Sunday

Today was very good. In all of the role playing we have done during these classes this one truly pulls you in. The body language and the tone of everyones voice tells the tale. Frustration, surprize, disbelief are all shown in the interaction. It almost becomes a game to see what we can get and what they will take from us. Jay was great, he put it all in perspective. We are all working for the common good of the district. While you give the other side what they can have you must show them that is all you can give. His comments on how you must work together after the contract and how you present yourself during the negotiations determines that working relationship. I remember after some of the negotiations our school district had gone through. Sometimes we walked away feeling we had created a win-win contract and it was a great working environment. But there were a couple that lead to some very hard feelings. If the superintendent had listened to Jay talk I believe those bad relationships would not have occurred.