Sharing Good Practice
your department. It might be that
teachers prefer having access to a
physical copy, in which case, a filing
cabinet filled with printed material is
better. Alternatively, if they’re happy
to go online to access content, an
online file sharing system is a good
choice.
• Be proactive. Some teachers may
not initially feel comfortable sharing
their resources. Share your own
work first, then suggest they share
their material too.
Collaborate with students. Don’t be
afraid to get students involved. After
all, they’re the focus of your efforts,
and their support and feedback can
be invaluable. Get them to help you
identify what works in the classroom
and what doesn’t; they’ll appreciate
being asked to take an active role in
their own education.
How to get started:
• Ask for honest feedback. Obviously,
this may leave you open to some
silly comments; but it’s worthwhile in
order to get the ‘real picture’ about
how successful the lesson really was.
• Encourage suggestions. If students
have good ideas about how to take
their learning further, listen to them.
It might come in useful for future
lessons.
• Let them lead a session. Ask students
to prepare a learning session for the
rest of the class, with your help and
guidance. This powerful form of
collaboration not only gets children
actively involved with the lesson, but
also nurtures the teacher / student
relationship.
• Be generous. Others have willingly
submitted their lesson plans for you
to use, so it’s a nice gesture to do
the same for them.
Collaborate with the community.
Your community is home to a wealth
of talent and skills, in the form of
local businesses, clubs and charitable
enterprises. By developing links
between the community and school,
children gain better understanding
of the world they live in. Also, the
exposure to a versatile range of skills
enhances their education.
How to get started:
• Get in touch with companies, clubs
etc. Whether it’s the local football
team or a big business, you’ll be
amazed how many people are
happy to come in and work with the
students.
• Provide a focus. Explain exactly why
you’d love for them to get involved.
For example, a local game design
company could provide a great
introduction to a lesson on coding;
explaining its practical purpose in
the real world.
• Offer something in return. This
doesn’t have to be financial.
Sometimes, even a mention in the
weekly newsletter is enough; it’s
free marketing for them and an
enhanced lesson for you – a win /
win situation.
Install a ‘specialist skills’ board. This
is a great idea for the staffroom. Use
a large whiteboard and ask teachers
to leave their name on it, along with
any specialist skills they’d be happy to
‘lend’ to other teachers' lessons.
How to get started:
• Let teachers know in advance.
Send out emails / letters in the
pigeon-hole, explaining that you’re
encouraging better collaboration in
the school, and that the board will
be present in the staffroom soon.
• Put your own name up there! Again,
this is all about leading by example.
• Coordinate the skills. Take notes
of each teacher and their skill, then
get in contact with each of them
(again, email is fine) to thank them
and suggest how they might use the
skills collaboratively in the future.
Suggest professional development
with other schools. Professional
development plays an important role
in career progression. Explore ways
that this development could take place
on a grander scale; incorporating
teachers from other local schools. For
example, a workshop session with
a selection of teachers from across
the city or town provides the perfect
chance to chat informally and forge
links for the future.
How to get started:
• Make the suggestion. Professional
development is normally organised
by senior management, so you’ll
need to present your case to them.
• Outline your argument. You may
need to explain how this sort of
collaboration would be beneficial.
An email detailing all the advantages
should suffice.
• Offer your services. Mention that
you’d be happy to get in touch with
other schools to get the ball rolling.
Search online. There are some
amazing lesson templates online,
providing you know where to look.
Some sites can be unwieldy and
difficult to browse through. Others
focus on quality and ease-of-use,
making it simple to find exactly what
you’re looking for.
How to get started:
• Use the right site. Sites like teacherly.
io carefully vet the content, which
ensures
you’re
downloading
something that has already been
tested in the classroom.
• Be selective. It’s tempting to print
out as much as possible, but we’d
recommend sticking with what you
need, to avoid ‘print-out overload’.
Atif Mahmood is the Founder and CEO of Teacherly. He is a former teacher, head
of department and director of learning technology. Atif has worked in the UK and
Asia and successfully built and implemented 6 online platforms while working for
Cambridge Assessment.