Larkspur-Corte Madera School District
Collaborative Teaching Practice Study Group
Monday, May 7, 2012
Present: Sara DeLee, Elissa White, Michelle Roderick, Liza Mathews, Jeff Price, Kris Lerohl,
Ann Marie Skaggs, Wendy Meunier, Susan Martin, Nancy Wilson, Julia Ritter, Jill, Catherine
Wolfers, Katie Henderson, Valerie Pitts, Don Matthews
1. Review the meeting norms
1. Agreements, norms, how we discuss things
2. Roles –
Facilitator – Valerie
Recorder – Don
Time Keeper – Susan Martin
Process Checker - Jeff Price
Did we report out on the minutes from last meeting?
PTA, grade levels, staff meetings
2. Discussion about Trust (10 minutes)
Concerns about what was communicated and how that may have affected trust.
Comments from teachers
*One teacher requests that the process be delayed by one year.
*Other teachers seek the opportunity to work in a collaborative assignment.
Teachers who are interested in this type of assignment have researched the topic of
collaboration and presented a proposal to site principals and faculty to begin next
year. They view this as a growth opportunity. Make participation voluntary on the
part of the teachers and the parents of the children.
*Teachers want to try collaboration. That is a proposal they made to their
principals. The benefit of the study group could be to inform the practice of the
teachers.
• I view the project as a pilot. We are letting parents opt out. We need to be sure
that the pilot includes all types of students.
• I need the administrators to help me bring in parents that want to be in a
collaborative classroom.
• As a teacher interested in trying this, I hope that the research and input we will
use in the classroom. Collaboration can works in lots of different ways. It is based
upon interest and comfort level. We are going to do action research. We have been
doing some of this already.
• We agreed to allow visitors to observe our classrooms, to videotape, and to blog
our experiences.
• We are not saying (implying) that collaborative classrooms are better than other
classrooms.
Questions/Comments from parents
* Interested as a parent to see collaborative teaching move forward even if the
model is not clear. Parents should have the opportunity of opt out.
*Had no idea we were going through with it. Several parents approached me about
why we have a committee if we are already doing it.
*How will our study group inform the teachers who are going to begin collaborating
next year?
• We are building a new school that will facilitate the new practice. I want to know if
“Collaborative Practice” is a good thing. My concern is that the message going to the
public is supporting collaborative practice. I feel it needs to be addressed. What
will the process be and who will be teaching at the school.
• Is some of this process having some sort of standard of measurement? Is it more
qualitative? Will there be a time when parents will have feedback about the success
of the collaboration.
• A blog would be helpful to the public. This is what we are doing and describe how
it is not such a giant change from what we are doing. Explain exactly what we are
talking about.
Comments from Administration
•CTPSG has an ability to research the practice and support how classrooms could
look. Site leadership teams will also be part of deciding how the collaborative
process might look. We can use the information we gather to inform our knowledge
of teaming or perhaps not teaming. These things can happen concurrently.
•This is a site discussion and more conversation could occur. Let’s think about how
we will talk about the action research.
• There are other qualitative measures for climate, parent participation, pre and
post surveys.
Reflections from reading Co-Teaching That Works
Changing accommodating, flexible for heterogeneous groups
Metaphor of Kaleidoscope
Great range of collaboration – in what it looks like
School culture is about collaboration and is embedded
Collaboration does not have a precise outcome
Much expertise within the district
Consensus takes more time
How much more time will collaboration take?
Co-teaching model team gen and specialists
Where are other examples of two gen ed working together?
Or a team of gen ed with a specialist
May need to change our outcomes?
Are we looking for a definition?
3. KWL – (15 minutes)
Inquiry Activity: KWL Chart about Collaborative Teaching
What do we KNOW about
What do we WANT TO
Collaborative Teaching in our KNOW about Collaborative
district?
Teaching?
Special Ed teachers meet talk
with gen ed teachers to
modify or accommodate
curriculum – meeting time
What does Collaborative
Teaching practice look like
in the District?
How will teachers engage in
Teams of teachers working to a collaborative teaching
develop curriculum (Arts
practice?
units)/meeting with teachers
How do students respond to
Making learning visible – can the ratio of students to
we make what we are
teachers?
already doing more visible –
celebrate
What is the most effective
mix of students is multi-age
Spontaneous meetings and
more effective for a
sharing ideas, lessons,
collaborative model?
materials
How does this model
Receptiveness to want to
effective the dynamic of the
share
larger grade level?
Collaborative learning
How will grade level
What have we LEARNED
about Collaborative
Teaching?
between students –
olders/youngers, e-groups,
buddy classrooms,
A single teacher (music)
bringing
Together students he/she
has taught as separate
classes into one performance
Small groups/paired
teachers/grade level
Science or book clubs-grade
levels or small groups within
grade levels
Sharing data to determine
how to meet the needs of
kids who may have specific
needs
Two teachers in a classroom
for 10 weeks:
Students get to see real
world adults collaborating or
problem solving
collaboration occur?
How moving from teacher
directed classroom model to
student directed model
impact success?
How do we measure the
benefits to students of the
model?
How will we most effectively
integrated special education
and related services in the
collaboration model?
How will class size effect
student experience as well
as student learning?
Is looping a benefit to
collaborative teaching?
What models of
collaboration are less
successful?
How will we found
Another person for questions consistency for students
or another view point, learn
enrolled in a collaborative
to trust
model?
Classroom aides doing small
group time (on the fly-who is
the best person, offers ideas
and sharing students)
Paraprofessional works with
both general and special
education teachers-modeling
Some students have issues
with different teachers with
different rules
How does collaborative
teaching effect enrichment
and intervention?
How have collaborative
teaching models been
successful in schools with
similar demographics of
LCMSD?
What will behavior support
systems look like in a
collaborative setting?
How does classroom
management look in a
collaborative classroom?
How do students with
sensory issues handle the
collaborative classroom?
How will teachers know and
understand more students
in a collaborative
classroom?
How will a collaborative
model benefit students
through the grade levels?
4. Process
Ideas re process:
 Site visits – Share what we know from visits to other schools
 Experts – Invite speakers to come to meetings
 Reading teacher narratives – Anecdotal/Qualitative literature
 Data-research studies, observational, data
 Blog – Read teacher experiences
 Observations at NC or Hall – where do we see collaboration
 Interview parents/students with experience in a collaborative model
5. Next Steps – Next Meeting is Monday, June 4th at 5:30 p.m. – Neil Cummins Staff
Room
Share on June 4th
Jill-Demographics
Ann Marie- Report outs on site visits, interviews
Michelle-interview new teachers
Wendy/Don – High Tech Elementary visitation