Narrative

Narrative

At first this assignment seemed insurmountable. As a first year teacher/educator I could imagine the feeling of defeat from the beginning if one was to undertake this journey. In breaking down the assignment into steps, the task seemed a little more palatable. The amount of new technology available and the vast nubmer of resources in Kristin Fontichiaro's book "21st-Century Learning in School" have truly amazed me. I pride myself on being fairly tech savvy, but this class and my experiences throughout this assignment were humbling. I am looking excitedly into the future with anticipation that I can, and will, use many of the tools experienced through this course. I hope that one day in the near future I have the opportunity to be a part of a collaboration such as this. I really enjoyed the opportunity to create a wiki for collaboration between the school media specialist and classroom teachers. It's ease of use from any location with a computer and internet access makes it an invaluable tool. Creating an authentic learning action plan was quite an undertaking. There are so many components to be addressed and when more than one educator is involved, it adds multiple layers to the process. Having experience as an educator writing lesson plans I found certain areas to be effortless, while others took much thought. It showed me that there is more than one way to "skin a cat". Standards are something I deal with on a daily basis in the classroom and I see the value in including them in a plan. I found it hard to write the scenario section, especially without the ability to actually discuss the collaboration with other members. I still question the need for it to be included in the plan. I am a big believer in having essential questions, but would like to see enduring understandings also included in the action plan. Having student frienly (EQ's) and teacher friendly (EU's) objectives helps everyone know what they are striving for. I enjoyed the opportunity to create an assessment tool using an online program (rubistar). The opportunity to gather ideas from other rubric creators was extremely useful and in way was collaboration itself. Assessment can be a struggle for educators and determining how to best assess student learning is challenging. I see the value in incorporating technology and was happy to get the opportunity to branch out with the assessment tools I chose for this collaborative unit. In creating a lesson plan I still find it a challenge to include formal differentiation on paper (I find that many times you differentiate on the fly in class) and to create extensions to the curriculum for students who need the extra challenge. It is something I need to work on and was glad it was a requirement of this assignment. I struggled most with the instructional objectives as my discipline (FCS) rarely looks at classroom profiles (since we aren't directly found on CMT/CAPT tests). The UPT (Universal Planning Tool) was a new term for me and a new way to layout a lesson. UbD has been the format of choice in the district I teach and this was a different way of thinking for me. Although there were similarities in many of the requirements it still was a new and demanding experience. In the end, although this was one of my most time consuming and challenging assignments of my MLS journey, I found it too be one of the most rewarding too. I hope that someone else can find value in the materials that I have created for this collaborative unit.

Fontichiaro, Kristin. //21st-Century Learning in School Libraries//. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009. Print.