Post- Reflection

I can not believe that the end of the semester is only less than 2 weeks away. It seems like yesterday, when I was anxious and frustrated trying to figure out how this project would finally come together. But that day is here and I can sit back and relax knowing that my collaborative unit plan is finished.
Looking back on this semester long project, I can say that I learned a lot about being a school librarian, collaborating with a classroom teacher, and communicating in a professional manner.
This project allowed me to put on my future profession's shoes and act as a school librarian. In this role, I was able to find different resources that helped define the curriculum that the classroom teacher and myself would collaborate on. I found websites that other school districts had compiled on our topics. These resources really helped to guide our unit curriculum. I was also able to compile a list of web 2.0 resources that would allow students to experiment with technology and also strengthen their information literacy. I also used these applications to develop interactive assessments that not only evaluated a student's knowledge of the topic, but also forced students to use creativity and technology to complete the assignment.
Through this project I was also able to have my first helping of collaborating with a classroom teacher. My only hope is that every collaboration can work as smoothly as it did with Andrea. We had a great working relationship with open lines of communication. We worked together to make sure we were creating a unit that would most benefit student's needs. We combined our skills and past experiences to make a unit that accesses a student's topical knowledge while also building information and technology literacy. Our partnership helped to create a unit that would not only teach students the necessary standards but that also prepares them for life in the real world, where technology and information is growing exponentially.
This is a vital skill to have as a future school librarian, because collaborating and becoming a leader in the school community is an important part of the job. I was able to use different techniques to communicate with my partner: personal meetings, posting comments to our wiki, and email communications. Through these various mediums we were able to discuss, plan, and put our unit into action.
Overall, this collaborative unit project has taught me many skills that will be valuable as a future school librarian. I'm glad I had the opportunity to create this unit with Andrea, and test how it will really be like as a school library professional.

Assessment

The finish line is finally coming into view as the semester and this project come to an end. But before closing time, there is always a last call and this project’s last call focuses on the assessment of student learning for this collaborative unit plan experience. When I was brainstorming ideas for the final stage of the project, I knew that the assessment had to reflect the benchmarks and standards that the unit focuses on, including the 21^st century learner standards. I also wanted to make sure I had a way to evaluate students’ information literacy skills and development. Accomplishing all of this required developing an assessment that would force students to use their technology and information skill sets in combination with the content knowledge they gained from the unit. So, my theme for assessment was “always assessing,” which applies to the beginning of the unit through the middle and to the end while having an open dialogue with students and keeping records to evaluate their learning and track their progress.

Pre-Assessment: To pre-assess the students, I found the web 2.0 wall wisher activity. This starts the unit off with the notion that technology will be a large component in their learning. Students will use this program to hypothesize, question, and state knowledge they already know about Michigan geography. The classroom teacher can use these posts to establish a timeline for lessons and diagnose students’ prior knowledge base. This pre-assessment allows students to take a collaborative approach to learning, exploring the unit concept, and also to incorporate new technology.

On-going Assessment: Throughout the whole unit there will be many on-going assessments. Students will have learning logs where they can document their new knowledge on Michigan geography and also track websites and other resources that will help them complete their final project. The students can use these logs to track their own learning, and teachers can use them to informally assess students’ progress with topical information and resources. Another on-going assessment will be informal conferences between students and the classroom teacher and school librarian. This can be done through conversation, questioning, and learning through daily activities.

Post Assessment: The final assessment combines portfolio aspects with a culminating project. Students will create a Michigan magazine using Openzine, which will be a portfolio/project piece. Students will have required pieces of work that must be included in their magazine, which will also include assignments completed during the unit. That is the portfolio aspect of the magazine. Students will be able to use different web 2.0 programs to create this magazine, which will allow the classroom teacher and school librarian to assess the students’ work throughout the semester and their final conclusions all in a creative, fun way. The other part of the assessment will require students to make a short 30 second commercial on the topic “Why Michigan?” Students will use the knowledge and understandings they gained from the unit to develop a commercial that focuses on the geography of Michigan and combines marketing and advertising as well as technology to complete. Students can use a variety of movie making software such as iMovie and Animato to create the commercial. Students do not have to have any live action video and can do a slide show format instead. This project shows teachers that students can identify important information and sell their ideas in a persuasive way. In both of these projects, students will have rubrics to follow to make sure they have all the components needed to meet the classroom teacher and school librarian’s expectations. These two projects combine both the content and technology standards and will also engage students to create pieces that they are proud to display throughout the school.

The assessments for this unit combine a variety of different approaches to evaluate students. These types of assessment will help to ensure that a student’s knowledge and progress is well documented and that no one student will be left behind.

Andrea and I have made a great team and there have been kind words between us both. We were able to work together to create a unit that not only engages students but provides them with the necessary knowledge to become 21^st century learners.

Mid-Planning

As Kesha reminds us, "tik-tok on the clock, but the party don't stop," well I guess in this case the work "don't stop". Like everyone else in the class, midterms have taken up most of my time for the past week an a half, which did not lend itself well to working on the class wiki. However, this week I was able to assert my role as the LMS and pulled together some ideas and resources that Andrea (classroom teacher) can implement into lesson plans for the unit. Our chosen unit theme for this project (Michigan geography), provides a great starting point to incorporate many different types of technology into lesson plans, especially using web 2.0 resources. I spent the week researching different types of web 2.0 technologies that students and the classroom teacher could use in lessons, activities, and assessments (both formative and summative). Here is the list I have compiled so far, with some rough ideas of how it can be used with the unit:

-delicious: Students would be able to manage links they find about Michigan and geography.

-Mindmeister/Scribblar: Students would be able to collaboratively brainstorm ideas for a group project or for personal use.

-Rubistar: The classroom teacher can use this to efficiently create quality rubrics for authentic assessments.

-Poll Everywhere: This could be used for teachers to poll students while doing a lesson. Students can text or IM answers, helping the teacher receive instant feedback. It also is a creative way to use students phones in a productive way in the classroom.

-Wordle: Students can use this tool to create a poem of natural resources vocabulary and mix it with the names of the actual resource found in Michigan. This can be an individual example and also put into their final assessment piece.

-Wallwisher: This tool can be used to open the whole unit. I might use it as a pre-assessment piece. Students are able to post comments or questions they have about the upcoming unit. The teacher can then use these questions to develop lessons tailored to the students learning needs.

-Voicthread: Students can use this to collaborate on a project.

The next four web 2.0 tools will be part of the final assessment of students learning. I have been brainstorming ideas but do not have anything finalized yet. This is what I am thinking...

I will have students create a Michigan magazine. They will use the links below to create their magazine, develop a commercial "why come to Michigan?", and pull assignments they have already created and add new pieces for the final magazine. This magazine will serve as the students final portfolio assessment for the unit.

-Openzine: Students can use to create their online magazine.

-Magmypic: Students can gain ideas of what the cover of their magazine might look like.

-Animato: Students can use this tool to make their "why come to Michigan commercial?"

-Sumopaint: Students can use this to create art for their magazines.

I think this unit will showcase, how technology can be integrated into a unit of study to engage and facilitate vital learning skills to students. These resources can help those students from underrepresented groups engage in the lessons and activities in a way that they never have before. This collaboration has enabled my teaching partner and I, to find new and creative ways to reach the benchmarks and standards, as well as the 21st century learner objectives.

Early Planning

Lets get the show on the road... at this point in the semester it is time to get down to business and start getting into the intty gritty work involved in this collaboration project. My teaching partner, the classroom teacher Andrea Jarvis and I have decided to focus our project on Michigan studies for third grade, which is the social studies curriculum stated by the Michigan Department of Education. Within the social studies curriculum for third grade there are many different focuses all revolving around Michigan. We have chosen to keep our focus on the geography aspect of the curriculum due to the ability to implement great inquiry based activities and lessons that can be incorporated into our unit, such as online scavenger hunts and the use of Google Earth. Because of this ability we will be able to seamlessly connect the Michigan benchmarks and standards with the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.

The division of tasks are as follows:

Andrea Jarvis (classroom teacher):

• Essential Questions
• Resources
• School Narrative
• Lesson Plans

Rachel Menovcik (school librarian):

• Essential Questions
• Resources
• Benchmarks & Standards
• Pre & Post Assessments

Even though the tasks have been divided between us, we intend to work closely with one another to help make the unit plan as beneficial to student learning as possible. By having a close working relationship, we will also provide for optimal connections between all the different aspects of the unit, making each element connect and flow with the larger picture of the assignment.

We chose our essential questions for the unit, by using what the Michigan Department of Education stated for the Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) for third grade social studies geography unit. We found that these questions fit with our idea of what was important for students' knowledge at the end of the unit. These questions will guide all aspects of the unit from the benchmarks and standards that fit with the unit, to the formation of the pre and post assessments of the whole unit, and the individual lessons that will teach students the information and skills to guide their inquiry based learning. The essential questions will keep the unit centered on what is important for student learning.

Big Idea:

Using geography to learn more about Michigan.

Essential Questions:

• What caused the shape of Michigan and determined its physical characteristics?
• How do maps of Michigan provide information about people places, and physical and cultural environments?
• How does geography affect how and where people lived in Michigan?

Goals for the Unit:

• How do you use cardinal directions (north, east, south, west) to describe locations and features on a map?
• How can we use thematic maps to identify and describe the physical and human characteristics of Michigan?
• Were students able to use a variety of visual materials and data sources to describe ways in which Michigan can be divided into regions?
• Can students describe the different regions to which Michigan belongs (Great Lakes, Mid-West, etc.)?

So far, our collaboration has been nothing but wonderful. We have been able to share ideas and come together to make good choices for our unit plan. We both have taken equal responsibility of the work and have been giving 100% effort. It has been rewarding thus far, to have a partner to collaborate with that shares such a good work ethic. This will help us collaborate to produce a quality unit plan. I am excited to continue working closely with Andrea on this teacher-librarian collaboration.

Pre-Planning

Welcome, welcome one and all! This is the first piece of many to my collaborative unit plan for LIS 7320, the media specialist as teacher and instructional consultant. Many questions and concerns flood my mind, as I begin to plan out and brain storm ideas and topics for this mock collaboration between a classroom teacher (my partner Andrea) and a school librarian (me). I hope that this project helps to lay the ground work of what it would be like to collaborate with real classroom teachers. I also hope to integrate many concepts and ideas that are being presented in class, such as, new literacies for 21st century learners, inquiry based learning, digital resources, and many other theories and how they translate into practice.

At the beginning of any project there are fears, weaknesses, and strengths that materialize before any work has been completed.

One fear that I have, is not understanding the directions and all the components that are required for the project. Before starting a project, it is vital to have complete understanding of all the directions and intricacies that are involved and I fear that I still have a weak grasp on this knowledge. Another fear that I have is, not using the team wiki enough to receive maximum credit. A third fear is losing contact with my teacher partner. I want us to communicate well and have the same goals set for the project. I'm worried that since this is an online class, it will be easy to lose touch with each other. So far, those are the only two fears that I have of this project.

Some personal weaknesses that I plan to keep in check with this project are making sure enough time is set aside to complete the projects components on time and to the best of my ability. As the semester continues, course work in other classes and everyday routines and errands sometimes get in the way of school priorities. My goal is to keep these project priorities before other objectives in my life. This project is a great way to see my weakness and then set goals to overcome it and assist me in becoming a better professional.

Now that I have gotten the fears and weaknesses out of the way my strengths can be revealed. I pride myself on being very creative and being able to think outside the box to find solutions to many problems. I have the ability to integrate many different student skill sets into lessons so that they are utilizing many different type of literacies. I believe that these strengths will help to create a final product that could be used in a real classroom setting.

The fears, weaknesses, and strengths seen above have been compiled from past experiences in my undergraduate program from field experiences and student teaching, which have been both unsuccessful and successful. However, these collaborations have only been between teacher and student teacher. I have never seen any collaboration successful or unsuccessful between classroom teachers and school librarians.

As far as brainstorming ideas for the actual content of the project, I would like to focus on social studies or languages arts because those are my strong suits. However, it would be beneficial to me as a professional to push myself and try a subject that I am not as familiar with such as science or math. Whatever subject topic is chosen, I want to try and integrate pieces of other curriculum topics. I believe it is important to try make other curricular connections so students can see how subjects are interconnected with each other.

Overall, I am very excited and ready to collaborate on this project. I think it will be a me great experience for my future as a school librarian!