Collaboration with the Teaching Team

In order to help students develop the required competencies in the most efficient manner, teachers often collaborate with other educatiors in the school to achieve this goal. In many situations, cooperation is required among the teachers to develop units, lessons or projects, to evaluate student learning, and to implement strategies that improve learning as well as behaviour. Teachers can accomplish a lot and move their students forward when they work as a team in an ongoing and consistent manner. When teachers who have the same students work together, they are all "on the same page", which faciliates the learning process for their students. They benefit from having consistent routines, rules, expectations, and values from their various teachers in different subjects.

The Process

COMMUNICATION

STUDENT INTERESTS

COOPERATION

TRUST

COMMON GOALS

TIME

These puzzle pieces represent what I believe is necessary for teachers to collaborate in a productive manner. Simply put, when educators work together, their top priority should be student learning and student success. If they keep their students' best interests in mind, then the decisions made should help children develop the required competencies. This should also be the common goal of teachers working together. If every teacher has a different goal in mind, then little progress will be made.

Next, communication is also important because every member of the teaching team should be listened to and should listen to others. This implies that teachers are also cooperating to develop the most effective strateges and tools to use with students. Finally, when educations trust each other and put in the time that is necessary to discuss their students, the results will most likely move students forward.

The Goals

As mentioned above, teachers usually work together to achieve some common goals that have been discussed in advance. These goals should concern the students and how to best develop the required competencies, as well as how to make learning as interesting as possible for them. Here are some possible goals that teachers can work towards, including some of which I've worked on with other professionals.

The Strategies

IMPROVE HOMEWORK COMPLETION AMONG STUDENTS

ASSESS THE NEEDS OF SPECIFIC STUDENTS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

DEVELOP A CYCLE PROJECT TO TARGET BOTH ELA AND FRENCH COMPETENCIES

REDUCE DISTURBING BEHAVIORS THROUGH REWARDS/PUNISHMENT SYSTEM

Teachers can collaborate in different contexts and through different means of communication. Here are some opportunities that I've taken advantage of to discuss my students with other professionals in the school. Details about each of these strategies follow below.

CYCLE MEETINGS

PUPIL PERSONAL TEAM MEETINGS (PPT)

RESOURCE TEACHER CONFERENCES

INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN DISCUSSIONS

COUNCIL MEETINGS

REPORT CARDS

IMPROMPTU DISCUSSIONS

WORKSHOPS

FIELDTRIPS

Report Cards

When it's time to fill in student report cards and progress reports, teachers have the option of dicussing certain students with the other teachers in the school who know these students. For example, if I were uncertain about a specific student's marks and what should appear in the report card, I could speak with the student's past teachers, especially if it's the beginning of the year and I don't know the child very well. Getting opinion and ideas from teachers who do know the child could really help me develop a better idea who he/she is. In addition, it is helpful who speak to the educators who teach the same students as me, but in different subjects. For example, because I teach French, which includes science and social sciences, I've often spoken with the English and Math teacher to get a sense of the student's learning and behavior in those subjects. I also discussed report cards with my cooperating teacher, who gave me a list of comments that can be used for describing student learning on these documents. These comments can be useful for myself if I can't find the right way to describe a student's strenghts and weaknesses, espcially as a beginning teacher.

Comments #1

Comments #3

Comments #2

Progress Reports

During my third field experience, I had the chance to work on progress reports with my cooperating teacher at the beginning of the year. Sometimes, it was difficult to assess certain students because we didn't know them very well yet. Therefore, we sat down together and reviewed what each student had accomplished thus far in the year. The progress report doesn't require number grades, only "P" for "Showing Progress" and "I" for "Needs Improvement." These relate to the student's learning as well as the student's behavior in the classroom. To the left is the Progress Report Template that we used to evaluate students. Below are images of the document parents must sign upon receiving their child's report card. Working with my CT on progress reports helped me learn a lot about the report card process and how best to assess students at the beginning of the year.

Progress Report

Document that goes home to parents with report cards.

My meeting with my CT about student progress reports

Cycle meetings

As another way of interacting with other teachers in the goal of improving student learning, educators hold cycle meetings, often on pedagogical days. During these cycle meetings, all of the teachers who teach the same cycle gather and discuss upcoming plans, projects, units, etc,. It is also a good time to plan any cycle projects that could help students of the same cycle work togther towards a common goal. The most recent cycle meeting I attended (for Cycle 3) also included the school's principal, who wanted to be made aware of each teacher's plans for the coming month. To the right are some of the notes I took on the teacher's upcoming plans.

This was also a good opportunity for me to witness teachers as they worked together to plan projects and units for their students. All of the educators listened to each other and built on each other's ideas, which led to a productive meeting, When the principal asked about any cycle projects, the teachers knew that they were going to plan a "Best to You" showcase in the coming months. The Grade 6 teachers also discussed a fiedltrip to see a show around the Christmas holidays. While they didn't discuss students in particular, larger plans and projects were developed.

Pupil Personal Team Meeting

Profile of the child concerned

Reasons for nomination

Discussion of current learning and behaviors

Recommendations for improvement

Contacting Parents

Plan a follow-up

Timeline

The school where I completed my third field experience has put into place a system called Pupil Personal Team meetings, which is used to assess and help students who are struggling and on the verge of failing. When a teacher notices that one of their students is really struggling in most subjects and is receiving low grades, he/she can decide to "PPT" the student and nominate them for review by filling out a form. Afterwards, this student's teachers, along with the principal, the resource teacher and the school psychologist meet in order to review the child's case and make recommendations for improvement. All of these people are present because they can assess the child in different ways and offer their professional opinions on adaptations or changes to be made. For example, the resource teacher might have already spent one-on-one time evaluating the student, and the school psychologist can offer her opinion on how to move the child forward. In addiiton, because I've spent time with the children concerned, I was also asked to speak about my experiences with the students and how I think they could be helped.

The meeting that I attended concerned two children that my CT and the other Grade 6 teacher had nominated for review. The notes that I took during the meeting can be found below. All of the teachers and professionals in the room had one common goal: improve this student's learning. Although these meetings take time, everyone there was committed to helping the students who need more attention than others. If all parties agree on the recommendations, then the child's parents must be contacted in order to plan another meeting with them.

Resource Teacher Conference

I've learned that the resource teacher is a very important person that every teacher should work closely with in order to move their students forward and to help them develop all of the required competencies. The resource teacher can help in many different ways, such as evaluating struggling students on IEPs in reading comprehension and in other areas. These Benchmark or GB + evaluations inform the teacher of the student's abilities, which allows them to make adaptations according to the student's needs and capabilities. Click here to view an example of a GB+ evaluation that the resource student used on one of my students and that I studied to know my student better.

My cooperating teacher and I had a meeting with the resource teacher at the beginning of the year in order to update the students' Individualized Education Plans from the previous year. My CT also took this time to remove a student from his IEP because he functions well without the adaptations and to add a few students on an IEP in order to adapt the learning material to their level. The notes I took during this initial meeting can be found to the right.

This meeting was very informative, as it gave us time to discuss every student that is on an IEP. The resource teacher wanted to know what we were doing to adapt the curriculum for these students and if it was helping. I had created many of the evaluations tools (such as quizzes and tests) and because assessments must be adapted or students on IEPs, I was asked to explain if the changes were improving student learning or not. This meeting also allowed us to assess if any students should have be part of the Pupil Personal Team (PPT) described above.

Notes #1

Notes #2

Notes #3

Council Meetings and Staff Meetings

In addition to meetings that involve only a few teachers, I've also been a part of meetings that involve most or all of the teachers on staff. Many topics can be addressed during staff and council meetings, and many of these topics relate to the well-being of the students and how to create the best learning environment for them to thrive in.

Student Recognition

Report Cards

Resource and IEPs

Examples of student-centered topics covered during meetings

Start of PPT Meetings

Homework Program

Progress Reports

Personal Discussions

Apart from all of these organized and plannd meetings, I've had impromptu and spontaneous conversations with my cooperating teacher throughout my entire field experience. In fact, most of our conversations concern our students and how to improve their learning. Whether we are talking about tomorrow's lesson, next week's project, a student's behavior in class, strategies to improve homework completion, or even ways to evaluate the next topic covered, we are always doing so with our students' best interests in mind.

Everyday, I also speak with the other Grade 6 student teacher about our students and how they were behaving/cooperating in class on that day. It's been extremely helpful to have another student teacher teaching the same group of students. Like all of the other teachers are, she is a great resource for me to use and discuss with. Here are some of the issues we've discussed and actions we've taken together during our field experience:

Plan lessons, bounce lesson ideas off each other
Ask questions to each other (about lesson ideas, behavior management, routines, etc.)
Share behavior managament strategies that we've been testing (what was successful, what was unsuccesfful
Start and plan a lunch time ART CLUB together (we always consider our students' interests and what they would like to do)
Discuss particular students' strenghts/weakness, patterns, etc.
Inquire about certain students and how they behave in their class (in order to make comparisons to how they behave in our own class)
Try to use some of the same behavior management strategies in order to display consistent methods for students.

Here's an example of one of the many conversations we've had about our students.

Me: Did you notice what's been going on with Amanda and Beth lately?

Alex: Well I know they don't get along, why?

Me: Okay, so it's true then. I'm not sure, I just saw Beth staring at Amanda during class today, and Amanda told her in a really rude way, "Why are you staring at me?!" She said it so everyone could hear though, so I think Beth was embarassed.

Alex: That's not the first time Amanda does something mean to Beth. She really likes to intimidate her. I think she's fake-nice with her sometimes.

Me; Do you think she's bullying her?

Alex: I think that's what's starting, yeah. But Beth hasn't told me anything. Has she said something to you?

Me: Nope. I'm gonna keep a closer eye on them in class and move their seats further away if I have to.

We've also discussed ways of improving student concentraion during class in order to increase learning in the long run.

Alex: Did you have a hard time with Group 17 today?

Me: Yeah, I actually did. They were not listening to me in class; they were just talking to whole time.

Alex: I don't know why they're not as concentrated as the other group. My tricks usually work with them.

Me: Oh, have you been doing something different?

Alex: Yeah, when they're talking or working in groups and I need their attention back on what I'm saying, I hold up my hand and say "Silence in 3....2....1." I countdown with my fingers while I say that, and it's caught on with Group 18. Some of them even count down to 1 with me, and most of them stop talking by the time I reach 1.

Me: Oh ok, that's good. I've been counting down from 10.

Alex: Yeah I tried that but I feel like that gives them too much time, so they keep talking until like the end because they thought they had enough time to get quiet, but they don't. I like the 3,2,1, better.

Me: Okay well if thats works for you I can do it in my class too so that it's the same thing in both classes.

Alex: yeah, that would probably help.

Advice from Other Teachers

Whenever I see an opportunity to get advice from experienced teachers in the school, I try to take advantage of it and ask appropriate questions. It might be a little random, but I get great tips and tricks when I'm not afraid to ask questions. Here are two examples in which I sought out advice from other educators.

Advice from Teachers

Case #1: I saw a Grade 4 teacher leading her very quiet class down the hall, and I was amazed at how well behaved her students were. Therefore, I decided to ask her how she accomplished this.

Me: Hi, sorry to bother you, but I saw you in the hallway with your students and I was so impressed with how quiet they were! I was just wondering how you got them to behave like that!

Ms. Angela: Oh, thanks! Well I make it like a competition between the boys and the girls. So when we leave the class to go somewhere, I always bring my clipboard with me, and I put a checkmark either on the boys side or the girls side, depending on which group was the most quiet. By the end of the week, the group with the most checkmarks wins. Then I pull a name from either the girls or the boys, and that students wins a prize.

Me: Oh okay, so it works when it's a little competition between them.

Ms. Angela: Yeah, they're young so they like competition.

Case #2: I had been wondering how teachers of younger grades correct their students' written work in French. In Grade 6, we correct ALL errors, so I was wondering if it was the same in younger grades. I spotted a Grade 3 teacher in the hallway and decided to ask her about it.

Me: Hi, you teach Grade 3 right? I'm teaching Grade 6 and I was just wondering how you correct students' written work when they're younger. They can't know all the rules behind their mistakes, so what do you do?

Mme. Sylvie: Well if the work is going to be displayed in the hallways, then I correct everything and tell them how to correct the mistakes. But if it's just for the class, I underline the errors that they know how to fix. So that means that we've covered the grammar rules in class already.

Me: Okay, so you can't correct everything, like we do in Grade 6.

Mme. Sylvie: No because they don't understand all of the corrections.

Workshops

Attending and participating in workshops is another excellent way to collaborate with other teachers because it is a great opportunity to learn new techniques and skills related to teaching. While there have not been any workshops given at the schools where I completed my field experiences, I have had the chance to show other educators some computer skills that I have. When I need a review activity or an interactive game to play with my students, I often use a Powerpoint Jeopardy game that I learned how to make. Once the template is created, teachers can reuse it by simply erasing the content and replacing it with new questions and answers. Therefore, I shared this fun activity with some of the other teachers at my school and they were excited to use it because many of them didn't know how to create interactive games on the smartboard. The video I used to learn how to do it and to show the teachers can be found to the right.

QPAT Convention 2015

Attending this convention has helped me develop my collaboration skills with others because I participated in workshops that required me to engage in team building activities. During these workhops, I worked with other educations and professionals to reach certain goals and to unite by having similar experiences. Working with people you already know is much different than working with people you don't know, which makes the workshop activities more challenging and much more interesting.

Apart from developing team building skills with other educators, I also used skills such as patience, tolerance, listening, and communication. I believe these are all important skills that can contribute to positive collaboration with teachers. Click here to read about an amazing workshop I attended.

Reflections

I've reflected upon my development of this competency, and I'm glad to have had many opportunities to work with other teachers during this field experience in particular. I've done many group projects with other students before, which had helped me develop teamwork skills. If I compare my second field experince to my third one, I definitely see progress in this competency because I've collaborated a lot with my own cooperating teacher, as well as the other teachers and professionals in the school.

Learning to work well with other educators is extremely important because even if educators spend a lot of time alone in their classrooms, they have to collaborate with other professionals in the school, such as the cycle teachers, the principal, the resource teacher and the psychologist. Seeing as how this field experience was longer than the other two combined, I had many interactions with these profesionnals and got to observe how my CT handles herself in a team. Teamwork is essential for helping students who are struggling and/or who are on IEPs. I don't believe a teacher is putting her students' best interests first if he/she does not cooperate with other teachers. I've definitely learned that workin with others can lead to better educational outcomes for the students because I've had many meetings with different people in different contexts. Even when I'm substituting in different classrooms in the French schoolboard, I seek out the help of other teachers in the school to guide me and help me get through my day in a new environment. If those teachers are not willing to lend me a helping hand, it makes my day much harder! Therefore, I've seen firsthand how significant teamwork can be.