Post-Reflection

Now that our collaborative unit is over it is now time to take a look back at our finished product and the processes involved. First, I must say that this unit seemed like a daunting project when we first began but I am very pleased with how it developed and turned out.

I have worked as part of a team as a professional teacher and as a student while in Wayne State program, and I think that working with Rachel has been one of the best partnerships that I have experienced. It always helps to know that the person you are working with is willing to do their share of the work, has new or different ideas then you own (but also is willing to listen to your ideas), and is responsible for getting their share of the work done on time. I hope that in the future all my collaborations will go as smoothly as this one has.

Working together to plan this unit, I was exposed to new technologies and ideas that I would not have thought of on my own. One such concept was Rachel’s idea to use wallwisher in our unit. When I look at technology to infuse in lessons I often focus my search to kid-oriented technology, but using this website (which was not designed for kids in mind) was a great way to organize what the student Knew, wanted to know, and learned (KWL) through the unit.

Looking back at the unit that we prepared, I am quite proud of what we put together. It is a unit that is different than what I have taught in the past, being technology rich and focused to higher achieving students. In my teaching experiences, my students have not have much access to technology and have been lower performing students. It was great to be able to plan a unit that used a medium that I would have liked my students to be able to use.

Even though I thought our unit was excellent, having other students in the class evaluate our unit provided me with feedback that has helped me to grow as an educator. As much as I thought our unit was a success, if I had to create this unit again there I would take what my peers had to say and make some small changes to our unit. This is an aspect of developing as a professional that I think is important for all educators.

As a person who likes to take control and be the leader of projects, I have learned that working collaboratively with another person who takes their responsibilities seriously and has a commitment to their profession definitely improves projects and units and helps me to grow as a professional. Overall this project was a success and gives me a positive view of collaborative planning that I hope to continue in the future!