TEA Collaborative Learning Group
FINAL Report

Jones

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Overall, in what ways did your collaboration with your team impact your professional growth? (e.g., how did this work impact your approach to and understanding of: content knowledge, pedagogy, process of science, teaching standards, use of technology, etc.)?
I feel that I became more cognizant of the individual needs of each of my mentees. I also realized that time is one of the most critical aspects of any professional development activity. Matching schedules was a challenge, but not impossible and helped add to my flexibility as a professional. I also think that we began to communicate more as a community of learners than as individuals doing our own thing in our classrooms. As for contnet, I think that more emphasis of our discussions went into pedagogy, standards (or rather meeting the standards), and the process of teaching science and the learning of science for the student.

In what ways do you think your colleagues were impacted by being a part of this collaborative team?
They became part of a larger community of learniers and they became more well versed and frankly less afraid to look at research as an intergral part of science teaching.

How does this experience compare to / contrast with other professional interactions you have had with your colleagues?
Other than the fact that it took a lot of planning to get the ball rolling, I would say that the long term nature of this PD experience makes it far more likely for conceptual change to really occur. Most PD interactions are very short and don't center on the individual needs of the parcticipants. I think that since we build a long term relationship, we were able to create an environment of trust that allowed us to focus on individual needs .

Overall, what were the most significant outcomes of the mentoring experience?
I think the fact that we are all a part of a larger community of learners.

What do you believe are the key elements to a successful mentoring experience?
Flexibility! We (mentors and mentees) need to be able to use a variety of venues for communication besides face-to-face. EMentoring was a great addition to my interactions.

What recommendations do you have for other TEAs who are working with colleagues to transfer their TEA experience?
Get your web site out there and make sure that mentees are familiar with the tea site. I also recommend doing community and classroom presentations as often as possible. The traditional 'PIR' day presentation is not always the best anymore.

What, if any, resources/products were created by your team? How can we best make these available to the broader TEA community?
Nothing really created by my team. Most of the materials were specific to each teachers needs. Twila Michael and Mary Kidder had created Polar Units back in 2001.

What are your recommendations for improving or modifying the mentoring experience?
More flexibility in meeting hour requirements for teachers in rural areas.

Additional Reflections:
I feel very fortunate to have been selected as a TEA. I wish I could go back to the Ice tomorrow. My tea experience inspired me to go beyond the classroom and apply for other programs...including a doctorate. I only hope to continue my realtionship into the future. Thank you!