Standards 6 & 7 Meta-Reflection: Communication & Collaboration

Standard 6 Communication: Communicates regularly and effectively with colleagues, parents and students through a variety of mediums.

Standard 7 Collaboration: Cooperates with other professionals to bridge gaps between schools and community and between departments/disciplines within schools.

The first artifact for these standards are two action plans I developed to increase communication and collaboration. The first action plan is to institute a quarterly email newsletter to be sent out to parents and guardians. Information such as important due dates, descriptions of projects and assignments, how to contact the teacher and how the parent can help their student succeed will all be included in the newsletter. The goal is to include parents in the daily activities of the clasrsoom so they can ask informed questions at night and assist students with their work. Paper newsletters and translated versions will be offered to those households who do not speak English or have access to the internet.

Artifact: Parent Email Action Plan

The second action plan focuses on collaboration within and between departments. Many teachers and departments teach in isolation and best practices are rarely shared. As a physics teacher, I could benefit from problem story strategies from the math department and vocabulary strategies from the English department. Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) seeks to provide a place and protocol for teachers to have difficult discussions in a safe environment. In our high school, 9th and 10th graders are put into smaller learning communities called PODs which consist of an English teacher, social studies teacher and science teacher. These three teachers would meet on a regular basis to discuss student work with the goal of improving the quality while promoting communication and collaboration between departments.

Artifact: CFG Action Plan

The third and final artifact is another way to seek communication and input from parents regarding their students. I developed a parent and student survey to gain information about students and open the lines of communication. This survey is sent home with students the first week of school and they are awarded points for returning it. I work hard to make sure I receive a survey back from every student and follow up on questions I may have. These surveys influence how I group students for projects and seating arrangements, how I differentiate instruction and how to interact with them in the classroom. They also provide me with information about how their parents see the student.

Artifact: Parent/Student Survey

I analyzed the context of my school given the community it is in. Using state published data on test scores, demographics and other information, I provided a snapshot of the school’s student population. Utilizing OSPI’s nine characteristics of good schools, I evaluated the school pointing out areas where it excelled and areas it was deficient. This analysis determined the focus for my two action plans.

Artifact: Action Plan Context

The Right Friends

Parents and teachers often tell students to choose their friends wisely. They understand how much influence friends have over people and the importance of surrounding yourself with those who share similar morals. Teachers would do well to follow their own advice.

The main theme in this course has been the importance of collaboration. Most teachers collaborate informally and without any protocols or guidelines. These relationships can result in improved teaching and student learning but they are not as productive as they could be. Any veteran teacher will affirm the importance of good friends in your school building. This support system is necessary in a profession which can be very demanding and isolating. When it comes to collaboration however, more is needed. These informal relationships lack the necessary framework and protocols which can make them extremely productive.

Critical Friends Groups (CFGs) and Lesson Study Groups (LSGs) are two examples of these friends. Both consist of a larger group of teachers, 10 or so in most cases, from a variety of grades and disciplines. The goal is to provide honest, useful feedback in a supportive setting. The goal is to help each other improve as teachers thereby improving student learning. The protocols for these groups make them a safe place to discuss the classroom.

Friends at school are important to maintain the sanity of teachers but CFGs and LSGs  can help teachers grow as professionals in a safe environment. If teachers want to participate in true collaboration, both groups of friends are necessary.