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
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Holli,
ReplyDeleteNice breadth of coverage on this post. You have addressed the key aspects of planning the collaborative unit with Elizabeth. It sounds like you will be approaching the unit from the backwards planning approach where you identify what standards the students need to learn before proceeding with the instructional design. With inquiry based units, I've found it useful to build in several mini-benchmarks to help students stay on track and also to help you assess their learning.
I agree that e-collaborations on a wiki are not that feasible in many real-life situations. However, you hit the mark when you say this process is useful at least during the learning curve for pre-service LMSs like yourself. I hope this experience at least helps you feel confident in knowing how to be an effective instructional partner with classroom teachers.
Prof. K.