# data[].attributes.body
NSRF activity for professional groups

# data[].attributes.body
Protocol for Team Dialogue

# data[].attributes.body
Text for basis of Passion Conversation

# data[].attributes.body
Text from AMLE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Team teachers must develop respectful relationships with each another if they wish their students to exhibit positive relationships with others in their group projects.

One cannot model that which one doesn't practice regularly, so the first step is setting norms. This may be a fairly lengthy process, and unfortunately a lot of people go through a norm-setting process only to watch them cast aside. Here's a short activity a team can use to set norms:

Members each write down three behaviors they would appreciate from teammates during team meetings and one behavior that is simply a nonnegotiable for them. For example:

Focus on students' strengths rather their weaknesses.

Don't correct papers while we're meeting.

Be on time (non-negotiable).

Listen without interrupting.

The non-negotiables automatically become team norms (unless they are outrageous or unacceptable-then the team has to have some serious conversations).

The team looks for commonalities among the other responses. These commonalities also become norms.

The team discusses the behaviors that were mentioned only once and determines whether they are covered by the norms already identified. It's important to find out why the once-mentioned behaviors are important to the people who submitted them and then to negotiate an outcome everyone can accept. Although these conversations may be uncomfortable, it's time well spent in preventing a buildup of resentment that can later sabotage the team's relationships.

Post the team norms and regularly reflect on how well the team is observing them. Don't just put them on the back shelf; effective teams gently hold each other accountable for following their agreed-upon norms.

Identify the specific collaboration skills that students need.

Many of the skills required for success in group work are common speaking and listening skills such as listening without interrupting; summarizing, paraphrasing, or adding to others' ideas; and asking questions to clarify someone else's idea. Other skills necessary for successful group work include planning a project from start to finish, locating resources, synthesizing information, and deciding how to present the group's findings.

After identifying all the necessary skills for group work, plan how the team will teach, reinforce, and assess these skills. Think also about how teachers will have students reflect on their individual and group progress as a precursor for assessing the work of the individuals and the group. This step is important because individual and group accountability are key components in successful group work.

Including interim steps of reflection and revision helps students improve the quality of their work before the final assessment and diminishes complaining and finger pointing about who did or did not do their share of the work.

Create daily reflection forms for everyone to use during collaborations. Teachers can use them as a Ticket Out the Door activity and review them to identify any groups that need an intervention. When students see similar expectations of individual and group accountability in all of their classes, they will realize that the teachers value this skill set. That which is valued is taken more seriously.

Furthermore, by sharing with teammates how the students are doing with their collaboration skill development, teachers provide valuable information for others as they plan future units that involve group work.

Jill Spencer is a teacher, consultant, and senior partner in Learning Capacity Unlimited, and author of Teaming Rocks: Collaborate in Powerful Ways to Ensure Student Success, published by AMLE. E-mail: jillspencer51@gmail.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Team teachers must develop respectful relationships with each another if they wish their students to exhibit positive relationships with others in their group projects. One cannot model that which one doesn't practice regularly, so the first step is setting norms. This may be a fairly lengthy process, and unfortunately a lot of people go through a norm-setting process only to watch them cast aside.

# data[].attributes.body
A History of Teaming (7:00)

# data[].attributes.body
Norms for Learning and Leadership (6:00)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Just starting a teacher team or leadership team in your school? Learn what helps to make teams successful. By using norms and targets, teams and students can focus on quality instruction.

# data[].attributes.body
Text from AMLE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Just as trapeze artists must trust the workers who man the equipment and set up the nets, so team members must learn to trust each other. One of the main issues and concerns for teams is how to remain consistent and create unity among the teachers and students. Teaming is all about the importance of a group of people coming together for a common mission or cause. It is about developing the ability to trust one another and work together toward a common purpose.

For all those of us in the middle school, a common goal is to not let students carry out a hostile takeover! Let's be honest here; at any given time we are just 40 seconds away from having our class turn into a scene from Lord of the Flies.

Time to Get to Know Each Other

Once a team is created, they need time together. Great teams will meet in the summer prior to school. They might meet at a team member's house or a local establishment. The purpose is simple: to get to know each other.

It is critical to make sure you find time to talk about issues not related to school. Later, there will be plenty of opportunities to worry about progress reports, team celebrations, and who needs to bring doughnuts to the next team meeting.

Here are some ideas on what to do for the first meeting:

Spend time talking about your teaching background.

Talk about some of your teaching strategies.

Share your pet peeves.

Talk about family and why you became a teacher.

List things you expect from your teammates.

Share a great past team experience.

Create a list of non-negotiables for you and for your team.

Conduct a fun survey. Cosmo magazine always has a survey, although you might not want to know if your team member is a good kisser.

Keep the first meeting lighthearted and have plenty of food. Remember my motto: Eating makes a meeting!

Share a photo of yourself as a middle school student.

In his book, The Personal Trainer for Academic Teams, Randy Thompson emphasizes how critical it is for a team to work toward building an identity. This identity relates not only to students, but also to teachers. Randy suggests creating team banners, team resumes, and a team wall with information about the students and teachers.

Some teams list their degrees and accomplishments in their team area of the building. We should be proud of the hard work we have done and proud of the many hours we spend outside the classroom increasing our knowledge.

Getting Acquainted

Doing some fun things to get acquainted is a good way to start the process of team bonding. One great way to begin is to have all team members complete a slightly wacky multiple-choice questionnaire. Include questions such as:

1. On my iPod I do NOT have the following: a) Barry Manilow; b) Adele; c) Respighi; d) I don't own one.

2. If I weren't a teacher, I would be: a) a rodeo clown; b) a travel agent; c) a therapist; d) in therapy.

3. For fun, I: a) engage in athletic things like running, volleyball, weightlifting; b) read; c) I don't do fun! Fun is the devil's playground; d) yell at kids.

4. I work best with others when: a) they pretend to be cheerful; b) they do as I say; c) they leave me alone; d) they bring food to the meetings.

Give each team member a copy. After questionnaires are completed, shuffle the pages
and redistribute them so that no one has his or
her own paper.

Each team member reads a questionnaire and guesses whose answers they are. A teacher writes his or her guess on the page and passes it on. When the guessing spots are filled (I suggest five guesses), keep passing papers until each one comes back around to the original writer.

Each member can share responses to his or her questionnaire. Or the team leader can read a completed paper and everyone can guess. Or team members can comment on one or two of their answers.

Here's how you can use another questionnaire:

Develop a questionnaire that asks the question, "Which one of your teammates is most likely to..." then list 15-20 activities, such as:

1. Run, play volleyball, etc., in his or her own time?

2. Drive a sports car if s/he could afford it?

3. Enjoy dressing up to go out?

4. Travel to exotic places for vacation?

5. Call his/her mom every day?

6. Own a circular saw?

Give each team member a copy. Each member completes one, writing ideas about which other member might fit each item.

As a group, members can share their ideas or responses to each item. It is fun to hear reasoning behind their choices. Then individuals can talk about why others were right in guesses about them, or why they were not.

To wrap up, have each team member state one thing learned about every other team member.

Sample questionnaires are available in Taming of the Team: How Great Teams Work Together, available from AMLE at www.amle.org/store.

Building Some Baseline Information

In addition to having some fun and getting to know one another, it is critical that teams take some time to build baseline data about their team's structure and their effective use of time.

During the first few weeks of school, the team should work together to complete a survey, "Where Are We?" This allows the team to gather information about the current state of various policies and practices of the team. Team members list their team expectations, such as, "Is there a written team vision or mission?" "Are team roles and expectations established?" "Is there a set team meeting agenda?" and "Has the team set consistent policies and procedures?" and designate for each item whether the team needs to create, discuss, or review the item, or whether it is completed.

The responses will indicate areas for team discussion. If as a team you discover areas of weakness or identify missing strategies, create
some goals.

I encourage teams to take this informal survey at least four times a year. It will be interesting for team members to see how well the team is functioning at the beginning of the year versus the end of the year. Keep track of the data.

Administrators can also use this to keep track of the practices teams are implementing. This is not a checklist of things that every team must do. Present this to teams as a list of ideas that many great teams are implementing across the country.

Creating a Team Vision

At the beginning of the year take a few minutes to develop a team vision or mission that reflects your team characteristics and expectations. Don't forget to make sure that the mission is grade-level appropriate.

Make sure that your vision focuses on what will happen for the students. You can use the schoolwide mission statement as a starting point.

Great schools use the team mission or vision statements to help create a unified vision for the school. This is why it is imperative for teams to focus on quality statements. Remember to keep the statements simple, such as "Our team is committed to the academic success of each student and we will do what it takes to see that each one achieves. To that end, during the 2013-2014 academic year, we will...."

Sharing Your Team Mission

Once the team has created a mission or vision statement, share it.

Create a three-fold brochure for open house and share it with the parents on your team.

Post the statement on the team website.

Record your statement at the end of your voice mail.

Post the statement in every classroom.

Make a t-shirt with the mission statement on it. Teachers adore the matching t-shirts.

Make sure the statement is posted on the bulletin boards in your hallway.

See if the statement can be printed on grade sheets or progress reports.

Have students put the team's mission in their student planner or agenda books.

Making sure you have a common vision allows the teachers, students, and parents to know that this team has a goal in mind. It reminds everyone that there is purpose to this team and that the team is trying to accomplish great things.

Norms for Team Meetings

To keep a team on task and focused, you will need to establish some team expectations and norms for team members to follow at team meetings. Be realistic and honest about issues that may arise. It is truly okay to say that at no time during the team meeting is it acceptable to work on your tax return.

You can negotiate these norms without hurting team members' feelings. Stick to the topics and stay on point. Work together to answer the question, "What are the acceptable actions during a team meeting?"

Great teams review their team norms quarterly. This reminds everyone of the expectations and enables teams to make reasoned adjustments. Teams also make sure the lists of norms are posted in the team room, team notebook, or conference area.

Examples of team norms:

Be on time for the meeting.

Never grade papers during a team meeting.

Let the person talking finish his or her statement or thought.

Bring any materials that you will need. Yes, that includes a pen and paper. Don't be an unprepared student!

When the meeting is over it is over, don't talk about it with others. Teaming is like Las Vegas-what happens in team meetings stays in team meetings.

Maintain all student communication logs and parent contacts.

Respond to team and parent emails within 24 hours.

Share teaching ideas and student data with others.

Bring your homework dates and lesson plans.

Set team time and locations.

It's relatively easy to create norms. What is difficult is to hold each other to those norms. So great teams not only create team norms, they create protocols on how to hold each other accountable.

The Truth About Teaming

Over the years, educators have referred to teaming as professional study groups, professional learning communities, data teams, and learning teams. There are vertical teams, horizontal teams, elective teams, exploratory teams, academic teams, and leadership teams.

Yet, no matter what you call teaming, it is really just about a group of people coming together. It is not about the name, it is about the purpose of coming together. That purpose is to improve all facets of the school experience, including academic performance, for all students.
Jack Berckemeyer is a presenter, author, and humorist. He began his career as a middle grades teacher in Denver, Colorado.

This article is adapted from Taming of the Team by Jack Berckemeyer, published by Incentive Publications, ©World Book, Inc. 233 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60601. By permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Published in AMLE Magazine, August 2013.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Just as trapeze artists must trust the workers who man the equipment and set up the nets, so team members must learn to trust each other. One of the main issues and concerns for teams is how to remain consistent and create unity among the teachers and students.

# data[].attributes.body
Types of Teaming Structures text

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
AMLE - Association for Middle Level Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teacher collaboration has been a common element of middle grades initiatives for years, typically one or more of these three organizational models: common planning time, professional learning communities, and critical friends groups.

Each model is distinct, yet they share common features. They 1) advance teacher learning, 2) address context-specific issues, 3) foster collegiality, 4) reduce teacher isolation, and 5) lead teachers to greater insights about teaching and learning. The overarching, and arguably the most important common element, is the goal of improved student learning.

What makes each organization model unique? First, the teachers are organized differently in each model: interdisciplinary teams, disciplinary teams, or self-selected teams. Second, the starting point for teachers' collaboration differs. In common planning time, teacher teams begin with an analysis of the holistic needs of students; in professional learning communities, the teacher teams begin with the analysis of students' academic progress; and in the critical friends groups, the teacher teams begin with an identified need or interest for improved practice. The recognized features of each organization model are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1. Organizatonal Models That Promote Teacher Collaboration

Common Planning Time Professional Learning Communities Critical Friends Groups

Interdisciplinary teams- teachers share same students

Coordinate team policies and procedures

Discuss students

Meet with parents

Plan team activities, thematic or cross-curricular units

Examine student work

Participate in professional development

Disciplinary teams

Ongoing process of collective inquiry and action research

Collective analysis of student assessment data in relation to specific learning targets

Use of data to inform and assess effectiveness of instruction

Group gathers voluntarily to improve practice through collaborative learning

Uses coaches and specific protocols used to guide sessions

Identify school-specific student learning goals, reflect on practices for achieving the goals, collaboratively examine student work

Strategies for Building Teacher Collaboration

Organizational models facilitate, but do not guarantee collaboration. How teachers engage in a model can make a difference. Teachers' personal stance about whether they "have to" or "want to" participate in an organizational model is critical to successful collaboration. Equally important is understanding how to engage effectively in collaborative work with colleagues.

As with other skills, we gain a greater capacity for collaboration with the opportunity to practice. To initiate or revitalize teacher collaboration in your school, try these five strategies.

1. Create a truly shared vision and goals. The level of ownership they feel in the process influences how much teachers actually invest in collaborative work. A shared vision and goals can lead to that sense of ownership. For example, identify your team's shared vision of caring for students and student learning, set goals related to that vision, discuss how the team's work can help attain those goals, and check in often to assess progress. The strong connection between the work and the vision of the team can help individuals see purpose and assume ownership in the process.

2. Develop a sense of community. At its core, collaboration is relational. Getting to know your colleagues, understanding their passions, and taking the time to connect on a personal level can help members gain mutual respect and look past perceived eccentricities in others. Establishing shared values and commitments can unify the group and provide purpose for their collective work. Like all relationships, a collaborative community develops over time and requires work to maintain.

Trust influences the effectiveness of collaborative work. Respecting group commitments such as being fully present at meetings and seeing the best in others helps establish trust and build a cohesive community. Other ways to develop community include establishing traditions, celebrating accomplishments, and recognizing individual contributions.

3. Identify group norms. Let's face it: collaboration can be uncomfortable or stressful at times. When we are transparent about our work and our beliefs, our colleagues can see our limitations as well as our strengths, placing us in a position of vulnerability. Sharing with and trusting colleagues requires courage and humility. A climate of trust can help establish the safe environment that's necessary for open communication.

Identifying and establishing group norms also can help develop that safe environment. Norms might include defining roles and responsibilities, using protocols for interpersonal communication, and outlining parameters for time management.

Taking the time to get to know the learning styles, needs, interests, fears, and hopes of each team member helps shape the norms for how the group engages in the shared work.

4. Use discussion and dialogue. Whether they are integrating curriculum, analyzing data, or studying a new practice, teams should understand the roles of, and differences between, dialogue and discussion. They are equally important to the group process.

Discussion moves the conversation forward. In discussion, individuals state their opinions for the purpose of building consensus or making decisions.

The goal of dialogue is to share and broaden knowledge. Dialogue invites multiple perspectives, values the exploration of biases and assumptions, questions the status quo, and entertains new ways of knowing and being. Dialogue requires active listening, willingness to state beliefs, the ability to bear the tension of ambiguity, and belief in the transformative potential in the process.

5. Work through conflict. Dialogue can cultivate deep professional learning as individuals and teams explore new ideas for practice. However, dialogue may also lead to conflict. It can be helpful for your team to develop a conflict management plan and to monitor conflict as it arises.

Teams can help manage conflict by providing time, space, grace, and support for individuals as they work through their emotions. Individuals also should monitor their own emotions and practice self-care.

Using professional judgment, your team can determine when to explore the roots of conflict and when to provide space for reflection and cooling down. While sometimes uncomfortable, conflict often provides growth opportunities.

Teacher Collaboration

Strong collaboration and collaborative cultures develop over time and require commitment to the process. While the benefits are clear, genuine collaboration is complex.

Patience in the moment and anticipation for the outcome can lead to deep teacher learning that translates into tangible student achievement.

What will it take to maximize organizational models for productive teacher collaboration in your school? School leaders-principals and teachers-need to work together and commit to a collaborative culture. They need to ensure dedicated time for the organizational model within the school day.

Common planning time, professional learning communities, and critical friends groups each require regular, dedicated time for teachers to collaborate. With time, teachers can develop authentic collaborative communities in which they address common issues, shared goals or school-wide initiatives; engage in mutually beneficial endeavors using communal resources; and advance their skills, knowledge, and dispositions related to student learning.

Micki M. Caskey is the associate dean for academic affairs in the Graduate School of Education at Portland State University. She is past chair of the Association of Middle Level Education's Research Advisory Committee and past editor of Research in Middle Level Education Online. caskeym@pdx.edu

Jan Carpenter is chair of the Education Department in the School of Graduate Studies at Marylhurst University. She is also chair of the Association of Middle Level Education's Professional Preparation Advisory Committee and past chair of the Oregon Middle Level Consortium. carpenter@marylhurst.edu

Published in AMLE Magazine, October 2014.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teacher collaboration has been a common element of middle grades initiatives for years, typically one or more of these three organizational models: common planning time, professional learning communities, and critical friends groups. Each model is distinct, yet they share common features.