Collaboration in Education
In looking at collaboration in education, we wanted to share with you three different ways we see collaboration as a powerful force! People oftentimes use the word collaboration to mean a lot of different things! We want to share three ways we maximize strengths within partnerships to make a difference in our schools, in our community, and within our world.
We will be exploring what collaboration looks like in these ways:
- #Jenallee as a consulting partnership
- As instructional coaches
- As part of a global PLN
Collaboration as #Jenallee
Hello! My name is Jeni Long & I am Sallee Clark and we are… #Jenallee
We are passionate about empowering educators with EdTech tools that equip them to meet their goals! Together we collaborate on various tech projects including TikTok, our blog, our YouTube show, and Twitter.
If you know us… you know that we take very distinct roles within our collaborative work and maximize each other’s strengths.
According to the Cliffton Strengths Finders,
Jeni’s Top 5 Strengths are:
- Arranger
- Positivity
- Woo
- Communication
- Achiever
Sallee’s Top 5 Strengths are:
- Connector
- Ideation
- Strategic
- Empathy
- Positivity
We have found that by maximizing these strengths we are truly #bettertogether! Jeni is our communicator and arranger and Sallee is our brain-stormer and creator. Together we are able to create, share, and engage with our teachers and PLN. Each of us can fully operate and create on our own but have found that by relying on each other’s strengths our passions are fueled, we are more efficient, and two brains are always better than 1!
When we collaborate together, we use specific online tools that enhance our ability to communicate and collaborate online. Often times we are in our pajamas sitting on our couches at 9:00 PM as we begin to work on #Jenallee projects. We need tools that allow us to quickly connect and share as time is limited.
Our Top 3 Collaboration Tools:
- OneNote 👉 We use OneNote for EVERYTHING!! It contains our goals, our content, links, and all communication!
- Wakelet 👉 We use Wakelet to organize all of our published content. From our tweets to articles, to TikToks, everything goes in a Wakelet!
- Canva 👉 We create EVERYTHING in Canva! Our videos, our blog images, our Twitter images, and more, are all created in Canva!
Collaboration as Instructional Coaches
As Instructional Coaches, one of our FAVORITE aspects of our jobs is to collaborate with teachers!
- We meet with teachers
- Co-plan utilizing backward design
- Co-teach the lesson
- Reflect on the lesson, tech, & strategies used
- Plan next lessons
Why is this cycle so beneficial… COLLABORATION!
The classroom teachers have the subject knowledge, while we have the tech knowledge. Together we are able to build amazing lessons that utilize the best subject matter, strategies, and technology to empower students to do more than ever before!
Through this collaboration, Pam is the content specialist, while we offered tech expertise offering students a wonderful learning adventure.
🚘➡Recently we collaborated with a 2nd-grade teacher, Pam Walker, to review double-digit addition. In planning the lesson, we incorporated the use of Sphero Indi Cars. These cars allow students to learn the basics of coding by responding to colored floor mats. Through the lesson, students solved math problems to decode the pattern of colored mats needed for the Indi Cars.
Through this collaboration, Pam is the content specialist, while we offered tech expertise offering students a wonderful learning adventure.
Collaboration as Part of a Global PLN
It is so important to us to have a global outreach. We find that the best way to do this is by being a member of a PLN, posting on social media, and making as many connections as possible. For us, these connections have been the backbone of who we’ve become. Our PLN is our support system, our lifeline, and our family. We have learned from each other, shared resources, lessons, and activities, and even traveled the world together.
💪A powerful outcome of these interactions has been our friendship with the #eTwinz (Alberto & Mario Herraez). #Jenallee + the #eTwinz, who we now call #Twinzallee, have presented together at various conferences online and in-person, designed lessons together, and even joined a teacher speaker panel that presents bi-monthly.
Through this friendship we have been able to connect and learn from each other for specific questions and projects. We saw the power of this connection and realized we needed to share how collaboration impacts learning.
So… we share the power of collaboration at conference sessions for ISTE, TCEA, & FETC.
In summary, we encourage you to reach out and find someone that you can connect with. Learn from them, and begin to share on social media. We encourage you to become an ambassador for the companies that you are passionate about and learn from their community. Join webinars, speak at conferences and take risks. Utilize the tech support that your district provides and plan with other teachers. Seek success from others and grow from your mistakes and also from the mistakes of others. And most importantly, don’t forget to go and be a DIFFERENT kind of AWESOME!
