Differentiating and Collaborating

This afternoon during our PD time I had the opportunity to continue the great work that has been done by our MYP Coordinator and resident UbD guru, MrFambro, by working with the faculty who are nearing the end of their stage 2 UbD unit. At the same time Mr Fambro was continuing Ms Leigh's wonderful work with the stage 1 group.

The goals for this afternoon were:

1. Determine the relationship between the "6 Facets of Understanding" and Bloom's Taxonomy
2. To individually and then collaboratively review a unit of work and offer feedback and guidance on how the unit could be improved to become exemplary

As we worked through our discussions and activities it became very evident just how powerful differentiating professional development can be. All the faculty involved in the stage 2 session had very similar levels of understanding and therefore everybody was able to contribute confidently and knowledgebly. This enabled the discussion to become richer and the level of understanding to go deeper.

When we shared our feedback and guidance at the end of the unit review I was truly inspired by the comments and suggestions that the faculty made. Through collaborating and sharing our expertise and ideas we were able to take a good unit of work and turn it into something that is now exemplary. It was a wonderful process of collaboration yeilding positive results that will ultimately benefit student learning and outcomes. I am really looking to continuing this work next Monday during our Teacher workday.

That's why differentiated PD and collaboration are so important - because they are good for student (and teacher) learning.