Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A Minor Setback

Unfortunately, at the last minute, the math team meeting that we were supposed to have today, didn't happen.  The 6th grade teacher had a personal reason, the ICT teacher had an after school club, and the AP was called into a meeting.  The 7th grade teacher and I debated whether or not to meet "officially" and thought it would be best to reschedule for a date when the whole team could meet.

I was a little disappointed, but I understand that things do come up and that it's important to be flexible.  So far I haven't gotten the vibe from my colleagues that they don't want to be these meetings to happen, so I will be optimistic that this is just a minor temporary setback.

In the meantime, I created the agenda so that when we do meet, our meetings would have a focus.  Nobody else has added to the agenda specifically, but the 6th grade teacher did add a document to our Google Collection.

The good news is that the 6th grade teacher, ICT teacher, and AP said that they were glad that they didn't miss anything, which makes me feel like they want to be a part of these meetings also.  I just don't want our group to slowly happen less frequently as the school year goes by.

What am I learning about collaboration?
It's not easy to get, even a well-meaning group of people, together.  I am a little disappointed, but am still looking at this as only a minor set back.  It has been a crazy week at JBA with grades being due, Benchmark Assessments, and the schedule changing for the new marking period.  I will be sure to send out an email asking for the next best available dates for people so that we can get our math team back on focus.

2 comments:

  1. Anna, your meetings are obviously not yet a priority. This is an important learning…I wish you would have done a math problem with your one present colleague. You would have had fun, learned something, and had more data for your question. You don’t need the whole team to create professional development, Anna. And you’re just trying to create the opportunity to do math together. Do you think you still could have had the experience of collaborative professional development even with only one colleague?

    Again, I think setting at least three dates ahead of time will allow people to put this on their calendar and make it a priority. And keep it simple and focused on their learning by doing a math problem together.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is hard getting something started that hasn't been done before. It sounds like you are easing into it - you haven't received any negative input - just that it is a busy time. I think it is great and essential that you remain optimistic.

    ReplyDelete