Learning to Grow as a Team Member

In Mary Kate's last blog she invites us to choose three questions to consider this school year.  While I haven't constructed three questions, I do have one that I've been exploring this summer. How can I be a more productive and contributing member to all the grade level teams I collaborate with?  Luckily for me, another literacy coach in our district marked this book on Goodreads The Art of Coaching Teams - Building Resilient Communities That Transform Schools .  

 
What are you currently reading that supports your questions about teaching and learning?  

It was the subtitle that mainly grabbed me, "Building Resilient Communities."  Keeping with my self-promise of more reflection through writing I've been reading this book in small parts and recording my quick thoughts. 

Reading this book makes me even more thankful for those I get to collaborate with each day.  As a reading support teacher and literacy coach, I feel welcomed at team meetings.  I feel my voice is heard but sometimes worry that it could be overheard.  And if I'm truly honest, not all meetings are created equally.  There are those uplifting meetings, the less productive, the frustrating, the empowering, and all the in between.  I think we have all been there. 

So, the question is how can I personally help contribute more productively once the team has established the purpose for each meeting?

I am about a third of the way into this book and so far it focuses on what we can do as a team that will build our trust and help us become more productive toward our goals for student learning. Here are just a few of my notes and thoughts that this reading has guided:

•   I have to know myself as a learner and a person.  What qualities do I have to contribute to the team?  The author suggests that we know who we are and what we want to be.  I think that this is not always easy for educators.  As a whole it seems that educators are quick to express self-doubt and slow to admit our contributions or accept specific compliments.  

•   Work on keeping commitments and clearly state the purpose for the team meetings while keeping in mind different team meetings have different purposes.

•   Ask one another for feedback.  When teams get into the practice of regular feedback, members are able to be  more open with one another in monitoring progress.   

•   Reflect regularly as a team. Not only reflect on student learning but also reflect on how the team is functioning.

•   Continue to build a culture of listening

•   Celebrate Success - Big or little, we just can't get so bogged down that we forget to celebrate!

•   Acknowledge areas for growth - be honest with one another in a respectful way, in the spirit of keeping to team norms and reaching our purpose.

•   Practice appreciating one another and be specific.  

•   Play and have fun together! All of us can do that right?!  But in all honesty how often do we have the time or make the time to just have fun with those on our teams?

When I think about working with others whether that is with students or adults, 
I always think about trust.  I love that this book repeatedly reminds us that we have 
to work at building trust with one another no matter how long we have worked together.
Trust is truly at the core. 

Building Success Through Questioning

Josie invited us to join her in reimagining our work.  Thank you, Josie.  I read the beginning of Life Reimagined online.  Can I borrow your book?  I’m loving the positive outlook on this next adventure in life.  So here’s what I’m seeing for the next school year.

As I get ready for my second year of teaching reading recovery, I am looking forward to building on what was accomplished this year.

But in order to do that, I need to recognize what strengths came out of my training and also what was missing.

Strengths

·      I really enjoyed the time that I was able to spend digging deeper into each child’s reading skills.

·      The support of the other reading recovery teachers in my training class was invaluable and it to have others to problem solve the typical issues with doing something new.

·      I felt like things really worked when the child and I were both excited about the book.  The reading seemed both easier and more enjoyable at the same time.

What was missing?

·      I’m not sure that I always saw my students as readers, especially when reading was difficult for them.  I could also see that even the children themselves and their classroom teachers had trouble seeing the readers inside.  Could helping our children to build a reading life where they have reasons to read and share their ideas help themselves and others to recognize them as readers?

·      Sometimes it seemed like I was the only one building reading connections with my child and in a reading recovery lesson it was more like a teacher and a student.  Who could they build a less formal reading connection with?  Is there a more capable other outside of the classroom and tutoring relationship that could be supportive in this role?  For some that might be home support, for others that might be an older buddy within the school.  Can I help to make introductions and time to make these connections for every student?

·      The greatest challenge seemed to be in having the children build independence and confidence in their own literacy accomplishments. Can this be done through goal setting?

So I am left with these three questions to work on solving this year:

• 1.     How can I help my students build a reading life with purpose?
• 2.     Can I help my student build reading connections with a more capable buddy outside of the classroom experience?
• 3.     Can goal setting be used to build independence and confidence with reading?

            It often seems to be questions that move life’s progress forward.  When I was younger, I would bombard my dad with questions.  I learned that he was most open to my wonderings when he was doing something he loved.  In his case, it was gardening.

            One of my friends and colleagues, Mary Lee Hahn has got me gardening again.  It will be fun to see how these ideas and the garden grows this year.

I know there are more questions than answers in this post, so I invite you to frame your reimagining into three big questions that you can explore this school year.  Let’s collaborate this school year.  Josie and I will look for questions to highlight in future posts during the upcoming school year.  We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

This tree frog joins in saying, "Happy Summer!"  It's not over yet, let's keep collaborating.