Hello everyone. Welcome to my journey of creating a collaborative unit plan for my LIS 7320 course (The Media Specialist as Teacher and Instructional Consultant). During this semester I will be working with another member of my class to create a unit plan, which hopefully can be used in future. Working in the role of the classroom teacher and Rachel in the role of the school librarian we are about to begin working together on this unit.
My hope is that working together on creating this unit I will gain experience collaborating with another educator, and will be more prepared and comfortable in this role in preparation for my future career. In creating this unit I hope that Rachel and I can work together productively and can share our experiences and knowledge to create well developed lessons.
There are a few things that I am worried about in beginning this assignment. When working collaboratively with a partner who you do not actually see on a regular basis (as we are working on-line) I worry that we may not be on the same page or may not communicate ideas as smoothly as one would with a person that you see in person. Although, I must say I am already impressed with Rachel's initiative and eagerness to begin working together on this project. Another fear I have, which is a constant in all my class work, is finding the time to complete this project to my best ability. I set a high standard for myself, and often find that balancing work, classes, and life can be overwhelming at times. In terms of the actually assignment, I do have concerns about what exactly should be included but I feel that these questions will be answered as the semester progresses.
I am very dedicated to school and growing as a professional. I find that my biggest strength when working in a group is my ability to outline what exactly needs to be completed and follow through. I also think that I am a very fair group member who a partner or group can depend on. In these classes I feel that my biggest weakness is trying to juggle school and work. So far every project that I have worked on in this program has been a success, but sometimes trying to find time to work together or decide on a time line has been difficult.
For the upcoming unit, I have already been in contact with Rachel about arranging a meeting where we will brainstorm ideas. I feel the most comfortable putting together a unit for elementary students, but would be open to focusing on a higher grade as I do want to become more comfortable with all grades and subjects.
I have been very lucky to know a LMS and teachers who I feel do an excellant job collaborating. The biggest lesson that I have learned from working with these individuals is that if you work together with a common goal in mind and you value your co-workers and your students the collaboration works much more smoothly. I have also worked with educators who did not have such a positive outlook, and did not work as a team but as separate classrooms in the school. I felt a strong disconnect in this type of environment and often felt as if I did not have anyone to turn to if I wished to collaborate. Working in this environment I learned that in my career I want to be open to collaboration and wish to work as part of a successful team. I hope that my partner feels that our collaboration will be successful and I look forward to starting this project.
