Collaboration is Key

This past week I was visiting classrooms and tweeting pictures of all the great things that are happening. Each time that I do this sort of thing I amazed at all the wonderful learning experiences our students are involved with on a consistent basis. It seemed like every classroom I walked into students were collaborating on some sort of activity, lab, or assignment. The teachers were being the "guide on the side" rather than the "sage on the stage." This sort of collaborative learning environment helps tremendously as we look to prepare students for the future. Hands on activities in any subject area is the way to go in my book. Below you will see some of our students in action as they make sense of their learning in a collaborative and hands-on environment. 

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Students in Mrs. Mazza' class take the aluminum foil challenge. pic.twitter.com/QsJ31Zj5Nz

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 8, 2015

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Students crowd sourcing/collaborating on a lab document in Mr. Stagg's Inquiry and Investigation class. pic.twitter.com/rZdP2lw6nY

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 5, 2015

Students in Mr. Yankowicz's Math Class using tangrams to learn about Pythagoreans Theorem #mathchat #mschat pic.twitter.com/nvAkY5ZzkV

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 9, 2015

It's an incredible thing to see our advisory groups in action. Every child needs an adult advocate. #mschat #stuvoice pic.twitter.com/auZ4oU3pw9

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 9, 2015

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Students in Mrs. Keane's Biology Class creating flat sections of DNA #scichat #mschat pic.twitter.com/VI4jGdk1cg

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 9, 2015

Students participating in a H20 Olympics Lab in Mrs. Armbruster's Chemistry Class #scichat #mschat pic.twitter.com/eekGqg7KnU

— Black River MS (@BlackRiverMS) January 9, 2015

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Brad Currie is the author of All Hands on Deck: Tools for Connecting Educators, Parents, and Communities. He is one of the founding partners of Evolving Educators LLC. Brad is an ASCD Emerging Leader, Bammy Award Finalist, ClassDojo Thought Leader and Google Certified Educator. He currently serves as a K-8 Supervisor of Instruction and Middle School Vice Principal for the Chester School District in Chester, NJ. Learn more about Brad by following him on Twitter @bradmcurrie or visiting his website at www.bradcurrie.net.