Collaborative Planning

The second part of Lesson 5 looks at collaboration between teachers and the TL as a further extension of the reference services of the library.  Working with entire classes and large groups in the library through collaboration with teachers before the research project starts.  The article by Russell from ERIC points out the value of collaboration and its positive effect on student achievement.  In this article, much is made of the value of flexible schedules and administrator support contributing to successful collaboration.  At my school, I currently have a fixed schedule with no flexible time available.  I would like to change that next year to allow a certain amount of flexible time which will also allow more opportunity for collaboration and research with classes.  Like my classmate Lori, I have found myself as more of a "helper" than a collaborator at this point.  I would like to make the shift next year and try collaborating with at least a few of the teachers at my school.