Expanded Collaboration:
Collaborative learning classrooms can inspire students to explore beyond what they learn individually, and seek opportunities with partners in the classroom as well as outside the classroom learning environment that aid them to become global citizens. Students examine community and global issues that affect society at a global scale. By designing collaborative learning activities teachers can help support and develop the skills that students need to work and be successful in the interconnected world of the 21st century, (Williams, 2015). This strategy encourages students to work together and find solutions to global issues through the exchange of ideas.
Expanded Collaboration is important in a personalized classroom setting because this strategy allows us to incorporate new ideas, share information and reach our goals through cooperation, communication and peer feedback. Learning comes from interactions with others, help us construct productive learning communities and develop life-long learning relationships. When we collaborate in a variety of ways, either in the classroom or with our PLCs, we are harnessing knowledge from each other, bringing to the table our own perspectives and cultural representation. It is also important that in a collaborative setting the roles change over time or over tasks completions. In order to learn from each other we should change the roles, and actively participate and communicate our ideas to the group. According to Barshay, 2018, an important part of personalized learning should be collaborative learning, because if we continuously focus only in technology and individualized learning we are missing a major component of the learning process, and as a result continue to widen the achievement gap among disadvantaged students, who will benefit directly from this strategy.
Although we may not always agree in everything, it is important to surround ourselves with collaborative groups that share our intended goal. Strategies to achieve the goal should be obtainable and accomplished by everyone involved in the process, (Doebel, 2018). Engaging stakeholders into the learning process is an important part of personalized learning. It is important to ensure that parents, administrators and students understand the value of personalized learning. So, through collaboration and cooperation we can identify strategies that will ensure student achievement and develop a mastery mindset in the community at large. As a personal example, recently I have been delivering samples of my personalized learning lessons to the school and explaining how these strategies benefit the students. The purpose of our PLCs is to collaborate in ways that benefit and enhances the learning experience for all involved. I conduct a variety of surveys throughout the school year to deliver topics in the PLCs that trigger enthusiasm among teachers and students, and then adjust and deliver the lessons accordingly.
Expanded Collaboration is important in a personalized classroom setting because this strategy allows us to incorporate new ideas, share information and reach our goals through cooperation, communication and peer feedback. Learning comes from interactions with others, help us construct productive learning communities and develop life-long learning relationships. When we collaborate in a variety of ways, either in the classroom or with our PLCs, we are harnessing knowledge from each other, bringing to the table our own perspectives and cultural representation. It is also important that in a collaborative setting the roles change over time or over tasks completions. In order to learn from each other we should change the roles, and actively participate and communicate our ideas to the group. According to Barshay, 2018, an important part of personalized learning should be collaborative learning, because if we continuously focus only in technology and individualized learning we are missing a major component of the learning process, and as a result continue to widen the achievement gap among disadvantaged students, who will benefit directly from this strategy.
Although we may not always agree in everything, it is important to surround ourselves with collaborative groups that share our intended goal. Strategies to achieve the goal should be obtainable and accomplished by everyone involved in the process, (Doebel, 2018). Engaging stakeholders into the learning process is an important part of personalized learning. It is important to ensure that parents, administrators and students understand the value of personalized learning. So, through collaboration and cooperation we can identify strategies that will ensure student achievement and develop a mastery mindset in the community at large. As a personal example, recently I have been delivering samples of my personalized learning lessons to the school and explaining how these strategies benefit the students. The purpose of our PLCs is to collaborate in ways that benefit and enhances the learning experience for all involved. I conduct a variety of surveys throughout the school year to deliver topics in the PLCs that trigger enthusiasm among teachers and students, and then adjust and deliver the lessons accordingly.
Effective Coaching of Learners
Peer FeedbackPeer feedback is a way for students to collaborate, create meaningful professional relationships and co-learn. The purpose of the activity/strategy is for the students to focus on the material and help each other master the task. The form above is a form created to follow specific steps to provide Peer Assessment and feedback on a simulated conversation. The students listen to each other's conversation and provide meaningful feedback. Each student provide a different perspective of that of the teacher alone, and this form gives them points of focus while co-learning with their partner.
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Internet Tools - Google Slides I use Google Slides often to promote collaboration among students because this tool allows the students to work together in the same presentation while giving each other feedback on the topics at the same time. Students' progress can be assessed daily with them sharing through the Google platform in real time, the teacher will go into each of the groups document and revise and provide feedback as needed. The students can collaborate while in class in the face-to-face environment as well as virtually.
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Reciprocal LearningReciprocal Leaning is a literacy strategy that works great while effectively coaching learners to collaborate and learn from each other. This is a scaffolded discussion technique that can be flexible across content areas, promote collaborative comprehension of the task and helps the students reach mastery of the material in a collaborative way. This procedure incorporates strategies such as predicting, questioning, clarifying, summarizing and reflecting on the task. Each student must work through all the roles in the cycle.
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Real-Time Feedback
Gimkit Games DataGimkit is a tool that provides students with real-time feedback on the activity. In class, students can team up to earn the maximum amount of "dollars", play against other teams and have friendly competitions on their "monetary score". While playing the game, the game does not penalize students for other teams intervention in their game, their correct answers and score is based on the number of correct answers they have. At the end of the activity, Gimkit gives the students data on what they have achieved and provides review for the questions missed. The above task was an assessment on new vocabulary. For the teacher, it is a great way to collect data to modify instruction, re-teach concepts missed or move ahead with learners who have mastered the material.
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Microsoft FormsFor quick formative assessments in class, Microsoft Forms is a great tool to use. Once created, these forms can be used for a variety of tasks, Bell opener activity, pre-assessments, post-assessments or review. At the end of the assessment, teachers can access data on how the students performed, therefore, providing immediate information for corrections. This tool is great for short assessments and quick remediation. The students can see the class performance on the task without having their names posted on the big screen, however, the teacher can then privately view the individual student's score and discuss the results during co-planning.
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Data for DesignThis link contains an example of how the data appears to the class. Each question has a graph on performance and how each student answer the questions on the form. This is very helpful because it provides the percentage along with a visual representation. I share this page with my students, on the other view, teachers can see individual scores.
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Relationship Building
Relationship & CollaborationIt is also important to build relationships with your colleagues and your PLC. As a member of the Technology Committee, I am sometimes task to survey the faculty for upcoming technology professional learning opportunities. Collaboration among colleagues is important because we sometimes have the same students in class, and having a relationship with colleagues means that we can collaborate on how to proceed with each individual learner mastery and better serve our students. Building a relationship among colleagues creates a positive learning environment for all stakeholders involved in the educational process of the students, and develops a culture of trust and cooperation that serves as a role model for the students as well.
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Nearpod-Building RelationshipsRelationship building is not a skill that everyone may possess. Sometime we must actively teach our students on strategies of relationship building. Nearpod has wonderful lessons on this topic, utilizing Social and Emotional Learning strategies that will benefit not just the student, but also the teacher. Every time I touch on one of this SEL lessons I learn a lot from my students and from myself as well. The lessons can be as personal as the students are willing to share, and I make sure to remind my students that we are in a classroom that fosters identity-safe sharing, so they can share as much or as little as they chose. Their answers are totally confidential.
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Possitive Parental CommunicationBy prioritizing positive parental communications, we can foster strong parental involvement with our classes in an environment that is based in trust and positive feedback. Not all parents communicate in the same way, so at the beginning of the semester it is important for us to identify the best way to communicate with parents. Doing this early on helps the parents understand that we are a collaborative team working towards the same goal, the success of each individual student. According to Tutt, 2021, establishing a two way communication where parents can listen and also speak and be heard, ensures that the exchange of ideas is that of a positive nature.
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Timely Personal Interactions and Feedback
Specific Comments FeedbackThis rubric is from a student that provided a video response to the question from another student, the question was: Should corporations be held accountable for what their employees post on Social Media? Although the question came from a peer, I provided the rubric for the task and how it should be completed. The student did a wonderful job answering the question, as we watched the video in class, I was annotating and providing real-time feedback to the task. Even though the student mastered the task, I provided accolades as well as improvement points.
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Scheduling Co-planning Meetings Regularly"It is better to be safe than sorry". At least one co-planning session should be scheduled for each task. Personalized Learning is geared towards student independence, however, I am working with High School students... which means that I am also providing guidance and coaching my students towards mastery of the standards, develop their Executive Functions, utilize their strengths and challenges to succeed all along with a Growth and Mastery mindset. I need to ensure they are working towards that goal. Therefore, a co-planning session is required for each task for me to provide feedback, together with the student identify challenges and solutions. (sorry for the cliché quote)
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Peer Feedback ConferencesIt is important for students to collaborate and provide meaningful feedback to their partners that enhances the task and that they both learn from the strategy. However, it is sometimes challenging for students to provide meaningful feedback because of the lack of experience in the strategy. It is important that the students understand that meaningful feedback is about reflection not correction, (Tutt, 2021). I instruct my students to focus on what they need to analyze, for example, understanding, communicative skills, amount of information. Categories such as grammar, syntax etc. are left for the teacher to assess. As a collaborative partnership, students should focus on collectively reflecting not correcting each other's work.
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Williams, J. (2015). Collaborative Learning Spaces: Classrooms that Connect to the World. Retrieved October 30, 2021 from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/collaborative-learning-spaces-connect-to-world-jennifer-williams-fran-siracusa
Barshay, J. (2018, September 24). Working in a group might be the best way to help kids meet individual goals, study says. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://hechingerreport.org/working-in-a-group-might-be-the-best-way-to-help-kids-meet-individual-goals-study-says/
Tutt, P. (2021, July 30). Teacher-Parent Communication Strategies to Start the Year Off Right. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/teacher-parent-communication-strategies-start-year-right
Tutt, P. (2021, October 8). Teaching Kids to Give and Receive Quality Peer Feedback. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-kids-give-and-receive-quality-peer-feedback
Burns, M. (2018, October 05). Why You Should Create a Collaborative Classroom This Year. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/10/why-you-should-create-a-collaborative-classroom-this-year/
Doebel, S. (2018). How your brain's executive function works -- and how to improve it [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/sabine_doebel_how_your_brain_s_executive_function_works_and_how_to_improve_it?language=en#t-490922
Barshay, J. (2018, September 24). Working in a group might be the best way to help kids meet individual goals, study says. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://hechingerreport.org/working-in-a-group-might-be-the-best-way-to-help-kids-meet-individual-goals-study-says/
Tutt, P. (2021, July 30). Teacher-Parent Communication Strategies to Start the Year Off Right. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/teacher-parent-communication-strategies-start-year-right
Tutt, P. (2021, October 8). Teaching Kids to Give and Receive Quality Peer Feedback. Retrieved November 2, 2021 from https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-kids-give-and-receive-quality-peer-feedback
Burns, M. (2018, October 05). Why You Should Create a Collaborative Classroom This Year. Retrieved November 2, 2021, from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/10/why-you-should-create-a-collaborative-classroom-this-year/
Doebel, S. (2018). How your brain's executive function works -- and how to improve it [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/sabine_doebel_how_your_brain_s_executive_function_works_and_how_to_improve_it?language=en#t-490922