Making the Most Out of Teacher Collaboration

As others have commented, my early teaching experience mirrored these experiences in terms of feeling isolated in my classroom. Worse than that, the pressure to perform, given the evaluative nature of the tenure process in most schools, worked against collaboration because the vulnerability of admitting what I didn't know outweighed the perceived value of learning how to teach better from my peers. Just having department "collaboration" time built in didn't help because the school culture itself was not collaborative. Once I started to actively share and my peers and I started to trust each other, admit our weaknesses and, discuss and try new approaches, the impact on student learning, and my personal enjoyment of my job, dramatically improved. In retrospect it makes sense that if teachers are open-minded to learning from peers and improving their practice, their students are likely to be more open-minded to learning and improving. Adult culture drives student culture.

The culture in many schools does not allow for active collaboration and collective learning and, even when it does, educators are often the only ones doing their particular job, whether that be teaching Spanish, running the school as the principal or being a district director. That is actually why I recently set up www.job-alike.org as a site where educators who have the same roles in different schools or districts can meet via video to share experiences, to collaborate on ways to improve outcomes and to refine, rather than reinvent the wheel. If you or others are looking to actively collaborate with peers who face similar challenges and opportunities, please tell them about the site.

Ben, I totally agree with your steps to effective collaboration. We as professionals need to have conversations that compels our learning to a higher order of thinking. I am a special educator; and when I began teaching as a team teacher with several general education teachers, we developed ways to integrate curriculums, so that the students with disabilities were able to have consistency in their learning. In my prior school district teachers were encouraged to work together and develop strategies to help the more challenged students be successful.

After leaving and going to a school which had no clue about collaboratively working as teams to increase student and teacher learning it was very hard not having that support. I began to be somewhat reserved with teaching but realized I needed to talk about my struggles within the classroom, so a colleague and I started exchanging ideas we used in instruction and also would go to workshops together and gain knowledge to make learning more inviting to conquer the woes.

Now, because of research my school district has come to the conclusion in the past two years that teachers need to work more collaboratively building professional learning communities in-house and with other schools. Learning is a daily process as a student and teacher.

I wonder, how could professional learning communities assist those who substitute?

I completely agree. I think it is very important for grade level collaboration. I really enjoyed reading all these posts.

I recall when I was a new teacher, and believe me it was reasuring when I found a teacher that I could collaborate with. It's not always easy in the teaching field, so when you can find a friend/colleague to talk to it really helps.
When we have meetings, I truly believe that there needs to be structure. Time is so limited for us these days and being prepared to discuss items is always better when those involved know what is going to be discussed. It saves time in preparing lesson plans and other people can bring in their ideas to the discussion. Everyone then can contribute and have a sense of worth.

Ben,
I am presently enrolled in a master degree program and we are studying PLCs and finding related blogs to gain more insight into the process. I would love to start a PLC at my school, but the problem is that we are in class with students from 8:30 to 4:30 M-Th, with hardly any planning time at all. Fridays are half days, with students leaving at 1:05, but we are usually bogged down by district meetings, which leaves very little time for collaboration. When we do have a little time, it seems that the district mandates what we are doing during that time as well. I don't know how to approach this topic at school. I feel like if I were to mention something I would get my classroom egged and papered!
I agree that PLCs are mandatory for professional growth. I am the grade level leader for 5 other teachers, all in BTSA, and this would really benefit our entire grade level. I remember that during my first year of teaching, I also felt as if I should know everything; that admitting I needed any input was a sign of weakness on my part, and I am sure my co-workers feel this same way. What suggestions do you have to help us get started?
Thank you for your post!

I first want to thank you for your relational and intriguing post. I so related to early in your career when you didn't fit in because you taught a different discipline. This is how I feel daily since I teach special education and all subjects in seven grade levels! Early in my career I also felt your frustration and the mentality that I will save the world by myself. I also learned pretty quickly the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
I was inspired by your ideas on the Personal Steps to Effective Collaboration. I liked how you mentioned that what you may say when collaborating with teachers many not be 100% useful but it may spark ideas in others. I agree and love that you have the courage to be able to speak up. I see this as a big problem in our collaborative meetings. It is almost as if we need to play getting to know you games, ice breakers, and 'reminders of our classroom is a family' (as we do in our own classrooms) before we start to build a collaborative team. We need to respect each other and remind ourselves that we all come with different autobiographies, experiences, and educational insights. We need to value each other so each person feels comfortable to be able to share and learn with each other. Imagine what a difference it would make if we were not hesitant when we were collaborating. The great ideas we could acquire would be endless.

We have grade-level planning once a week for an hour. There are four first grade teachers at our school, for the most part we collaborate quite well. We share a lot of our ideas and lessons. We each take a subject and write the lesson plan for the week and then share them with each other. We are required by the adminstration to have common assessments for each subject. This collaboration makes it so much easier for all of us. We talk about what's working and not working. We look forward to this time to talk and share strategies with each other.

I completely agree with your comments. Your blog has inspired me to, as you state, "take the bull by horns, and be deliberate in how we collaborate." There are so many benefits for the students when teachers have a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and collaborate with one another. Your steps to effective collaboration sound excellent. I cannot wait to try them!

Ben, I agree with your personal steps to effective collaboration. I have taught at two different schools in the four years that I have been teaching. When I started at both schools, I made it a point to build relationships with my peers. Doing this allowed me to ask them questions and observe them when I needed advice. This builds on your other steps of observe the best and ask questions. Building strong relationships also allows sharing of important ideas. Being prepared is key and I agree. I do much better in my teaching when I am better prepared.

I have to agree with your comments about taking the time on your own to collaborate with other teachers. In my district there is a lot of lip service given to collaboration, but very little useful collaborating. Teachers use this time to catch up on paperwork. I found that I had to build my own team of collaboration with people that I felt could benefit me in enhancing my teaching.