Monday, March 4, 2013

Collaborating as a team

Now that we are already into March of this first year of flipping our math classroom, I am doing my best to stop and reflect on all that we have learned and achieved this year. One surprising aspect of the flipping process is the relationship we have all created throughout this journey. We were all friends before and respected each other as professionals but there is something about the vulnerability of watching each other teach that really encourages a sense of collaboration and comfort. It was so hard at first to know our teammates would be watching us teach and possibly giving us feedback. And then there is the fact that it's hard not to take it personally when students don't perform well on the problems that you taught the videos on! All of that honest work, has made us all so much closer and that much more respectful of one another. We truly work as a team, using data and best practice to drive our instruction. I have always thought I was doing that but this year, WE are truly working as the PLC format is supposed to be done. We have common exit slips almost daily at the end of math time and we share those exit slips, asking How can we help the students that didn't get it and What do we do with the students that were proficient? Even the process of what to ask the students in the exit slips has been a collaborative process.
Of course now that TCAP is creeping up on us, we are feeling nervous of how the data in that assessment will show. Will the flipping process increase our scores?We truly think and hope it will. The data we have been collecting shows that our students know what they are supposed to know and we are fully aware of what they don't and are constantly helping them reach proficiency.
In the end, we can all agree that we are better teachers, professionals and friends, from this process and that is something to be thankful for.