Week 1 Reflection

The first weekend was informative, and I felt that there was quite a lot of tension when we sat down for the ground rules. I don’t think that this is what your first meeting should be like. My experience has been that ground rules have been decided upon before we even get to the table. A lot of times they are defined by a correspondence between union leader and Superintendent. I was hoping that there was going to be a little less stress in this process, but I had forgotten how hard it was to sit and control your body language. This is quite demanding for not really doing anything except sitting. It is also hard to present an accurate group dynamic since most of the group has limited experience with negotiations and a varied background on several of the issues.