TEA Collaborative Learning Group
Annual Report

King
2004

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How did your work with your team help you meet the professional growth goals you set for yourself?
As it has from the very first year, I gained tremendously from having the opportunity to collaborate with three TEA Associates in different subjects and grade levels. By doing so, this collaboration has enabled me to make a greater connection in understanding the learning process across grade levels. Each TEA Associate has brought a positive strength to the dynamics of the group. Bob King is a computer, math, and physics high school teacher. Bob is my husband, as well as my TEA Associate, so he has worked with me on almost every aspect of my TEA experience. Bob's feedback and assistance with many presentations have added to my presentations, as well as helped me improve my presentation skills by giving me an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of each presentation. I have found this input invaluable. He has learned along with me by listening as my presentations changed from "Getting to the Science in Antarctica" to "Foraminifera and Marine Organisms that Live Beneath the Antarctic Ice". He has encouraged my growth, edited my papers and Power Points, questioned unclear comments, and helped co-write activities. He gave me my love for science, so he has spent endless hours discussing science, attending workshops, and building a connection between geology and biology every step of the way. Bob and I love to learn, and we have gained by parcticipating on field experiences in Wyoming and Montana, as well as traveled to Alaska to learn about the science in the Arctic. This gave Bob the opportunity to experience a Polar Region and to feel the cold of being out in a remote area in a Polar Region (-45 wind chill). We have met with scientists from across the country over the past three years to gain a greater insight into science research. I think our passion for science has been transferred to our two sons. One son is in graduate school studying sedimentology and biology with a focus on taphonomy and the paleo-environment. Our youngest son is a senior in college working on a double major in biology and environmental science. He's expressed an interest in possibly doing an internship or parcticipate in a project in the Polar Regions. I regard Bob as one of my greatest teachers because he encourages me to continue my learning with every opportunity. We spend all of our vacations and breaks from school learning about science, or encouraging and training teachers and students to bring science research and experiences into their lives. Bob is my partner in learning, and we have both grown by our joint parcticipation with the TEA program and by working with teachers, students, university professors, and scientists. Like the students, we find that working in the field or meeting with scientists to learn about current science research, enables us to build understanding as we do science. Sue Smartt has given me a better insight on teaching reading by helping me to find current and appropriate resources in the library, as well as information from the Web sites to try with students. She is a media specialist who gives students a love for reading by also connecting science, so I value her input and ideas. She is dedicated and works long hard hours to make reading and science a priority in her school. Terry McDonald is a middle school math teacher with a science background, so she understands the importance of bringing math into science whenever possible. This has been quite helpful to see how her students respond to an activity. She has a positive attitude and willingness to do whatever is needed to bring a love for learning to students. Terry and Sue's parcticipation with the TEA Regional Workshop that I hosted in Nashville on May 1, 2004, helped each of us to learn more about Dr. Sam Bowser's project, and how it related to Tennessee. By coming into this experience with different backgrounds and grade levels, we each gained professionally as we merged our ideas and goals. I have grown tremendously from this interaction, and I am proud to have each one on my team. They are a wonderful collaborative group, and I feel so fortunate to work with them to pull polar research into the classroom. Although our contact hours have been fulfilled, we will continue to collaborate to encourage each other's growth. I will continue to work with Sue to build resources and library skills to encourage research in the classroom. I will also work with Terry to connect math and science. I would also like to bring them in to help present at future presentations and workshops.

How did your work with your team impact your content knowledge and pedagogy?
As I worked with each team member, I gained from their expertise in their discipline and teaching strategy. I feel that our diversity has impacted my content knowledge and pedagogy because it allowed us to pre-test activities and ideas with different age groups. We learned to modify as needed, make connections, and to see what worked best. The feedback from each team member was beneficial. We used each other as sounding boards, brainstormed, developed activities, and learned together. Bob King helped me learn Power Point to bring technology as a teaching tool into my classroom. Bob and I have also presented or taught high school students and pre-service teachers about inquiry-based learning. Each time my TEA Associates and I make a presentation, we gain content knowledge and pedagogy as we make preparations, discuss ways to clarify and motivate teachers and students, and work to polish the activity to help others gain a better understanding of the activity and/or the science research. I think more than anything, my content knowledge and ideas on how to best introduce the science to my students have been helped by suggestions, advice, and new ideas from all of my TEA Associates. Most of all, I love their positive nature and love for learning. They are all excellent teachers who freely give their best. The Science to Literature Connection helped each of us see how learning connects to other learning. It also made us aware of the importance of actively involving students in their own learning. This project gave the students the chance to see talents within themselves, and it promoted pride and motivation to continue learning.

What materials / resources / workshops did you use / produce / host with your team members over the last year?
April 2004 NSTA, Atlanta: Bob King and I made a presentation with TEA, Kolene Krysl, titled Animals beneath the Antarctic Ice. Terry McDonald, Bob, and I presented the activity: Connecting Science to Literature, Math, Research, and Technology. I parcticipated in the Presidential Awardee Share-a-thon's poster session to inform teachers of the TEA program, NSF and the Polar Regions, Dr. Bowser's research on foraminifera, and my fourth grade students' research with Dr. Bowser's project. I also gave out information on Foraminifera and the bibliography for Antarctic resources from our Science to Literature Connection. Bob, Terry, and I also helped at the TEA booth, and assisted with other TEA presentations. November 18-20, 2004, TSTA (The Tennessee Science Teachers Conference) Nashville, Tennessee. Terry McDonald, Bob King, and I made two presentations: the Science to Literature Connection and the Living Sands activity with an inquiry-base focus. Bob and I also did a second presentation on the Living Sands activity the following day. I assisted Dr. Don Byerly in an all day workshop on November 18 to meet the qualifications for highly qualified status in Earth Science. Bob and I hosted the Tennessee Earth Science Teachers (TEST) annual meeting at the conference. I gave out information on the Polar Regions. One of the teachers wanted more information about TREC, so that he could apply. One teacher wanted to know more about diving in Antarctica. I gave her Robin Ellwood's email and told her to follow her field experience, as well encouraged her to contact Robin while she was in the field. She was interested in going to a Polar Region. As members of TEST, we collated 150 rock boxes (minerals and rocks with economic value) with an accompanying CD of activities and information about the Economics of Natural Resources in Tennessee. Bob and I are very active in two rock clubs in Middle Tennessee. One of the rock clubs has given me $500 for the past three years to bring a geological dig to our fourth grade students at my school. Bob takes his personal day to come to help with the dig. The rock club also gave $500 to help fund our rock boxes for Tennessee teachers. June and July 2004: Bob and I traveled out west to learn more about the paleo-environment, the geology, and the life in the times of Jurassic dinosaurs. We also went to Craters of the Moon to learn more about the formation of volcanoes, lava, and the rocks that come from volcanoes. We parcticipated in two workshops in Wyoming with scientists. Dr. Michael Brett-Sermon with the Smithsonian taught the Life of the Jurassic Dinosaurs workshop. We also attended a workshop: The Geology of the Big Horn Mountains to learn to read the paleo-environment. May 1, 2004, Bob and I hosted a TEA Regional Workshop in Nashville, Tennessee, for 30 over-and-beyond and dedicated teachers, including my TEA Associates Terry and Sue. This workshop involved two Antarctic scientists: my P.I. Dr. Sam Bowser (foraminifera living in the modern-day environment under the Antarctic Ice) and Dr. Molly Miller an Antarctic scientist from Vanderbilt University (Antarctic research: reading the paleo-environment of the TransAntarctic Mountains). The theme of the workshop, the Paleo-Modern Connection, was connected to Tennessee by Dr. Michael Gibson, a professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin and the education coordinator for the paleo society. On June 4-6, 2004, Dr. Gibson led a subsequent field trip to Coon Creek in West Tennessee to help the TEA Regional workshop parcticipants learn how to process, sort, and mount fossilized foraminifera from Coon Creek to be viewed under microscopes. The May 1, 2004 TEA Regional Workshop and the extended learning field trip to Coon Creek brought the Antarctic research experience full circle as it connected Dr. Bowser's research with foraminifera in Tennessee for Tennessee teachers and students. Sue went to Coon Creek to learn how to process the forams. She also brought back fossilized forams and Coon Creek fossils to bring to students One of the highlights of the May 1, 2004 Regional workshop was having four students who were in my fourth grade reading class bring their research project on foraminifera to present to the teachers. It also gave the students the chance to meet Dr. Bowser. He worked with the students by email. The students used his photos and computer-generated drawings of foraminifera to help them understand and learn about foraminifera. The students presented Dr. Bowser with a video of their presentation to their classmates and a copy of their project: a bound booklet on foraminifera. Bob and I taught the Living Sands activity to the parcticipants at this workshop after we explained the difference between a hands-on lesson and an inquiry-based lesson. The ice investigations that Bob and I developed and put on-line helped explain this difference. Sue and Terry both learned about Living Sands and foraminifera at the workshop. Terry later helped present this sand activity to teachers at TSTA in November 2004. April 6-18, 2004: Bob and I went to Alaska to connect the Polar Regions. This was a personal trip over my Spring break, but like all of our vacations, it helped to build science content and to make connections between learning. The paleo-environment, as well as research in the Polar Regions, is a major interest to both of us. This trip gave us the opportunity to experience the Arctic. We met with scientists in Fairbanks and Barrow. We visited the Perma Frost Tunnel, the Tsunami Center in Wasilla, and met with scientists who talked to us about their research: Dr. Brian Barnes- frozen ground squirrels; Dr Ed Murphy- seabirds on Seward Peninsula; Dr. Perry Barboza- the Large Animal Research Station; Dr. Ted DeLaca- Dr. Bowser's teacher and mentor who first took him to Antarctica in 1984 to study foraminifera; Dr. Craig George- Bowhead whales; Dr. Robert Suydam- Beluga whales and eider ducks. We also attended a presentation by Dr. Neal Brown to hear about the Northern Lights that we were fortunate enough to see at that time of year. We walked on the frozen Arctic Ocean and visited the museums and culture centers in the area. We also went out with two Inupiats to learn more about Barrow and the culture of the native Inupiats. One of them was a member of the whaling crew. We visited high school and elementary classrooms in Barrow. We went out with TEA Tim Buckley's class as they collected data at the transects on the frozen lake (The Alison project set up by Dr. Martin Jeffries). October 12- 17, 2004, Bob and I went back to Fairbanks to make two presentations at the Alaska Math and Science Conference: Living Sands: an activity developed by Dr. Lynn Margulis and Dr. Lois Brynes to connect biology, geology, and environmental science. The lesson involved the study of the two types of sand- abiogenic and biogenic, which also included foraminifera. We added a math lesson by using this sand to teach ratio, percentages, and standard deviation. We taught a three-hour lab for Dr. Doug Schamel's Science for Elementary Teachers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The lab was a mixture of the TEA Antarctic program/ Antarctic project with Dr. Bowser, a lesson on inquiry-based learning, and the Living Sands inquiry-based hands-on activity. We also directed them to the TEA site to find the inquiry-based ice investigation that Bob and I developed and put on-line. This activity for elementary, middle school, and high school was successfully pre-tested by my fourth grade students, Terry's seventh grade math class, and an Honors biology class that Bob taught at his school. Other activities that have been developed over the last three years: Bob developed a Tracking Dinosaurs math lesson that we presented at TSTA in 2003, as well as to a group of teachers at the Wyoming dinosaur workshop in July 2004. We have also developed a Soil Aquarium to monitor how land, water, and organisms affect the other. In July 2004, Bob and I developed an investigation called CSI Sundance that will involve investigating fossils to determine the environment at the time the fossils were laid down. We will pretest this with the Science Day for Girls at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee, in February 2005, which will later be implemented as an investigation at the 5th grade geological dig on May 6, 2005. In February 2004, Bob and I taught the high school girls (at the annual all girls' science day) the Living Sands activity to introduce them to foraminifera and the components that make up the sand. The Science to Literature Connection was the project that connected reading, science, math, research, and technology for my fourth grade students, Terry's eighth grade math class, and Bob's computer class. While my students worked on research of organisms beneath the Antarctic Ice, Terry and Bob used the same theme to have their student's research and create graphs to present to their classmates. Sue worked to get find valuable resources that would help students with their research.

Based on the past year, what ideas do you have to improve the effectiveness of your team interactions?
I think that 2004 was the year that came together for all of us. We felt that our learning spiraled and made connections as we gained new information, resources, and learning. The Science to Literature Connection pulled our group together and impacted our teaching, pedagogy, and content base. The TEA Regional Workshop and subsequent field trip to Coon Creek connected Tennessee foraminifera and the paleo-environment to Dr. Bowser's Antarctic Research. As with anything, there is always room for improvement. We had to work hard to find a common time to meet, but our meetings were productive, so we always left feeling like we were glad that we took the extra effort to get together. We have fulfilled our hours of commitment, but we will continue to collaborate to help each other continue to grow. The effectiveness of our team's interaction was enhanced when we did the Science to Literature Connection. We had found the way to bring all of our disciplines together, which motivated us to learn by trial and error with the support and suggestions from each other. Sue Smartt helped tie everything together by getting resources to us, while Bob, Terry, and I could give feedback as to what worked and what needed to be changed. Sue also used the resources to teach library skills. This project added excitement to what we were doing. It gave us a great reason to meet. We knew by the success with our students that we would share this project with teachers, nationally and statewide at NSTA and TSTA. The Tea Regional Workshop also proved to be very effective in bringing the transfer experience and collaboration together for us. As things started to take shape, then the need to pull it together encouraged extra effort to find the needed time to develop and polish the project to teach and present to others, as well as at conferences and workshops.

Total hours of collaboration with each team member:
Collaboration for 2004: Bob King (150 + hours) Sue Smartt (88 hours) Terry McDonald (88 hours)

Additional reflections:
It has been honor to work with my three TEA Associates. They have made me a better teacher and learner. We would like to continue our collaboration, even though we have fulfilled our commitment to TEA. It will not be as intense as it was this year, but it would be nice to work on another project and to continue to make presentations to share activities and to connect science research and education. My collaboration has never been about the hours. My goal was to work together to transfer the Antarctic experience and to find the means to help each of us to grow in the process. We each had different needs, so my goal was to help my TEA Associates work toward projects that would directly affect them and their students. My goal was to have my TEA Associates look back over the last three years and say that the TEA experience made a difference in their life and learning, as well as to their students.