Tool: What Is Your Team Monitoring?

Instructions:

Beginning in the rows under the column heading Monitored Initiative

, write down a program, initiative, action, school requirement, or team decision that is occupying your team’s time and attention. The column titled

Core Collaborative Behavior That Initiative Addresses

lists tasks that effective learning teams focus time and energy on; use the checkboxes in that column to determine which behaviors the initiative your team is monitoring aligns with. Because collaborative teams must honestly assess the time demands that each initiative places on their collective work, use the checkboxes in the column titled

Time Required to Implement Initiative

to assess the amount of time necessary to make this project work. Finally, keep in mind that collaborative learning teams must make systematic decisions about each project based on its connection to student learning, its alignment with the building’s mission and vision, and its compliance with school district mandates. Use the checkboxes under

Priority Placed on Initiative

to help your team consider each factor and prioritize the initiative. Finally, use the reflection questions at the end of this template to help guide your team in determining next steps.

Priority Placed on Initiative

Time Required to Implement Initiative

This task should be at the center of our attention. This task demands attention, but it isn’t a priority. This task should be set aside for now. This task should be eliminated or ignored.

Core Collaborative Behaviors That Initiative Addresses

Extensive amounts of time Moderate amounts of time Small amounts of time

Monitored Initiative

(Check all that apply.)  Identify essential curricu lum: deciding what students should learn Develop common assess ments: measuring what students should learn Monitor student learning data: evaluating what stu dents have learned Provide remediation or enrich ment: ensuring that every student learns This project doesn’t clearly meet any of these goals.

Priority Placed on Initiative

Time Required to Implement Initiative

Core Collaborative Behaviors That Initiative Addresses

This task should be at the center of our attention. This task demands attention, but it isn’t a priority. This task should be set aside for now. This task should be eliminated or ignored. This task should be at the center of our attention. This task demands attention, but it isn’t a priority. This task should be set aside for now. This task should be eliminated or ignored.

(Check all that apply.) Identify essential curricu lum: deciding what students should learn Develop common assess ments: measuring what students should learn Monitor student learning data: evaluating what stu dents have learned Provide remediation or enrich ment: ensuring that every student learns This project doesn’t clearly meet any of these goals. Extensive amounts of time Moderate amounts of time Small amounts of time

Extensive amounts of time Moderate amounts of time Small amounts of time

Monitored Initiative

Identify essential curricu lum: deciding what students should learn Develop common assess ments: measuring what students should learn Monitor student learning data: evaluating what stu dents have learned Provide remediation or enrich ment: ensuring that every student learns This project doesn’t clearly meet any of these goals.

page 2 of 3

This task should be at the center of our attention. This task demands attention, but it isn’t a priority. This task should be set aside for now. This task should be eliminated or ignored.

Extensive amounts of time Moderate amounts of time Small amounts of time

Identify essential curricu lum: deciding what students should learn Develop common assess ments: measuring what students should learn Monitor student learning data: evaluating what stu dents have learned Provide remediation or enrich ment: ensuring that every student learns This project doesn’t clearly meet any of these goals.

Questions for Reflection Do you notice any patterns in the types of initiatives that your team is currently monitoring? Are you spending most of your time focused on tasks directly related to student learning? Does one type of task dominate your team’s attention? Why? What one task do you wish your team could spend more time focused on? How would this help move your learning team forward? What one task do you wish your team could spend less time focused on? What is keeping you from cutting that work from your team’s agendas?

Source: Adapted from Graham, P., & Ferriter, W. M. (2010). Building a Professional Learning Community at Work: A guide to the first year . Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. page 3 of 3