Project 3: Cross-Curricular Project
Cross-Curricular Planning
Overview & Rationale
As a school leader it is important to encourage collaboration amongst teachers and support staff as a means to promote teamwork and solidarity. A school leader is also a curriculum leader that works with teachers to ensure that students are being engaged with a curriculum that is rigorous and culturally relevant. As a history teacher I wanted to collaborate with teachers from other departments to create projects that combine elements of historical thought with skill sets from other disciplines. I felt that collaborating would be an opportunity for me to share ideas about curriculum, student needs, and college preparation. I decided to work with the English department to develop projects that would allow students to engage in learning that incorporates lessons that they have learned from multiple subjects. We also focused on college preparedness which led me and my team to design a road map for college preparation for our Junior's (11th Graders) so that they could track their progress toward college matriculation (see documents).
In order to start this project I had to first build trust with my colleagues so that they would take out time to meet with me. I attempted to create an agenda for each meeting but I decided to let my colleagues address their feelings informally as an attempt to build solidarity. However I thought of questions prior to each meeting that would allow me to gain insight from my colleagues as we worked collaboratively. Next I wanted to compare curriculum guides and pacing plans so that I could work with teachers to find commonalities within our curriculums and construct projects that would meet the academic goals of both disciplines (History and English). I also wanted to check and see which students I shared with the English teachers that I met with so that we could compare how students performed within each class.
During collaboration meetings I worked with teachers to construct projects and activities that combined the academic goals of both History and English. We also discussed teaching practices, techniques, and strategies for working with a diverse group of students with various needs. Our collaboration time was also used to share resources and set long-term collaboration goals for the upcoming school year. This project will continue into the summer and into upcoming school year. This project is still a work in progress due to the fact that the English department has already decided what they will teach for the current year. My goal is to hopefully construct projects that will be used within English and History classes next year.
Since California schools are adopting the new Common Core Standards it is more essential than ever that teachers work collaboratively. Collaboration can help build educators’ capacity to address the academic needs of students.
Reflection
By participating in this project I have learned a great deal about leadership and what it takes to collaborate with varying personalities and schedules. It takes a great deal of patience and a willingness to set aside personal differences for the sake of compromise. Many teachers have set curricular objectives and plans for the year without collaboration skills it can be extremely difficult to convince teachers to add to their preexisting curriculum. Even though this project is a work in progress and I didn't meet the initial goals that I set for this undertaking, I learned valuable lessons about working with others. I learn that as an effective team member I have to share my ideas openly, exhibit flexibility, actively listen, and demonstrate reliability. By planning as a unit I learned that teachers can create high-quality, culturally relevant lessons that work to engage students and raise academic achievement if time available and all participants are willing to work together to meet shared goals.
Supporting Documents:
Eleventh Grade Vocabulary List
CPSEL’s Addressed:
1.2, 2.2, 1.3, 2.3, 3.2, 5.3, 5.4,
CPSEL Standard 1
Facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.
- 1.2 Plan and implement activities around the vision
CPSEL Standard 2
Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
- 2.2 Guide the instructional program
- 2.3 Guide professional growth of staff
CPSEL Standard 3
Ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
- 3.2 Create an infrastructure to support an effective learning environment
- 3.3 Manage the school learning-support system
CPSEL Standard 5
Modeling a personal code of ethics and developing professional leadership capacity.
- 5.3 Sustain professional commitment and effort
