Build a Bridge Through Collaboration

Consider this challenge: you have two hours to build a bridge. You can use all of your background knowledge and have a variety of materials to work with. This bridge must hold substantial weight. You have no construction or engineering experience, but you have a strong background in mathematics. Perhaps you are one of those ingenious types who finds this task stimulating, or perhaps, considering the knowledge and time constraints, it’s a bit intimidating. Now, envision doing this exact same task with three other individuals with experience in engineering, construction, and design. Did the task just get a little less daunting? In the objective outlined above, as in education, the quality, scope, and overall success increases substantially with collaboration.

To Become the Best, Work with the Best

Whether a means to save time, take advantage of differing skill sets, or build a comprehensive, multi-subject plan, collaborating with colleagues can reduce the time spent lesson planning, increase subject integration, and most importantly, foster enhanced student understanding and achievement. In a study designed to measure the results of collaboration, more than 9,000 teachers from 336 schools were asked to evaluate the impact of collaboration in their classrooms. Almost 90% of teachers found that instructional teams improved student learning. As an added benefit, the study found that a quality team of collaborators will enhance the individual success of all of the team members. “Growing research evidence suggests that a teacher’s quality is not fixed and depends a great deal upon a school’s working environment and climate, and the quality of colleagues around her.” Why try to do the job alone, when working as a team will benefit teachers and students alike?

The Power of Perspective

As a teacher, it is incredibly important to recognize the power of perspective. In every classroom there is a sea of different experiences and perceptions. The way information is absorbed per student varies immensely. With that understanding, the way material is presented weighs heavily on how effectively students understand it. As an educator, being able to view a single subject from multiple perspectives is a necessary skill to cultivate. Regardless of an individual’s mental elasticity, she can rarely cultivate the rich blend of experiences and skills that culminate when collaborating with team. As a group of people come together with complementary strengths, goals are achieved faster, quality is extended, and students are provided with relatable, integrated learning experiences.

Planbook Plus: A Collaborative Time-Saver

Whether planning your lessons as part of a team, or as an individual, Planbook Plus encourages collaboration. As finding time to collaborate is one of the greatest barriers that inhibits collaboration, Planbook Plus helps to solve that problem allowing for sharing of materials, lesson plans, and scope and sequences seamlessly and effortlessly. As Planbooks are shared, teachers can decide how to best integrate each other’s content into their own to enhance student learning. Share your Planbook with teachers in previous or succeeding grades so they know how you’re planning to present information. With the sharing of materials, the need for recreation diminishes. As educational expectations continue to shift, the need for teacher collaboration continues to increase. Utilizing a tool like Planbook Plus can provide the foundation for that teamwork.

“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives.” –Robert John Meehan