One of our central strategies this year was to build the capacity of the instructional leadership and
grade level teams so they could own and implement the practices that we know are effective.
Not exact matches
We always have multiple
teams at every
grade level so there are
teams for all skill
levels.
«When we have our preps,» says Wiedegreen, «they're aligned to each other
so that those
grade -
level teams can meet and work together on anything that we're doing in our units.
So are regular
grade -
level and
team meetings to keep in touch with teachers» needs and concerns.»
Our
grade -
level teachers work as a
team to plan for instruction, activities, and field trips
so that all students in that
grade get that experience.
If a school leader balances the teaching talent on each
team so that there are no discernable differences between
teams at different
grade levels, then parents don't worry
so much about «poor» teachers, because they know that there will be strong and less - strong teachers on every
team that their child could be on.
For example, place students into
leveled teams so that they can educate the adult community or a younger
grade level on global warming or the practical applications of percentages (restaurant tipping or sales coupons).
Before starting each unit of study,
grade -
level teams at Forest Lake brainstorm a way to assess prior knowledge
so they can tailor the lessons effectively to each child.
I wondered how I could change the culture of the whole building
so what I had with my
grade -
level team could permeate throughout.
All of our teachers
team - teach,
so your child will have experiences with all teachers in the
grade level.
For example, the principal previously designed the master schedule to include common planning times for
grade level teams to meet
so they could engage in the deep communication and collaboration needed to impact student achievement.
She amended the schedule to foster PLCs
so that
grade -
level teacher
teams could meet daily to reflect on their practice; collaborate around teaching and learning; continuously fine tune their shared beliefs and values; and examine data to improve their craft.
Using the Get - Go Process, each
grade -
level team in a school analyzes the progress of each of their students
so that the student - centered «lessons learned» can be formally communicated to the next year's teaching
team.
As we strive to implement strategies that promote systemic change, we must do
so with the goal that no matter where students are assigned, they have the benefit of the thinking, expertise, and dedication of all teachers in that
grade level or subject area; that they are part of a school system that requires all teachers to participate in learning
teams that are provided regular time to plan, study, and problem solve together; and that this collaboration ensures that great practices and high expectations spread across classrooms,
grade levels, and schools.
How Naiku Impacts Her Teaching: Naiku has made it
so much easier and more efficient for me to collaborate with my
grade level content
team as well as share assessments with other 8th
grade science teachers in our district.
«These standards are focused in a way that we didn't have before in the sense that they really try to say in each
grade -
level, this is what you need to learn
so you can move on,» said William McCallum, math department chair at the University of Arizona and a member of the work
team for the Common Core math standards.
I aligned the master schedule for the school and my schedule
so that I could participate in each
grade level's embedded collaborative
team meeting time.
The principal was ultimately going to conduct the conversations with the teachers one - on - one, but she invited her leadership
team to help her plan and to give them some experience with the planning process
so they could replicate it with other
grade level teachers.
«Before starting this, we made sure to have a supply of school laptops in the classroom
so that no one was left out,» continued Kelley, explaining why the program only began with one
grade level in order to ensure there were enough computers for students to at least work in pairs or small
teams.