In a school, communication is vital. Whether it’s teachers within the same grade-level communicating about their current plans, or teachers communicating to their student’s parents about activities that they will be doing that week in class, communication is important to keep a school running as smoothly as possible.
Schools can also be viewed as a team. I work in a county with over 50 schools. Each school is referred to as a team, having fundraisers with the school raising the most money earning a reward, and the schools playing each other in sports. Within each school, it is split between educators and students. Recently, we had a fall fundraising event and if our students raised over a certain amount of money, our principal would be saran-wrapped to a pole, and the principal, assistant principal and dean would be pied in the face during a den rally. Our students worked together as a team and managed to raise over the amount and those events happened last week! Educators also work as a team. Every day, the teachers of the same grade-level eat lunch together and discuss ideas for activities to use in the classroom. They also share class materials and worksheets and give ideas to each other on how to make things easier to understand for their students.
In my classroom, there are three educators. Myself, another TA, and the teacher. We have four severely autistic students in our room so communication is extremely important in our room. Each child has a unique IEP (individualized education plan) so it’s important that we communicate with each other on things each child may not understand, or things they have learned so their IEP can be adjusted accordingly. In our classroom, we can also be defined as a group. A group can be defined as “two or more persons who are interacting with one another in such a manner that each person influences or is influenced by each other person”, (Shaw, 1981). We are always relying on each other for new techniques that will work on our students Whether its techniques to get them to listen, or things that they are working for, we need to constantly try new things because of how rapidly they change their wants.
For the most part, our students are non-verbal, so communication can be hard between us as the teachers and the students. We use sign language, and pictures to help the communication but for the most part we work as a team to help each other out to provide as much for our students as we possibly can.
References:
Pennsylvania State University (2019). PSYCH 424, Section 001: Applied Soc Psy. Lesson 7: Organizational Life AND Teams. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2008549/modules/items/27030737
Shaw, M. (1981). Group Dynamics: The Psychology of Small Group Dynamics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
That is awesome your school reached over the amount of its goal! I am sure the reward of the principal being saran-wrapped to a pole, and the principal, assistant principal and dean being pied in the face during a den rally helped students be motivated to reach that goal!
Teamwork made that goal happen. All the students and (staff?) who participated in the fundraiser made reaching the goal possible. Teamwork is very important and allows individuals to accomplish things much faster while working as a team rather than individually. From your response, I gather how important it is for you and you colleagues to work together during the day. Having four severely autistic students in your classroom, it is critical you work together and share new techniques that will work on your students. It is very important for educators especially to work as a team. Like you mentioned, you and your colleagues share class materials and worksheets, for example. You all also share ideas on how to make things easy for students to understand. So by you all working together in a group, it helps students greatly as well.