What is Teacher Collaboration?


Collaboration between teachers promotes the examination of what should be taught, the rethinking of practicum experiences for teachers, the sharing of knowledge and expertise, the faculty modeling--all have high potential to support teachers' ability to work together for meaningful change (Winn & Blanton, 2005). Teachers that have collaborations among each other help with support of lesson plans, classroom managment, behovirol problem and so much more. Take the following video into consideration:

Teacher Collaboration Explained


It can be difficult to understand how to collaborate with other teachers when time does not permit. This can be addressed by utilizing the following format to help with optimizing ones time wisely when meeting.
 We all know how important time is in education. Utilizing the check list will help keep teachers on tract when they meet each week.Take the following scenario:

Debra a first year teacher meets with her buddy teacher once a week. Over the last week Debra has felt she is unable to control the classroom due to a couple of students behavioral problems. In addition Debra, has felt overwhelmed with the up coming STAR test and it is starting to show in her lesson plans.

How would you fill in this check list to help Debra?



When meeting with your co-teacher remember to be positive and supportive of their problems by finding solutions. Teachers that collaborative with each other help most teachers feel better about themselves and their work, and provided them with opportunities to learn from each other (Johnson, 2003). Be open minded and work together!

Laugh and Collaborate



Each teacher will do one of the following to test their knowledge of teacher collaboration:

Think about Debra's situation and how you would help her to keep moving forward. Explain by doing one of the following:

Create a training blog
Make a YouTube video
A word document

With your choice ensure you address solutions and how the two of you would collaborate to fix the problem. Remember when creating your activity to include absorb, do, and connect activities. Please review our last training for reference.

For more information on Teacher Collaboration check out these links:

Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration Activities

The Power of Collaboration

Lets get to Collaborating! 

References:

Johnson, B. (2003). Teacher collaboration: Good for some, not so good for others. Educational Studies, 29(4), 337-350.

Winn, J., & Blanton, L. (2005). The call for collaboration in teacher education.Focus on Exceptional Children, 38(2), 1-10.

Learning from each other!

Over the last few weeks we have been implementing new ways to incorporate our lesson plans and increasing our teaching skills. We have reviewed how absorb and do activities can be used not only in the classroom, but in the training process as well. The next step is a connect activity. According to Horton (2012 p.) connect activities range from simple stop-and think questions to complex real-world work assignments. What does this mean to you? Connect activities help bring the training in a full circle by making connections to real classroom situations. Furthermore Horton (2012 p.) explains that connect activities include rhetorical questions, meditations, and cite-example activities. This can be achieved through storytelling activities, learners tell stories relevant to the subject they are studying.

First lets look at what makes good storytelling. Please look at the following YouTube video.

Storytelling School 101: The Simplest Story

Let's review, making a good story there has a minimal of three parts beginning, middle, and end. Then you need to ask the question "What is the purpose of this story?" or the intent? Take the following diagram into consideration. Each of you have been assigned a topic over the success and down falls of implementing the last two training models. Using your assigned topic make a YouTube video telling your classroom story. Be creative. Use a felt board or puppets to explain how you implemented the lesson and what you struggled with in turn of the classroom. Remember to use the diagram below to help make each video a success.


(Image Source: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com)

This is a story about your real life situation of implementing the last two lessons. Please try not to add to much fiction to your story. It is a reenactment of your success and struggles.


(Image source: http://www.digitalsherpa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/visual-marketing.jpg)

Once you have made your video post it onto our wiki site and select two videos to watch. Comment on What you knew? What you want to know more? and What you learned? Use the following as a guide.

(Image source: http://whysospecial.com/tag/k-w-l-chart/)

Answering these questions will help you decipher the information presented in the video. KWL charts is designed to enhance comprehension in the content area (Mok, Lung, Cheung, & Ng, 2006). By enhancing the comprehension each of you will be able to learn from each other and use that knowledge in the classroom.

References:

Horton, W. (2012). E-Learning by design (2nd Ed.). San Francisco, CA: W

Mok, M. M. C., Lung, C. L., Cheng, D. P. W., Cheung, R. H. P., & Ng, M. L. (2006). Self‐assessment in higher education: Experience in using a metacognitive approach in five case studies. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31(4), 415-433.