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

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.