Cycle #3 - action (part II) & further reflection

DATA: CALENDAR POSTINGS

I set up a Google Calendar event for my next two visits to J.H.S. 216 in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and "invited" the six teachers with whom I work. This action addresses the Instruction portion of collaboration as described in my literature review and as supported in different aspects by several researchers (Kinnucan-Welsch, Rosemary & Grogan, 2006; Fisher, Lapp & Flood, 2005; Buly, Coskie, Robinson & Egawa, 2006). An electronic invitation contacts the teacher via email with an embedded response option and links to a place to add a note. For my first event, I included the following description:
"Hi teachers! Please confirm my visit on Tuesday and add a comment to this calendar event letting me know what lesson you would like me to teach that day - thanks!!! (Make sure to include your name - e.g. Mr. Rayner - Lesson 5.1)"

I wasn't sure how much of a response I would get based on my previous experience, so I just asked the teachers to indicate the lesson number so as not to overwhelm them. Within 48 hours, two-thirds of the teachers had responded. Here are their postings below:

Mr. Rxxxx: 5.1 Thanks.
Ms. Dxxxx: great my students have started their first body paragraph today in class, so we will work on the second one tomorrow!
Ms. O'Sxxxx: hi Jen. My students are also up to drafting. 4.1 would be great. Thanks. Let me know what we'll need for the lesson. Thanks. Nxxxx.
Mr. Fxxxx: Hi Jen. My students have gathered all of their information and are ready to write their first draft. Can you teach lesson 4.1? We can focus on supporting arguments and evidence. Let me know what you will need to teach the lesson. Thanks, Sxxxx.

I was impressed by the way these teachers took ownership of the calendar and really used it as a way to plan collaboratively. Kinnucan-Welsch et al (2006) state that one of the four essential domains of professional practice is planning. In this school, there seems to be (based on my informal conversations with teachers) a greater push from administration for content team collaboration than in some other schools with which I've worked. However, these teachers are mostly new, just like in other schools, and are less experienced than some other groups with the use of technology in general. Therefore, I can attribute the relative success of this collaborative attempt to either the administrative encouragement to collaborate, the effectiveness of a web-based tool like Google Calendar or some combination therein.

Next, to make the calendar truly interactive, I responded to the teachers' notes on the discussion board (included in the virtual space of every Google Calendar event). Here are my notes:

Steve - for Lesson 4.1 we will need your laptop/projector with the following items pulled up: introductory animation, 4.1 lesson visual and a mentor text from the Editorials packet or Prof P's office. The students will need their laptops. We also need a plan for where students will post their work - I will be happy to help you provide comments for revision if you would like!
Hi Noreen - I love your "+33 guests"! :) For 4.1 (limited tech option), we will need: chart paper & markers, a copy of a mentor text (e.g. one from the original Editorials packet) and writers' notebooks. See you tomorrow!

Although I tried to focus the conversation onto instruction and the quality of student work by writing about revising and publishing their writing, I had already made the original invitation fairly generic because the tool was experimental. Upon reflection, I realized that I needed to make both the event and the surrounding conversation a little more specific and focused on the context of student work. I created my second calendar event for the following week as follows:

"This Tuesday is my last day to work with you on Editorials! :( However, I will still be at your school, working with the 6th grade teachers on poetry, in case you need anything. For tomorrow, please respond with your lesson # and anything I can do to be of assistance as we wrap up the unit!"

The teachers once again responded quickly. Again, I received responses from two-thirds of the group within 48 hours. However, this time the responses were either simple "Yes" clicks or very short:

Ms. Sxxxx: Hey Jennifer, I'll be up to lesson 5:1 tomorrow 6th period with class 8245. See you tomorrow! - Bxxxx Sxxxx
Ms. Dxxxx: [clicked Yes]
Mr. Fxxxx: Can you teach lesson 5.1 tomorrow?
Ms. O'Sxxxx: [clicked Yes]

In spite of the shortened responses, I decided to still respond on the discussion board. Buly et al (2006) have found that a collaborative meeting (in this case, using virtual space) dialogue should give teachers one focused idea for instruction. This time, I tried to focus my posting a little more specifically on the work of providing a solid context for student learning by writing about how the teachers could activate their students' prior knowledge about language:

Sounds like most of us are at the same place - that's great! Step 5 is all about revising, so in 5.1 we'll be working on adding a pattern of transitional phrases to lead the reader through an Editorial. Anything you can do to activate your group's prior knowledge on the topic of transitions when I ask them for suggestions will be great - thanks!
Thanks, Nxxxx - I got your email (Lesson 5.1)! If I don't hear from Mr. Rxxxx, then we are also on for 3rd period! See you tomorrow!

Based on the different types of responses I've received, I am beginning to hypothesize that perhaps teachers, especially new teachers, feel intimidated by requests that are too heavily laden with the call to reflect on instruction. Perhaps they lack confidence in their expertise and are afraid to post their ideas in a public forum or in an email reply-to-all. A question for future research might be something like, What background knowledge or experiences can I give educators to build a foundation for active and effective collaboration?