Thanks to a great share at Twitter, I read this beautiful article by Jennifer Gonzalez that I wanted to share here too:
Open Your Door: Why We Need to See Each Other Teach
This is very Canvas relevant as I said in my retweet of the article: BEST THING about @CanvasLMS is we can OPEN our online doors! my doors are always open: Myth.MythFolklore.net & India.MythFolklore.net :-)
The article discusses three reasons to open up, and the focus is on classroom teaching. Opening up online is easier but also different; if I have time tomorrow I'll try to write up some notes about that too. But anyway, this is such a super article not just about teaching but about success, failure, and growth in general. I'm sharing it with my students as a growth mindset article that they can read and respond to; it's not just about teachers and open doors — it's really about social learning in any context. :-)
I'll just quickly include here some quotes from the article, hoping to lure people to take a look. And I will also put in another plug for my Connected Learning group proposal (I'm still trying to get those 20 votes so we can have a group)... Connected Learning is good for teachers and for students! If you've never pondered that, then Jennifer's article would be a fabulous place to start. Let's open our Canvas doors!!! :-)
QUOTES FROM THE ARTICLE
Reason 1: Seeing Each Other Succeed
"By watching the way our colleagues teach, we pick up tricks and techniques that we can take into our own rooms."
"every time I’ve observed a colleague, my admiration for them has grown, and each time, I felt a little closer to them. This is something we could use more of in every workplace — educational or not."
Reason 2: Seeing Each Other Fail
"achieving something close to perfection is pretty damaging in a lot of ways. Conversely, letting people see some of your flaws creates greater intimacy. It makes them realize that their own flaws are not so weird. When I go over to someone’s house and it’s spotlessly clean, I feel kind of jealous and insecure. But crumbs on the counter and shoes in the hallway? On a gut level, I’m more comfortable. In this place, my psyche tells me, I won’t be judged."
"Apart from the bonding aspect, failure can lead to constructive criticism, which will help you grow."
Reason 3: The Intangibles
"So much of what we gain from watching each other teach falls into this “intangible” category: attitudes, pacing, small calibrations that make things work a little better."
And of course I have a cat for open:
Laura Gibbs, I share more https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/ resources than from any other source, except maybe the Canvas Guides. Jennifer Gonzalez is definitely worth a follow on Twitter and the site deserving a browser bookmark!