Thinking About Learning

Teacher collaboration has been a strong push in my district this year with an emphasis on Professional Learning Communities.  We’ve had a district focus on DuFour’s book, On Common Ground.  As part of that effort, quarterly “On Common Ground” meetings have been held with elementary administrators, instructional coaches, TISs, and interventionists to promote a data-driven, results-oriented culture.  At the school level, grade level teams have been meeting weekly to plan instruction and common assessments and to analyze results.  We’ve just completed the spring administration of MAP testing for reading and math, , and I’ve had teacher after teacher come up to me, beaming about their great scores and how many students met or exceeded the anticipated growth index.  After such an intense year of hard work, teachers are able to see the great results that can be achieved through collaboration.

In an effort to carry collaboration another step further, I worked with a small group of TISs to create a district-wide database of teacher-created lesson materials.  Our district web master took our recommendations and created a searchable database.  Teachers can upload interactive whiteboard lessons, PowerPoints, WORD docs, spreadsheets, handheld activities, and many other files.  The database is searchable by subject, content strand, grade level, and keyword.  We’re excited about this project because it will enable teachers to share and find resources from other people in our district who teach the same standards.

Over the last several months, however, I have come to realize that collaborating within the district is still too narrow of a vision. Through my own PLN, I have been amazed and delighted to discover that there are excellent educators around the globe who are willing to share their resources and knowledge, and sometimes I can receive an answer faster than if I sent an email to a colleague.  A month ago, I was experimenting with Ustream, and I was running into a playback issue.  Not knowing anyone in district who was using it, I posted a question about it on the Classroom 2.0 Ning, I had received a reply with a checklist of steps to try.  This list helped me narrow down my issue to reach a solution.  And from where did my speedy assistance come? From Carlos Ferrer in Rykjavik, Iceland!  Recently I was preparing a lesson on folk tales for 5th grade, and I had already spent a lot of time searching for resoures.  I posted a query on Twitter and quickly received 3 good leads, including a great link to video on an interesting New Zealand legend from allanahk in Nelson, New Zealand.

Yesterday morning, ironically, Wes Fryer posted a link on Twitter to an article he had written on the ISTE blog on iTouch and iPhone apps for Education, and his opening sentence was “The power of Twitter and personal learning networks continues to amaze me!”

I’ll close with these words from a post on Twitter by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach: “It is time to end the practice of solo teaching. Today’s teachers must learn in collectively built, widely shared, cohesive networks.”
That’s what I want for my teachers, because I’m convinced that it’s a vital element in raising student achievement.

Twitter has been around since March 2006.  I have to admit that when I first heard of it, I was skeptical.  Twitter asks a single question, “What are you doing?” and gives you up to 140 characters to answer the question. It just seemed too mundane and a waste of time, so I didn’t sign up.  There are only so many hours in a day, so you have to choose carefully how you’re going to invest your time.  But a little over a year ago, a friend encouraged me to check it out, and I’m hooked! Evidently lots of other people are as well. TechCrunch reports:

In February, 4 million people in the U.S. visited the site, up from 2.6 million the month before, according to the latest data from comScore. That represents a 55 percent month-over-month growth rate, compared to 33 percent growth in each of the two months prior.These numbers are only for visitors to Twitter.com, and they do not capture usage on desktop or mobile clients. And the apps just keep on coming. For instance, Twitdom now counts 529 Twitter apps.

I confess that I’m still a fringe Twitterer.  It’s blocked at school, so I can only access it at home in the evenings and weekends.  I have a BeTwittered widget on my iGoogle page, so it’s easy to take a quick glance whenever I’m online.  So, why do I recommend Twitter to my colleagues?  How can Twitter help you grow professionally?  I’m very selective about who I follow.  Right now I only follow people who are educators.  Most of the people I follow don’t waste time telling what they ate for breadfast or what they’re watching on TV.  They most frequently share links to new blog posts they’ve written, links to new tech tools they’re exploring, or links to teacher or student collaborative projects.  They also ask questions and quickly get needed answers for problem-solving.

Sometimes educators leading conference sessions will invite fellow Twitter users to join online.  I’ve participated in several technology conference sessions in places like Pennsylvannia and Illinois by joining in a collaborative Google Doc, adding a placemark for my location on a Google Earth map, or chatting on a back channel during a live stream.  In this way not only am I learning, but I am also supporting my Twitter colleagues as they are conducting their professional development sessions.

How can you find people to follow who will ge good contacts for your PLN?  There are several wikis that collect lists of like minded people.  Here are a few:
Twitter4Teachers
TwitterPacks
Twitter Group: Teachers
Another way is to go to the Twitter pages of people you enjoy following and check out some of the people they follow.

If you’d like to learn more, visit Sue Waters’s PLN Yourself wiki.   Another great resource is 100 Tips, Apps, and Resources for Teachers on Twitter.  If you’d like to read about Twitter in the classroom, visit Anne Mirtschin’s blog. I don’t squander a lot of time with Twitter, but every time I check in, it’s always well worth it.  I always find something new to learn and explore.  It’s connected me with thinking educators around the globe who are commited to constantly learning and making efforts to bring change to the way we do education.  It’s the best source in my PLN!

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a SMARTboard Users Group in Charleston. There were over 100 people there, teachers, technology integration specialists, media specialists, and district level personnel. Prior instructions had been provided to bring a SMART Notebook lesson(s) to share with the group. After a large group introductory session, participants were divided up into small groups, about 15 participants each, based on self-determined user ability. In our small groups a facilitator shared some new information from SMART Tech, introduced us to some new tools, and then opened to floor for participants to share the lessons they had brought. At the end we were able to save a copy of all the shared lessons to a flash drive to take with us.

This was one of the best professional development events I’ve ever attended! Other educators are the best resource for teachers. We’ve all known that for years. When I attend a conference, I avoid sessions conducted by vendors and seek out sessions led by people in the trenches. So I’m asking, “How can we capitalize one all the experience that surrounds us, but seems inaccessible?”

Too often teachers feel isolated behind a closed door, struggling to create and use meaningful instructional materials in the midst of a day already packed with too many responsibilities. Collaboration is a buzz-word in education today, but when do teachers really have time to collaborate? Even when a monthly afternoon is set aside strictly for that purpose, other issues beg for the time.

The SMARTboard users group really got me thinking about the need for teachers to have a forum for an online professional learning team. Unfortunately, teachers who are trying to embed the use of technology as an instructional methodology within the curriculum are still in the minority. It’s easy to feel isolated when your beliefs about pedagogy are not shared by those around you. It only makes sense that an online professional social network community could be a possible solution for a more intentional approach for collaboration and continued professional growth among like-minded educators. I believe that educators have only begun to taste the value of social networking Web 2.0 tools. I’ll be seeking others to join this quest!

Technorati: smartboard collaboration PLT usergroups