Activity: Grade Level Chair Kindergarten

Description:
I served as grade level chair for my kindergarten team for two years. he kindergarten
team was made !p of si" team mem#ers the first year and eight team mem#ers the second
year. $!t of the eight mem#ers % were new to kindergarten &never having ta!ght it
#efore'( ) were new to o!r school( and * was a new teacher. * teacher was transferred to
o!r school after the *+ day co!nt and came to !s on a ,I, and - of the teachers .o#/
shared. his meant that one teacher was there - days a week while the other was there )
days a week.
0hat went well1
he #est thing that happened was that I developed relationships with my entire team #oth
years. 0e started off doing team planning in the s!mmer( #!t #eyond this we did
something f!n to #!ild relationships with one another. 0e went to l!nch( we went to a
movie( painted pottery together( anything that wo!ld help !s get talking and knowing one
another. his was e"tremely val!a#le #eca!se it allowed !s to get to know one another
eno!gh so that we knew how to approach one another when the to!gh moments aro!se.
0e met twice a week religio!sly. 0e had set meeting dates and we always met. 2ven if
it meant that we were meeting to .!st check in and then we left we still met. 0e may not
have stayed the entire planning period #eca!se we knew that time was val!a#le( #!t we
also !nderstood the importance of colla#oration. 2veryone came to o!r meetings and
everyone respected each other3s ideas.
0e shared responsi#ilities. At the #eginning of the year we divided the year3s
responsi#ilities. 2veryone was responsi#le for something4 0e looked at the calendar
and attempted to get as many events &cele#rations( field trips( tests( etc.' on it. 5rom that
we divided !p all the events e6!ita#ly so that every individ!al was responsi#le for setting
!p and organi7ing the !pcoming events. his went very well #eca!se everyone took
ownership and everyone had a vested interest in the !pcoming events.
0hat did not1
It was diffic!lt to have s!ch a large grade level. he second year we were divided into
pods which ca!sed separation within o!r grade level. Altho!gh we contin!ed to meet for
common planning yo! co!ld still see that the grade level was divided and that alliances
were #eginning to form. his only amplified after I left the grade level and someone else
took over the responsi#ility of #eing grade level chair.
Altho!gh colla#oration was taking place not everyone was colla#orating e6!ally. 8ome
teachers were coming to grade level meetings !nprepared to share information to the
gro!p and they rarely #ro!ght information. hey were always willing to take information
and ideas( #!t they rarely shared information and ideas. his ca!sed for some people to
#ecome disgr!ntled #eca!se they felt like they were doing all of the work while others
were getting the easy way o!t.
5inally( the logistics of o!r team #ecame a pro#lem. 9aving teachers who .o#/shared
was a #ig challenge. Altho!gh they talked everyday( information did not comm!nicated.
It #ecame hard #eing grade level chair #eca!se I fo!nd that I was r!nning aro!nd in
circles making s!re that everyone was on the same page. he other challenge was
dealing with the teacher who .oined o!r team after the *+/day co!nt who was also on a
,I,. his was a very sensitive s!#.ect #eca!se I had to make s!re that the teachers were
splitting !p their st!dents according to administrations wishes( help the new teacher
acclimate to o!r school( while still r!nning my own classroom. his teacher contin!ed to
str!ggle and it ca!sed tension within o!r grade level #eca!se she often #ecame angry and
took it o!t on some of the :yo!nger; teachers. As chair I had to deal with these iss!es(
which often proved to #e a challenge.
Given the chance to do it again( how wo!ld yo! do it #etter1
I wo!ld definitely do things differently if given the chance to go #ack and do it again.
5irst of all( I wo!ld take the time to develop norms with my grade level at the #eginning
of each year. hese norms wo!ld incl!de all of o!r e"pectations for planning sessions.
his wo!ld hopef!lly red!ce the amo!nt of resentment. I wo!ld also make s!re that I
reviewed the norms #efore each meeting at the #eginning of the year and had them
visi#le as the year went on !nless I felt like it was necessary to contin!e to review them.
I wo!ld also make s!re to email the agenda and the min!tes from the meetings to all
mem#ers of the team. his wo!ld keep everyone on the same page. <y emailing the
agenda o!t to the team it wo!ld allow the team to come to the meeting prepared= th!s(
making the team meetings more prod!ctive.
5inally( I wo!ld also make s!re to !se m!ltiple types of comm!nication methods since
that seemed to #e ca!sing an iss!e &especially the second year'. I wo!ld !se email since
that targets everyone in one #ig swoop( #!t since not everyone on the grade level checks
email with relia#ility I wo!ld also share information in grade level meetings.