A Reader Writes... (Broke is Broke)

In response to the post, “Broke is Broke,” a LYS Teacher writes:

You are right. Many recognized school still needs improvement. We are dealing with this on my campus

One major element of a teacher’s responsibilities is to complete the duties assigned. Writing lessons plans is one of these duties and it is a significant one. My school has teachers who think that writing lesson plans should be someone else's job. They don't write their own plans. They bully other teachers into giving them copies of their plans. And if they don't get the lesson plans, they blame it on the group.

This is not LYS. It is simply a poor work ethic. Part of LYS is to write lessons together as a team. When a team member does not care to write their part and just passes the buck to another part of the team because they just have too much to do in their lives and cannot write lessons, they need to go look for a job that does not require being part of a team. Anyway you are right, a lot of non-LYS Recognized Schools need to be set straight.

SC Response
An action oriented professional learning community has internal discipline. The transition from a loose confederation of teachers to a team of professionals requires the development of professional norms. Something that some of your peers seem reluctant to adopt.

This puts you in a tough position, leaving you few easy options. You can:

1. Do your work and the work of others (not fair and tastes bad).

2. You can refuse to share with those who do not reciprocate (feels bad).

3. You can point out the lack of teamwork with administration (can be bad).

What I suggest is creating regular meeting times, assignment of specific responsibilities and documentation. Those who act as professionals reap the rewards of purposeful collaboration. Those who do not, have to argue against written requirements and expectaions. Which is a tougher task than saying, “I’m busy and they won’t share.”

Good luck and keep working to get better.

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