Geese

My friend (Katelyn Patterson) posted a few of these facts about Geese:

“What I Learned From Geese
-When geese fly south for the winter, they fly in V formation
-Together they can fly 71% farther than they could if they were to fly alone.
-Each goose supports the geese behind it by causing an updraft that actually assists the birds flying behind and slightly above it.
-If the lead goose gets tired, it simply drops off to a position further back in the V and allows another goose to take the lead.
-Each goose honks to support the rest of the geese in the V formation.
-If a goose tries to go it alone, it quickly finds out that it is much more difficult and rejoins the rest of the flock.
-If a goose gets sick and cannot continue the flight, a couple of geese will stay with it until it can rejoin the flock or has died.
-Together they accomplish more.
Speaking in human terms: by encouraging each other, sharing the leadership, and caring for the weaker members of the group, they achieve their goal.”

I thought we could learn a lot from these geese when teaching. In our classes we have touched a bit on collaboration and the importance of it. We emphasized the fact that working as a team was more productive than working as a group. This was because when working as a team people develop ideas together, work within their strengths, encourage each other, plan lessons together etc. Working as a group is also productive but looks more like a school that may encourage each other and share lesson plans that worked for them but not relate on that deeper level.

If schools and teachers can learn to collaborate, support each other, and fly as a group schools will be able to go much farther than they would alone.