Expanded Collaboration
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Expanded collaboration can be student-to-student, teacher-to-teacher, or even student-to-community, depending on the context. Student collaboration is important to help students in developing and increasing their critical thinking skills. In addition to present-day benefits for students, "collaborative classrooms help students prepare for the skills they need today and in the future" (Burns, 2018). Teacher-to-teacher collaboration, such as grade-level teams or course teams, is essential to promote student success and continually improve instructional methods, but also serves as a model for student collaboration.
Coaching students to work collaboratively is important in all classes, but especially science. "Teamwork typifies real-world science better than independent learning" (University of Michigan CRLT). In order to promote authentic collaboration in lab activities, I use the following strategies: semester-long groups, rotating roles within groups, one handout for the whole group (or one shared digital file), and peer feedback forms. During laboratory activities, I circulate and check in with each group to ask and answer questions and provide technical help that may be needed.
Whole class discussion is not my strong suit, especially since the first two years of my teaching career were impacted by digital and blended learning environments. This year I tried something new: the Socratic circle method. I used this method in my Environmental Science class, where I felt it would be more meaningful than in biology due to the content. I read the NSTA article Whole-Class Discussion Strategies That Engage Students and Enhance Understanding by Katie Coppens prior to this experience. The worksheet I used was created based on her 3-2-1 worksheet as shown in the article. I also included the rubric description at the bottom so students knew what was expected of them. I mirrored her technique with the chairs in a circle and sitting in the circle as well. Because this is an ESOL class, I did ask some prompting questions at points where I felt a lull in the discussion, even though it was primarily student-led. Overall, with nineteen students, the discussion lasted about fifteen minutes. I believe it was successful and it is certainly a discussion strategy I will use again.
Collaboration within course or grade teams (often called PLCs or CLTs) is critical to idea sharing, instructional planning, data analysis, and feedback sharing.
While reading the course materials, something that stuck out to me were the points of the PLC+ Framework:
"Student learning is the focus.
Sustained improvement requires a collective effort.
We need to stick to what the data tell us.
We will accept the difficult facts and act on them.
We need each other to truly address the needs of all our students" (Fisher & Frey, 2019)
These points are similar to the CLT guideline my school has, yet I realized that the focus of our CLTs recently has been on what we as teachers are doing instead of on the students. I think this article has presented the framework in a way that would promote teacher-to-teacher collaboration.
The main collaboration I have with other teachers at my school is in the ESOL department. Our level 1 (low proficient) students travel around as a group all day and have four ESOL teachers. We frequently communicate about student progress, strengths, and weaknesses. The language development and communication skills teachers also send out a weekly summary of vocabulary, verbs, etc that I can incorporate into Academic Language of Science to support student success in all classes. In turn, they are informed of what science content I am doing so that they can incorporate it into their classes.
Tools for Teacher-to-Parent Collaboration
The primary two tools I use for communication with parents (other than school district email) are Remind and TalkingPoints. Talking Points has been a wonderful resource that allows me to communicate with the parents of ESOL students, eliminating the language barrier and lengthy times to have a school district translator place calls home. Establishing communication with parents is the very important first step in teacher-to-parent collaboration. "When the family of a student is able to communicate with their child’s teacher, the two sides can work together to build a relationship and create an optimal learning environment, both at home and at school" (WGU, 2021).
Creating a line of communication between myself and the parents is very important. In most cases, I do not hear back from parents when sending out reminder messages or emails, but occasionally this unlocks a collaborative opportunity. Sometimes, a parent asks for extra resources to help their child at home, or we work together to set up a schedule for their child to attend tutoring with me for extra support. without my initial contact, there would not have been an opportunity to collaborate.
Tools for Real-Time Feedback and Data
One of the most important tools I use in Biology for data collection is the SchoolNet Secure Tester. This is used by Gwinnett County Public Schools, and is mandatory in some courses that have standardized testing (like the EOC in Biology). In addition to the perks of being a secure testing platform and offering many accommodative features, SchoolNet collects and reports assessment data at the student, class period, and teacher levels. In our CLT meetings, we go over test data with a focus on the most missed questions.
Another tool that can easily be used for real-time feedback is Nearpod. Nearpod integrates instructional material and formative assessment into one presentation. Students may view notes slides, a video, or a document at their own pace or at the teacher's pace. Formative activities include a drawing tool, open-ended questions with the option for audio submission, multiple-choice questions, and even a collaborative board where students can share media or post text. Teachers can share student responses for discussion or praise, and the teacher also can hide student names to make them anonymous.
Sources
Burns, M. (2018, October 5). Why you should create a collaborative classroom this year. Getting Smart. https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/10/05/why-you-should-create-a-collaborative-classroom-this-year/.
Coppens, K. (2020). Whole-Class Discussion Strategies That Engage Students and Enhance Understanding. Science Scope, 44(1). https://www.nsta.org/science-scope/science-scope-septemberoctober-2020/whole-class-discussion-strategies-engage-students
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2021, March 1). The Good, the Bad, and the New PLCs. Corwin Connect. https://corwin-connect.com/2019/05/the-good-the-bad-and-the-new-plcs/
Strategies for developing students' group work skills in the laboratory class. UMich CRLT. https://crlt.umich.edu/gsis/p7_9
WGU. (2021, July 7). Harnessing parent teacher collaboration. Western Governors University. https://www.wgu.edu/blog/harnessing-parent-teacher-collaboration2107.html#close
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