Cycle One Report Research Question: If I implement the use of a collaboration tool to increase opportunities to work with my grade

level partner, will we be able to effectively plan together using this online tool? Action: In an education setting, collaboration happens in various ways. In the case of my school, the bulk of the collaboration I do on a daily basis occurs between grade level teachers. In the fifth grade at St. Joseph's there are two fifth grade teachers, myself and one other. This year, one of our main challenges regarding collaborating is our schedule change where we no longer have a joint prep planning time. Instead of complaining, we needed to get creative, especially since I will be teaching technology to both classes and need to know what is going on grade wide to best utilize the time we have in the computer lab. When it comes to developing our professional relationship, my teaching partner and I are in a very unique situation. Along with the professional work relationship we maintain, my teaching partner is related to me in a personal way, she is my mother. Because of that extra personal layer, when examining how our collaboration efforts have affected our relationship, I have had to step back and look at this topic from many angles. Because of this, the need for an open conversation has been crucial to get honest feedback. Prior to starting my action research, my teaching partner and I to discussed the ways that we are currently collaborating, the modifications in our schedules, and ideas for the future. As I expressed my visions of expanding on our current ways of collaboration, I was greatly interested in hearing her ideas and opinions on the topic. Agreeing that we needed to find a solution to lack of shared? time this year, we knew something needed to be done. I proposed technology tool as effective approach in finding a suitable solution. Recognizing that technology is not my teaching partners comfort zone, I needed to help her move away from traditional face-to-face meetings to help with time barriers that we both faced. To begin this process, the following actions were taken: Discussions: To help determine and develop my action cycles, I had a few casual discussions and conducted an interview with my teaching partner to gain a better insight of her comfort with technology, ideas for better collaboration, and gage her willingness to try and engage in new technology tools to aid in our collaboration. Technology Search: After my discussions with my teaching partner, we were on the search for a technology tool that would be beneficial for both of us. Originally we were thinking of an online lesson plan book that could be given access too, but we both have different modes of planning which make it difficult to find a common solution.

Recently, I had a participated in an informal meeting with teachers who were interested in learning new technology tools. To share what I knew, I created a WikiSpace to organize resources and encouraged other teachers to keep adding resources so we had a growing collection. While my teaching partner was not a part of this group, she did however see the WikiSpace and thought it was interesting and more importantly felt it was manageable for her to learn how to use. Trying out an idea: WikiSpace became our technology tool choice. I put together a very simple structure that could evolve as we both learned how to use and shape it to our specific needs. I showed my teaching partner how to use the WikiSpace, in order for both of us to add our ideas.

Evaluation: While talking with my teaching partner, I noticed that she felt overwhelmed with technology tools, perhaps because she has had limited experience with technology in general. She stated that she was willing to try something simple, as long as I was there to show her how to use it. We settled on a WikiSpace because she felt it was similar to Word and E-mail platforms which she was somewhat comfortable using and ultimately we felt that we both could use it as a resource. We discussed setting up a page where she could request topics that she would like our students to practice in the computer lab. Additionally, it was requested that I keep a small planner of what I am doing in the lab so we both can see what is happening and when. Although this tool will be utilize throughout the school year, this particular cycle spanned from Mid-October to the end of December 2011. Focusing in on that date range, I went to the Wiki Statistics feature and found the following data for views for the page as well as edits made.
Table 1.1: Summary of views on collaboration WikiSpace September to December

Summary of WikiSpace Views in 2011 300 Number of Views 240 180 120 60 0 0 Months 211 214 252 September October November December

Table 1.2: Summary of edits made on Collaboration WikiSpace September to December Summary of WikiSpace Edits in 2011 20 Number of Edits 16 12 8 4 0 0 Months 6 17 16 September October November December

Looking at this data, I instantly thought of something that was said during a brief interview. My teaching partner stated Id be lying if I did not admit that I still find technology very overwhelming. I suppose like everything else, it takes practice. I am willing to learn new things, but I need someone to explain them to me. Matching that statement with the data, you can see the more time we spent exploring and using the technology tool, the more activity happened within our WikiSpace. As far as knowledge of what is going on in terms of grade level collaboration, we have two points of view. From my perspective, I feel like spending time with the other fifth grade class in the computer lab has helped me get a better feeling of what is happening across the grade level. From a teacher-to-teacher standpoint, I feel we started a collaborative process as the months progressed. For example, in the request section in November, my teaching partner was able to share an idea for math and start to think of ways to use technology to help explore what we are both discussing in the classroom. In a check in interview, my teaching partner added I might not have a lot to add [to our WikiSpace], but I still go check it periodically to see what is being covered and where we have time gaps that could be filled. If anything, having this form of organization or calendar helps me to see what you are doing with the students and determine if one of my content areas needs some sort of activity in the lab. It also gives me a talking point with the students. I agree that this form of knowledge exchange has helped our teaching. I might not be the one teaching the fast paced Math class, but by getting hints of what the students are learning in the computer lab I get to see what all of our students are learning even through I am teaching only a few of their classes.

Reflection:
One of the biggest complaints you hear from teachers is the fact that there is never enough time in the day. In my case, a common prep planning period was the time factor missing between my teaching partner and myself. Fortunately, we both had the drive and determination to find a solution to our dilemma. Knowing that technology is not my teaching partner's strength, I was encouraged by her willingness to use a technology tool to aid in our collaborating. Looking at the use of a collaboration technology tool, I have found that my students were a tremendous resource in aiding in the overall understanding and uses of this resource. While my teaching partner was open to learning about the WikiSpace in the first place, seeing an example in action seemed to be more beneficial to her understanding. When our students return to us from another teacher, we tend to check in with them to see what they are learning. We had started using a WikiSpace to use as teaching partners, but when I made one with the students, I think she saw more connections and possibilities when she saw theirs being used in full force with collaboration. She also saw their excitement in using a WikiSpace, which was an added bonus. I feel like that this project helped encouraged her to become more involved with the technology. After reflecting, I am now wondering how I could better introduce my teaching partner to different technology tools in the future through modeling and observations. Albert Banduras Social Learning Theory comes to my mind when he reminds us that as people, we learn by observing what others model. In our case, if I were to introduce a technology tool, rather than keeping her in the process of constructing the foundations of this tool, it might be more beneficial for me to create it and then provide a handful of examples so she has more opportunities to see the resource in action instead of having to visualize what could be. Based on personal observations, I have come to see our WikiSpace as two fold. First of all, it has helped us make sure we are using the computer lab to its fullest potential, because it has required us to inquire about more content being covered grade wide. Outside of the classroom and WikiSpace however, I have also noticed that the limited time we do share during lunch or recess has been focused more on specific questions that have surfaced from something we saw on the WikiSpace. This differs greatly from last year, when our conversations took on a different and more casual nature. Being a newer teacher, it is very important for me to actively collaborate. I am fully aware that I do not have all the answers or ideas, and while I recognize that no one does, teacher collaboration allows for more knowledge to be shared among all parties involved. Compared to last year, I feel like fifth grade now extends outside of the walls of my classroom, which is encouraging. Having a place to openly share and plan has held me more accountable for sharing what I am doing. In return, this has helped me seek help and support as well as share my ideas. The more I feel this way, the more I question how we can continue to share ideas and resources. Perhaps additional technology tools would be helpful for our needs, or maybe there is another approach. My visions for our growth stem from the assistance of technology, but I

wonder if it be beneficial to also find a way to pool our physical hard copy resources in order to compensate our individual collaborative preferences. I appreciate that my teaching partner is willing to try new things, but I also strive to find ideas that fit her needs just as much as mine. Looking at my cycle from a constructivist learning theory standpoint, I know that learning is a social and interactive process, and therefore I feel like in my upcoming cycle I need to work on finding more communication opportunities so I can continue learning different ways to help our team grow. Professionally, I feel like we have made better use of our time together because of the WikiSpace, which in turn has allowed us to personally open up and share more. I recognize this cycle was but a small snapshot of the year and it will be continued to be utilized. I foresee many areas for growth and ideas in the future, but I also appreciate the gains we have made thus far. As we make these changes, I ponder how our efforts will affect our personal and professional relationships as I start to think of our next leg of the journey.