6. Common
assessments – One way to take your teaching to the next level is to give common
assessments.This concept (promoted by
Professional Learning Communities founder Dr. Richard DuFour) says that
teachers of the same subject should give the same tests…then collaborate to see
who teaches specific concepts best.Let’s say that you have 77% of your students getting question #14 wrong,
a question that deals with Order of Operations.Your colleague across the hall gave the same test, and only 19% of her
kids got question #14 wrong.How did her
kids grasp the concept of Order of Operations while yours didn’t?Ask her how she taught the concept.This opens a dialogue between teachers about
teaching and learning…a dialogue that will result in better teaching, and more
students learning at a high level.It’s
a win-win situation, right?This is what
you meant when you wrote the phrase “I’m a team player” on your resume,
right?The teacher across the hall says
that she uses the acronym PEMDAS to teach Order of Operations, where “P” is
parenthesis, “E” is exponents, “M and D” is multiplication and division from
left to right, and “A and S” stand for addition and subtraction from left to
right.You say you are teaching the same
thing, but the kids aren’t getting it.Your colleague says that she uses the phrase “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt
Sally” to help students remember the Order of Operations.You say, “What?Where did you learn that?”A breakthrough has now been made.The only situation in which collaboration
does not work is one where teachers refuse to work with each other.You are not going to let that happen…you are
a team player.
