What makes for a highly effective team or group?
As my father always says, “Communication is the Key!” A highly effective team or group practices effective communication. Each member of the group is just as much of a listener as they are a contributor. Work done by each group member is transparent, and each member of the group does his or her fair share of the work. Remember the old clique, “There is no I in team.”
How is collaboration different than group work or cooperative learning?
Collaboration is different than group work or cooperative learning. I do not know if that statement is particularly true. However, this is my understanding of the differences in a school setting. Collaboration is what the teachers do. They combine expertise in order to form not only a more extensive and well-rounded curriculum, but to expand the amount of subject matter that each teacher is an expert of. In a group work or cooperative learning scenario, each group member is typically a student and is not characteristically an expert in anyone subject area of knowledge. Often students at different ability levels are grouped together. The work of the group is typically to expand comprehensible knowledge one subject area. This is opposed to teacher collaboration where each group member has at least a different area of emphasis in their expertise or even a whole new subject area all together. Despite all this, in the real world, I think collaboration and group work/cooperative learning are closely related in the sense that they compose of a group of individuals that want to (or at least should want to) develop a better understanding of something or to make something better.
I will take a quick opportunity to say that I feel teacher collaboration is a must, at least within departments. However, it should be noted that interdepartmental collaboration also carries benefits to student learning. Either way, collaboration is a necessary factor in providing students with a stronger, better-rounded education. To use another trite and overused expression in the same blog: when it comes to collaboration, “two heads are better than one.”
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Humility
When was the last time you were wrong?
As with every human being, I too am human. One of the characteristics of being a human is that we all make mistakes from time to time. More importantly, however, is that fact that mistakes are not necessarily bad, as they can be sources of great learning. Scientists discover new things (i.e. learn) all the time through trial and error or, basically, making mistakes until something works. Regardless, I think the important question to be addressed for this blog is “How does a teacher strike the balance between confidence and genuine humility?”
The answer to this question is actually quite simple. First, a teacher should be confident in everything they present. This is the simple part. The hard part is admitting mistakes or admitting that one may not know the answer to a question posed by a student. In the first case, if a teacher is corrected by a student and the teacher realizes s/he made a mistake, s/he should just say something to the effect of, “You’re right, my mistake,” and move on. If a teacher is not sure the student’s correction is actually correct, but is now not sure that the answer that they originally provided is correct, they can do one of two things. First, a teacher can say, “Alright then, I’m not sure that’s correct, but let’s move on, and I will look up the answer and get back to you tomorrow.” If a teacher wants a more confident approach they can handle the situation with dialogue like, “I don’t think that’s correct, let’s use the answer I provided for now and I will research the authenticity of my answer.” In either circumstance, the important part is that the teacher researches the correct answer and yet, maintains control of the situation. Moving on to the last example, if a student asks a question that the teacher does not know the answer to, the teacher should either say, “I don’t know, but I will look it up and get back to you,” or empower the student to look up the answer him or herself and provide it for the entire class. Once again, the important point is that a teacher accepts that they do not know everything, but that they know how to find the correct answer, maintaining their expertise in their field.
As with every human being, I too am human. One of the characteristics of being a human is that we all make mistakes from time to time. More importantly, however, is that fact that mistakes are not necessarily bad, as they can be sources of great learning. Scientists discover new things (i.e. learn) all the time through trial and error or, basically, making mistakes until something works. Regardless, I think the important question to be addressed for this blog is “How does a teacher strike the balance between confidence and genuine humility?”
The answer to this question is actually quite simple. First, a teacher should be confident in everything they present. This is the simple part. The hard part is admitting mistakes or admitting that one may not know the answer to a question posed by a student. In the first case, if a teacher is corrected by a student and the teacher realizes s/he made a mistake, s/he should just say something to the effect of, “You’re right, my mistake,” and move on. If a teacher is not sure the student’s correction is actually correct, but is now not sure that the answer that they originally provided is correct, they can do one of two things. First, a teacher can say, “Alright then, I’m not sure that’s correct, but let’s move on, and I will look up the answer and get back to you tomorrow.” If a teacher wants a more confident approach they can handle the situation with dialogue like, “I don’t think that’s correct, let’s use the answer I provided for now and I will research the authenticity of my answer.” In either circumstance, the important part is that the teacher researches the correct answer and yet, maintains control of the situation. Moving on to the last example, if a student asks a question that the teacher does not know the answer to, the teacher should either say, “I don’t know, but I will look it up and get back to you,” or empower the student to look up the answer him or herself and provide it for the entire class. Once again, the important point is that a teacher accepts that they do not know everything, but that they know how to find the correct answer, maintaining their expertise in their field.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Efficacy: The "can-do" attitude!
Being self-aware, possessing confidence and persistence, having a strong work ethic, and believing in one’s own abilities are essential traits of the effective teacher.
Teachers need to be aware of who they are as a person. They need to be in tune with themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally and accept and be confident about who they are. Besides being confident about themselves, teacher need to be confident in their abilities and about their knowledge of their subject matter. Yes, no one person knows or can do everything, but teachers need to present themselves as humble experts of their field. Experts in the sense that they teach and answer questions with confidence and humble in the sense that if they do not know an answer or how to do something, they admit it and either tell the students they will find the answer or provide the students with the resources to discover the answer on their own.
Persistence is important too. Teachers cannot give up on their classes or on individual students. Not every student or class will progress at the same rate as the others. Teachers need to be persistent in finding new teaching techniques that best reach all of their students and classes.
In addition to this already long list of excellent qualifications of effective teachers, it is extremely important to have a strong work ethic. In life, talent alone will only get a person so far, but combine talent with hard work and motivation and there is no telling what a person can accomplish. A mentor of mine always told me, “If you want to be good at something, work hard at it; if you want to be great at something, work hard at it and like it.” So to this list of effective teacher credentials I would like to add enthusiasm. I think it is so important to be excited about what one is teaching. Enthusiasm is truly contagious. If the teacher is truly excited about something, it will be very hard for students not to be. The opposite is also very true. If a teacher is not excited about something, why should the students be? This alone justifies the need for teachers to be enthusiastic and have a desire to continue to learn and grow.
How are these attributes best developed. In all humility, I do not know. I think some are innate qualities, I think some can be learned, but I believe all of them can be developed through experience and practice, regardless of whether they are innate or learned. Teachers need to practice all these attributes. Teachers must work towards being self-aware, confident, persistent, developing a strong work ethic, and believing on one’s own abilities. It will not necessarily be easy but that is where persistence and having a great work ethic come into play.
Teachers need to be aware of who they are as a person. They need to be in tune with themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally and accept and be confident about who they are. Besides being confident about themselves, teacher need to be confident in their abilities and about their knowledge of their subject matter. Yes, no one person knows or can do everything, but teachers need to present themselves as humble experts of their field. Experts in the sense that they teach and answer questions with confidence and humble in the sense that if they do not know an answer or how to do something, they admit it and either tell the students they will find the answer or provide the students with the resources to discover the answer on their own.
Persistence is important too. Teachers cannot give up on their classes or on individual students. Not every student or class will progress at the same rate as the others. Teachers need to be persistent in finding new teaching techniques that best reach all of their students and classes.
In addition to this already long list of excellent qualifications of effective teachers, it is extremely important to have a strong work ethic. In life, talent alone will only get a person so far, but combine talent with hard work and motivation and there is no telling what a person can accomplish. A mentor of mine always told me, “If you want to be good at something, work hard at it; if you want to be great at something, work hard at it and like it.” So to this list of effective teacher credentials I would like to add enthusiasm. I think it is so important to be excited about what one is teaching. Enthusiasm is truly contagious. If the teacher is truly excited about something, it will be very hard for students not to be. The opposite is also very true. If a teacher is not excited about something, why should the students be? This alone justifies the need for teachers to be enthusiastic and have a desire to continue to learn and grow.
How are these attributes best developed. In all humility, I do not know. I think some are innate qualities, I think some can be learned, but I believe all of them can be developed through experience and practice, regardless of whether they are innate or learned. Teachers need to practice all these attributes. Teachers must work towards being self-aware, confident, persistent, developing a strong work ethic, and believing on one’s own abilities. It will not necessarily be easy but that is where persistence and having a great work ethic come into play.
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