I found it interesting that there have been international
educators who collaborate with other teachers who are half way across the
world. An example given in the book is one teacher who was in Bangladesh and
the other was in Georgia. After many hours of collaboration they launched their
project. Their students read The World is
Flat and then their students discussed and developed connections with other
students who were “from the other side of the flat world.” The two teachers supported
and encouraged each other and their project was very successful.
It is important to develop professional learning
communities in schools, which allow colleagues to work together in a different
way. It makes time for teachers to talk about what they are teaching and how
they are teaching it. As a teacher you are a part of many communities of
practice including the faculty as a whole and with teachers of the same grade
level. I feel that it is important for teachers of the same grade to get
together and learn from each other as well as give critical feedback.
Professional learning communities could be a formal
school reform effort or an informal meeting of teachers. Support can also be
found in online communities. This is a good option for teachers who are not in
a school with project based learning but would like to create their own shared
learning. When creating a “dream team” you need to find colleagues with similar
goals and values, someone who is passionate about learning and their students
and who is committed to the project. When the "dream team" is created a project can be developed with new opportunities for teachers and students.
I appreciate when you talked about the two international teachers supporting and encouraging others, which made their project successful. Collaborative, learning communities must have teachers who support and encourage one another. Benefits are much greater when that critical feedback is both positive and constructive. Teams should become a resource.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that it is very important to develop professional learning communities in schools. It is really important to have both teacher to teacher relationships so that when doing things together there is always a clear goal to keep in mind, and that everyone is on the same page. Also it is also very important that teachers give critical feedback to one another so they can learn and apply new things to their teaching.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that teachers are able to get grants if they work as a team! This is awesome and encouraging for staff at the same school or different schools to come together and build a better curriculum or project for their students to engage in. Feedback from other teachers on a team is extremely important as you said and a necessary tool for becoming a better, more successful, teacher.
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