Monday, October 13, 2008
The Five Energy Sources for High-Performing Groups - December, 2008
Please read over the "Five Energy Sources for High-Performing Groups". (You will find them near the back of your PLC notebook.) Then reflect and respond on which source you feel is a strength for your PLC and why? As others post their reflections, respond to at least two of them. In your response, keep in mind, 1.) Why it's important to have all energy sources in order to have an effective group and 2.) Think about ways you might help your PLC be more effective.
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Greg, Connie, Gina, Heather and I have established our own PLC. We meet once a week after school as a group for about 2 hours. As a team, I feel our PLC is subconciously working on all States of Mind, but one of our biggest energy sources is efficacy. Everyone is a valued member free to speak their mind and not be judged. We share our experiences knowing that what we do has a great effect on others. We look to find answers even when we aren't sure of the questions. As I look over the other energy sources, I'm reminded that it would be a good idea for the 5 of us to spend time reading and reflecting on what makes us work. We have many great bits and pieces, but we have room to improve.
In the area of Interdependence, we are definately there to support each other. We have a sense of community with the common goal of supporting students and staff.
Our Craftsmanship is getting better as we improve our process for determining agenda items and ways to address and have discussion on each item. We "flexibly" adjust our work, thinking and perspectives as we strive to be "concious" of the impact of our work. I think one way we can continue to improve our PLC is by discussing what's working and what we can keep working on. What do you think Gina and Heather?
In the PLC that Greg, Connie, Sara, Heather and I participate in, I see all components of the five states of mind. However, if I were going to say what states of mind I feel we are strongest in, it would be interdependence and flexibility.
Interpendence is described as contributing to the common good, participating with and learning from others, developing capacity, seeking collaboration and balancing self and group needs. The job of raising student achievement is quite substantial and sometimes daunting. I truly believe that our PLC realizes the significant importance of developing capacity in our abilities to address student needs by working collaboratively as a team. We understand the enormity of the work that lies ahead of us and realize the best way to make the gains necessary is to do what is expected of us individually and collectively to accomplish our goal.
I also would say because of the great amount of new information and the ever-changing need of staff and students, our PLC team is also strong in flexibility. Each school day brings about unexpected surprises. Our team is often operating behind the scenes. We help take care of the infrastructure of the school in order to make sure things run as smooth as possible. Because we often do not know what each day or situation will bring, we are constantly being challenged to show our ability to stay flexible to meet the daily needs of the staff and students. I think we do this quite well.
I believe all states of mind are something that requires constant reflection upon and perfecting upon. This year, maybe because Heather and I are new to the team, I am feeling that one area that we can continue to develop is craftsmanship. For me personally, craftsmanship means having a lot of tools in your toolbox. As a former classroom teacher, I feel I have a lot of tools in regards to classroom instruction. Many of these tools can be highlighted when working with teachers. However, my tool bag has lots of room for more tools as far as learning to be an effective coach. Heather, do you agree?
Gina
The art PLC days have been very helpful to me, and I feel like we work well as a group. Our most productive time is sharing lessons that worked, and showing us the finished product. We do feel a sense of interdependence - that the potential of our group is greater than any one individual teacher. In that regard, our Consciousness is very high about being a group.
MY group's strength in the energy sources would be the craftmanship piece. We, as a group, really work hard to reflect on our teaching and goals to change the areas of need for our students. Our planning is based on the goals we have set and what the strengths & needs are of our students. We stick to our agendas and most of the time are able to get through the important pieces. We constantly change our planning or goals based on our observations, and reflect on the lessons to make changes after seeing what worked and what didn't work.
I believe that the five states of energy are extremely valuable in any team situation. In my PLC I see our strength as flexibility. We continue to work towards our goals even when sometimes we don't have complete information. We value eachother in attaining answers and soloutions and enjoy sharing our diverse perspectives on most issues. We are a flexible group, and often adjust the way we work on things as individuals as well as a group.
As I reflect on the energy in my PLC group, I find myself feeling very lucky to have such a dynamic and supportive group. The group has a focus in mind, students and everything that follows keeps the students in mind. When we meet for PLC days I feel that the group thrives in efficacy. We all have our vision in mind and everyone brings all the resources and knowledge necessary to better the students experiences. If I look at where I could contribute more to the group. I feel that I could become more conscious of what I know and don't know concerning my first year status. What can I research before hand to bring to the table? What can I depend on my teamates for help with? I hope to find a balance between relying on the team and knowing enough so that they can rely on me as well.
In our afternoon PLC Sara and Gina referred to, I feel we are working hard towards implementing all five states of mind. Right now, I feel one of our strengths as a group is interdependence. It is very apparent that all memebers of our group have the same importance. We rely on each other and continously support one another. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts; we value the various beliefs and opinions present in the group.
Also, I feel we are extremely good about being flexible. With all of the changes that we've been dealt this year, it seems we are constantly adjusting our work in order to become more effective. We spend a lot of time reflecting on what is working and what is not working. Through these reflections, we are able to make decisions to move forward.
I believe that during our 4th grade PLC we do try our best to incorporate all five energy sources. Although we work together during PLCs and at other times during the week, groups of teachers are different (from other groups in the business world) in the fact that we do need to be able to go back to our rooms and feel confident in delivering effective instruction based on what was discussed during the PLC or other meeting. So, to me, it is important that all five pieces are in place in order for the individual teacher to go back to her classroom and feel comfortable and confident in the instruction that is being delivered.
I believe the energy source that is always present in our PLC group is EFFICACY. We have different experiences to share because we are different in the way we teach, we have different teaching backgrounds and we have different students. So, it is highly important that we feel comfortable sharing out our experiences with the group. I always feel safe in this particular group to share what I am doing. My teammates are happy to listen and apply the things I'm doing when I share that the things I am doing are working. On the flip side, I am happy to listen to their ideas and implement them in my classroom as well. I believe that we are all willing to do what is necessary to step outside of our comfort zone to become better teachers.
My situtation is a little different than the rest of you since I'm not in a PLC, but I do have to work with other teachers. I consider these my mini teams and each is unique in its own sense. In 2nd grade I feel like one of my weakness is that we don't plan together and I need to speak up more in this area. All the planning is done for me. Sometimes this is nice but, I see my vision as being more in helping with the planning.In 4th and 5th grade I feel we have a lot of strengths. With these two grade levels we are very flexible and conscience when plannig math activities and sharing ideas with each other.
During my student teaching, I had the opportunity to paticipate in the 3rd grade PLC. Based on the Five Energy Sources, I believe that flexibility is our strongest energy source. At the beginning of the first PLC meetings we had to e flexible as a team on determining what our SMART goal was and the Greatest Area of Need (GAN). We had to use some of our energy sources to establish our SMART goals; we used consiousness to determine our common goal as a team as well as development of our norms, we also used efficacy in our writing rubrics so that there was no subjectivity to our scores. Then we had to use efficacy to use as many resources we could to determine what our GAN was. Flexibility was our strongest energy source because we had to be flexible in all of our PLC meetings.
In the PLC group that I participate I see all the state of mind. The group is working towards Interdependency. The groups is strongest in craftmanship. We are looking towrad having our members have the same importance and sense of community.
I noticed that Emily and Maggie mentioned that Flexibility was the strength of their PLC. I believe that flexibility is something that we all need to be as teachers and especially with the group of kids we are dealing with. East has such a great group of teachers and some amazing kids that want to learn.
As I look towards the 2nd half of the school year, my goal is to be more involved in the planning for 2nd grade math.
I like Emily's comment about bringing diverse perspectives to the table. We all have such varying abilities, years of experience, areas of expertise, different backgrounds etc. even though we can all call ourselves elementary educators. We should celebrate our differences and always keep an open mind about all that others have to offer when working in any group setting at East.
In regard to Nancy C.'s comment about math planning: I agree that when co-teaching, it is just as important to plan together, too. The decisions we make about our students are all important ones, and Sara and I are always bouncing ideas off eachother about the best way to go about teaching this or that in math. Once in awhile we have a week where we don't get our regular planning in and I think we both feel less prepared during these weeks.
Have you had more success this semester?
I wanted to comment on something Nancy said: "We do feel a sense of interdependence - that the potential of our group is greater than any one individual teacher." This year, it seems I have seen this more than any other year I've been teaching. With all of the hats we have been expected to wear this year, it sure is hard to do everything on our own. I feel extremely lucky to have such supportive and understanding peers who acknowledge the fact that we are all in this together!
I agree with both Emily and Jane on the importance of celebrating the differnces we bring to the table. I am amazed at the amount of knowledge our staff has. As a PLC, I feel that our differences has made us stronger. We all come with varying experiences. As a result, we are able to generate some great ideas when we work together.
I think Erin's point about reflecting on lessons and ideas and adjusting as the group goes forward is very important. It can be easy for a group to say "We did this last year, so it must work again." But in reality adjustments and changes must be constant in teaching. It is great that her team can see the need for those changes and share them together.
Gina's comment on how the challenges and changes that are constantly coming our way can make it hard for a group to move forward made me realize how important flexibilty is in any of these groups. We all have to move with it and accept that maybe we don't know what is around the next corner. If we continue to be flexible and adjust as necessary we will certainly keep the process running smoothly.
As a member of the 1st grade PLC team, feel that all of the 5 states of mind are apparent in every meeting. However, the two that stand out the most to me are Efficacy and Craftsmanship. The amount of experience, knowledge and skill that is represented our PLC group is incredible. I feel that the work we do together is not only rewarding but encouraging as we draw from each others experiences and resources. As a 1st grade team we are very conscious about reflecting daily during our planning block and including the other members of our PLC team when necessary.
I agree with both Erin comment regarding refections. I am constantly changing my planning, not only based on the observations with my writing group but with the observations and feedback that Julie and Candy offer on a daily basis. I look forward to and value our daily reflections during our planning block.
Sorry about adding the word both in my previous comment. I was going to post the comments together but decided to post them separately.
…In regards to Nancy C.’s comment on planning. I feel that if you are going to co-teach it is extremely important to find the time to plan together. Sara and I meet weekly to plan for Math and often reflect after each session. I feel we both know and agree on the strengths and weaknesses of each student. As a first grade team we plan weekly and include Cindy Gothard, our GLAD support. Cindy rotates between the three classrooms as a co-teacher and a support person. Cindy is instrumental in getting our supplies, charts and resources ready.
Jane, I wanted to let you know that Jenn and I don't always get done what we plan either. We are always discussing how that day went and what adjustments me need to make. The first unit on fractions in Vol. 2 has taken us all of January. This is were flexibility steps in to play. I haven't been able to do much one-on-one planning in 2nd grade yet this semester but, our communication about what's coming up and what we want to do is getting better.
The art PLC group differs from the others, as we see each other only on the PLC day. As such, it is hard to have an ongoing conversation, as many of you seem to have, about planning and behavior. Although, when we do meet, we seem to have many common issues about behavior and classroom management.
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