Weekly Slides

Week 2 - Teamwork - 2018-19


Read time: 2 minutes
Published on September 21st, 2018


When I put my team first, all the good things happen. I try to be as smart and selfless as I can, and in the end I get a lot more in return.

-Sue Bird

(Photo Credit: Dean Rutz / AP)
For an in-depth overview of each weekly slide presentation, please skip below to your specific grade level.
  • To see the 1-page Teamwork Character Card and share it with your students’ families, click here.
  • For the P2 Reflection Journals, used by all elementary students at the end of the week, click here.

Starting Monday, Partner Schools nationwide will begin learning about teamwork. This is the ability and willingness to place overall group success as a higher priority than individual achievement. Those who exemplify this strength work to help all group members find success. These individuals are willing to commit time and resources to further group goals and help move toward the greater good.

This week’s character strength example is Sue Bird, the point guard of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. Bird is also a great leader and humble — two other character strengths. As we’ll see throughout the course of the year, character strengths are not mutually exclusive. As the Wall Street Journal’s Sam Walker explains in his column “The Captain Class”, Bird always puts her team first. That’s the reason she’s won championships at every level from AAU to the WNBA.

For individuals, teamwork often means deferring or delaying individual accomplishments in order to ensure that the group maintains a high level of success. Their commitment to the larger group effort makes them both good teammates and citizens. The positive feelings associated with being part of a larger whole can be highly beneficial and combat selfishness and egotism.

Our ability to work effectively within group structures is tied directly to the group’s ability to succeed. In schools and workplaces across the world, commitment to teamwork and to the “greater good” helps further learning and achievement for all group members. Maintaining the idea that “Other People Matter” is essential to any successful team environment.

 

And, as a reminder, you can find all of our weekly slide presentations on our website’s Resources page here. This page is the place that we recommend you go to access all of the resources — not via Google Drive folders.

To find your grade level’s presentation, you can simply type the word “teamwork” into the Resource Title search bar or sort by Character Strength and select Teamwork. Each of those options will provide you with 10 slide presentations and one 1-page character card. For a simple overview of the Resources page, with pictures and videos, click here.