Reading Reflection #2

The focus of Learning Communities is very important and beneficial for students and teachers both.  Learning communities offer teachers an opportunity to collaborate and brainstorm with their colleagues.  This, in turn, benefits the students.  It is important to give students the most effective learning experience they can have, and learning communities really make this happen.

There are numerous benefits to learning communities.  When teachers have the opportunity to work together, it is possible that they can create higher quality lesson plans which will create better learning for the students.  Two brains are always better than one, and it is possible that one teacher could have a productive suggestion or creative twist to add on to a lesson plan.  A few other benefits are decreased teacher isolation, shared responsibility, and more powerful learning.

Learning communities can have an affect on teachers in several ways.  Teachers need to become less isolated and be ok to taking constructive criticism.  It is very important in a learning community that teachers actively participate in team work in a positive way.  Communication between teachers is extremely important in a learning community.  If there is no effective communication then the community will not be successful.  Teachers also need to be organized as they will be collaboration with other teachers and not just working with themselves.

Successful learning communities can have a huge impact on students.  Because teachers are working together to create better lesson plans, students receive a better quality education.  One of the main, and largest focuses of learning communities is student learning.  The biggest goal is to make sure students are learning in the most effective way possible.

It is important to have a shared vision with the fellow teachers that you are working with.  If that is not there, most likely there will be clashes of idea and thoughts which will lead to unproductive collaboration.  It is important that members of the learning community focus on student learning, are goal and results oriented, collaborate with each other, and commit themselves to continuous improvement.  Without these components it is likely that the learning community will not be successful.

Being in this class is essentially being in a learning community.  Having group work throughout the whole semester acts as our community.  Taking all of the aspects talked about into mind is very important in order to be successful in our group work.  Collaboration and having an open mind to other peoples’ suggestions and ideas is extremely important.