Preplanning

Welcome! This blog is for LIS 7320: The Media Specialist as Teacher and Instructional Consultant. It will document the collaboration efforts of a classroom teacher and media specialist creating a unit. I will be acting as the media specialist, and Kimberly will be acting as the classroom teacher.

Aspirations and Fears

Through this collaboration, I hope to gain a better understanding of how a teacher and media specialist can work together. I also hope that this practical experience will help me to find good ways to appropriately divide tasks in a teacher and media specialist collaboration. Though I am sure that every collaboration is different, this project could serve as a guide or template in the future. Finally, I hope that this experience and the unit that is produced will be a good example for me to demonstrate to hesitant teachers that collaboration is a worthwhile endeavor.

I am very excited to begin this unit; however, I do have a few concerns and reservations. My main fear is of the unknown. I do not feel confident that I completely understand what is expected on this project. As the semester progresses, I hope that it becomes more clear. For now, I am not sure how the unit should be organized, how in-depth it should be or the best way to divide tasks. I am also unsure how much work is expected to be shown on the wiki.

I feel lucky that Kimberly and I have been able to communicate well already. I know that we are both very busy and, as the semester progresses, I hope that we will continue to find time to work together. Online classes are always more tricky for group work because you do not have the opportunity to meet face-to-face, which I have always found easier when trying to make decisions and get things accomplished in a timely manner. Perhaps we will be able to arrange a few online meetings so that our communication can be even better.

Strengths and Weaknesses

I bring some strengths to the collaborative process. I am very organized, and I am able to plan out tasks that need to be accomplished in a realistic timeframe. This helps to keep projects on track. I also tend to want to finish assignments a little early so that the assignment can be completed thoroughly and to build in a technological buffer. For an online class or any assignment that relies on technology, it is important to plan for unexpected problems.

I also bring some weaknesses to the collaboration. The weakness that I am most concerned about is that I have not worked in a school in several years. My lesson planning skills are a little rusty, and it may take me a little more time to get back into the swing of things. I also sometimes have difficulty with wanting to do too much when I am in a group situation. I need to remember to share work equally, especially in this collaboration so that Kimberly and I both have a good, practical experience.

Unit Ideas

Kimberly currently teaches high school computers and business, so I think it would be great if we could find a way to create a unit that she would be able to use with her students. I think that business might be a better choice for our unit since computer classes are generally already focused on information and technology. Perhaps a unit that involves researching businesses and creating a business plan would be useful. Students would be able to practice research skills, and then synthesize the information gathered to write their own plan. To be honest, I am not positive what the requirements are for high school business courses, so I would want to refer to Kimberly’s expertise to make sure we create a useful unit.

My experience is in the elementary school, so if we decide to branch away from high school, I think I would be interested in a science or social studies unit. Because language arts is so often associated with research and the media center, I think it would be great for students to translate the skills learned in language arts to another subject area.

Teacher/Media Specialist Collaborations

Honestly, I have never witnessed a collaboration between teachers and media specialists. I have seen teachers ask for resources from a media specialist, and I have seen media specialists offer resources and technological expertise; however, I have never seen them work together to teach a lesson. I want to be a more prominent figure in student learning, so I will avoid falling into the routine that may be expected of me. I am hoping that this course will give me the tools to convince teachers that collaboration is useful and to implement a culture of collaboration in a school.