Case Book Three

Char is talking with her teacher team. They have been brainstorming some possible ideas around a group of standards that they have to cover.

MS. EMMER: I have to tell you all that I am feeling a good frustration here. We have come up with a lot of good ideas. I am not sure how we will choose among them. Also, I don't have a clue how we might even approach some of them. For instance, sky diving doesn't sound very reasonable to me as a unit, although it may be fun to try sometime.

MS. BATES: I don't have a clue, either on what I was thinking when I came up with "cemeteries." Maybe we should explain our thinking or wipe the ideas off of the board!

MR. GUNNY: We could each write down our top two or three and see if there are any matches, what stands out as ideas, and then try to work them out. We still have some time for our meeting today.

MS. STACK: I am in favor of anything that uses the facilities here to full advantage. Our students are too wound up for field trips right now, and without an aide, it is really hard to take some of the kids who should go on trips.

MS. WALLERS: Wait, let's pull a couple of these ideas together. We have recycling, which we already have done to some extent, famous buildings, sky diving, and city relations. Try this on for size. They are tearing down that big old warehouse about four blocks east of here. I saw an article in the paper saying that they don't know yet what they will do with the land, but the city took it over when the company that owned it went bankrupt. What if we try to take a "sky diving" view of the situation, look at what else is in the area, and try to decide how the land can best be used, how it ought to be recycled. We could look at the famous buildings near it, and far from it, and decide what type of building, if any building, ought to go on that land, and how it might be used. City relations will kick in when we find out what the city has in mind and then find out how to make suggestions to them. We could research what goes on not only in our city, but in cities all over the world when old buildings are destroyed.

MR. GUNNY: This sounds good to me. Let's develop this.

MS. WALLERS: I agree. Great work. Let's do this.

MS. EMMER: Wow that really does take in a lot of our ideas. I like it, but I don't see a math connection. My brain is too exhausted. What math would be required for this one? How do I get my fraction division and combining percentages in? I guess I have some thinking to do.

Teacher Notes:

• One of the joys of working with other teachers on teams is that you get to share and learn. One of the frustrations is that you need patience, and a willingness to be flexible and compromise. When you work on a team, no one member will get everything that he/she wants or needs. Remember to be respectful of team mates and also to learn from them.