Team Paper

Fallon Parker
EDL 272: Organizational and System Behavior
Drake University
Team Paper 1

A committee that I was a part of was the planning committee for Early Childhood. The

committees task was to take learning goals from Teaching Strategies Gold and align them with

our curriculum. Once the curriculum was aligned, we were to gather resources and activities to

help provide instruction for tier one and tier two supports. The team consisted of three Head Start

teachers, three Universal Preschool teachers, three Early Childhood Special Education teachers,

and two Early Childhood Iowa teachers. Our administration asked for volunteers to work on this

committee over the summer and present the final project at the beginning of the year staff

meeting.

Once the committee was determined we met and discussed our goals. We split up into

three groups each working on aligning the curriculums scope and sequence with our learning

standards from Teaching Strategies Gold. We used the assigned template and applied it to the

curriculum. Upon completion, we came together and reviewed the Teaching Strategies Gold

learning standards, and decided which level of proficiency was tier one instruction and tier two

instruction. The next task was to pair up and start compiling activities and instructional supports

for teachers to use while planning instruction. After all the activities were compiled, we placed

everything on the shared documents site so that all teachers would have access. In the Fall, each

group presented their alignment to the curriculum and each pair planned an activity for teachers

to take away from their tier one activity.

The team worked efficiently and effectively because we had a clear purpose with clear

goals. Everyone on the team knew the outcome that was expected of us. Before starting on this

project, we discussed the objectives of our committee. Once everyone was clear on what our task

was, we were able to start working. With clear expectations, the committee was able to delegate

tasks. When splitting into groups, we tried to divide personnel so that there were different
Team Paper 2

perspectives in each group such as; an Early Childhood Special Education teacher, UPK teacher,

and a Head Start teacher in each group. This allowed for every voice to have input in the project.

We knew were representing our entire department which consists of many different classrooms

with varying abilities. Once the curriculum was aligned, we came together to discuss how we

were going to provide instructional supports for teachers.

I feel the reasons the committee was effective was due to communication, clear goals,

and all voices were heard. As a committee our ultimate goal was to be able to provide teachers

with resources to aid in instruction. We created a document that teachers could reference when

planning instruction. When the committee presented the end result to staff in the Fall, teachers

were able to navigate the document easily and had something tangible to take home with them.

The feedback from teachers was positive during and after the meeting. Ultimately I feel that the

objective of our committee was met in the timeframe that was given. It was overall a positive

experience.