The Fischbowl: I Just Want to Say One Word to You: Collaboration.

So, if you’re an administrator, what are you doing to foster collaboration among your staff, and especially your teachers? And I’m talking more than just PLC’s, although that’s not a bad start. What are you really doing to fundamentally change the structure of your school(s) from one of isolation (close the door and teach), to one of sharing and collaboration (knock down the walls)? Is it unacceptable to share in your institution?If you’re a teacher, what are you doing to foster collaboration among your students? And I’m talking more than putting them into groups of four and having the students create a PowerPoint presentation together. What are you really doing to fundamentally change the structure of your classroom from one of isolation (do your own work), to one of collaboration (work with others)? What are you doing to build their skills to succeed in a corporate environment that requires them to collaborate on a global scale?If you're a student, what are you doing to improve your own collaboration skills - and those of your peers? What are you demanding of your schools, your teachers, your administrators to help prepare you for the collaborative marketplace that is your future?

The Fischbowl: I Just Want to Say One Word to You: Collaboration.

As a Teacher, I feel very isolated, I am not allowed to go to the bathroom or check my mailbox without a parent getting upset. I get 3 and 1/2 hours of free time a week, if I am lucky. Does that mean I can collaborate with other teachers at that time? NO. I am usually emailing a parent back who asked a few hundred questions, I am fixing another teacher's computer, or I am inputting grades into the grade book. I guess part of my isolation is that I am on a path of change. I see the faults in my school and in my own teaching and I am trying to change them. I am in pursuit of a Master's Degree, I have changed from being a teacher to an educator.

Although just having students in group to work on a PPT presentation may not be where we want to be, but that is a lot better than where we are. Change is slow and hard and no one likes it. Maybe ADD students have it right, they need change constantly to keep them engaged.

I just wanted to share a few thoughts, but also the quote from the Fischbowl, if you are an educator, check out this blog!