TEA Collaborative Learning Group
Overview of Plan

Forbes

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Team Members:
Ethan Forbes, Anne Murray, Kelli Gervais, Courtney Neal, Jahhna Cloukey, Jake Strunjo

What is your role within your team?
I am the facilitator. I lead and set up the meetings. I share whatever resources I have available to me. I co-ordinate class meetings and working together with a 2nd grade, 3rd grade and 2 5th grades. The theme has been mostly Arctic, but definitely Antarctic is included (a great deal is planned as we go through our curriculum this year).

What professional growth goals do you and your team members hope to reach through this partnership?
We hope to develop Polar Studies curriculum within our elementary system. Working together sets up a team covering 4 classrooms. Ther have also been presentations to many classrooms throuhout the system. This enables us to grow according to grade level and to learn about other grade levels. It puts us more in tousch with the science standards. Sharing of knowledge, methods of teaching, and concept development are encouraged and worked on in the team.

How will you and your team reflect on these goals and on learning and classroom practice (e.g., pedagogy, the use of technology, content, the process of science)?
A major component of working together is assessment of our teaching. We meet after a unit is taught. We meet after our classes work together, and after we research Polar studies in our room. We brainstorm and discuss new approaches to the lesson plans, what works, what does not work. We are even discussing our approach to teaching next year.

Mentoring Plan (Revised from Orientation)
I think my mentoring changes as a result of our work with other teachers and classrooms. We are constantly evaluating our working relationship. We have all come up with ideas and projects to teach. We have tried working within grade levels and working with eacg grade level (my group covers grades 2,3, and 5.) We have used technology in the classroom to research polar animals, weather, explorers, and even TEA members. I am taking part in a unit developed by TERC (an educational organization in Math and Science) titles Arctic, Antarctic and Us. This compares the weather and seasons. Data collection is vital to this project. This has been incorporated into the mentoring plan. I think bringing in data collection in elementary science is very important in teaching children the importance of scientific research. This has been a focus in the mentoring plan. The team is all aware of this anbd has been using it also. Changing as we go along helps all of learn (mentoring groups and children). I think if we stay open it will help with the success of the programs we teach.