Learn Like a Pirate-Peer Collaboration

So the adventure continues as I sail through this awesome book.  Section two focuses on the traits of "Learn like a Pirate" below:
Peer Collaboration
Improvement Focus vs Grade Focus
Responsibility
Active Learning
Twenty-First Century Skills Focus
Empowerment

Peer Collaboration

"People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses or the problems of modern society" Vince Lombardi

I loved this section of the book.  The thought of students working together and collaborating toward a common goal is an awesome thing.  Paul Solarz does such a great job of conveying it in his book.  This and the upcoming blogs will focus on a section of the book in a sort of book review style.  I'll highlight some things that stood out for me as well as share a few of my own thoughts on those ideas.  Below are four things I pulled out of this section as I was reading it:

• This section is about collaboration in the student-led classroom.  If you're at all like me, you cringe at giving your students "control" in your classroom.  You have your way of doing things, that, in your mind, works. Giving that up to the students just goes against your better judgement.  Yet, this is one of the very things that makes students successful in school and brings enjoyment and passion for learning.  In the book, Paul says that "peer-collaboration is one way to make a student-led classroom work." You have to give up control for collaboration to work.
• One of the benefits Paul shares in the book about a student-led collaborative classroom is that it allows students to think about other people's ideas and then synthesizing them with theirs.  He tells his students that "two brains are better than one!" What a great thing to say! Love that idea. Think about how much more the students learn when they share what they're thinking with someone else!  Many times new ideas are born or even a totally different perspective.  No two people always see the same idea the same way.  The real world the kids will one day enter, is asking for these kinds of skills from our students.  In fact, collaboration is one of the skills today's employers want now.  Tons of examples in this section of the book.
• One of the great takeaways from this section, in my opinion, is the idea of students being able to call "Give Me Five" and allow the class to stop what it is doing and have that student share an important piece of information, answer or something he/she discovered.  It empowers the students to lead!  He says for that to work you need to give students the opportunity for active and passive leadership in your classroom. There are all kinds of ways to do that and he gives examples.  The students want that kind of responsibility so let them have it!  When you empower your students to do that, the Give Me Five becomes a natural part of it.
• The last thought is from his section on promoting the right kind of competition.  The only thing I'll share is this quote: "I want a room full of learners, not perfectionists.  I want my students to work hard because they choose to, not because they fear negative consequences.

Because "two brains are better than one", feel free to share your thoughts so that we can all collaborate and learn together!

Until my next port of call, Improvement Focus vs. Grade Focus, keep on sailing the PIRATE seas.

Serving Him,