Session+8

__**Session Eight**__

﻿ **﻿8.1: Wallwisher **

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**8.2: Teacher Conversations**  [|Collaborative Crusader: Creating a Twenty-First-Century Learning Community for Teachers]

//1) How does your school/district currently support and or encourage collaboration between teachers? // ﻿﻿This is a difficult question to answer. The very fact that our district has made this online learning opportunity available speaks volumes about its dedication to keeping teachers abreast of new technologies, and the setup of the course, with its forums, group activities and discussions, is certainly collaborative. That said, there are relatively few opportunities for collaboration during a regular school day, and I often go days or even weeks without seeing other teachers who I know would make great collaborative partners. //2) How much do you seek to collaborate with teachers and how do you accomplish this? // Common planning time does not exist in my micro-department, though my colleague and I are constantly talking about what we want to do to build up and strengthen our program before and after school, in between classes, and at lunchtime. As for interaction with other teachers, it is difficult to arrange consistently because of scheduling issues and workload, though I will force myself to seek out other teachers from time to time to discuss ideas, troubleshoot and plan future activities. //3) To what extent do you think collaboration is of growing importance for teachers seeking to implement a 21st century classroom? // I think that collaboration is extremely important in any classroom environment. In the 21st century classroom, it seems as though the role of collaboration would only increase, in part because of the nature of many of the 21st century tools we have learned about thus far which require users to interact and share ideas with one another. //4) In what ways, if any, do you see the thoughts in this article applying to student conversation? // I think that students could learn a lot from hearing about how their teachers collaborate with one another. Teachers are important role models, and whether or not students always follow their lead right away, they do internalize what they see and hear. Seeing and hearing about collaboration at school might therefore make students more apt to seek collaborative roles in their own personal and professional lives later in life.


 * 8.3: Innovation in Education **

//"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew//." - Abraham Lincoln

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">[|Link to Video - Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!]

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Please see the __Discussion Tab__ above for thoughts on President Lincoln's quote as well as reflections on Sir Ken Robinson's talk.