Amy A. Peterman
ADMS 675
September 5, 2014
Personal Reflection #9
Date: August 27, 2014
Attendees: fourth grade team, principal
Summary:
This year I am grade level chair for fourth grade. We have two new teachers to my school, but they each have prior teaching experience. Our grade level team meets once a week to discuss curriculum pacing, lesson plans, data, behavior concerns, and any other information that may come up. This was our first team meeting during our pre-planning week. One of the teachers new to my team came from the city of Richmond. She has 22 years of experience and is very opinionated and set in her ways. We were discussing how we team plan our lessons at Harvie. Each teacher is assigned a subject and is responsible for creating the plans, flipcharts, and any other worksheets or activities for the grade level. While we were discussing the team planning idea and who was going to plan each subject, she made it very clear that she did not want to do this. She expressed that she likes to do her own thing and have the flexibility to teach the content her way and in her time period. I again stressed that this was not my idea, but was how our school worked. My principal had made it very clear that we are a team and should be following the same plans and curriculum.
Take Aways:
After the meeting, I sat down one on one with this teacher. I asked her if this concept was explained when she interviewed and she told me yes. As a veteran educator, she felt that she should have her own autonomy and be treated as a professional. I listened to her concerns and then explained the rationale behind our team planning and why it is important that we are all on one accord. As the conversation continued, she made several more statements that concerned me regarding how she was going to set up her room, discipline her students, and teach the content. I made note of her concerns and told her I would speak with our principal about her thoughts and concerns. Following our meeting, I met with my principal and relayed what took place. My principal was very clear and firm on her thoughts and how she wanted things done. It was now up to me to meet again with my team mate to explain that what we discussed in our meeting is not negotiable. I met with her again and stressed the importance of team work and consistency. I offered my help and told her I was available at any time to meet with her and help her plan. As I sit and type this, the issues are still going on and the follow through is not evident. Again, I met with my principal and she set up times to do “pop” in observations to see what was taking place.
Take Aways: