Help Your Team: Overcoming Common Collaborative Challenges in a PLC (Supporting Teacher Team Building and Collaboration in a Professional Learning Community)

by Bob Sonju, Michael D. Baywitz, Scott A. Cunningham, Joseph A. Ianora, Brandon Jones

Overview

With foreword by Mike Mattos

Build a strong, highly impactful team committed to learning for all. Written by eight professional learning community (PLC) experts, this practical guide addresses the most common challenges educators face when building collaborative teams and working collaboratively. Each chapter offers a variety of templates, processes, and strategies to help your team resolve conflict, focus on the right work, and take collective responsibility for student learning.

Rely on this book to troubleshoot collaborative learning and team development in your PLC:

• Gain an understanding of the PLC framework and the unique qualities of effective collaborative work.
• Learn about collaborative teams, what goes into making them, and how to utilize them effectively to drive change and professional development for teachers and other educators.
• Become familiar with the ways in which interpersonal issues affect collaborative teams, and gain collaborative tools for conflict resolution and team building for teachers and staff.
• Learn how a toxic work culture can contribute to the failure of collaborative learning and how to combat this toxic school culture.
• Explore how educators in nontraditional schools or singletons can use the collaborative process to their advantage.

Contents:
About the Authors
Foreword by Mike Mattos
Introduction
Chapter 1: Organizing Schools Into Effective Collaborative Teams
Chapter 2: Managing Team Members Who Disengage
Chapter 3: Establishing Clarity on What Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do
Chapter 4: Planning for Targeted and Effective Team Interventions
Chapter 5: Working Together in a PLC
Chapter 6: Changing to a Positive School Culture
Chapter 7: Involving Nondepartmental Members in a PLC
Chapter 8: Supporting Singleton Teachers in Collaborative Teams
Chapter 9: Dealing With Cautions, Conflicts, and Commitments
References and Resources
Index

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947604612
Publisher:	Solution Tree Press
Publication date:	09/20/2019
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.50(d)

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The authors of Help Your Team are highly successful and knowledgeable education leaders who have come together as a team to write a powerful and practical book. If you want to help your team and improve your school, read what these real-world experts write. They have done the work, and we are fortunate that they have shared their collective wisdom with us." —Jack Baldermann, principal, Westmont High School, Illinois

"Help Your Team is a must-read for anyone leading the professional learning community (PLC) process in his or her school. The book is powerful yet practical. It provides tools and procedures for coaching both teams and individuals, and it helped me discover how to overcome some major barriers I'm currently facing in my school's journey. Students will benefit the most from the strategies in this book." —Daniel Evans, principal, Moores Mill Intermediate School, Alabama

"Help Your Team is a welcome resource for teachers, leaders, and administrators looking for specific, practical strategies to help teams on their PLC journey. Through their collective experience, the authors understand the challenges teams face in implementing a high-functioning PLC. By providing real-world examples, research-based solutions, and thoughtful advice, the authors show educators how to overcome challenges and reach new heights to ensure high levels of learning for all students." —Erica Martin, reading interventionist

"Help Your Team describes various situations that can affect and challenge teams in a professional learning community (PLC). The team is the fundamental tool that accomplishes the primary goal of the PLC—ensuring students learn at high levels. However, a fully functioning and efficient team does not happen simply by telling teachers to work together in a team. The authors provide anecdotal evidence of situations in schools followed by an analysis of the team's behavior and how to address that behavior. The explanations are clear, concise, and easy to follow. The book offers several guidelines and forms to help in the planning and implementation of team strategies and addresses the critical need of teacher leaders as they try to establish and improve school teams." —Robert G. Robins, science department chair, Hallsville High School, Texas

"Great book! For those of us in the trenches, this book has wonderful ideas that truly make a difference in helping our PLC teams. Too many times, books focus on philosophies or ideas without giving practical, 'this is how you do it' advice. The tools I found in this book I can use at any time with my team and they help me get results." —Rusty Taylor, principal, Crimson Cliffs High School, Utah