Danielle Chemello SPED 426 Improving Collaborative Teams 4/10/12 When working as a first year teacher, it will be so important

to establish a sense of teamwork very early in the school year. This can be done through a variety of ways. Since paraprofessionals are required two days of training before school starts, I will ensure training with him or her, as well as how the collaboration needs to work. I will ensure my paraprofessional that she is welcome to offer feedback on how things are working or are not working. Additionally at this time, I think that it is so important to discuss roles. By writing out each persons roles and making it into a contract that will be signed by both the paraprofessional and myself, the expectations are set right away. Also, the paraprofessional will learn the tone and severity of what is necessary for our students at this time. Collaboration with the paraprofessional will ensure that we work closely together. We need to do so in order for our students to succeed. Since my current paraprofessional does many of the push in services that my students receive, she will need to collaborate with the general education teachers as well. The collaboration between these two staff members may be trickier and require more intensive strategies. An activity that I think would be helpful would be to have a meeting once per week to discuss any questions, comments, or concerns. This would be a required time where all members (gen ed teachers, special ed teachers, and parapros) can speak with each other to ensure that the students are receiving the best education. According to Diane Carroll (2001), Meeting times may reduce direct contact hours with students, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. There is more continuity with programming for individual students, people can air difficulties and

concerns, and everyone can agree on solutions. As noted, this collaborative time is so important for students and needs to be done. This meeting does not need to be formal and should also allow time for each person to get to know each other and their teaching style. By getting to know each other, a lot of things can clear up. For example, I know that my current paraprofessional is such a straight shooter. She will say things that seem rather harsh or direct, but it does not need to be taken personally at all. It is simply in her personality to speak this way, as she does outside of school as well. More activities can be done during these meeting times. One is to use the collaborative style quiz we did in class. I thought that this quiz was fun and rather insightful. I was able to see how I collaborated with others. By learning about each collaborative members style, it is easier to avoid conflict. For example, in the situation I described above, I was slightly offended each time my paraprofessional asked me for something. She seemed to be barking orders rather than asking for more materials for a particular educational situation. While I was taken aback, I thought it would be best to talk to my cooperating teacher about it. I asked about if that was normal or if I was doing something wrong. She laughed and said that she forgot to tell me that that was my paraprofessional and my cooperating teachers relationship. After I realized the reasoning for how my paraprofessional acts, I found that it was easier to take her comments and requests less personally. Just by knowing more about her, I am better able to have less negative feelings harbored toward her. These attributes are so important to know about people, especially when you are in a long term and very close working relationship. Other ideas to improve collaboration are to do activities outside of school. One could be to have each member watch a learning module video on their own time rather than meeting as a

group that week. This would allow a break from the weekly collaborative meetings and a chance for a new topic for discussion at the next meeting. This module video could be about adapting activities for students with disabilities as well as differentiating instruction for all students in the classroom. Not only would all members benefit from this experience, but it would allow for a change in routine which, in turn, would allow for members to view collaboration more positively. I believe that a big part of working with others is to enjoy who you are with. You do not necessarily have to want to hang out with them on the weekends, but it is so much better when you enjoy them as a working partner. In order to help develop a friendly working relationship, I think that it is so important to do outings or to order in lunches for the group so that everyone can relax and talk amongst themselves. This will help build positive relationships in a nonthreatening manner. When positive relationships are built, team members are more likely to support each other. This support can be a simple, Thank you, or Great job working with x student today. These are so important for improving the work day of collaborative members. Pugach (2002) indicated that this support is a principle of teaming. In the absence of any one of these principles, teachers who team teach will have a harder time meeting the challenge associated with teaching diverse groups of learners. It is so important to have a supportive work environment for the team of paraprofessionals and teachers in order to ensure that the students are receiving the strongest education they can. In order to address any issues that arise within the collaborative group, I think that it is important to do so in a private manner. If a paraprofessional is not doing their job in the general education setting and the general education teacher notices, it is important for that teacher to ask

the paraprofessional to continue with what the special education teacher has planned. This conversation can be a quick one at the end of class or during a break in the classs schedule. This privacy is important so that the paraprofessional is not embarrassed by the wrongdoing. If the issue is not addressed immediately, the teacher should make a note to bring it up to the special education teacher. Once the issue is specifically described to the special education teacher, I can go with a more specific remediation plan from there. In addition to the above situation, I think that it is also incredibly important to have the common meeting time during each week. This allows for the group to meet consistently and when issues do need to be discussed, it is not a big ordeal. The group is already together, so it is not out of the ordinary to discuss an issue at this time. The problem that is talked about during the meeting will be seen as something that is another point on the meetings agenda, rather than a big deal where a meeting has to be called for. A simple method such as this consistent meeting time is so important for viewing collaboration as a more positive experience as well. The last idea I had about addressing issues is to have a group discussion at this meeting time that talks about issues. During this time, there will be expectations set in place that require the members to not talk in you statements. Instead, they are to talk about how they feel when some situation occurs. This allows for a less threatening working relationship. A member would not point out someone for an action. Rather, they would talk more about their feelings when something happens. Then, the entire team can work together to solve this issue. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative relationship, all members ideas must be heard. I think that an anonymous survey would be the best way to hear every members honest opinions. These opinions would be based on group activities and the overall collaborative

experience. The surveyed members would rate activities based on what was most helpful to their specific setting and what was most related to their daily schedule. This would help in creating future activities for the group and for potential new group members. In addition to evaluating the activities, performance on relationships with other could be evaluated. A positive and an area to work on could be discussed for each partner. Again, the whole group could offer ideas on how to address that area that needs improvement. This would strengthen the collaborative team, as well as bring up minor issues in a less threatening situation. In order to assess effectiveness overall, I think that it is important to watch the body language and actions of each team member during activities and group discussions. These are so helpful in showing what each team member thinks of an activity. For example, if team building activities, such as ones where movement are required, have situations where members are groaning and walking slowly towards the activity, they are not having fun. This is a pretty clear indication that activities as such are not ones that the members want to do. Rather than forcing it, I think that it is best to scrap the idea and try to explain your point through a different medium. The team members will appreciate the better form of communication and in turn, respect you more for respecting them. Most importantly, after evaluating the effectiveness of an activity or a relationship, it is best to create a plan that can change or further improve the positive situation that is already in place. This will allow for a stronger team and for each member to enjoy their daily work schedules more and more.

Citation List Carrol, D. (2001). Considering paraeducator training, roles, and responsibilities. Teaching Exceptional Children. (34)2, 60-64.

Pugach, M. C. & Johnson, L. J. (2002). Collaborative Practitioners, Collaborative Schools. Denver, CO: Love Publishing Company.