Tool #7

I think collaboration between classes is a wonderful idea... I am able to use the idea of collaboration between classes within my co-teach classes.  The following is a plan my Co-teacher, Mrs. Tatum and I came up with for the 10th grade English teachers to do:
Students will collaborate with Mrs. Boyd’s and Mr. Dennis' 10th grade classrooms via Skype regarding ideas they have to improve TAKS essays.  This project will be carried out in mid-February in order to allow enough time to reflect on the the student's writing and writing from students in the classroom prior to TAKS testing in March.  We will be using Skype and Google Docs.

The Plan:
Before Skyping another classroom, we will brainstorm what has been successful in our TAKS essays and what we believe needs more work.  We will then type that information into a Google Doc, which will have our class ideas and the ideas of the other classes added to it.  We will then call Mrs. Tatum’s 10th grade classroom and will discuss what obstacles we encounter with writing for the TAKS and will discuss ideas on how to improve our writing.    Finally, we will type one practice essay per student into Google Docs, which will be edited (using different colored ink) and commented on by a member of the class with which we Skype.  

However, with my Math Basic classes, I find that it is very hard to implement with Special Ed kiddos and classes. I think there are wonderful opportunities that could be found on Skype.  Other math classes could explain problems to my kids in "kid' language and the cooperating teacher could use their explanations an assessment.  However, we, in SpEd, are under such a cloud of confidentiality with names of our SPED students that I worry about trying to use this. I am going to talk to other SpEd teachers in the district to see how they deal with this issue.