Blog Post Number 6 Communities of Practice

The communities of practice seems very similar to to what my school calls "Professional Learning Communities." In our professional learning communities we work together for a common goal which is for the most part to improve student achievement. Entiene Wenger says that people that are a part of communities of practice are (2008)"informally bound by what they do together."Pretty much everyone that works together is in a community of practice.

Right now my students are participating in communities of practice as part of my action research project. They are all consultants in a fictional company of which I am the CEO. They have to work together to complete a research paper and multimedia presentation on a given topic. SO far things are going great, with the exception of a few snafus in the technology department. We will hopefully get those fixed by tomorrow.

Surprisingly, the students are really into it! It really makes a difference when there is a vested interest. I have told them all that each day that their panels meet, there must be a product to show for it. This ensures that the students just don't get together and "flap their gums" and it keeps them on task. Communities of practice work and everyone involved is better as a result.