C4T 4

This weeks C4T, I read Henrietta Miller's blog post, "Collaborative Meetings". Miller talks about how she often has collaborative meetings with fellow teachers, but she questions what collaboration really is? Here is what Miller had to say about it: "A collaborative meeting will be one which is not about agreement but about creation. From this I am realising that it is no use to anyone if during a planning meeting we all sit around agreeing with each other. As it is only through listening to each other and recognising our differences of opinions, that we will truly create something new. We are not there just to cooperate. We need to grapple with dissent. This is hard for teachers. We are accomplished and experienced, masters of our classroom practice. Secondly collaboration is not about communication. We are not meeting to exchange ideas but to create new ones. We are meeting to share a process and create a shared product. My meetings have a purpose to them. So this purpose needs to be clearly defined with shared protocols and clear goals." To read more from her, visit the link above.

My Reply:
Hello, I am a student at the University of South Alabama in EDM310. I will be following your blog for the next couple of weeks. I really enjoyed your post. I have never though that much into collaboration before. In our EDM310 class, we are required to work collaboratively for some projects. This information will be very helpful. Thanks so much! You can visit my blog, harrisamberedm310.blogspot.com or our class blog at, edm310.blogspot.com if you'd like.


For my final C4T post, I am reading and responding to Henrietta Miller's post, "No Hands Up", and It was an eye opener. She talks about having a specific time for questions, where students names will be drawn at random to answer instead of having the students who know the answer to raise their hand. In her post she says, "I have tried really hard to find other ways of encouraging student participation besides ‘hands up’ including a pack of cards with students names on, that I hold in my hands and use to randomly select names. As well as named popsicle sticks which I can draw from a mug that sits on my desk. Again I have had mixed success with these methods. After my PD with Dylan Wiliam though I have been reflecting on this. With determination to get it right this year."

My Reply:
Mrs. Miller, I very much enjoyed your post, but as a student and not yet a teacher, I must say that I like the Hands up for questions. I agree that it is good to have "question time" to see if the students are listening, but hands up for answers allows the eager students to answer. I think having a student who knows the answer, say it aloud can help the students who don't know it. I will be sure to think more of your idea and perhaps use it in my future classroom.