For the past four years the district has been promoting the benefits of teacher collaboration. It is widely recognized that when teachers collectively work to solve problems that are immediate to their assignment, the resulting solutions will be more effective than when solved alone. This morning I was at the Mountain View Elementary for the start of their end of semester inservice and got to see the benefits of their collaboration efforts. Each of the school’s grade level teams shared the successes of their collaborative journey of the past four months and in several cases, stressed how much of a paradigm shift it is for a teacher to work in this way. The bottom line is that the staff at Mountain View is at a much different place than they were four years ago. They are far more sophisticated and analytical in their approach toward instruction and assessment.
One of the common complaints that all educators have is that you can’t do it all. There is a tension between what is expected and what is doable. I often hear that the teacher’s job assignment is too broad. While all educators understand that their jobs are hard and require a lot of work, collaboration is designed to relax some of tension that their assignment presents. Thanks to all the Mountain View staff for being willing to step out of their comfort zone to embrace their small professional learning communities. I know their students are benefitting from this collective approach to work.
One Comment
The hard work at Mt. View has also been a benefit to others throughout the district! When I coach at Mt. View, and see their product they allow me to take that information and pass it to teachers at the other schools in the Central Peninsula area! Thank you for your willingness to help throughout the district!