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Minerva Cruces, an 8th grade teacher at the Baldwin Middle School was
troubled that although her students would write with enthusiasm, the quality
of their essays had reached a plateau. She wasn't sure what else she could
try. Her students were stuck, and so was she. One day, she brought some
student essays to his team's common planning time. She presented her dilemma
using a Consultancy Protocol. It allowed her to share how she structured
the writing assignments, and some of the work students had created. Her
team had just started sharing their work in this way a few months before
when their Turning Points Coach gave them part of the Turning Points Guide
to Looking Collaboratively at Student and Teacher Work to read. Minerva
had shown only a little bit of her work before, so she was apprehensive.
"I trust my teammates and they're great people, but here I was about
to show them a whole lot about how I teach and tell them that I needed
some help. I hoped it would go well, but you're never sure."
After presenting her dilemma and then listening as her teammates discussed
her work and brainstormed ideas that she could try, Cruces was pleased.
"It was a breakthrough," she said. "We talked about the
essays, and I realized I'd been too vague about the requirements. The
kids needed more structure, more feedback on the technical aspects of
writing, more direct instruction on things like paragraphing. I don't
think I would have figured this out without talking with my teammates."
The conversations that Minerva Cruces and other Turning Points teachers
like her have with each other are the foundation of the collaborative
culture that's at the heart of Turning Points middle schools. Successful
schools are places where teachers question their practices; faculty members
guide one another, plan together, coordinate practices, and participate
in the most important decisions.
In a Turning Points school, members of the school community work together
effectively and are guided by a common purpose. All members of the community-teachers,
administrators, students and their families-share a vision of what the
school should be like. Together they set goals that lead them toward this
vision. Major decisions are made as a community with ample opportunity
for teacher leadership. The school community creates a culture of discourse
in which the most important educational matters facing the school are
openly and honestly discussed. The many different voices, experiences,
and styles of the school community add to its strength and vitality.
To build a collaborative culture, members of a Turning Points school:
- Share the belief that working collaboratively is the best way to reach
the school's goals
- Create opportunities for collaboration and shared leadership including
a Leadership Team, Academic Teams, Inquiry Groups, and Discipline-based
Teams
- Agree on norms so teams can work effectively
- Define a school-wide vision for the school based on what students
should know and be able to do
- Set goals to achieve the school-wide vision
- Develop a decision making process that includes representation and
input from all members of the school community
Click on the links below to learn more about other Turning
Points practices.
Improving Learning,
Teaching, and Assessment for All Students -->
Building Leadership Capacity and a Collaborative Culture -->
Data-based Inquiry and Decision Making:
How Are We Doing?-->
Creating a School Culture to Support High Achievement
and Personal Development-->
Networking with Like-minded Schools -->
Developing District Capacity to Support School
Change
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