Blog

The Dream Team

There are many reasons I am thankful that I work at Chicago Friends School. I love my students, and I enjoy being a teacher, but there is something I thank my lucky stars for everyday: our staff team. To write this blog, I am going to try and narrow down what it is that actually makes my co-workers so awesome and how we are a strong team.

Positivity

I can see Karen, Renata, Melanie and I are constantly looking for ways to celebrate the little things that our students do everyday to positively reinforce their achievements. As a team, we incidentally do this for one another as well! We can always count on each other to be genuinely excited when there is a success in the classroom or even to highlight something positive on a challenging day. When a team like ours goes out of their way to tell each other why something done was awesome, awesome things are bound to keep happening, and at Chicago Friends School, they do!

Communication

Because we teach each student at the level where they are and not necessarily their grade level, students move between classrooms for their learning. It is important for all of the staff to be up to date on each student to create consistency for all of our learners. This is especially true in the K–2 classrooms. Melanie and I collaborate and communicate on a daily basis, and we share our weekly teaching theme. I enjoy this a lot and I think the students benefit too. Having fluidity between classrooms allows each of us the opportunity to work with all of the students upstairs and maintain a united K–2.

A Common Objective

Although each of our team members is unique, it is obvious that we share in one main objective: making each of our students the best they can be! You can tell the minute you walk into Chicago Friends School how much love we have for all of the students. As long as each of us is acting with this in mind, the success of our team is inevitable. It is amazing what a group of positive and like-minded people can do when they work collaboratively. Every single member of our team contributes to the success of our students, whether it is through direct instruction or a friendly conversation in the hallway. The Chicago Friends School is an awesome place to go to school, but it also a great place to work on a fantastic team.

User Avatar

Meghan Brtnik

is a classroom teacher on the K-2 team. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Meghan was a substitute teacher at an international baccalaureate school in Toronto and at the Latin School of Chicago. She graduated from York University, Toronto, with a M.Ed. at the primary/junior level and completed an additional qualification course in special education. Meghan earned a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario in honors psychology, focusing on the psychological and social foundations in human behavior. In addition, Meghan has worked in a Montessori school, tutored students individually, and lived and worked at an all-girls boarding school.
For fun, Meghan loves traveling, trying out new restaurants, exploring new neighborhoods, swimming, reading, and walking.

Leave a Reply