Category Archive

Elizabeth Rios is a kindergarten teacher at Northam Elementary School.

The Network Days opened my eyes to how these partnerships between teachers can come together. I also see how they’re going to benefit my students because I find myself thinking, “Oh, if I could just do some of these ideas with my kids.”

One particular kindergarten teacher told me that she has parents come in thirty minutes before school starts so she can teach a whole lesson to both the parents and their kids. I thought, “This is so neat. I want to do something like that,” especially because I’m interested in family literacy.

I also talked to a junior high teacher from Giano who was interested in assessing his students’ reading ability but didn’t have any tools for it. So, he and I decided that we would get together so I could teach him some of the assessments I’ve been learning in my Master’s program. Then I met a few high school teachers who told me that some of their students have a lot of needs and a lot of tough stuff going on at home. And I thought, “So do my kids.” One of the high school teachers then talked about how every morning he has his students tell him about one good thing and one bad thing that have happened to them. Again, I thought, “I could do that with my kids. I could sit and say, ‘Good morning. How was your day?’” Meeting all these people from other grade levels and schools has made me realize that I have a lot more in common than I would have thought. I don’t think any of us would have met or talked if we hadn’t been involved in the Ball Foundation.

I’ve never experienced this kind of collaboration at this level. We do grade level and cross-grade level collaboration at my school, which has been really good, but we’ve never collaborated like this. There’s a huge difference. To me, this is a more professional and higher level of collaboration. We used to have workshops where we would get together, but we weren’t collaborating. We weren’t talking professionally about research or about what we were doing. It was more like we were being talked to as students, not learners – at least, not the kind of learner that I want to see in my classroom who actually takes care of his learning. In this higher form of collaboration, the conversation is different.  We’re bringing in our ideas and our interests, and the conversation is more open and free-flowing. It’s more like, “What do you want to do? Where do you want to go with this? How do you want this to come about?” We’re being asked to make judgments and professional decisions based on research and good practices and readings.

I’ve seen my practice change as a result of this collaboration. I now look more to what’s research-based, to professional readings, and to what other people are doing. If I have a question, I have an open discussion with people, getting their ideas and feedback. Plus, it’s opened up our classrooms to having other people come in. You feel a real comfort level knowing that someone who’s coming is coming in to support you. The Network Days especially make you feel a real and genuine support of what you’re trying to do as a teacher.

I also think, “Wow, there are so many ideas to try.” It opens your eyes to other things that you didn’t even think about. Or you look back and wonder, “Maybe I’ve been a good teacher, but have I been a great teacher? Am I doing the best things for my students?” I’m really excited about this process, and I think I’m very lucky. I feel like I ended up in the right place at the right time and made the right choices the whole way. I’m excited again about teaching. You can get kind of resigned in your teaching, but then I think you can get excited again every time you learn something new, every time you get to meet other people and discuss things. Your work doesn’t feel like a job then. Instead, it becomes like a calling to do something at a higher level.

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