Reading Reflection #2

I loved this chapter and how it focused on becoming more collaborative and using learning communities to help create effective systems for using Project-Based Learning. As written in the text, learning communities can be any business work team, big or small, that engages in ongoing, collaborative problem solving focused on making the business better. Essentially learning communities help everyone learn how to learn together as a team. Currently many staff meetings consist of addressing scheduling, individual student issues, school events, and coordinating programs. Teams have very little to no time to discuss what they are teaching and how to go about teaching it. Professional learning communities are great ways to make time for working with colleagues. The learning communities help teachers to come together as a team and discuss how to teach Project-Based Learning consistently throughout academics. I think that it is very crucial to have this time because currently teachers do not have a lot of time, if any, to collaborate and create consistency for teaching. This would provide teachers to discover the full potential of the Project-Based Learning approach. In the text it discusses how learning communities focus on student-centered ideas, ensure that students learn, create a culture of collaboration for school improvement, and focus on results. I really enjoyed seeing that learning communities can help teachers to focus on what students learn rather than what to teach. It also discusses that both teachers AND students can develop skills and dispositions needed in the "real world" which include communication, problem solving, project management, motivation, and persistence. I think this is especially crucial in this generation because specifically students need to develop these skills in order to succeed independently in college and in their future careers. What good is having a career if you can't effectively communicate, problem solve, stay motivated, and be persistent? Chances are if these skills aren't portrayed a company could crash very quickly. The benefits of learning communities include decreased teacher isolation, increased commitment to the mission, shared responsibility, more powerful learning, and a higher likelihood of fundamental, systematic change. If members engage in the learning communities then they can have a clear sense of mission, share a vision of the conditions they must create to achieve the mission, work together in collaborative teams to determine the best practice to achieve the mission, organize into groups headed by teacher-leaders, focus on student learning, are goal and results-oriented, collaborate with each other, hold shared values and beliefs, commit themselves to continuous improvement, and see themselves as life-long learners.

This chapter I felt was very relevant to our topic/project we're working on right now in the sense that we have to collaborate with each other to create a successful kickball tournament to promote a healthy life style for children. We all have to communicate effectively and efficiently, spend time in person or through Google Docs to create our project, and focus on what our students need to learn from this project.