As a team we meet weekly and we have the practice of focussing on a school each week that one or more of us are working in to see what is happening and how shifts in teacher practice are occurring.
Our discussion in these meetings will bring in a range of pedagogy and ways to scaffold the learning for all learners. As we meet we give feedback to one another about both what and how we are modelling in classes for the hour we are there each week. We look at the evidence on class sites and individual learner blogs and we notice what shifts are happening in changed pedagogy when we are not in the class as this is what shows there has been real change.
Sometimes the success stories from other schools challenge my beliefs about what could work in another setting. These discussions challenge me to learn further about a particular innovation or pedagogy. It might be something small in terms of an attitude shift on my part or it might be looking at the learning another way entirely.
One of the shifts I have made in one class is to using 'Create to learn' as a way to engage learners. Although I was fully aware of Create to Learn as a powerful approach I have to admit I tended to stick with Learn, Create, Share as a linear progression and seemed to work through this process with little variance.
However in one class the Learn, then create then share was not working. Learners were not engaged and we were stuck on the Learn. This was brought home as part of our discussions as a team, particularly as I saw what another facilitator was doing and the learner outcomes.
After discussion with the teacher whose class I was working in, I changed my approach and started with Create. Here is my example of Create to Learn on the class site.
I had learners who had been unwilling to work and who had resisted engaging with the learning now coming to me asking, "What do I have to include in the creation to show the learning?" - a complete switch. When I scanned what learners were doing, they were all on task and were engaging with the content.
This was a reminder that I can get stuck in a teaching practice and need to keep challenging myself to change and that professional discussion is a great way to encourage this reflection and change.