"The Team Approach"

Hello,

Today I'm going to take a little bit of time to talk to you about the team approach that we use within our district. When I think of a team I usually think of a sports team- IOWA! A team can be defined as a group of individuals that come together to work on achieving one goal. Within our district our teachers are on multiple district and building level teams who are focused on the goal of improving teaching and learning within our schools. Below I will outline some of our teams and their responsibilities.

Instructional Services Team
This is a group of teachers and administrators that meet monthly to help plan and organize our district professional development, teaching, and learning. Each of our schools have several teachers that are members of this team. The middle school teachers that participate on this team are Jess Huch, Jess Sauer, Kate Harken, and Brenda Willis. I and all the other administrators are also on the Instructional Services Team.

Building Leadership Team
At each building the administration has a group of teachers that they can call on for leadership. In most cases the Building Leadership Team is made up of the principal and the teachers that are a member of the Instructional Services Team. So at the middle school our team is Jess Huch, Jess Sauer, Kate Harken, Brenda Willis and I. This team helps problem solve issues at the building level and leads professional development, teaching, and learning at the middle school. The Building Leadership Team at the middle school meets about once every two weeks.

Professional Learning Team
All teachers at Clear Creek Amana are a part of a Professional Learning Team. At the middle school we have four teams; literacy, social studies, science, and math. Jess Huch, Jess Sauer, Kate Harken, and Brenda Willis lead these teams. The teams meet two or three times per month. Their focus is on professional development, teaching, and learning. Each teacher is responsible for creating their own instructional plans. The team leaders support the instructional plan process.

Grade Level Team
At the middle school our teachers are divided into three grade level teams; 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The grade level teams meet two to three times a week. Their mission is to review student data, plan and discuss teaching and learning, discuss and problem solve student issues, and plan daily schedules.

In the next week or so you will receive a letter from your child's reading teacher. The letter explains the reading program at our middle school. The reading teachers are a great example of how by working together in teams we have created a uniform reading program within our middle school. The teachers spent a lot of professional development time researching, learning, and planning in order to restructure our reading program.

To see a copy of the letter you will receive, click here.

As you read the letter from the reading teachers, I hope you take the time to think about the research, planning, and effort that the teachers have shown to create such a GREAT reading program for our students! It really takes all of us working together to provide the BEST for our children! Thanks for your support!

If you have any questions or comments, please share!!

Take care,
Brad