Assignment: Communicating and Collaborating with Colleagues

Part 1

Using Document #1: Observation Report of a Co-Teaching Classroom, answer the following questions (two to three pages):

1. What is at least one benefit of using co-teaching strategies in the early childhood classroom?

2. What two co-teaching strategies would be useful for the teachers in the observation report to use? Why did you choose the strategies, and how can the teachers use them to make their co-teaching relationship more effective?

3. What is one piece of feedback you would provide for each of the two teachers in the observation report regarding communicating and collaborating more effectively?

4. Describe a specific strategy for building communication and collaboration skills in the co-teaching setting. Include a rationale for choosing this strategy.

Part 2: PLC PLAN

Submit a description of the PLC plan you will create to improve school readiness at the center. Base your PLC plan on Document #2: Preschool Staff Meeting Minutes, Document #3: Editorial on the Implementation of a PLC, and the information provided in " What is a Professional Learning Community? " by Richard DuFour. Your response should be three to four pages in length. Your description should include:

1. The visions and three measurable goals of the PLC.

2. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities of administrators and teachers.

3. How PLC teams will be structured, a protocol for meetings, and an explanation of how evidence-based decision making will guide the PLC.

4. The benefits of the PLC you have planned. In your explanation of the benefits of the PLC, address the concerns from the newspaper article in Document #3: Editorial on the Implementation of a PLC.

References

Barrera, I., & Kramer, L. (2012). Using skilled dialogue to transform challenging interactions.

DuFour, R. (2004). What is a professional learning community? Educational Leadership.