Integrated Unit: Stage 1 Reflection

Margaret Nerney
Integrated Unit- Stage 1 reflection
Due: March 4, 2009

I am the Phillips Elementary School 5th-8th grade Language Arts teacher. As my unit focuses on Wabanaki culture, I have been working with the science and social studies teachers to create an integrated unit that centers on perspective. The social studies teacher, Paula Roy, and I had been trying to get something worked out for this year, but time constraints have not allowed this. So it was not difficult to get my colleagues to participate in this work. We have utilized our prep. periods and even stayed after school to have enriching conversations and complete stage 1 of our unit plan.
I have also found it relatively easy to maneuver through the stages with them because they are comfortable with and using the backward planning method in their own classrooms. We sat down right away to decide on common goals. It seems that we are all in agreement that students should be able to see situations from the different perspectives of those involved and understand the contextual influences on those perspectives. This made the integration of three separate units able to come together with the unity of a common aim. It is the content knowledge that will be unique for each of us.
As these teachers already teach units that could be easily adapted for our integrated plan, it was easy to sit down and map out each of their individual goals. I have found that I usually meet with each of them individually to work on their specific plans. It also helped to have the template before us and work through it as I had done. Mine was used as an example that we would structure theirs around. I would give them each the chapter overviews and then we would begin discussions. I worked as the recorder. This worked well because I could remind them of the specific wording that was needed and help them restate their goals and questions accordingly. I felt comfortable in this role, as I had already worked out these things with my own unit and feel comfortable with language use in general. The templates also helped to maintain a log of our conversations. We were able to make clear connections between the goals and the eventual things that the students would need to be able to do. I was thoroughly surprised at the ease with which my colleagues and I worked through this. Their expertise in teaching pedagogy and their specific content area knowledge are a true asset to this unit.
Tom already teaches a unit on hunter safety, so he is modifying it to include the Wabanaki hunting traditions and ethics. This will allow him to explore different cultural perspectives as well as the idea of conservation versus preservation. As Tom is very comfortable with his Maine Learning Result standards, it was relatively easy to connect his unit goals to those standards. Once we had the goals and questions, he easily began listing the “knows.” The six facets were a perfect fit for him. I think I spent more time than he did finding the appropriate terms! He would say them aloud and then find them on the list. We even labeled each facet to make sure that we had two “dos” for every one “know.” His unit will be far more hands on and exploratory. The students will even be applying their knowledge in the field.
Paula also teaches a social studies unit on the Wabanaki people. Again, it was easy to identify the Maine Learning Results for her unit because there is a section on Wabanaki people in her social studies section. What we discovered is that we had to explicitly tie the modern issues into her section. They were glossed over. So she worked hard to rewrite her goals and questions to reflect the modern perspective that she felt was lacking in previous years. Again, the templates and specific language that the template provided, allowed us to quickly map out and rethink the focus of her unit. We were able to narrow her studies in some places while expanding them in others.
These two teachers are also very comfortable with technology. Tom Piekart, the science teacher, has just finished his master’s program in technology integration. He is very comfortable with not only integrating technology in his own classroom, but also with helping out me and the social studies teacher. Paula Roy is always up for learning and integrating new things into her lessons as well, so our units will end with an integrated product. We have agreed on a Wabanaki wiki that can be added to in different ways in each of our classrooms. None of us have ever worked with our students using wikis so it will challenge us all in different ways. Paula is use to having kids post their work in First Class Ed., as is Tom. They both have tried online discussions without a great deal of success, so this will be a learning experience for all of us.
Overall, this has been a great way to get to know my colleagues and what they already teach. They are both creative and innovative in their own ways, and I hope to gain a great deal of knowledge and understanding through this opportunity to work with them. So far, I am most impressed with the time that they are willing to spend on this project. I truly feel that they are as invested in this unit as I am. What a team!