Co-op Question

[jpklehm]

I'm the high school coordinator for our co-op.  This is a well-organized, probably medium-sized (approx. 75-80 families) co-op which meets once a week. 

 

I'm interested in organizing our high school classes into departments (math department, Engllish department, science, history, etc.) so there is consistency

regarding expectations and content covered.  For example, I'd like to have pre-printed envelopes that teachers can quickly fill in/check off information on and

to use to send home notes and individual student information.  I'd also like to group teachers together and have them meet somewhat regularly to discuss

students, class information, etc.

 

I'm stuck, however, in exactly how to get this organized.

 

If anyone is involved in a co-op that has "departments" and is willing to share insight and what exactly is involved, please respond!  I appreciate any help or

suggestions given.

 

Thank you!

 

 

[Julie of KY]

I teach in co-op settings, but I am very resistant to too much structure or being told what to do. In co-op settings, I only teach supplemental classes - not core classes. I do best when you give me the freedom to teach what I want and in my own style. When I am given too much guidelines on how to teach or what to teach it is never as good. I teach a core class privately, but I have resisted offers to teach that class within co-op settings because I want to do it my way.

 

I as a parent want to know what I am signing my kids up for - is this a core classes with a weeks work of homework? grading? expectations of attendance? In the setting I like to teach supplemental classes, the expectation is generally NO homework or outside work.

 

In our local co-op that teaches all the core high school subjects, I do not think the teachers are given any formal expectations other than teach the subject to the standard of a high school credit and give appropriate home assignments. They are also given guidelines on what to charge for classes.

[StillStanding]

I don't know if this will be helpful, but here we go...

I ran a small co-op with a fellow homeschooler. She was in charge of organizing preK-7th classes while I was in charge of the 8th-9th classes. This was an academic co-op focusing on math, science and English, so we offered classes in these three areas every year and then we had "electives" that changed yearly depending on who wanted to teach what and when.

Our Co-op was smaller than yours so we did not have more than two teachers for each academic area. We had a core leader group that decided what curriculum to use for each academic subject (Saxon for math, Apologia for Science, IEW products for English) so anybody else who wanted to join the co-op  had to agree to use the curriculum selected by the leader team. We just wanted continuity from one year to another specially in math.

For other subjects (economics, government, history, photography, sewing, art, Spanish, or what ever was being taught that year, the teacher got to choose the curricula).

We also used "Engrade" ( free online ) to keep grades, communicate with students and parents, etc. We signed up the co-op as a school, and that allowed us to see how students did in the different subjects at once.

We met several times during the year to discuss "Scheduling" for the following year but we made sure we had continuity on the core subjects.

Monica

 

[jpklehm]

Thank you for your comments. 

 

This co-op offers both core and supplemental classes.  We offer the same high school core classes each year so parents can know what to expect.  We do have specific curricula (Saxon, Apologia, etc.) for these classes, too, and while the teachers have some flexibility, the curricula need to be finished and by having departments, it allows teachers of the same subjects to support one another.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to organize departments without adding add'l work for the teachers, as everyone is quite busy as it is.  Once this gets coordinated, I'm hoping it's more helpful than a hinderance.

 

Thanks for any suggestions you can give.

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Have you looked at online options? Our coop uses Homelife which is a pre designed website for coop type groups. It has forums that can be divided up by classes. So for example when I post on the forum for my govt class only those families get it. I think the cost is per family registered. This year they seem to have the ability to assign multiple emails per family. There is also a calendar and sevent sign up functions.

 

Another option is Quia. We use this with our Latin class and I liked it enough to sign myself up. It runs about $50 for a single registration with discounts for group orders. Each teacher needs a paid registration but students are free. You can create multiple class pages and assign quizzes, activities and links. You can grade items and make comments. It will do some grade tabulation but does not weight grades.

 

Just my preference but I prefer online options over paper notes sent home. I can send the emails to any or all of my email accounts. Paper tends to get stuck in a binder or a bag and not be remembered until morning of the next class.

[teachermom2834]

I know this isn't what you are asking but I personally feel like one of the strengths of our large homeschool co-op is exactly that lack of structure and organization.  I love that there are no departments where teachers discuss particular students and issues. Most teachers do not even know each other personally.  I like that teachers are free to teach outside such structure and that I am free to choose which teachers fit with us and which don't. I don't know...hard to explain and I know it isn't what you are asking but I just wanted to throw it out there.  I believe the lack of such structure and consistency makes our co-op strong by offering lots of choices of style and rigor. 

 

Good luck!

[teachermom2834]

Also...teachers use Engrade to communicate.  It seems to work well.  Some just use it to post grades while others use it to post assignments, messages to the group, etc. 

[merylvdm]

We also use Engrade and I am also with those who prefer less structure. As a teacher I don't want to discuss the students with the other teachers - I have had amazing results from students who I discovered had been written off by some of the teachers. I don't want to have expectations of students based on other teacher's experiences with them and it is easy for discussions to turn into gossip (I know that is not what you would be happy with - just saying it can happen). I stay clear of the teacher's lounge area even.

 

However, we don't have multiple teachers teaching the same curriculum which is what  you seem to have - so I do understand that you are in a fairly unique situation. We also can use any curriculum we want - I couldn't teach from something I was told to teach from any more than Julie could. 

 

I communicate with the parents via email and the students via Engrade.

[jpklehm]

Thanks again for your suggestions.  I'll look into the online support you mention above.

 

Our end goal is to offer teacher support, not create a gossip mill.  There is probably a middle ground here and that's what we're searching for, somewhere between too much structure and no structure.  We want teachers to know that if they need support in a certain area, there is a group of like-minded teachers to go to for that support.  Support can include the sharing of ideas and materials, helping to understand something they are teaching, etc., but we also want similar expectations for these subject classes, as well.  We want expectations and "rules" for late work, grading, etc., so that parents know that how their child performed is equal to the grade they received, regardless whether it's for World Lit. or British Lit., for Alg. 1 or Geometry, for Gov't or American History..  For the high school courses especially, we want consistency.

 

Again, thank you for your suggestions!