Post Reflection

When Martina and I first began collaborating on the Unit Plan, I felt overwhelmed by the number of tasks and activities we had to complete. I wasn't sure exactly how each step of the process was supposed to take place and felt a little lost at times. I can see now that the project was very open-ended and, after reading the other collaborative wikis, that resulted in each unit plan being very unique. At the end of the process, I am pleased that it went very smoothly and ended up being a positive experience. I am proud of the work we accomplished and feel like each lesson and activity is something that students would learn and benefit from. I am happy to say that none of the activities felt like "busy work," they all had a purpose. Martina did an excellent job in creating inquiry-based learning experiences in her lessons. I am also happy with the number of learning styles and cross-curricular subjects we addressed in the lessons.

One benefit of teacher/SLMS collaboration is that there is better focus as both contributors are working to achieve pre-determined goals. Working as a team in planning curriculum creates better structure and allows each person to use their strengths to provide the best learning experience possible. As a teacher, I always enjoyed collaborating with other teachers and knew that when two or more people are working on curriculum planning, there is greater creativity and a more well-rounded curriculum. Unfortunately, I, like most teachers, generally planned my curriculum on my own. This was usually due to time constraints or just a lack of someone to turn to. I can see now that consulting my school media specialist would have been a positive option, although I rarely considered it when I was a teacher.
Overall, I am very happy with what Martina and I were able to accomplish. I feel like I have a better understanding of the collaborative process and I am sure the experience would not have been as positive if I was working on the unit plan alone.