Collaborative+Culture+6

Respond to the following quote: "Interdependence is what organizations are all about. Productivity, performance, and innovation result from **joint** action, not just individual efforts or behavior." (Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000, p. 197) It requires more than one person to make up an organization or team, therefore; an organization is not about the behavior or efforts of one person. It requires EACH member to put forth effort and behave in a productive manner in order to achieve the goal.(E. Harris) Teamwork divides the task and doubles the success. I agree with Elisa that each member must contribute in order to achieve goals. (C. Riddlehoover) As a Resource teacher, I know that collaborating with regular class teachers as well as our OT, PT and speech language pathologist is vital to do the very best for "our students".(A.Land) You are right when you say that each member must contribute in order to achieve goals. It can be very frustrating and tiring to have to pull someone else's weight in order for the team to be successful. How do we deal with the situation of some having more of the load to carry if the "team" is to be successful?(R. Hames) I agree we must all do our part as a contributing member of the team, however, I am much more comfortable performing a task on a volunteer basis rather that being assigned a specific task. I feel I am more productive in my comfort zone.(C. Depreast) Teamwork has to be given priority, not just at the grade level. The entire school must do what is best for the students at large, not just their own. This says easy, but does hard!! We are all given Courses of Study and pacing guides to follow, so it is fairly easy for a grade level to function. When we start talking about things across grade levels, it is easy to get focused on what is best for your grade, and even class. To me, the important part of this quote is the "organizations" part. Do what is best for the organization, not just your part of it. (A.Harris) I have first hand experience this year of how interdependence is working for my collegues and me. Myself and two other teachers have started working extremely close to one another, which has taken the load off of each us, while still maintaining the same goal. We each have our own strengths and utilize those strengths to help each other. Because of this collaboration or interdependence, my year has gone smoother than any other year I've taught. (H. Witt) The more we work together to plan and organize our classrooms and then stick with the plan we've made, the better things run for the rest of the school year. (C.Bennich) Collaboration of team members helps each child achieve his individual goals.(T.Thrasher) The reason our team works so well together is that we all carry our own share of the load. Working and planning together and then sticking to those plans makes for a smoother year. (A. Robinson) Our group, like most groups, is made up of many different personalities. We all bring different talents to the table. It's always interesting to see how these different talents come together when planning projects and lessons. (M.Brown)
 * I have, more than once, surprised myself with what I have __ volunteered __ to offer in situations where, if I had been __ asked __ to do the same thing, may have turned it down, flat! We are all capable of wonderful and amazing feats if we feel the investment of time and talent is driven by a sense of community responsibility and appreciation of individual effort. It takes both to encourage us to step outside ourselves. (S.Rahm) I agree with this. We feel better when we volunteer instead of being told what to do whether we like it or not. It also allows those with more time to step up and take some responsibility for the whole school. It can eliminate a l[[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/c.gif width="8" height="22"]]ot of the stress by making it our decision to decide what extra duties we can handle at the moment. We all do better when we feel in control, appreciated and a part of the community.(E Lee) I totally concure with the above teachers.Being able to volunteer for an extra duty definitely makes me feel more in control.One shoud feel more productive especially if a duty was completed as a team effort. Stress plays a tremendous part with a person who is given an assignment to do on their own. Of course this is in addition to all the other daily teacher duties that is expected to be completed within a weeks time. Teachers working collaborately to complete an assignment can encourage each other to insure that the best possible efforts have been given to complete the job.(B. Spur) I also agree. I like discussing different ideas as a faculty and then having the choice to offer my services or be part of the extra activities. In general, I try to do and participate in whatever comes along, but I know I am guilty of the attitude I may have when told "you will do this" verses me making the decision and wanting to do. I want to do with a happy heart. Sometimes we just have to say no, but we dont want to feel guilty or feel that people talk about us because we may or may not participate in something.(K.Powell)