Why Collaborate?
Professional Learning Communities co-creators Rick DuFour, Rebecca
DuFour, and Robert Eaker define collaboration, “As teams of teachers who work
interdependently to achieve common goals — goals linked to the purpose of
learning for all — for which members are held mutually accountable.” In
Trussville City Schools, our collaboration is focused, and the accountability
is evident in our K-12 progress.
Early Career
When I reflect on my early years of teaching, as many of my
fellow veteran teachers may also do, I can draw a distinct “then” vs. “now”
image. “Collaboration” wasn’t the word used when teachers congregated, but
rather “faculty meeting,” which consisted of a smorgasbord of information that
needed to be disseminated to the teachers. Sometimes, there was a mandatory
training here or there. We now
affectionately refer to that model of meetings as a “sit and get.” Other
than these meetings, teachers worked in isolation, although many did so with
some level of success. Teachers had a
teacher edition as a resource – no Internet then -- what more was needed? By
flipping through its pages, teachers could extract necessary materials needed
to teach a unit. However, the “then”
model had no focus on collaboration, no focus on student growth, and certainly
no concerns about students who were in other teachers’ classrooms.
Today’s Classrooms
Fast forward to today’s classrooms. Teachers use the textbook as a resource, but
their teaching materials come from a variety of places, which takes hours to
sift through research and available resources to present the most current and
most effective lessons. This is one reason why our weekly collaboration is so
important, and why research supports a collaborative environment:
It is very easy to get caught in the trap of walking into a
classroom, shutting the door, and tending to your own students. This is
how many schools function, with educators sharing nothing more than a parking
lot. Some people like it this way, but an effective teacher is someone
who wants to grow in the profession. An effective teacher wants collaboration
Purpose of Collaboration
Collaboration has provided teacher growth. Teachers work
together to create their lessons, choose their activities, teach their content,
and then return to evaluate the cycle, providing and receiving necessary
feedback to improve the process.
Leigh
Stovall, HTMS Social Studies teacher adds, “I think my favorite part of the
professional development time has to be sitting with my colleagues and learning
from their experiences. We all have something to share and
having this embedded time allows us, as a group, to work together to make HTMS
great.”
Teachers are more knowledgeable about their standards, as
well as their own profession, due to the conversations they have with their
colleagues each week.
We also value the collaborative model because it supports
student growth. Many afternoons are
spent looking through various data, including standardized tests, classroom
averages, common assessments, surveys, formative assessment, etc., to ensure
our students are being challenged in a well-balanced learning environment.
Catherine Finkley,
who recently became an assistant principal at Paine Elementary after being a
classroom teacher, adds, “Collaboration is vital to achieving academic success
for ALL students by engaging in rich dialogue with other colleagues that will
foster new ideas, concepts, and strategies which can effectively be implemented
in the classroom. Collaboration allows teachers to grow professionally and
students to increase their academic achievement.”
Multiple studies have shown that collaboration is key to
student growth, including one by Carrie Leana who found that, “Students showed
higher gains in math achievement when their teachers reported frequent
conversations with their peers that centered on math, and when there was a
feeling of trust or closeness among teachers” (www.theteachingchannel.org). Our academic coaches recently celebrated
student growth with some of our recent student data, and they attribute that
growth to the time it provides for analysis of student data with teachers, as
well as working with teachers to create strategies for improvement in certain
areas. These instructional partners
value Monday afternoon collaboration which provides meaningful time for conversations
among all staff.
Dr.
Tim Stull, HTHS history teacher, agrees, “Embedded professional development and
collegial collaboration provide much needed opportunities for educators to
improve their practice. Because of these opportunities, educators are
introduced to new strategies, concepts, and technologies that directly impact
student learning and achievement.”
Trussville City Schools is seeing gains in all subject
areas, including math, through a collaboration effort K-12.
Value of Collaboration
Collaboration is valued because it provides a preserved hour
each week for teachers to meet with colleagues and have vertical
conversations. Even though some
variables have not changed much over the past couple of decades, the time
teachers must invest in their professional responsibilities has increased
exponentially. They spend countless
hours after the school day ends answering emails, sending Remind texts, grading
papers, sponsoring clubs, hosting parent conferences and chat nights, coaching
sports, etc. There are many demands on
our teachers. By providing an hour each week
for teachers to collaborate, Trussville City Schools creates opportunities for
teachers to share their knowledge with each other that is focused around a
single topic. The value of this time is well-spent, as all of the schools in
the system look at data, work with grade-level colleagues on content-area
lessons, research best-practices for lesson creation, share lesson designs and
model that work for all of their colleagues, as well as reflect on and revise
lesson strategies based on student needs.
Their collaboration has resulted in great growth system-wide.
Secondary English
teacher Lacey DeShazo agrees, “I appreciate having paid time to do the
important work of collaborating with my colleagues. It makes me feel as though the work I do is
valued and valuable.”
Professional educators are mindful of the investment in this
protected time for collaboration, and schools honor this with intentional
professional learning opportunities that focus on our students.
Trussville is not alone in recognizing the benefits of
district collaboration time. Most effective
school systems see the value in collaboration and provide this time for their
faculties, although some structure their time differently. Some choose to give teachers multiple prep
periods instead of just one, providing weekly agendas for their teachers. This model sometimes requires additional
teacher units to still effectively educate students. Some systems provide a day each nine weeks
for teacher collaboration, deeming them an “online learning day” for students,
where the students can work from home so teachers can work together at school
to discuss, plan, and reflect on best practices. When we have teachers come to us from school
systems that did not provide collaborative time, they recognize the benefits:
“Common
planning time among educators is a crucial element in the success of a school.
This is something that has never been offered to me in previous school systems,
and I find it very beneficial,” according to Nicole Jenkins, fourth grade
teacher at Paine Elementary.
While not everyone collaborates in the same manner, many
school districts value and provide time for collaboration.
With Gratitude
Professional Educators in Trussville City Schools are
thankful for the collaboration hour each week.
As Harry Wong, renowned educational author reminds us, “The trademark of
effective schools is a culture where all teachers take responsibility for the
learning of all students. The key to
strong collaboration is recognizing that a student shouldn’t be the
responsibility of only one teacher, but of all teachers” (www.newteacher.com).
One of our 4th
grade elementary teachers at Paine Elementary, Beth McKinley echoes this, “TCS
Early Dismissal is a benefit for both teachers and students. Teachers are
allowed collaborative planning time with grade level teachers so that we can
ensure that all students are receiving the same level of instruction regardless
of who their teacher is.”
Our teachers work to
provide every student in our district an optimum learning experience because
they share, support, and create together.
And for that, we are thankful:
Thankful for teachers who take this hour each week to engage in
meaningful discourse with their colleagues for purposeful school-wide growth
and thankful for a community who supports their work.
By Dr.
Jennifer Cardwell
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| HTHS Teachers Discussing Educator Effectiveness During Collaboration Time |
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