C OLLABORATION EDU222 Dr. Danan Myers

What is collaboration? Some teachers may call working together in a classroom to instruct a group of students that includes students with disabilities collaboration. Others may describe meetings they attend to discuss students academic and behavioral progress and concerns. They may also say working on a committee or any other situation in which they work closely with other teachers is collaboration (Collaboration, n.d.).

T AKE A MOMENT …. Make a list of all the people a teacher needs to collaborate with to make learning successful

W E COLLABORATE WITH …. Parents Students Regular education teachers Administrators Specialists Nurse Speech Occupational Therapy Counselor School Psychologist Community Clubs and organizations Support groups Out sourced specialists

Collaborating with parents Teacher-parent collaboration should be preventative rather than reactive. Collaboration should begin immediately between the teacher and parent to help parents and teachers communicate and focus on the progress and growth of the children right from the start. This collaboration must begin with setting the tone between the teacher and the parent.

C OLLABORATING WITH TEACHERS Faculty meetings Departmental/subject meetings Grade-level meetings Beginning-of-year meetings Lesson planning Examination preparation Workshops Sharing materials Informal meetings University graduate classes Team teaching Special education meetings Committee meetings Peer observation

C OLLABORATION WITH SPECIALISTS Subject area specialists Math Science History Physical education Other specialists Behaviorist Learning Language Health Speech Counselors Nurse School psych And much more

C OLLABORATION WITH ADMINISTRATION First of all, the administrator can make or break any collaboration in the school. pro-collaboration is important as this positive attitude comes from the top down. The administrator should understand the importance of collaborative planning and using collaborative models in the inclusion classroom. Encourages all teachers to engage in these activities and provide professional development for the successful implementation of collaborative planning and teaching. The second part of collaboration with administration is for the needs of individual students. Discuss student concerns and progress Keeping administration informed helps to receive the help you need.

POSITIVE INVOLVEMENT P --Present all information to parents in a positive and caring manner O --Opinions. Listen to and respect opinions about a child or situation from other teachers, administrators, and family members S --Stress strengths of the student when talking to parents I --Initiate change. Explain any problems or concerns and discuss changes that can be made to promote a more positive learning environment T --Test scores--Explain what test scores mean, what they don't mean, and what students can do to improve their scores I --Informed decisions--Make educational changes or decisions only after discussing matters with the parents V --Value opinions, concerns, and fears of parents E --Explain every aspect for parents in great detail

C OLLABORATION WITH THE COMMUNITY Sometimes you may have a student in your classroom who has community agencies working with them. health and human services agencies, local businesses Sports clubs other agencies Honig, Kahne, and McLaughlin (1999)state that Connections between schools and communities seem to have a high impact on learning when they provide a range of activities and supports for youth in academic and nonacademic areas. This means that a partnership between a youth organization and a school does not simply provide academic tutoring after school and otherwise extend the academic day. Rather, a sports team becomes a setting for developing math skills when compiling team statistics, practicing problem solving skills when figuring out how to raise money for new uniforms, and exercising leadership skills when youth coach each other (para. 11).

T EACHER - STUDENT COLLABORATION It is important to include the student in his/her learning. what teaching methods work best where the best place to be seated how he/she likes to work with peers and more.