Would I want to be a learner in my own classroom? AND What are some ways we can create a true learning community?
I would love to be a learner in my own classroom. The library is a welcoming place where learning is extended in ways that can not be achieved in the classroom. To create a true learning community, we must break the model that sees individual classrooms and grade levels as separate learning zones.
I have compared school to a shopping mall, where different storefronts operate and might know what other stores look like, but really don't share the magic of what makes successful ones work.
Creating true learning communities involve making vertical collaboration between grade levels a reality. Technology can be used to openly share and time needs to be made to accomplish this. How wonderful would it be for a sixth grade classroom to do a gallery walk of the seventh grade hallway and have students share what they are doing? Sixth graders could see how their learning now will manifest itself in the future.
In order to create true learning communities, we must break out of the mindset that looks at learning on a particular team or grade level. The librarian sees all students and is a ready facilitator.
It would involve doing away with the way we've always done things in American education.
Maybe it is time to start?
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