SJSU Portfolio

Collaboration

CTC Standard 14: Selection

“Each candidate demonstrates the knowledge and skill to plan, teach and evaluate cooperatively with teachers of all curricular areas. They will need to know how to plan and teach the integrated use of information skills, current and emerging technologies, literature and other resources, literature–based instruction, critical thinking, and the design and production of instructional materials.” (p.18)

In Dr. Loertscher’s library Media Center class he repeatedly presented library/faculty collaboration as not only beneficial for students, but a survival necessity in lean finacial times. Collaboration is not only educationally effective—it is also good PR. When teachers see that the teacher librarian is a colleague who can lighten the workload, increase student achievement, and improve instructional quality, there will be site support for funding the program.Also, many ‘experienced’ teachers are uncomfortable with new technology. They are very willing to partner with a teacher who can help incorporate and troubleshoot some digital tools into an existing lesson plan, especially since this incorporation is often a site priority. Web 2.0 know–how has become a bargaining chip for the teacher librarian.

At my high school placement there is a trained librarian working 80% of the time, but I observed that “integrating across curricular areas” is for many reasons not an easy task, which is why this crucial ability was so often a focus of SLIS instruction. It was easier for me, as a currently employed English teacher already meeting and comparing notes with colleagues, to make connections and offer collaborative support and suggestions than it is for the librarian, who must schedule meetings during her nonexistent free time to persuade an overburdened staff of the effectiveness of her proposals. Since I am working only 80% this year, I simply asked colleagues if I could teach research techniques within their classes during my free period. They were happy to review their upcoming lessons and suggest opportunities to embed my instruction. This highlights for me the importance of possessing or developing personal relationships when attempting to increase collaboration. I enjoyed this instruction very much, and observed that even a small amount of direct instruction in evaluating sources improved student work. My next challenge is to attempt the same ploy in less familiar territory—the science department! I have heard from other teacher librarians that a few home–baked cookies go a long way in establishing new cooperative relationships.

Evidence

Almost all the evidence I presented of my teaching competence in various areas was the result of collaborative planning and also shows my competence in that area. The elementary collaboration is a better yardstick of my development, because I am used to working closely with English teachers in my department, and that was where I began work in my secondary field placement.

    Below is a sampling of pasted planning emails between elementary teachers and myself.

  • 1. Collaboration Emails
  • Below are three parts of a lesson on evaluating websites done for a sophomore English class beginning a genocide research project. Before a District meeting on another topic, the teacher had been discussing her dissatisfaction with the quality of research sources used by her students in their last assignment. She asked me for suggestions because I am the debate teacher. I asked if I could help out as part of my library work, and she was willing to team up. After my lesson, she and her class successfully applied the CRAAP standards to some specific genocide websites.

  • 2a. Lesson Plan for Evaluating Websites
  • 2b.Evaluating Websites CRAAP Test
  • 2c. Evaluating Websites Test with Examples and Assignment
  • The assignment below was created as part of Banned Books Week for a Junior class beginning Huckleberry Finn.As part of my BAnned Books campaign, I asked teachers in a department meeting if anyone was studying a work with a tie-in to censorship. Huck Finn was a natural choice, especially since the teacher was not entirely comfortable discussing the ‘N Word’ in her classes.

  • 2. Huck Finn Controversial Language Assignment
  • The pieces below are evidence of the lesson plan on book handling I created for Kindergarteners. The first photo shows the materials I created. The second photo shows Cristal, Emily, and Esteban using good book handling skills. The Kindergarten teacher gave me the learning objectives for the sessions: Book Handling and initial sounds. She left the planning and specifics up to me, and I worked with students in a separate room.

  • 1. Kindergarten Book Basics Lesson Plan
  • My Kinder Book Materials

    The next file and images show the plan and materials used for a lesson on Oral Books reports I gave to second grade classes.The teacher specifically asked for Book Report Elements, of which she gave me a rough draft list, and Oral Delivery skills. This last is because she knows I am the Speech teacher, but since it is book report delivery and in the interest of good collaboration I stretched my library assignment to include it.

  • 2. Second Grade Book Report Lesson Plan
  • Visual Aids Oral Bk Rpt