SUPPORTING & BEING SUPPORTED BY THE ADMINISTRATION “Overall, I feel pretty supported by the administration. I've been here a long time, so I'm not afraid to speak up if I have to. But I think what we also have to remember that they also don't want us coming to them for only negative things.” “It's been something that I've been really reflecting on (…) We've got to be supportive of admin as well, because they have a lot going on as well. I mean, we have a lot of of little bodies. We have a lot of behaviors. It can be very chaotic at times.” | COLLABORATIVE STRUCTURES “We have meetings—(...) team teaching collaboration times. So we do this every single day when the kids are in a special.” Student Data Review “We run it in a six-day cycle. So on day one (…) we are going to have our E.L.A. skills meeting. We look at the children's data (…) We look at which kiddos need support. What have we been doing in our classrooms to help one another? It's basically a round table of all of our kindergarten teachers where we center our conversations around our students and their data. And how can we help them progress? It's a place that I didn't think I would ever like, but it's a place where I feel very comfortable now because I'm okay sharing what I've learned. I'm hearing great things that other people are doing in their classrooms, what's working well. Most of the time when we're in those meetings, it's a very positive experience. Then the next day, the same thing—we do it with math. We look at math data (…) So it's it's a lot of teamwork happening.” Focused Planning Time For S.E.L. “What I really like about it is that we have S.E.L. days as well. Because let's face it—they're not going to succeed academically if their social emotional needs have not been met. So we have a day where we talk about what we're seeing in the classroom. What strategies are you you using that are helping this kiddo that's having those same problems?” Solution-Oriented Bonding Time “I definitely feel like those meetings are beneficial for us to share our best practices. We can complain a little bit together, but as long as as we move forward from that—like, how are we going to solve it?—it’s okay. We have to be solution-oriented.” |
RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILIES “We are in kind of a poverty situation and we might not have the support that we would necessarily want to have from the families (….) There's probably a reason. Maybe they haven't had really good previous experiences with other teachers or with the district or with the principals. So we want to make sure we are acknowledging their needs, that we are validating what they're saying (...) We just want to make sure that the parents are heard, because I think that they'll be more supportive of us. They could actually be a really great ally if we give them a chance.” “Something I have is Class Dojo, which is the communication that I use. I have some Spanish-only speaking kiddos, so I'm able to communicate better with their families that way. So on the caregiving point—just making sure that that they're included. They know what's going on. You're reaching out to them not just for the negative. Again, like the principals, you know, not just reaching out for negative reasons. Try to make positive connections before you have to reach out when there's a problem. That consistent communication.” |