Standard 1.2 Effective and Knowledgeable Teacher
Candidates implement the principles of effective teaching and learning that contribute to an active, inquiry-based approach to learning. Candidates make use of a variety of instructional strategies and assessment tools to design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments in partnership with classroom teachers and other educators. Candidates can document and communicate the impact of collaborative instruction on student achievement. |
Reflection
“Well, this unit just a got a whole lot better! I wish we could start it tomorrow!” - Fourth grade teacher, Fallsmead Elementary School
Weekly collaborative planning in MCPS ensures that grade-level teams work together to create engaging lessons and common expectations for proficiency. However, many teams are not able to include the media specialist in these meetings due to class coverage restraints. In SLM509 Instructional Collaboration, I was tasked with removing these barriers to create a collaborative, inquiry-based unit plan. I collaborated with the fourth grade team and media specialist at Fallsmead Elementary School to revise an existing unit on environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay to allow for a more active, inquiry-based approach to learning. We also made the learning more authentic by focusing on our local watershed’s impacts on the Bay.
We decided that students would work in collaborative groups to create an Animoto public service announcement as their culminating project. Their videos described our neighborhood’s environmental impact on the Chesapeake Bay and presented a solution to reduce our negative impacts. My team and I also outlined specific instructional strategies and assessment tools on the attached project outline to scaffold the learning progression for our students. We integrated technology throughout the unit, using tools such as Google Maps and Screencastify to create a digital map of our watershed and a LiveBinder to organize our online research tools. Our unit also had a cross-curricular rubric to ensure that every subject’s indicators were assessed.
This process taught me to be proactive and patient when collaborating with teachers. For example, some team members were resistant to changing a project that “already works.” However, I used SLM509’s course documents about inquiry-based instruction to prove that “By turning the curriculum into engaging problems for students to solve, students can participate in inquiry while practicing many curriculum-mandated skills” (Jansen 11). My media specialist and I also offered to take the lead on creating resources to make teachers more open to trying something new.
Another obstacle arose when one teacher was hesitant about getting involved in the planning process because she felt it didn’t apply to her teaching. The instructional strategy of backward design really helped address this problem. Rather than making the teacher sit through a traditional planning meeting, we started with her concern and brainstormed ways to integrate her subject into the final presentation instead. Once we had her subject’s indicators explicitly stated on the rubric, her entire demeanor changed because the project became relevant to her teaching.
These obstacles provided invaluable insight into my future as an LMS and ultimately made our project plan even stronger. Looking ahead, I plan to use this collaborative unit as an example of inquiry-based instruction when developing collaborative relationships as a media specialist in MCPS. I will be proactive, positive and gracious in convincing teachers to revise existing units because I know that inquiry-based instruction increases student achievement and engagement in the content.
Works Cited
Jansen, Barbara A. "Inquiry Unpacked: An Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning." Library/Media Connection March/April (2011): 10-12. Web. 10 Sept. 2016. PDF.
Weekly collaborative planning in MCPS ensures that grade-level teams work together to create engaging lessons and common expectations for proficiency. However, many teams are not able to include the media specialist in these meetings due to class coverage restraints. In SLM509 Instructional Collaboration, I was tasked with removing these barriers to create a collaborative, inquiry-based unit plan. I collaborated with the fourth grade team and media specialist at Fallsmead Elementary School to revise an existing unit on environmental issues in the Chesapeake Bay to allow for a more active, inquiry-based approach to learning. We also made the learning more authentic by focusing on our local watershed’s impacts on the Bay.
We decided that students would work in collaborative groups to create an Animoto public service announcement as their culminating project. Their videos described our neighborhood’s environmental impact on the Chesapeake Bay and presented a solution to reduce our negative impacts. My team and I also outlined specific instructional strategies and assessment tools on the attached project outline to scaffold the learning progression for our students. We integrated technology throughout the unit, using tools such as Google Maps and Screencastify to create a digital map of our watershed and a LiveBinder to organize our online research tools. Our unit also had a cross-curricular rubric to ensure that every subject’s indicators were assessed.
This process taught me to be proactive and patient when collaborating with teachers. For example, some team members were resistant to changing a project that “already works.” However, I used SLM509’s course documents about inquiry-based instruction to prove that “By turning the curriculum into engaging problems for students to solve, students can participate in inquiry while practicing many curriculum-mandated skills” (Jansen 11). My media specialist and I also offered to take the lead on creating resources to make teachers more open to trying something new.
Another obstacle arose when one teacher was hesitant about getting involved in the planning process because she felt it didn’t apply to her teaching. The instructional strategy of backward design really helped address this problem. Rather than making the teacher sit through a traditional planning meeting, we started with her concern and brainstormed ways to integrate her subject into the final presentation instead. Once we had her subject’s indicators explicitly stated on the rubric, her entire demeanor changed because the project became relevant to her teaching.
These obstacles provided invaluable insight into my future as an LMS and ultimately made our project plan even stronger. Looking ahead, I plan to use this collaborative unit as an example of inquiry-based instruction when developing collaborative relationships as a media specialist in MCPS. I will be proactive, positive and gracious in convincing teachers to revise existing units because I know that inquiry-based instruction increases student achievement and engagement in the content.
Works Cited
Jansen, Barbara A. "Inquiry Unpacked: An Introduction to Inquiry-Based Learning." Library/Media Connection March/April (2011): 10-12. Web. 10 Sept. 2016. PDF.