Candidates model, share, and promote effective principles of teaching and learning as collaborative partners with other educators.
Reflection
“People must believe in each other, and feel that it can be done and must be done; in that way they are enormously strong. They must keep each others courage.” ~Vincent Van Gogh
This quotation is posted in my classroom, written in the signature block on my emails, printed on the back of my business cards and will be a key statement posted in my media center one day. My first few years as an educator taught me that the most successful educators are the ones who work collaboratively with their peers for the good of the students. My experiences in SLM 509 helped me realize how instrumental a media specialist can be in fostering a collaborative environment within her school. |
Artifacts
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One of the most memorable assignments was the collaborative professional development assignment. For this assignment, we were placed into groups of three and asked to create a professional development on collaboration that could be presented at a full staff meeting that would promote the services of the library as a venue for collaboration.
Right off the bat, this assignment was very challenging. All three members of my group worked at different levels (1st grade, 5th grade and 11th grade), in different schools, and had different daily schedules. We, as a group, had to figure out a way to collaborate to finish the project. This type of scenario is not unusual for a media specialist when dealing with other teachers. Teachers have different planning periods which often overlap with the media specialist classes. Teachers often have a lot on their plate with testing, lesson planning, and grading which makes their time-spent a premium. As a group, we had to work around these issues and come up with an alternative.
Right off the bat, this assignment was very challenging. All three members of my group worked at different levels (1st grade, 5th grade and 11th grade), in different schools, and had different daily schedules. We, as a group, had to figure out a way to collaborate to finish the project. This type of scenario is not unusual for a media specialist when dealing with other teachers. Teachers have different planning periods which often overlap with the media specialist classes. Teachers often have a lot on their plate with testing, lesson planning, and grading which makes their time-spent a premium. As a group, we had to work around these issues and come up with an alternative.
The most effective tool we found was Google Presentations. This allowed us to work together on a single Power Point presentation, but in our own time and pace. We would leave notes for each other and check off items as we completed them. As a group, we were modeling a successful form of professional collaboration. When it was time to finally present our PD, we were able to do it with the confidence that we were all on the same page and ready to go.
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We started our presentation by defining what collaboration is and what challenges are faced when trying to collaborate. One thing that came up in our planning discussion as we tried to define the media center's role in collaboration was the common misconceptions that classroom teachers have about the jobs of a media specialist. We created a "What we are not" section to break the stereotypes that can be associated with working with the media center and explain our "best practice" approach.
From there, we walked the teachers through some different scenarios of what collaboration could look like for them. We wanted to make sure that teachers knew that we were not asking to take over their classes. We ended the PD session with a list of resources, including ways to collaborate with the media center. We also had teachers complete an exit evaluation as a mode of anonymous feedback. |
Since 509 was one of the earliest classes that I took, it set the stage for my future collaborative efforts. When we broke down the stereotypes in our presentation, it forced me to come to terms with my role in the collaborative process. Now that I know what it is all about I have found myself continually seeking collaboration in my professional life. It has changed the way I teach English because I now collaborate more with my own media specialists. As the media specialist, part of my job will be to share the joy of collaboration with my own staff the way that this class has shared it with me. I have seen successful models and those less successful and I know that the secret to collaboration is continually putting in the effort. I also think that I have become a better listener and more open-minded about my role in the process. A media specialist walks a fine line. If she is too pushy or uncooperative, then no one will work with her. I have learned to be a team player and I think I am the better for it.