M Lange's List: Teaming

• benefits of having common planning and meeting time at the middle school level
• nterdisciplinary Teams: these teams, made up of adults that teach different subjects but the same students
• • Scheduling changes
     
   
  • Student concerns
     
   
  • Students receiving services
     
   
  • Behavior issues in classrooms
     
   
  • Team activity prep work
     
   
  • Team field trip
     
   
  • Student growth and progress
   
  • Scheduling/coordinating assessment schedules for students
   
  • Discuss transferable skills across content areas (e.g. reading comprehension, study skills).
• Daily or regular common planning time is essential so that teams can plan ways to integrate the curriculum, analyze test data, review student work, discuss current research, and reflect on the effectiveness of instructional approaches
• Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): these teams are made up of teachers who typically teach the same content in the same grade level.
• • Discuss curriculum alignment
     
   
  • Develop ommon assessments
     
   
  • Analyze student data
     
   
  • Share best practices
     
   
  • Share ideas and resources
     
   
  • Share what works and does not work
     
   
  • Planning daily lessons, assessments and scope and sequence calendars
     
   
  • Share different teaching strategies
     
   
  • Outline units
     
   
  • Compare assessments
     
   
  • Have a outlet for teachers to discuss delivering the most appropriate instruction.
• should remain focused on curriculum and assessment functions, whereas Interdisciplinary Teams and Grade Level Teams are a more appropriate forum for student-specific behavioral/academic issues and housekeeping functions
• a few other signs of successful middle-level teams:
   
  • Printed agendas
   
  • Recorded minutes, forwarded to building level administrators
   
  • Commitment from building-level administrators and central office administrators
   
  • Administrative trust that teachers will use their times wisely to focus on students
   
  • Culture of high expectations, trust, and professionalism
   
  • The view that planning/meeting time is "sacred"
   
  • PLCs should meet at least once a week, and more if possible; flexibility should be key with scheduling Interdisciplinary Team and Grade Level team meetings
   
  • All team meetings should have clearly defined purposes and expectations (by agenda use)
   
  • Reasonable goals, able to be accomplished during meeting time frame
   
  • An unwavering focus on students

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• two or more teachers from different subject areas
• plan, coordinate, and evaluate curriculum and instruction across academic areas
• cultivate meaningful and regular communication with families
• often share the same schedule and the same area of the building
• a collaborative and supportive work group

• Principles for organizing effective teams include:

  1. Keep teams small in terms of number of teachers and students.
  2. Provide sufficient individual and team planning time for teachers.
  3. Allow teams to design their students' daily schedule.
  4. Assign teams to their own area of the building.
  5. Allow teams to work together for multiple years.

• Characteristics of highly effective teams include:

  1. Student-centered focus.
  2. Strong commitment to academic achievement.
  3. Collaborative policies and accountability systems.
  4. Strong sense of team community.
  5. Regular communication with parents.
  6. A proactive approach.
  7. Teachers who work professionally and collaboratively.
• highly implemented schools (e.g., teaming, common planning time, small teams, advisory) were found to have higher levels of student achievement and student self-esteem than less implemented schools
• show improvement in student self-reported outcomes (e.g., depression, self-esteem, behavior problems, academic efficacy)
• student achievement scores improved dramatically, particularly for schools with high percentages of free/reduced lunch students
• Common planning time is deemed critical to the success of an interdisciplinary team because it provides teachers with an opportunity to plan collaboratively
• Team teachers should have common planning meetings at least four times per week for at least 30 minutes per meeting
• At a basic level,

  teams utilize their common planning time to plan and coordinate team activities (e.g., homework, tests, schedules, special projects). At an advanced level, teams coordinate and integrate curriculum, instruction, and assessment during common planning time
• Recent experience has led more middle school leaders to favor smaller teams of two to three teachers (George & Alexander, 2003
• closer teacher-student relationships; students know each other better; and less complex coordination issues.

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• characteristics of an outstanding team
• Team members must laugh when appropriate to maintain the proper perspective about whats happening with students and themselves.
• Dont hold grudges against team members,
• "You should laugh together, eat together, and make copies together at least twice a week."
• When team teaching is fully implemented, however, research has shown it leads to an "improved work climate, more frequent contact with parents, increased teacher job satisfaction, and higher levels of student achievement."
• major problems
• • Teams dont have adequate common planning time.
   
  •   The responsibility of the team leader is not taken seriously enough, even by the leader.
   
  •   Teams of four or five are simply too large, because reaching consensus on changes is difficult with so many diverse personalities.
   
  •   Teachers involved may not themselves be sufficiently committed to change.
• ." In introducing team teaching, Lounsbury says, changes have too often been superficial without truly transforming the middle school curriculum so that subjects are interrelated rather than remaining compartmentalized.
• everyone must work together in a collegial manner,
• "A good team" Lawson says, "includes different styles, such as an authoritarian, a caregiver, and a cheerleader.
• Team members must "be flexible
• Working together to create curriculum that makes sense should be a goal of all teams.
• a powerful team will "break down fragmentation among subjects" and interrelate the content of subjects taught by team members.
• Lounsbury thinks an "open, honest discussion of Why teaming? should be held.
• Too often it is viewed as an end, not a means,
• Unless teachers attitudes about teaming are positive, or at least open, trying to make teams effective is tough."
• "Set an agenda for the week,
• discussions on students
• professional development reading or discussion.
• time for everyone to share something positive that recently happened that involves a student.
• "Dont allow team members to do other things during the meeting
• Henry Ford once said, "Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress and working together is success."
• "Lay all the cards on the table, dont speak with hidden messages, be direct, honest, kind, professional, friendly, and -- for goodness sakes -- keep a positive attitude and a good sense of humor."

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