A.1.4+Final

=A.1.4 Final=

I added Zmuda to the works cited and highlighted my "reflections." I highlighted 6 sentences. Is this too much, too little or ok? Will get online around 6:30 tomorrow. Call me when you send me the final paper so we can discuss it over the phone, that way we can go over it quickly and decide on any changes. Thanks for all your help.

“Collaboration.” Webster defines it as “the action of working with someone to produce or create something ” In the world of academia, the process of collaboration is characterized by two individuals working together toward a common goal. Judi Moreillon states that the “overarching common goal” among educators is “increasing achievement for all learners (Moreillon 4).” Numerous studies, resources, and personal testimonials demonstrate that engagement in the collaborative instruction experience produces greater success for both teacher and student.

In particular, teachers most obviously benefit from collaboration in the areas of teaching support, curricular/social integration, and personal growth. First, collaboration provides teaching support that increases the likelihood of achieving the teacher’s goals for student achievement. The old adage “Two heads are better than one” certainly applies in the academic setting. One teacher, reports how collaboration with the librarian provides more one-on-one student time (Kindergarten Teacher: Peg). The sheer reduction in student-teacher ratio provides a critical support to the teacher and enables her to make greater strides in understanding and meeting student needs. Having another qualified educator serving alongside the teacher provides a fresh pair of eyes to help evaluate and better serve learner problems (“Co-Teaching Strategies PP”, Moreillon). The support that comes from collaboration gives the teacher more opportunities to effectively observe, share insights with the fellow collaborator, and thus meet student needs.
 * Martin Constantly seeks the help of her colleagues to share ideas and collectively come up with ways to re-teach students that are not grasping a concept. At times she trades students with other teachers to that the struggling students can be taught in another way to help them reach content mastery. ** (what do you think about integrating this part? I removed it from my part and added it here. I thought it made more sense here, it also shortened my part a bit more because I removed two more sentences)

Secondly, the curricular and social aspects of collaboration help integrate the educator into the campus big picture. The collaboration planning and implementation process serves to insure that the teacher meets the required curricular standards. For example, one high school English teacher reports that the collaborative school librarian helps her meet curricular objectives in research assessment by grading the citation portion of student projects (High School English teacher: Kelly). Since the librarian collaborates cross-curriculum and has a pulse-point on several academic areas at once, the individual collaborative process serves to draw in individual teachers under the large umbrella of campus academic goals. In addition to helping integrate teachers into the campus curriculum big picture, collaboration also helps meet the educator’s social needs for community. One middle school Language Arts teacher expresses her gratitude for the encouraging disposition of the collaborating librarian (8th grade Language Arts teacher: Karen). Collaborating librarians with a welcoming “team spirit” help prevent teacher isolation and promote a true sense of belonging to community through their collaborations with individual educators. These collaborative librarians are often the best- situated campus leaders to help educators connect with one another on both curricular and social levels.

Finally, collaboration helps promote the growth and professional development of the collaborators. Collaborating with a technology literate librarian often provides the teacher as well as the student an opportunity to learn and practice a new technology skill (7th grade Social Studies teacher: Pat). The sharing of knowledge and strategies between collaborators adds to the teacher’s overall knowledge base (Elementary Art Instructor: Tracy) and may even help the teacher meet required professional development needs on the campus (High School Art teacher: Diane). These informal interactions can even lead to the formation of professional learning communities which may lead teachers to “analyze and improve their classroom practice” (Schultz 24). These relationships often evolve into powerful collaborative networks that promote teacher professional development which in turn profoundly impacts student achievement.

--- Collaboration advances student learning and achievement (Schultz, 22) in a variety of ways. Students are being exposed to a variety of teaching styles and are able to draw from different fountains of knowledge. They reap the benefits from having two educators creating, developing and carrying out lessons that help them delve deeper into subjects being taught in the classroom. The library becomes an extension of the classroom where students have numerous resources. Students have access to computers, Internet, books and audio-visual materials. Students have the opportunity to engage readily with exciting Web 2.0 tools (High School Eng. teacher: Sherri). While participating in research through information literacy models students are able to actively engage in constructing knowledge through authentic research instead of just passive information seeking, this teaches students to be life long learners (Zmuda, 25). More individualized attention for each student, gives them more opportunities to receive help and guidance while they are learning essential skills and concepts. Having a second person to guide them during the activities provides them with a clearer understanding of what is expected and any questions can be addressed to either or both of the educators. Receiving feed back from two people is advantageous because they are sharing their diverse ideas and teaching strategies with the students as opposed to having only one viewpoint. Students also gain clear feedback and assessment of research/citation skills through librarian-graded rubrics, which guide students in improving research strategies (High School Student Eng. teacher: Kelly). Students are able to self-assess their work through the rubrics developed by the teacher and librarian. This makes them responsible for the quality of the products they produce and the knowledge they gained during the lesson. The main focus of all library programs as well as for all educators should be to increase student achievement while creating life long learners. Standardized testing scores are an important factor to consider as well. Schools measure students’ success by how well they do on the tests. Students have access to two persons that are helping them achieve their goals by improving their reading skills and comprehension through engaging lessons. Collaboration between teachers and school librarians has an invaluable effect on students' academic success and personal growth. It gives teachers and librarians an opportunity to pool their collective knowledge of content areas and diverse teaching strategies while focusing on the common goal of addressing the needs of students in order to promote academic success. When educators cultivate an environment of respect and equality where they can share their expertise the possibilities are countless.

Works Cited

"3rd-Grade Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] >. "7th-Grade Social Studies Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] > "8th-Grade Language Arts Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. < [] >. "Elementary Art Instructor." Interview by Judy Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] >. "Elementary Principal." Interview by Judy Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] >. "High School Art Teacher." Interview by Judy Moreillin. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. [] >. "High School English Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] .> "Kindergarten Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 4 Feb. 2011. < [] >. Moreillon, Judi. //Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact//. Chicago: American Library Association, 2007. Print. Schultz-Jones, Barbara. "Collaboration in the School Social Network." Knowledge Quest 37.4 (2009): 22-24. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2011 Stevenson, Angus, and Christine A. Lindberg. //New Oxford American Dictionary.// Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.

Zmuda, A., and V. H. Harada. The Learning Specialist: Clarifying the Role of Library Media Specialists. In //Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21st Century//, 2008. 25-26.

(Co-teaching Strategies PP, Moreillon)---need help on this one