In response to the 11/11/2010 post, “Broke is Broke – Part 1,” a reader writes: This goes beyond bullying. A teacher’s refusal to write lesson plans also affects our students’ education. It is an affront to teamwork and can have a negative effect on the accountability rating of the campus. Relying on someone else to do your planning work boarders on unethical behavior. The person you describe is a teacher who needs to rethink why they became a teacher in the first place. If the grade level team members take turns writing particular parts of lessons or specific lesson for their team because they favor a particular subject, and all agree on and discuss teaching strategies, that is a professional learning community. But the teacher who refuses to participate in group planning meetings yet demands access to the product of those meetings, is only concerned about themselves. SC Response As is the case with you, I was appalled by what was described in the original post. My response to the original writer was advice on how to address the situation with the individual. 1. Do your work and the work of others (not fair and tastes bad). 2. You can refuse to share with those who do not reciprocate (feels bad). 3. You can point out the lack of teamwork with administration (can be bad). But understand that situations such as the one described occur when leadership is not doing an adequate job of supporting and monitoring the instructional planning process. Much like the bully who terrorizes the playground when teachers don’t pay attention, the same can occur when administrators and instructional coaches do not actively participate in the discussions and meetings that drive instructional design. The campus manager who espouses the belief that, “I was hired to run the school, the teachers were hired run instruction” has ensured that both the campus and instruction are operating at sub-optimal levels. Think. Work. Achieve.Your turn…
Top LYS Tweets – May 3, 2021
Lead Your School represents a cadre of educators from across the country that are driven to maximize student opportunities and…