Susan Mitchell
Collaboration Plan
EDUC 574
Spring 2008
Initiation of Discussion Regarding Collaboration
As soon as the collaboration plan was assigned, I began to think about what faculty
member at our school would be a good choice for this project. I wanted somebody who
was very organized and near me in the building in case she had a question. I began to
think that Mrs. Powell, a fourth grade teacher at Thompson would be a good choice.
Mrs. Powell usually has a gifted cluster of about eight children in her classroom. She is a
very kind teacher and her children seem to enjoy being in her class. Mrs. Powell’s
students are always telling me about activities going on in her classroom, especially in
Alabama History. My lunch schedule is in line with the fourth grade teachers and I
usually sit with them in the cafeteria. While we were in the cafeteria one day Mrs.
Powell asked me how I liked my new job and how graduate school was going. I told her
how much I was enjoying teaching again and talked to her a little bit about the graduate
classes that I was taking. I asked her if she would be interested in doing some
collaborating with me next year. I told her we would start out slowly and try to build on
the collaboration plan. She happily agreed to be a part of it. We talked a little bit more
about pre-testing students, compacting, and student choice. I told her that I would talk to
her more as the year goes on and as I learn more information.
Timeline for Implementing Collaboration Plan
February, 2008
Talked with S. Powell about collaboration plan at lunch
February 29, 2008
Talked with S. Powell about contracts and compacting for spelling
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March 26, 2008
Talked with S. Powell about tiered lesson
July 2009
Go over collaboration plan again with Mrs. Powell, making any
necessary changes. Decide on a time to meet weekly during the
school year.
August 2009
Observe and note consistently above average spellers
August 2009
Send home letter to parents about compacting in spelling
Talk to students about compacting in spelling
August 2009
Explain activities in “drain your brain” crates
September 2009
Discuss students who have made 90% or above on spelling tests
September 2009
Inform parents and students of optional activities for spelling
Discuss ways to enhance parental participation in learning
September 2009
Begin preassessing, contracting, and compacting in spelling
September 2009
Talk with Mrs. Powell about tiering a lesson in Alabama History
September 2009
Discuss learning style inventories and flexible grouping
September 2009
Provide activities for flexible groups
October 2009
Select a day to incorporate a tiered lesson
October 2009
Develop a learning/interest center for Mrs. Powell’s classroom
Discussion Regarding Preassessment and Compacting
Mrs. Powell and I actually talked about pretesting and compacting as soon as she
agreed to be a part of the collaboration plan. I mentioned to her that I thought spelling
would give us a smooth introduction to preassessment and compacting. At first, she was
a little hesitant to pretest for spelling because she thought that everyone in her class
would have to take the preassessment and she really didn’t want to go there. I let that go
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for the weekend and the next Monday we talked again and Mrs. Powell asked me if she
could pretest the ones who were consistently making 90% or above. I told her that I
didn’t really see a problem with that, but I’d check on it. I told her that I could provide
some alternate activities for the students who made 90% or above on the test. I talked to
her about vocabulary builders and alternate activities that involved weekly spelling words
or words selected by the students from the glossary of a book in their classroom. She
asked if that would take the place of the spelling contract that the rest of her students are
responsible for and I told her yes. We talked a little bit more about having the students
sign contracts and informing the parents about this opportunity for their children. We
will have this conversation again in the summer before our collaboration plan takes place,
making any necessary changes to the plan. Unless our county adopts a new reading
program, we will use the pretest from the reading series. There are two examples of
pretests in the spelling workbook. One example is bubbling in from a multiple choice of
words and the other is writing or spelling the activities on lined paper. Any student who
compacts out of spelling for the week will sign a student contract for alternate activities
form.
Co-Planning with Regular Education Teacher for My Role in Teaching the Tiered
Lesson
I e-mailed Mrs. Powell and told her that that a tiered lesson was a requirement for our
collaboration plan and to be thinking of a subject or area that she would allow me to
present this lesson. I told her that I would be responsible for designing and teaching the
lesson and I would provide her a copy in case she wanted to use that particular lesson in
the years to come or adapt it for another subject area. Mrs. Powell told me that I could do
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whatever I wanted to do and that she really didn’t provide any tiered lessons at this time.
I will probably want to go ahead and have my tiered lesson complete at least by October.
I will talk to Mrs. Powell in September about tiering in the subject of Alabama History
and presenting the lesson in early October. We will look at what the students are
studying and decide on the lesson to tier.
Support for Flexible Small Groups
I will first observe Mrs. Powell’s plan for flexible grouping before making any
suggestions. After observing, I will talk to Mrs. Powell about some different types of
grouping such as by interest, readiness or learning style. I would like to give Mrs.
Powell’s class at least one learning style survey. I will also discuss some products that
Mrs. Powell could use in the classroom to benefit all types of learners. We will discuss
the different types of grouping that she provides in her classroom and how flexible
grouping helps the high-end learners.
Provision of Interest/Learning Center and/or Anchor Activities
At the beginning of the school year I will provide Mrs. Powell with anchor activities
for her whole class in a “drain your brain” crate for her to keep in her classroom. The
children will be able to work on these activities when they have finished any class work
and hopefully, Mrs. Powell will build in some time for students to work on these
activities so that early finishers are not the only ones who are able to enjoy these
activities. I will include activities such as number mania, analogies, magnetic Sudoku,
Alabama History Activities, high interest books about athletes, and high interest science
based books. Each task will relate to one or more content areas in the curriculum,
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including creativity and critical thinking. By doing this, students will be able to
strengthen or develop more of their talents in some areas and maybe obtain more
interesting information about other subject areas. Mrs. Powell will explain the activities
in the crate after about three weeks of school have passed and encourage the children to
use them. Mrs. Powell will explain when it is appropriate to use the activities and when
it is not. The crates will be rotated among gifted cluster teachers every nine weeks. At
one of our weekly meetings, I plan to put together, along with input from other fourth
grade teachers, a listing of appropriate internet sites that could also be used as anchor
activities. My vision is that, after being introduced to the many activities that we provide,
students will want to complete many activities that are linked to each of the content areas
addressed. I will also talk to Mrs. Powell about putting together a learning center to
display in her classroom. Some of the topics I’m thinking about include, flight, the
California gold rush, or shark teeth that were found on a visit to Shark Tooth Creek, in
Aliceville, AL.
Discussion of Ways to Increase Parental Participation/Collaboration
To Enhance Learning
Communication with parents is a must for the success of any program. I will talk to
Mrs. Powell about using blogs to increase parental participation in the learning process. I
would also like to incorporate a few activities in which students and parents interact more
such as student/parent interviews or parental journals. I hope some other ideas pop into
my head between now and implementation time.
Support for Students Choosing to Pursue Independent Projects
If Mrs. Powell has any students that are extremely interested in something that they
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are learning or are exceptionally advanced in a subject area I will provide opportunities
for these students to work independently. Depending on the subject area, I can use web
quests, other research or technological projects, or provide additional materials for
students such as hands on equations for math or other applicable materials according to
the needs of the student. Students who want to work on independent projects will always
be welcomed to come to the gifted resource class, as our schedule allows.
Provision of Resources to Regular Education Teacher for Advanced Learners
I will provide Mrs. Powell with any resources that I am able to find for her advanced
learners. I will provide math activities, technological based programs, or other subject
appropriate materials for the students to use in Mrs. Powell’s classroom. I will also
provide Mrs. Powell with an information sheet for any student who uses these materials
to record their name, what they used, and how they found it helpful.
I look forward to collaborating with Mrs. Powell. I’m sure, like anything else, it will
be a learning experience that I can hopefully improve upon and expand each year.
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