Collaboration

Collaboration can occur at different depths or levels. As a new media specialist, I would be just starting to build relationships with the teachers, learning about their teaching styles and feelings about collaboration. Providing materials and instruction for student research would be a minimum level of cooperation in a lesson. Coordination would occur when teacher and teacher-librarian plan parts of the unit together and divide responsibility for particular mini-lessons. Collaboration, based on the ideas resulting from the U.S. Department of Education's "Meeting in the Middle" conference, is seen as a formal, long-term commitment between the librarian and teachers (Callison p.323).

Working with the **second grade** teacher- The second grade teacher approached me 2 weeks before she began the "My Pyramid" lesson on nutrition. She used the lesson the year before and this year wanted to add a culminating activity, something for the students to create using what they learned. She asked me to come up with 1 or 2 ideas. We discussed the curriculum standards she was targeting and decided that a culminating activity that connected making good nutrition choices with a real-life situation would help internalize the students' learning

The middle school PE teacher was expressing his frustration with teaching the food pyramid to 6th graders who have covered it every year. He felt that each year the information presented had more depth and the students were learning more facts, but not making any connections beyond superficial "avoid junk food, eat more veggies" platitudes. We discussed how to make the information relevant to adolescents on the verge of being teenagers and considered what experts could be invited to speak to the issues. We decided to choose experts that would represent specific disciplines and broader ones too in order to give the students options for connecting with the information. For example, we identified specific areas of dermatology, sports medicine, cardiology, dietician and orthopedic specialties as well as more general public health, school health nurse, and world health. Because of the second grade unit, I suggested culminating the unit by having the students create a product that could be displayed or presented outside the school, ie doctor's office, newsletter or community broadcast. The hardest part will be coordinating guest speakers, but the unit won't be started for another 7 weeks.

Referenced:

Callison, Daniel. "Information Inquiry." School Library Media Activities Monthly 18 10 (June 2002) (2002): 35-9. Print.