Chili Seasoning

This summer I have been taking the Collaboration and Communication class. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) subset I have been working on this semester is NBPTS 5.2: Teachers working collaboratively with parents. My final group PPT project is focused on the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standard 1.A.: Building positive relationships among teachers and families. My experience in this class and learning about collaborating with parents and families has been challenging but rewarding.

One of the things we did during class that helped me was the Collaboration and Communication Rubric. So far each person in class has done three of them, but I have only done two. When we got the first one I was confused about what we were supposed to do with it. Once my professor explained it to me, I understood what I was supposed to do and was able to complete the others.

Completing the rubrics has helped me to understand how much research is a weakness for me. In a group setting or collaborative situation, I am not the right person to find and collect new information. In my group, for example, I thought I had research information that we could use for our project. As it turned out, my research was not on topic at all. I am, however, a good listener, so if others can find the information and share it with me, I can understand it that way; I learn best when things are explained to me. I am also good at sharing information. Once I have knowledge about a particular subject, I am not afraid to talk to other people and share my knowledge and experience with them.

What I think I will do differently when I return to work is that I will collaborate more with my coworkers and the parents of my students. I plan on approaching coworkers and parents with information or to seek solutions, instead of waiting for people to come to me with problems. This class has given me the confidence to be more proactive in solving problems and finding answers.

My group's PPT project is about parent/teacher collaboration: how parents and teachers work together. I am working with Paris, Hope, and Angie. They have been great partners in this project. Overall I think project has been confusing. At first we didn't have any idea what we were supposed to talk about, like what the topic was supposed to be, so we had trouble getting started. We came to an agreement about our topic, but it wasn't until our second meeting that we finally made a decision. Even then, we only came to a decision because we had to move forward, not because we really understood what we were supposed to be doing.

One thing that did go very well in the beginning was that we took time to get to know each other and our strengths. I came into the project a little afraid. Working on group projects in the past haven't always been a positive experiences for me. I like working with my classmates and coworkers, and I like learning new things from them, but in the past I'd be given a role that was difficult for me, and then my group would say that I wasn't pulling my weight. I was happy that this group was so nice, and that they didn't do that with me. They gave me pieces of the project that I could handle. This made me feel a lot better about our group work because I knew I would not be given anything I couldn't handle, and makes me feel like I am a valuable member of the team. Angie, Hope, Paris, and I like each other and work well together. The only confusion we have now is how to combine the NAEYC standard we are working on with our NPBT standard, and how to work them into our power point presentation.

Working with this group has been a positive experience. I enjoy working with my classmates and I appreciate the chance to share my strengths in this project. I also enjoy learning about the strengths of the other group members; it makes me a better team member, and helps me improve my role in future collaborations both big and small. The four of us get along very well and we have worked well together overall. Whenever we solve a problem by working together, we give each other high-fives for being so good at collaborating.

However, I tend to become a perfectionist when it comes to my own work, and still worry about how my teammates will receive my efforts toward our project. Even though I feel comfortable about my place in this group, I still feel a little lost about my role in the project and what I can contribute.