Letter from the President

Dear GIML Members,

I’m sure most of us are familiar with the concentric circles representing Vygotsky’s zones of proximal development (https://educationaltechnology.net/vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-and-scaffolding/). Some of the implications of this research include that learners seek out those with a little more experience or skill in an area of interest and that learning is often a social activity—both learning with a mentor and learning with peers. In MLT we use this theory often: when peers reinforce patterns for each other, for instance, or when small groups improvise together. Even as adults, we experience peer-to-peer learning when we study with a friend or compare notes on a research article. But is teaching a social activity as well?

We who create the conditions for learning also benefit from social connections. This is evident in our fantastic conference in Chicago, our ability to restructure and move forward, and our expansion to new chapters and new PDLC sites. Your students benefit when you maintain social connections with like-minded pedagogues. This may mean sharing lesson plans and compositions, meeting colleagues at a chapter workshop, teaming up for an action research project, or just posting a question on social media. Sharing our collective wisdom is how we grow. Thus, whether you connected with someone in a session, at the folk-dance party, at Poor Phil’s, online, at a PDLC, or at your regional chapter, please keep that connection alive by checking in, sharing, and supporting each other. We are stronger together.

It was a treat to be with you all in Chicago and to see all these newly minted PDLC completers! I wish you well as you share your new-found skills and understandings with your students! 

Butch Marshall

GIML President

2023 PDLC Season

Congratulations to our 2023 PDLC participants, faculty and site managers for a wonderful season!