Reflection #2 Chpter 2

Amanda Miller

EDT 3740

02 February 2013

Reflection #2

1.      Before reading this chapter and just glancing at the topic questions, I thought that “learning communities” is such a broad issue to discuss.  When reading this chapter I found that learning communities are different from other communities. A learning community is a cluster of people who share the same values or beliefs. Chapter two focuses on the importance of this community as well as its impact on teachers and students.

2.      The benefits of learning communities include decreased teacher isolation, increased commitment, shared responsibility, more powerful learning and a higher likelihood of fundamental, systemic change. Also, communicating with others daily will help people be able to solve little problems and exchange ideas to different problems. Learning communities help with the core learning techniques that are shared in the classroom. These communities help to seek and understand how learning matters in education.

3.      Learning communities can help teachers because working with other colleagues inside a teaching community will aid in teaching strategies and lessons throughout the year. I witnessed this personally in my pre-internship. One of the most important reasons, I think, that learning communities are important for teachers is so that there is time left for other teachers to talk about what they are going to teach and how they do it.

 This chapter states that “Creating a professional learning community means making time for ways of working with colleagues (pg. 31.)” Chapter two also talks about how these learning communities will help support the shift in project-based instruction.

4.      On the other hand, learning communities are also essential and affect students. I think the chapter says it very well, “students learn to learn well (pg. 32.)” I agree with this. For students, learning communities are used as building blocks for students. They can help prepare students for the real world. This may include things like they name in chapter two. “Communication, organization, problem solving, persistence, motivation, project management, etc. (pg. 32.)”

5.      The component for shared vision in learning communities is where teachers come together to create a teaching vision to strive towards in their daily teaching. Envisioning your school, and how you want it to be in several years ahead, sharing visions is vital in learning communities. Having shared visions is a good practice and is a great way to set goals for the future.

6.      The concepts on learning communities in chapter two relate to our topic/project because our group is a learning community within itself. I think my group is going to work well together in making our project awesome. We will aim to make a shared vision on our topic as well as communicate effectively with one another to reach a goal. This group project will certainly be a positive learning experience to better prepare us for when we teach and become a part of a faculty or teacher community.