"The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team."
John Wooden
Not a lot of time to write this week: life's just doing its best to keep me away from the keyboard. Should be back to my old writing self by the weekend, so please continue to watch this space.
But I did want to share this one before I step out into the early inky morning blackness, because it reflects how I've felt of late. Much of the work I've been doing has been within a range of incredibly talented folks. The power of teams has been on full display every time I show up to work, and it's been a great experience thus far.
I thought this would be a great way to kickstart the day.
Your turn: what does great teamwork look like to you?
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# 23 of MY THIRTY DAYS OF THANKSGIVING
20 hours ago
2 comments:
One of my greatest teaching experiences was at a school where I worked on a team. English, math, science and history teachers, we all had the exact same 160 (or so) kids in 4 classes, all in the same block of time. We met every other day for about an hour to talk about curriculum, kids that were struggling and the ones we were struggling with. If one was giving me a hard time but was an angel in another teacher's class, we could try to figure out why and attempt to fix the problem without involving the administration or simply pounding them with negative reinforcement. We switched kids from one period to another instantly if we needed to separate a pair or group of kids that didn't work well together. We all had a common goal - to help each other make their classrooms work, minimizing classroom disruptions and maximizing learning. To me that was great teamwork - willingness to help each other and give-and-take for the benefit of the whole group. I was lucky, I've seen teams where one teacher's ego gets in the way, but I was working with a group of teachers that were willing to give up a little autonomy and personal pride to help each other. I miss that, and would be happy to see it implemented at the school where I'm now working.
It takes cooperation and humility to make a team work well together and that includes not only from staff but from management also. Team work is hard to maintain but the rewards are well worth it.
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