Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Teacher Gold

Collaboration: working together in a supportive and mutually beneficial relationship. Friend and Cook

At McGirr Elementary, intermediate and primary teams meet twice a week: once while the principal has an assembly with students, once while students eat their lunch supervised by EAs. The day I went to visit, I got lost in the halls on my way to the meeting, admiring bulletin boards of student work and the Christmas door decorations. When I arrived at the right room, the primary teachers were already gathered with their principal (Jill attends as many of the PLC meetings as she can) and the Assistant Superintendent who had been invited to listen to their reflections on the recent report card implementation. They were well-prepared. They began with what they appreciated about the new report card, followed with what didn't work and why, and concluded with recommendations. Many of their recommendations demanded deeper collaboration across the district, so that we can support each other quickly and share resources (exemplars, comment banks, a quick guide for using the technology), rather than add to our workload by inventing everything in isolation. It struck me that we continually seek answers to our difficult situations "out there," when everything we need is here. We just have to find a way to mine the gold.

And what a gold mine can be found at McGirr! After the team shared their recommendations, we had just enough time to get a run-down on their work. Their team was focussed on increasing student ownership. They talked of the reflection journals they had developed (for thinking about thinking) and the kid-friendly rubrics they designed to allow students to assess their own learning. Their next project is to develop a "writing clothesline," an idea they'd learned about from an Assessment Webcast and had been implemented by colleagues in another school (see the Resource PowerPoint developed by Donna and Tammy). They planned to use the writing tasks from the BC Performance Standards, mark together, choose samples and create a K-3 "clothesline" of samples so that students can self-assess effectively and choose goals based on concrete evidence of "what's next."

It's hard not to simply stare in awe at these women, at their energy and their commitment to work together, to reflect on their practice, to give voice to what matters for teachers and learners, and to learn deeply to improve student learning. As McGirr teacher, Robin, said, "At the end of our PLC meetings, I walk away and say, wow, we're doing good work." Who can ask for anything more?

For more on our PLC series
If it's important
Seaview
Bayview
What do we value?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

A Recipe for Miracles

We are constantly asking - how can we create success for each child? And we continually hit the wall of poverty or learning differences or isolation or fragmentation. We shrug our shoulders and say - what can we do with these children or those teachers? How can we succeed while inequities exist? Ask Coach Stevenson. He's found the answer.

John Barsby is one of the smallest public schools playing football in BC and is an "inner city" high school. On paper, it doesn't have a hope of sustaining a football program, never mind winning championships. At Barsby, it's hard to get kids to attend school each morning; it's hard to get kids to finish school with their Dogwood diploma. But they get up early and stay late to play football. And they work hard! Very, very hard, both at football - and if they want to continue to play football - at school. Coach Stevenson's recipe: relentless support, focused teaching, consistency, powerful goals, positive attitude, a focus on effort - try your hardest! get better each day! - a commitment to "doing the right thing," celebration of success, and, above all, team effort. After their miraculous double-A BC high school championship win on Saturday, quarterback Patrick Doyle said, "This is a team with no ego. We stick together. We play for each other. We play as one."

Imagine if we played as one in our schools. We'd be as unstoppable as the Barsby Bulldogs.

Photo: by Craig Letourneau

Monday, December 6, 2010

What do we value?

Last week we gathered a number of people together to discuss how they built a learning community in their school. As I sifted through my notes and video from the discussion (more on that soon), I tried to put my finger on what I was missing, what the leaders were trying to get across as they tried to answer my clumsy questions. It was only when reading Sustainable Improvement by Coral Mitchell and Larry Sackney (thanks for the loan, Twila), that I realized that I had asked the wrong question. Mitchell and Sackney write, "The question is not 'How will we build a learning community?' Instead it is, 'Who are the people in this community? What do we value and what is meaningful to us? What is disturbing us, and how are we making sense of the disturbances? What do we want, and where are we going?'"

Two things are meaningful to all of us. First, student achievement matters. We are all disturbed when some of our students don't thrive. Second, educators working together can have greater impact on student achievement (and greater joy in the process) than a teacher working in isolation. To work together, we need to value time to talk together. If, as Roger said at our meeting, you agree that "talking counts - us talking counts," then "you shape the environment to make it happen." How you go about it depends on your community. But you get started. Today.

For more on our PLC series
If it's important
Seaview
Bayview

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Drop Everything and Work Together

At Bayview Elementary, the educators have made a commitment to find time for teachers to work together. They've found the time where they already had it: all students begin their day with "DEAR" (Drop Everything and Read). During that time, teachers meet while the two student support teachers, Aboriginal teacher, principal and counsellor take over the classes, settling students in for the day, checking in with them, connecting, and giving them the time to leave behind the bustle and chaos of home to transition into their school day by quietly reading. And, of course, at the same time, they are valuing reading and allowing students to do what improves reading most - read!

On the day I visited, intermediate teachers Sooz, Phil, Courtenay and Jennifer jumped into conversation right away. They had just been writing report cards and took some time to debrief the experience (there had been a new format) and to check in about a few students. One teacher related a story of a student who had scored the winning point in volleyball at the last game. The rest of the teachers lit up with the news, for this was a girl they'd all worried about together for years. Sooz leaned over to me as the others learned the details, "We are like family here." You might think - well, what's that got to do with teaching and learning? The teachers didn't examine student work or share strategies or develop a lesson. Next time perhaps. But this time, when they leave the meeting, they'll each touch base with the girl who had a great volleyball game. And that girl will know she's cared about, that she's noticed, that what she does matters. Can you see her smile? Can you picture her doing one more problem during math? Do you hear her shush a friend when the teacher asks for silence? I'm guessing that the impact is at least as powerful as time spent learning a new strategy. Teaching and learning, surely, is built on a network of relationships. And we need to spend time together for that.

For more on our PLC series go to "If it's important" and "Seaview"