Originally when I chose my teaching partner, I was looking for a few things in particular. First, I wanted an elementary teacher since I currently work in a middle school. Therefore, I have some experience in collaborating with teachers on a smaller scale at this level and wanted to expand my age range. Second, I wanted a teacher who would share past lessons and be willing to make some changes for the good of the students. With this, I was able to pair up Elizabeth with the understanding that she has not incorporated technology into her classroom and feels uncomfortable doing so. I was glad that she was honest about this up front so I was aware of her hesitations. This helped me consider her current position and gave me an idea of how to approach the situation.
After looking over all of her documents in reference to the animal research unit, I made a list of possible enhancements/additions to be made to the unit. These ideas were based off of the GLCEs that she already covered as well as additional GLCEs and some METS. A couple of these included computer work which made Elizabeth nervous. On top of my ideas, she came up with a few as well – some of which branched off of my ideas while others were new ideas altogether. After some discussion, we decided on which changes we would make. I was able to get some of the computer-related ideas included, but not all of them.
As the classroom teacher, she did have the ultimate vote over the LMS in deciding what was included in the unit. Elizabeth has had great success with this unit in the past and she is proud of how she has taught it. So I decided that I would rather add a few small changes to several of the lessons as opposed to reworking all of her ideas. My thought was that if this collaboration experience is successful, I may be able to include more critical thinking and technological ideas in future lessons.
I feel that this process is important when entering into any collaboration relationship so as to not make the teacher feel defensive of their previously used methods and lessons. As collaborative relationships grow, the LMS can begin making even more suggestions and teaching more lessons once that foundation has been established. If the LMS tries to do too much in the beginning it may deter that teacher, and maybe others, from future collaboration.
For us, the virtual planning of using email for a majority of our communication was our only option. We live 2 hours away from each other and have different schedules so meeting in person or even phone conversations would not have been as convenient as email. However, this did prevent us from having “conversations” which would be helpful in future collaborations. Since the LMS would likely be working in the school with the teacher they are collaborating with, hopefully there would be some face-to-face interaction throughout the planning period and thereafter. But due to scheduling issues, this email option may be a common method even within school buildings. Therefore, I am glad that I have experienced it in a long distance situation even though it would mostly be down the hall in a school setting.
The idea of the wiki was valuable; however, using it with my teacher partner was not as easy as I had thought. Since we discussed most of our ideas through email, we would make the necessary changes and have the other person review the final document. From here, I would post the document to the wiki in the agreed upon location. It would have been difficult for us to make suggestions on the wiki to each other without including a note of explanation for the other person. We felt that it would be easier for us to email attachments for review and make comments either within the document or within the body of the email before sending it back to the other partner. Therefore, a majority of the wiki editing/posting was done by me as a way to compile our final documents as opposed to using it as an editing site for our team.
Overall, this project was a great stepping-stone into collaborating with classroom teachers. I understand that I was able to select my own teaching partner with whom I already had a personal relationship with and that this is not always the case in the schools. Also, not all teachers will be interested in working with the LMS on units or lessons. While I did not encounter this particular situation, having some successful collaboration experience will help guide me in how to best approach this teacher(s) in my future career as an LMS.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Assessment
In response to the higher order critical thinking skills for our unit, I used the template found at http://www.med.wright.edu/aa/facdev/_Files/PDFfiles/QuestionTemplates.pdf to help generate ideas. Below are what I have decided to include and the category in which it fits:
- Write a story about what it would be like to spend a day with your animal. (inference)
- Would you want to have your animal as a pet? Why or why not? (evaluation)
- Pair up with a friend and compare/contrast your animals (comparison)
- Trivia/Bingo about animals and all about books (recall)
While I have not yet developed formal lesson plans for these ideas, I feel that they will fit in and be an appropriate mix of skills. These lessons will take the student away from simply researching and writing their information into sentences. They will allow the students to take that information that they have collected and use it further.
The story about spending a day with their animal will include facts like where they live and what they eat (research) but will be enhanced with their imagination and what they think it would be like to spend a day with this animal they have learned so much about. I have a rubric which will be used to evaluate the writing.
Along the same lines, the students will need to make a decision as to whether or not their animal would make a good pet. Of course, a yes or no answer will not be the end of it because they will then need to explain why or why not. Their reasoning for their decision will be based on what they have learned. I have a rubric which will be used to evaluate the writing.
Comparing and contrasting animals would get the students talking and sharing information about their animal. From here, they will need to decide what about their two animals is the same and what is different. This information will be written in a Venn diagram to help visualize the comparison. This lesson will not produce an actual grade but is meant to promote discussion among the students.
Creating a basic trivia/bingo game about the animals and “all about” books would be one of the culminating activities. The questions would come from what the students included in their book and PowerPoint slide so all students will have heard/seen the information about all of the animals. It can be planned like as a celebration for the finishing of the unit and the prizes can be something with animals (bookmarks, pencils, etc.)
In the beginning, during the general planning period, I asked Elizabeth how she has assessed her students in the past. Her response is as follows:
“I check their work on daily basis so that if someone is getting off track I get them right back on track. I collect their research each day to check for misspelled words, so as not to have to check all their papers in one night. It also allows me to check their progress. We’re all on the same step each day. In the past we gave letter grades. I’ll attach the note I sent home to parents. I would staple it to all of their research and then of course their final book. I have the parents come in one afternoon and they get in groups with the children and listen to a few students share their books and talk about how they did their research. It’s really cute and the students enjoy it and the parents are always impressed with the culminating project. This year we do not give letter grades. I will revise the letter at the end of the unit and can send you the new one if you’d like it.”
From the information Elizabeth shared with me, she did not have any formal grading assessments for this unit. Rather, she used a letter that was sent home to the parents at the start of the unit that listed what would be expected of each student. A graded letter would accompany the final project for the parents to view as well. Since this letter was directed towards the parents, I decided to also include something for the students to use as guidance throughout their work.
Using the letter that Elizabeth mentions, I created a checklist for the final book project. I also created checklists for the two new additions of the magazine feature article and the PowerPoint presentation. As we work on each project, the students will be given a checklist to help focus their work. These checklists are simple and easy for the students to use as they work through their projects.
For grading and evaluation purposes, I also created rubrics for each section of the unit. The numbers used on the rubrics correspond to the numbering system that Elizabeth’s school uses on their report cards. In the end, the numbers the students score on the multiple rubrics will be averaged in order to determine a final, overall score for this unit.
The parents will be informed of their student’s progress through the letter and rubrics. Several parents also choose to come into the classroom for the sharing day at the end of the unit where they can view their child reading their book and presenting their PowerPoint.
As for the principal, inviting them into the classroom for the final sharing day would be beneficial for all involved. The students who are already proud of their hard work would be excited to share their products with the principal. In return, the principal will be able to see how much these students have accomplished with their research and the different ways they were able to present their findings.
To help preserve and extend news of this unit, I plan to take pictures throughout the process at all of the different steps leading up to the final products. In the end, I may create my own “all-about” book about this animal research unit or present it in a similar format to help show parents, administrators, board members and the community what this second grade class accomplished.
Also, the local library is regularly looking for ideas for their showcases. I would contact the appropriate person to sign up for a time to display the books, articles and hopefully have a computer monitor or digital screen to loop the PowerPoint presentations for the patrons of the library to view.
Getting the word out and visually being able to see the final products of these students is essential for the community, administration and especially the students. Seeing their work on display for others to view will add to their confidence and pride in their future projects and encourage them to continue their hard work in school and beyond.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mid Planning Blog
Elizabeth and I have been looking at the big picture of what we want to include in our unit and then began deciding who would work on the different tasks. Using the scanned checklist provided on Blackboard, we chose the items that fit with our unit and made an adjusted chart for our use. This chart can be found on our Wiki page. Elizabeth agreed to be responsible for the tasks that dealt with testing and prior knowledge information since this is something that is done in the classroom on a regular basis. The remaining tasks will be completed jointly with one of us taking the lead to compile a draft followed by us reviewing it with our partner. We communicate regularly through email where we send attachments for the other to read over and alter in any necessary ways. Seeing the chart breaks down the necessary steps for us to work through in order to complete our unit successfully.
Early on, Elizabeth decided which GLCEs we could cover in our unit and I reviewed the METS. As of now, we have decided on 2 GLCEs and 3 METs that we want to focus on, even though there were some others that we will touch on with our lessons. Our 5 standards will be extensively covered in our unit and we would rather have fewer standards and succeed fully as opposed to trying to stretch ourselves too thin trying to fit in multiple objectives.
Another major task we have been working on includes taking past lessons that Elizabeth has used in the classroom and enhancing them to our collaborative unit. Some of these lessons will not require much tweaking while others will be completely reworked or scratched in order to fit in other ideas that we feel will benefit the students more. Interestingly enough, Elizabeth is currently in the middle of teaching this unit to her class which provides instantaneous feedback and evaluation on the lessons. One of the lessons that I suggested we add to the unit involves a PowerPoint presentation to showcase their research. After sharing this idea with Elizabeth, she decided to change her original plans and include the newly created and was impressed with how well it worked with her students.
Without delving too far into my next blog entry’s topic, Elizabeth shared with me how she has assessed her students in the past for this unit. She says, “I check their work on daily basis so that if someone is getting off track I get them right back on track. I collect their research each day to check for misspelled words, so as not to have to check all their papers in one night. It also allows me to check their progress. We’re all on the same step each day.” Using this information, we would like to create either a rubric or checklist to use throughout the unit. We are not sure how we will break it up meaning should we make rubrics/checklist to use throughout the process and the final product or will the final product be the only part that will have an official rubric/checklist and the above mentioned process be the assessment used for the process itself. This is something that we will need to think and experiment with before settling on a final choice.
As far as how much of a responsibility I will have in assessment, I plan to be involved in the development of rubrics/checklists since these items have a direct impact on the unit as a whole. Most likely, Elizabeth will continue to do the daily checks of the research while I focus more on the technology portions of the unit since she is not as comfortable with that area. In the end, she and I will review the final products together.
Since the class will move together each day throughout the unit, differentiated learning will occur with additional help from Elizabeth or me for those that may struggle. For those that excel in the research process, the students will be able to fine extra information on their animal and/or how they present it. The PowerPoint project could easily be taken up a level by showing the students how to add more than just a color to the background and/or animate the slide itself.
Early on, Elizabeth decided which GLCEs we could cover in our unit and I reviewed the METS. As of now, we have decided on 2 GLCEs and 3 METs that we want to focus on, even though there were some others that we will touch on with our lessons. Our 5 standards will be extensively covered in our unit and we would rather have fewer standards and succeed fully as opposed to trying to stretch ourselves too thin trying to fit in multiple objectives.
Another major task we have been working on includes taking past lessons that Elizabeth has used in the classroom and enhancing them to our collaborative unit. Some of these lessons will not require much tweaking while others will be completely reworked or scratched in order to fit in other ideas that we feel will benefit the students more. Interestingly enough, Elizabeth is currently in the middle of teaching this unit to her class which provides instantaneous feedback and evaluation on the lessons. One of the lessons that I suggested we add to the unit involves a PowerPoint presentation to showcase their research. After sharing this idea with Elizabeth, she decided to change her original plans and include the newly created and was impressed with how well it worked with her students.
Without delving too far into my next blog entry’s topic, Elizabeth shared with me how she has assessed her students in the past for this unit. She says, “I check their work on daily basis so that if someone is getting off track I get them right back on track. I collect their research each day to check for misspelled words, so as not to have to check all their papers in one night. It also allows me to check their progress. We’re all on the same step each day.” Using this information, we would like to create either a rubric or checklist to use throughout the unit. We are not sure how we will break it up meaning should we make rubrics/checklist to use throughout the process and the final product or will the final product be the only part that will have an official rubric/checklist and the above mentioned process be the assessment used for the process itself. This is something that we will need to think and experiment with before settling on a final choice.
As far as how much of a responsibility I will have in assessment, I plan to be involved in the development of rubrics/checklists since these items have a direct impact on the unit as a whole. Most likely, Elizabeth will continue to do the daily checks of the research while I focus more on the technology portions of the unit since she is not as comfortable with that area. In the end, she and I will review the final products together.
Since the class will move together each day throughout the unit, differentiated learning will occur with additional help from Elizabeth or me for those that may struggle. For those that excel in the research process, the students will be able to fine extra information on their animal and/or how they present it. The PowerPoint project could easily be taken up a level by showing the students how to add more than just a color to the background and/or animate the slide itself.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Early Planning
The preliminary details of our animal research project were discussed in my previous blog. The student will be responsible for finding information on one common animal using books, the Internet, and other electronic resources. Throughout the project, the students will continuously be adding to a PowerPoint presentation which they will then share with their classmates and teachers at the conclusion of the unit. The topics covered are not officially decided yet but will most likely include general things likes: habitat, food, location, etc. Due to the limited number of computers and lower computer knowledge/skills among the students, the teacher and I will be working one-on-one and in small groups to help the students while using the computer. During this time, the other students will be using books for their research.
For our animal research unit, I feel that it would be most effective to use the Planning Guide for Inquiry-Based Unit of Focus. For the content standards, my teacher will share what standards she has been including in the past and I will work on finding any additional standards that we can include in our “new and improved” unit. The resources section was something that I was planning to develop before so we could each view what we have in terms of books, websites, videos, etc. However, this form included some ideas that I had not considered before such as observation, artifacts, etc. This will be a helpful, continuous section that I think we will both be referring to throughout the unit. My teacher and I will be planning this virtually which will mean a lot of the “space” sections will need to be lead by the teacher. I will be asking several questions and she may be able to take some pictures so I can visually see what our classroom set up will be for our unit. This will affect the decisions we make in regards to computers and how each of us will have computers in order to work with the students on their research. I feel that the remaining sections of the model will be best for us to jointly discuss and decide. These include the overarching issues of learning experiences, assessment, reflecting and refining.
In looking at the collaborative checklist, there are several that are joint and some that are for the teacher alone. The only one that is SLMS specific is initiating contact, which I’ve already done. In the beginning of this process, it is important for us to look down this checklist and decide which ones one of us could take the lead on and share with the other and which ones would be best to hash out together. This step will also help us determine our strengths and weaknesses which is very important when working together on a project. In order to maximize my potential and helpfulness, I am planning to take the lead on several of the “joint” tasks and then present my findings/drafts to the teacher. In this manner, we will be making the ultimate decision together but I will have worked on it previous to the final discussion. However, there are some topics that would work best to have us work through them together such as judging unit effectiveness, and selecting teaching strategies tied to objectives.
According to Montiel-Overall’s expansion of Loertcher's taxonmony, Elizabeth and I will be working towards that of Model C: Integrated Instruction. “SLMSs and teachers are involved in shared thinking, shared planning, and shared creation of integrated instruction when their collaborative effort integrates content instruction and library instruction.” (Montiel-Overall, 2005) The idea of “shared” work is what we plan on achieving even though one may be putting more time into one section and vice versa for another section. Mutual respect and faith in each other’s teaching skills is our foundation for this project as we seek input from the other before any final decisions are made. Communication will be necessary on both ends and regular checking of the wiki is a must to stay current on any additions or changes proposed by the other.
While this may be time-consuming and not feasible when the SLMS is working with several teachers on several topics, we feel that it is a reasonable way for us both to begin our first official collaboration process.
Overall-Montiel, P. (2005). Toward a theory of collaboration for teachers and librarians. Retrieved February 17, 2009 from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume82005/theory.cfm#sectionb
For our animal research unit, I feel that it would be most effective to use the Planning Guide for Inquiry-Based Unit of Focus. For the content standards, my teacher will share what standards she has been including in the past and I will work on finding any additional standards that we can include in our “new and improved” unit. The resources section was something that I was planning to develop before so we could each view what we have in terms of books, websites, videos, etc. However, this form included some ideas that I had not considered before such as observation, artifacts, etc. This will be a helpful, continuous section that I think we will both be referring to throughout the unit. My teacher and I will be planning this virtually which will mean a lot of the “space” sections will need to be lead by the teacher. I will be asking several questions and she may be able to take some pictures so I can visually see what our classroom set up will be for our unit. This will affect the decisions we make in regards to computers and how each of us will have computers in order to work with the students on their research. I feel that the remaining sections of the model will be best for us to jointly discuss and decide. These include the overarching issues of learning experiences, assessment, reflecting and refining.
In looking at the collaborative checklist, there are several that are joint and some that are for the teacher alone. The only one that is SLMS specific is initiating contact, which I’ve already done. In the beginning of this process, it is important for us to look down this checklist and decide which ones one of us could take the lead on and share with the other and which ones would be best to hash out together. This step will also help us determine our strengths and weaknesses which is very important when working together on a project. In order to maximize my potential and helpfulness, I am planning to take the lead on several of the “joint” tasks and then present my findings/drafts to the teacher. In this manner, we will be making the ultimate decision together but I will have worked on it previous to the final discussion. However, there are some topics that would work best to have us work through them together such as judging unit effectiveness, and selecting teaching strategies tied to objectives.
According to Montiel-Overall’s expansion of Loertcher's taxonmony, Elizabeth and I will be working towards that of Model C: Integrated Instruction. “SLMSs and teachers are involved in shared thinking, shared planning, and shared creation of integrated instruction when their collaborative effort integrates content instruction and library instruction.” (Montiel-Overall, 2005) The idea of “shared” work is what we plan on achieving even though one may be putting more time into one section and vice versa for another section. Mutual respect and faith in each other’s teaching skills is our foundation for this project as we seek input from the other before any final decisions are made. Communication will be necessary on both ends and regular checking of the wiki is a must to stay current on any additions or changes proposed by the other.
While this may be time-consuming and not feasible when the SLMS is working with several teachers on several topics, we feel that it is a reasonable way for us both to begin our first official collaboration process.
Overall-Montiel, P. (2005). Toward a theory of collaboration for teachers and librarians. Retrieved February 17, 2009 from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume82005/theory.cfm#sectionb
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Pre-Planning
The partner I choose for the collaboration project is my old college roommate, Elizabeth Kopchick. Elizabeth is in her 3rd year of teaching second grade at Hadley-Murphy Elementary School in the Lapeer school district. I choose Elizabeth because I know that she’s a teacher who will go above and beyond for her students and because it will be “out of my comfort zone” for her grade level. While I am a certified elementary teacher, I am in my 2nd year of working at a middle school library. Therefore, my mindset and general library knowledge tends to be more advanced at this grade level as opposed to the elementary level. I am aware that it may be more difficult for me to take on the younger collaboration project and it will require extra time to “re-familiarize” myself with the elementary level, but I think it important for me to have a wide-range of abilities and experiences when working with teachers and libraries.
As with most “new ventures”, I do have a few challenges that will really stretch me as a LMS. This school year, Elizabeth has several low students which will require extra attention and adaptations to the assignments in order to reach all students at their personal level. Our lessons will need to include differentiated learning to almost all areas which may be tough for some ideas. Also, this school does not have a sufficient amount of computers for the students. Due to this, Elizabeth told me that she is “horrible at incorporating technology into the classroom”. While it will take creativity, I am hoping to conquer her fears and the school’s technology inadequacies to ensure the students have some experience using the computer for this project.
When I originally emailed Elizabeth about working with me on this project, she replied with a resounding “Of course I’ll work with you!” In this same email, she included a list of several of her upcoming units/ areas of study in her classroom as suggestions for our topic. I asked if there were any particular units that she felt she could use more resources or additional help in planning to enhance the students’ learning. The animal research project was one that she mentioned she only had 10 books for her class so they had to take turns doing their “research”. These books are great for this project and provide an easy introduction to research for these young students but having other resources would be helpful. Therefore, we are planning on expanding on this unit in her classroom through our collaborative efforts.
Some general brainstorming ideas I have come up with include kid-friendly websites where some students will be able to work independently and others will work one-on-one with myself or Elizabeth to complete their research. Presenting the information in a PowerPoint presentation will be a great way to familiarize the students with this program and can be worked on throughout the research process. All ideas dealing with technology will need to be done in small groups due to the lack of computers. Having print resources available will allow all students to be researching at the same time while they take turns using the computers. I have a few possible ideas for how to help the students organize their notes but want to talk to Elizabeth to see what she currently uses and how much information she wants them to find.
Before I make any definite plans, I want Elizabeth to explain in detail what she has done in the past and how she hopes to improve this lesson. Her thoughts and expectations will help guide my sections to ensure they align with the curriculum. Regular communication will be essential for us to make sure that we are building off of each other and working together as opposed to dividing the lessons in half and each planning on our own. My goal for the collaboration is to have them flow together and have us both involved in the planning of each lesson – although one will most likely take the lead depending on our individual strengths.
As with most “new ventures”, I do have a few challenges that will really stretch me as a LMS. This school year, Elizabeth has several low students which will require extra attention and adaptations to the assignments in order to reach all students at their personal level. Our lessons will need to include differentiated learning to almost all areas which may be tough for some ideas. Also, this school does not have a sufficient amount of computers for the students. Due to this, Elizabeth told me that she is “horrible at incorporating technology into the classroom”. While it will take creativity, I am hoping to conquer her fears and the school’s technology inadequacies to ensure the students have some experience using the computer for this project.
When I originally emailed Elizabeth about working with me on this project, she replied with a resounding “Of course I’ll work with you!” In this same email, she included a list of several of her upcoming units/ areas of study in her classroom as suggestions for our topic. I asked if there were any particular units that she felt she could use more resources or additional help in planning to enhance the students’ learning. The animal research project was one that she mentioned she only had 10 books for her class so they had to take turns doing their “research”. These books are great for this project and provide an easy introduction to research for these young students but having other resources would be helpful. Therefore, we are planning on expanding on this unit in her classroom through our collaborative efforts.
Some general brainstorming ideas I have come up with include kid-friendly websites where some students will be able to work independently and others will work one-on-one with myself or Elizabeth to complete their research. Presenting the information in a PowerPoint presentation will be a great way to familiarize the students with this program and can be worked on throughout the research process. All ideas dealing with technology will need to be done in small groups due to the lack of computers. Having print resources available will allow all students to be researching at the same time while they take turns using the computers. I have a few possible ideas for how to help the students organize their notes but want to talk to Elizabeth to see what she currently uses and how much information she wants them to find.
Before I make any definite plans, I want Elizabeth to explain in detail what she has done in the past and how she hopes to improve this lesson. Her thoughts and expectations will help guide my sections to ensure they align with the curriculum. Regular communication will be essential for us to make sure that we are building off of each other and working together as opposed to dividing the lessons in half and each planning on our own. My goal for the collaboration is to have them flow together and have us both involved in the planning of each lesson – although one will most likely take the lead depending on our individual strengths.
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