It Takes Teamwork to Make the Dream Work!

“Collaboration allows teachers to capture each other's fund of collective intelligence.”
― Mike Schmoker, Results

 “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller

Deciding on my action research project has proven to be a very difficult process for me so far. I have so many different topics I want to look at, but I have found that many of them are simply too large to take on in the short time frame have to complete this project. I have written question after question after question in the hopes of narrowing down the topic to a more manageable size. My original idea revolved around what I could do to help improve the social studies test scores for our region. Clearly, this topic would prove to be more of a dissertation than an action research plan! Thus, I have broken that topic down into various pieces so that I can focus on one specific facet. After breaking the topic down, I think I have a manageable, interesting, valuable topic to research.

The purpose of this research project is to promote collaboration among social studies teachers in their districts and throughout Region 5. Question: How can I promote collaboration among social studies teachers in their school districts and throughout Region 5? As the Social Studies Coordinator for Region 5, I have noticed a serious lack of collaboration among social studies teachers in our area, both within school districts and across school districts among similar teaching fields. Because of the nature of the social studies content, it is very difficult to see much vertical alignment. K-2 focuses on the students understanding of communities, social interactions, etc; 3rd grade extends that learning into a more clear understanding of our nation; 4th and 7th grade deals with Texas History; 5th and 8th grade works on American History before 1877; Other than that, the rest of the content act as islands among themselves: 6th grade--World Studies, 9th grade-- World Geography, 10th grade--World History, 11th grade U.S. History after 1877, and 12th grade-- Government and Economics.  Sadly, the lack of communication has put our teachers at an incredible disadvantage. With the implementation of the new TEKS, the use of Process Skills have developed. These skills begin in Kindergarten and extend throughout graduation. Teachers can no longer go into their classrooms, shut the door, and ignore the world around them. They must begin to work together to aid our students in understanding how to think about social studies.

I guess it's the coach in me, but I can understand in great detail the benefit of working together to achieve a goal. Several stakeholders will benefit as a result of this research. First and foremost, collaboration among our teachers will aid our students in better understanding social studies, and as a result their scores will be higher. If we work together to vertically align our content, the students will reap the benefits of learning the content with more continuity and fluidity. Likewise, if teachers work together across school districts, they can share ideas of what is working in another teacher's class. This leads to better instruction for the students. Teachers will also benefit greatly from this research. Working together with other social studies teachers within their districts will save teachers from having to reteach skills that should have been taught years before, thus eliminating gaps. Also, as teachers band together with others who teach the same content in other districts, they will not have to wrack their brains trying to come up with ideas for activities, intervention, and projects. Teachers can share what is working in their classrooms and in effect, work together to improve classroom instruction.

Any thoughts or ideas you guys have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your help!!!