Collaboration

Support a colleague in designing the other selected content area of the integrated unit and reflect on your leadership skills and the process used.  Support a colleague in designing the other selected content area of the integrated unit. Teach your colleague how to use the backward planning design model (Stages 1 and 2) and provide feedback on his/her work, by using the criteria checklist. Reflect on your leadership skills and the process used and post as a blog entry.  Share your Stage 3 and guide your colleague in outlining his/her Stage 3. Reflect on your leadership skills and the process used and post as a blog entry.
 * II. Facilitating the Design Process (50 points)**
 * A. Collaboration (25 points)** VL✰, CPG✰◆ (Proposition #5A)
 * B. Reflection on the Process of Collaborating (25 points)** VL✰, CPG✰◆ (Proposition #5A)

The goal in this collaboration piece is for you to take on a leadership role in designing an integrated, cross-curricular unit. Being an educational leader does not mean you have to be an administrator. As a colleague, you can be a teacher leader in creating exciting, powerful, multi-dimensional learning opportunities for all students. This assignment creates an opportunity for you to start the conversations.

We recognize that everyone is in a different place in their leadership skills and everyone is teaching in a unique teamwork environment. The reality is: you may not be able to find fully cooperative colleagues AND you can't force them to do this--they're not in a master's program. But you are an educational leader and how you have professional conversations with colleagues is what this is all about. Get creative in who you ask to share in this opportunity. You may end up not getting to design the cross-curricular unit with someone who will actually ever teach it with you but someone who can still help you design it and give good feedback.

The **first collaboration assignment** is: "Support a colleague in designing the other selected content area of the integrated unit. Teach your colleague how to use the backward planning design model (Stages 1 and 2) and provide feedback on his/her work, by using the criteria checklist. Reflect on your leadership skills and the process used and post as a blog entry."
 * Hopefully, you'll have an awesome colleague who won't just complete the Stage 1 template to "help you out" but will actually learn about UbD from you in the process. If your colleague isn't amenable to completing his/her own Stage 1 template, at least show your Stage 1 and explain what you did and how you did it. Share the performance task and ask for feedback--ask your colleague, "How well does this capture what you would want students to know and understand if you were co-teaching this unit?"
 * Write a blog entry about the experience, the give and take, the conversation, but most importantly about your leadership, your confidence in your own leadership, and where you are in your growth and understanding of your own leadership skills as a teacher leader.
 * Title the blog entry "Collaboration Part 1" and label it "collaboration."

The second collaboration assignment is: "Share your Stage 3 and guide your colleague in outlining his/her Stage 3. Reflect on your leadership skills and the process used and post as a blog entry."
 * Write a blog entry about this experience, the give and take, the conversation, what has changed since last time. How many conversations have you had in between (if any)? Again, reflect on your leadership, your confidence in your own leadership, and where you are in your growth and understanding of your own leadership skills as a teacher leader.
 * Title the blog entry "Collaboration Part 2" and label it "collaboration."