I was totally inspired by this video clip last night:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po9qy-tjeYw&feature=player_embedded&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1[/youtube]
What really moved me in this video was not just the enthusiasm displayed by the students but how amazing it was that when the school ALL pulled together, they made an amazing piece of work. Now I know that not everyone in the school did this, but it was a large amount of the students and it must have taken a tremendous amount of time and organization to pull this together.
Put this same video together with only one class and it would not be as impressive. Their is a real feeling of teamwork and camaraderie that this video exudes. This is not just a “gifted teacher” containing their strengths inside a “pocket of excellence”. This is collaboration at its finest and surely has many stepping up to be leaders and sharing their gifts; that was the only way this could have been done so well.
We need to see more of this in schools. We need to see schools coming together, dependent upon each others strengths, while recognizing the individual contributions that we all make. This creates an extreme bond and sense of community within the school. I am extremely proud to see how my own school community pull together to build our own portfolio project and develop Identity Day (amongst other things). The power of these “whole school” initiatives in extremely powerful , yet take an extreme amount of work and dedication by the entire school. It takes “school teachers” to work with all students to pull these things off successfully, not “classroom” teachers.
These school wide celebrations are just another reason we need to rid our schools of the traditional “award” ceremonies that have happened in the past. We continuously talk about school wide collaboration yet only recognize individual students at the end of the year. Should we not be recognizing everyone for their contributions everyday and maybe sharing the great accomplishments of the entire school at the end of the year?
My questions regarding these school initiatives. How do we make these projects happen more in school? How do we respect the individual gifts and autonomy of teachers while bringing the entire school together in activities such as the one in the video?
