line with district and state goals. Team Learning: Our campus has grade level and department meetings at least twice per month and department level collaborative planning once per six weeks. During these meetings we take the time to discuss issues and plan goals and, most importantly, define a pathway to meet those goals. Besides these formal meetings, grade level departments (i.e. 8th grade math) will meet on their own time to plan and discuss lessons and activities. While we don't have a formal conflict resolution plan (at least not to my knowledge), I feel that there is a level of trust on the campus that allows us to address issues as they occur and resolve them in the best interest of all involved.