4MWT

We were looking at different collaborative models around the school to gain inspiration of how to adapt our own collaborative practice. We saw teams of two or three teachers working in two classrooms and a shared space teaching around 50 children. One classroom we went into had the two teachers teaching small groups in their 'own' rooms while the children roamed between the two rooms working on independent activities. One thing I noticed was the reading independent activities were all very generic so a range of children could work on each activity rather than having group based activities. I wondered how we could integrate this approach in the middle school to make groupings more flexible? Could we somehow incorporate this into the SMARTs activities we already do? Are the SMART contracts we have already doing this in a different way?

I was also interested in how the teachers used the physical space in different ways. Something we have found challenging is conflicting teacher noise and voices. From what I observed all the teachers were working in their own spaces while the children moved between groups. Having a long open space has proved interesting when groups are working independently as playing games away from one teaching group often means they are closer to another! We will need to think carefully about how we use our space next term. Maybe we could set up clear zones - signs, curtains? as quiet zones, partner zones etc. Communication around these expectations between teachers and students will be key.