Each year at Delsea Regional High School, we kick off the start of school with a theme for our staff. This year's theme was the "Power of Team" because, after all, we are in this together! We replaced the top-down model of education with one in which everyone rolls up their sleeves and participates in effective teaching and learning.
In our school, the place where the real magic happens is in the classroom—teachers provide a warm and inviting environment where all students can succeed by crafting engaging lessons that hook their interest. Administrators, unfortunately, must often attend to the many managerial and administrative tasks that keep them from participating in that magic. But it doesn't have to be this way.
Movements like "#shadowastudent" have given administrators the momentum to share in the student experience and reflect on what great teaching and learning look like. Likewise, jumping back into the classroom to teach enables administrators to feel the energy of facilitating learning through a different perspective. So, what better way to demonstrate the power of team than "team teaching"? We decided to have school administrators (principals and supervisors) team up with teachers to co-teach lessons.
After a preview of the concept during a faculty meeting, interested teachers completed an online proposal form that included the class period, a short summary of the lesson, their administrator(s) of choice, and the proposed date. Once the form was submitted, the selected administrator(s) followed up with an email to schedule a common planning time. Together, the teacher and administrator(s) crafted the lesson. The result? Incredible! The students, teachers, and administrators loved it.
These teams tackled yoga in physical education class; an "American Idol"–inspired activity in Spanish class, where students performed skits and were judged by the "celebrity" administrators; and casual café conversations in Italian class while enjoying coffee and biscotti.
Team teaching with administrators and teachers helped create a culture of trust and mutual respect. The administrators who participated walked away with a renewed appreciation of the great things that teachers do on a daily basis and felt the thrill of facilitating student learning. They also enjoyed the break from the routine administrative duties that tend to monopolize far too much of their time. The participating teachers connected and collaborated with administrators in a nonevaluative activity that validated the notion that they are important to the team. They were reminded that this activity was not a "gotcha" but rather connected educators working collaboratively to deliver highly effective instruction.
Most important, our students benefited from the positive energy of a team of educators working together. As an added bonus, students saw another side of their administrators and witnessed their dedication to learning. The experience was priceless.
The team-teaching approach is here to stay. Teachers can submit proposals at any time during the school year and our administrative staff will gladly participate in the innovative and amazing things that teachers do each and every day. We hope this concept will catch on and spread throughout our district. The "Power of Team" will be a consistent and reoccurring theme that invites educators at all levels to join hands and work together as one team, one dream!
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