Connecting and learning: #IMMOOC Week 3, Post 2

"What if we focused on connecting and learning, both globally and locally?" -George Couros, The Innovator's Mindset

Quote by Bill Nye
Image from The Good Men Project

Learning is a social pursuit. Every conversation, every book read, every YouTube video watched is an opportunity for learning from someone else. Occasionally we make an absolutely brand-new discovery, but the value of those discoveries increases once they are shared with others. This has been on my mind near-constantly since joining Twitter and making a point to share my learning online.

I encourage my students to learn from each other by sharing their thinking, engaging in Quality Boosters to improve their work, and looking to each other for help. There is a lot of connecting and learning that can happen within our own classroom.

If we can learn so much from the people within our classroom, think how much we can learn when we look for ways to connect beyond our classroom walls. We've connected with other classes to play mystery location games, share our thoughts about The Global Read Aloud Books, and learn from experts working in other places. We've also read and commented on blog posts while sharing ours with a larger audience. This is a good start, but how can I truly make connecting and learning a focus for my students?