TEA Collaborative Learning Group
Annual Report

Petula
2000

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How did your work with your team help you meet the professional growth goals you set for yourself?
Meeting with the team at this stage was intended for getting the team familiarized with the TEA Program and having them prepared for my field experience. Regarding that goal, I feel that we accomplished everything we needed to. I expect that the meat of the mentoring will occur now that the field experience is behind us.

How did your work with your team impact your content knowledge and pedagogy?
Meeting with the team did not effect my knowledte and pedagogy greatly. Once again, I anticipate that this will change once we conduct professional development post field experience.

What materials / resources / workshops did you use / produce / host with your team members over the last year?
* books on Antarctic exploration * various Internet sites * daily display case

Based on the past year, what ideas do you have to improve the effectiveness of your team interactions?
Time is the largest factor. Preparing for the field experience was challanging, and finding time to meet with the team was a challenge. Also, I find it difficult to motivate the team. I have an obligation to the TEA program to complete the hours...but they do not. In a nutshell, except for professional development, they have no incentive to work toward completing the hours. If this was some reward for the team completing the hours, I think things would go much smoother.

Total hours of collaboration with each team member:
35.5 hours

Additional reflections:
I find the mentoring requirements to be very difficult. Mentoring is easier on a college level, but not on a secondary education level. It is very difficult for teachers to find common meeting time during the work day, and there is no incentive to meet outside of school hours. I enjoy presenting to various audiences, I enjoy learning about the science, and obviously I enjoyed the field experience. However, I find this mentoring portion to be very challanging and it has taken a lot of enjoyment out of the TEA experience. I think asking 137 hours from each mentoring teaching is too much and this portion of the program needs further clarification. Nonetheless, I will fulfill my obligation.