TEA Collaborative Learning Group
Annual Report

Vermaat
2002

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How did your work with your team help you meet the professional growth goals you set for yourself?
All of the goals that I have been working towards center around the improvement of research being done by students. This has been improved this year in the following ways: 1. The involvement of the sixth grade classes in our annual Science Fair was markedly improved. By meeting with the teachers, a general consensus was reached that models and "canned" projects would be acceptable on a more limited basis. The old "baking soda and vinegar volcano" was used as a prime example of what we're NOT looking for. Many students generated authentic questions and retrieved respectable data to support their work. It was a success, and will continue during this season. 2. I had an opportunity to work with a new teacher. Steven Borneman accepted an eighth grade teaching position right next door to me. He has never taught at this level, and in fact did not even have the benefit of a student teaching experience, so this interaction was truly more mentoring than collaborative experience. We spent a lot of time during the school year discussing and implementing plans that required students to generate data to prove or "discover" relevant concepts like the acceleration of gravity, relative quantities of elements in a compound, pH of household substances, and many other physical science topics. We made use of combined classrooms on several occasions. 3. On a more collaborative note, my high school research class hosted a symposium that featured graduate students from Steve Borneman's peer group at Binghamton University. They gave an overview of their research, and spoke with my students about research in general. This was a very productive endeavor.

How did your work with your team impact your content knowledge and pedagogy?
First, I have a better understanding of what can be expected from the sixth grade level. Secondly, it was encouraging to see that teachers in my building are very open and receptive to ideas concerning improving the amount of hands-on time that science students get, and that they are receptive to collaboration in general. Finally, I think it was helpful to our program in general that sixth grade students saw their teachers working together towards a common goal. I was invited into their classrooms on several occasions to clear up some "trivia question," explain what judges look for in science fair projects, and to help students come up with ideas.

What materials / resources / workshops did you use / produce / host with your team members over the last year?
1. The "new and improved" science fair. 2. Graduate student research symposium. 3. Meetings with Binghamton University professors to link high school research students with BU lab experience.

Based on the past year, what ideas do you have to improve the effectiveness of your team interactions?
1. We plan to include the sixth grade science teachers in department meetings (not done before) and to integrate their teaching practices with expectations for state-wide exams in eighth grade. 2. We plan to make regularly scheduled meetings of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science teachers (for the same purpose).

Total hours of collaboration with each team member:
SIXTH GRADE: A minimum of 26 hours was spent with Dick Cizenski and Karyn Church. Most of this time was spent organizing and reviewing sixth grade parcticipation in the science fair. Two remedial periods were spent reviewing the current "state of the curriculum" as it pertains to an overall departmental vision of the 6-8 science program. STEVE BORNEMAN: A minimum of 104 hours were spent during this school year. Generally, we met every morning before classes arrived for about fifteen minutes. We met at least four days a week during fourth period (common planning time) discussing the following: > pedagogy > student research and labs > science fair > Steve's involvement with the high school research class > Steve's own chemistry research at Binghamton University, and its presentation to research class and the general 8th grade classes > classroom discipline DEPARTMENTAL TIME: A minimum of ten hours was spent with Tim Conner (department chair) regarding specific issues surrounding my work with Dick, Karyn, and Steve.

Additional reflections:
Although I have heard of some "shying away" from the term mentoring, I have never experienced one incident in which a fellow teacher was not receptive to new ideas or encouragement to try something different. All of the collaborative experiences that I had this past year were very positive.