Special Assignment Lesson Plan - Teamwork

Attention

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able

• Identify characteristics of an effective team climate.
• Discuss the purpose of teamwork as it relates to the family and child.
• Participate in a team to individualize for a child.

Teaching

When you work with young children it is highly unlikely that you will be working alone.  In some unique cases you may be alone all day but in order to do your job effectively, there should a level of teamwork with families, special educators and/or colleagues.  There are always a few children that you will need extra support with and it never takes one person to individualize for what is in a child’s best interest.

Understanding you are not the expert…………..in everything.
            Everyone involved in a child’s life has something to offer.  Sure, you spend A LOT of time with the children every day.  You may know many things about a particular child that others do not.  There is value in who you are as an educator and your specific interactions with children.  You are the professional in early childhood development.  However, the family is the expert on what goes on at home.  The special educator is the expert on accommodations and modifications.  The art teacher is the expert on art.  And the list continues. 

Find value in what everyone else has to offer.
            There are times when you will not agree with the family or other professionals.  It is easy to judge and justify why your rationale is best for the child.  It is not so easy to step back and be a team player.  It is absolutely critical to value others knowledge and skill.  Everyone has something to offer especially if they are involved in the child’s life.

Communicate your thoughts and listen to others
               When you are faced with a difference in opinion, communication is KEY!  Find a constructive way to communicate your thoughts and listen to what others are saying.  It is okay if the end result is disagreement.  It WILL happen in your career.  It is okay to respectfully disagree on something. 

In the article, Building Supporting Teamwork you will find more information on the importance of teamwork, how to build a successful team, how to resolve conflicts and strategies for support. 

For this assignment you will be participating as part of a team to individualize for a specific child.  Individualization can sometimes be as easy as a quick modification to the environment or as complex as needing an IEP meeting.   On the How do you Individualize Map you can see the progression of individualization that could be needed for a specific children. 

Assessment

ELO Teamwork Lesson Assignment

For this assignment you will be gathering some background information about how your cooperating teacher individualizes for the children in the classroom.  You will discuss the various players involved in individualization and what she uses to inform what children need (observation, assessments, collection of materials etc.).  Then your cooperating teacher will assist you with choosing a child for the second part of your assignment.  Through teamwork you will create an activity and implement it based on what the team decides is appropriate for the child.
The last part of your assignment will be a reflection on the process of teaming.

Part One -  submit an outline in dropbox one

Collecting background information – to start the assignment discuss with your cooperating teacher the following:

• The assignment itself
• How does the teacher individualize for the children?
• What does teamwork look like for the teacher and who do they team with? (Parents, special educators, classroom aide, etc. etc.)
• What does your teacher see as characteristics of a successful team?
• Which child will you be focusing on for the assignment?

Part Two – submit an outline with your observation and lesson plan in dropbox two

First you will need to determine roles - Who are the players in this team and what is their title?  At the very least you should include the parent and the cooperating teacher)

Second, you will need to discuss with the team players:

• You want to plan an activity that is individualized for that child
• What do they believe is the skill that needs to be worked on
• What are strategies they are currently using to work on that skill?
• How could they support you with the activity? (Idea, materials, environmental considerations, etc.)
• Complete a running record/anecdotal observation for the child

            After gathering the information from all of the team players create your activity using the activity format provided.
            Share your activity idea with all of the players involved and decide on a time to implement.

Part Three – submit in dropbox three

The last part of your special assignment will be a 3-5 paper summarizing your experience and findings on teamwork.  Using APA or MLA format address the following:

• An introduction on the importance of teamwork in early childhood education, who the important players are and what their roles are.
• Why you believe teamwork is important.
• A summary of your findings for part one.
• A description of the part two process
• What was the identified common goal of the team?    
• How did all of the team players differ on their thoughts?
• How were all of the thoughts the same?
• Do you believe everyone communicated openly and honestly?  How so?
• Were everyone’s goals focused on the same thing or were they more individual? – How did this impact your ability to plan an activity?
• If there were differences, how was an end result achieved? Explain
• Was everyone satisfied with the activity plan?  Explain
• A conclusion of your findings, thoughts about teamwork and how this will impact you as a future educator