She could not say it--

Full disclosure: I have permission to blog about this conversation.

It was going to be an easy conversation
Or so I thought

A Connected Coaching eCourse participant
Self assessing her learning and sharing with me the grade she felt she had earned and why

It was the first day of school for her and she had just returned from a first session of music with second graders. She shared with great delight how long it had taken for them to finish one simple task. We giggled and laughed together over the story--

It was such a good day-- the joy enveloped our Skype call.

The conversation turned toward her learning- "Had she found the content of value?" I asked. "How are you feeling about your learning?"

Without hesitation, she described what had been of greatest value to her and how it would be instrumental in the work she would be doing during the course of the year. She added a concern she had had, unwarranted, about "taking over conversations". She asked about a learning opportunity the group let pass them by (creating a collaborative rubric).

There was a silence--

So I asked, what did she feel should be the grade I reported to the institution.

There was silence--

Then she asked me what I thought it should be.

And we both laughed.

And I asked, why is self assessing so difficult?

And we laughed again.

And she said her second graders were very good at it as were her daughters--

And I asked her again.

And again there was silence.

She never could bring herself to say it.

I finally asked, both of us laughing some more, "Does the letter have points or curves?"

"Points" she said.

To which I replied, from what you have told me, of course, it is an A.

Why is self assessing for very smart learners so hard? We didn't use video in the Skype call; did that make a difference when we couldn't read each other's body language? Had we not developed enough trust between us?

Lots to think ---

Image: 'it can't be true! you're so posh,+more+than+me!'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47207654@N00/47651477
Found on flickrcc.net

Well, Duh!

I surely do have my moments--
Sometimes I am so dense--
And then what I missed jumps up and slaps me in the face-- hard--
It is for those slaps that I am extremely grateful--

The most recent--  thanks to the very wise, very accomplished women educators in the recently finished section of the Connected Coaching eCourse.

As they reflected collaboratively on our 11 weeks together and I listened in our final webinar, it became crystal clear--

I have repeatedly attributed the depth of learning and the collegial relationships evidenced in each section of the eCourse to the very intentional building of trust and relationships that we focus on early in the course.  I wrote about that here and here. Now that I've listened so closely, I realize I developed a lazer focus, neglecting to highlight critical elements that also contribute to what have been extraordinary personal outcomes for all of us who have co constructed knowledge together. Don't get me wrong, there is no way the importance of trust and relationships can be understated. No. Way.

It is that, coupled with process that creates an environment for learning that leads to each member leaving the course with a bittersweet feeling. Bittersweet-- It was like climbing a mountain. Bummed that it is over. I struggled. I am a changed person. It was hard, rigorous. We need to maintain these connections.

I am convinced an appreciative, strength based inquiry approach to learning, one in which co learners are self directed, self governing, leads to the deepest learning and self realization. The approach enables each co learner to explore that which they wonder. It requires deep thinking in that the inquiry is facilitated through questions, those of the lead learner and that of all co learners. The approach creates a "no fail", safe environment for learning in which each learner feels valued.

Add to that the element of a personal learning contract described as challenging, empowering, difficult, freeing, respecting the learner. Woven together, the contract, the appreciative strength based inquiry process and the intentional growing of relationships and trust create a rich tapestry that embraces, immerses, and supports collaborative personal learning that enables the best of knowing and doing.

Well, duh! Of course-- Now that I've heard it from them, it seems pretty obvious to me.  

Wendy, Heidi, Amy, Dawn, Judi, Janne, Pati and Lindy-- thank you! Thank you highlighting what I should have realized so much earlier. And thank you for giving so much of yourselves during our 11 weeks together.

And now I'm wondering what else am I missing? 

Photo Credit

Getting to Know You

I've always loved this song-- We played it in orchestra and in band when I was in intermediate (yes that many years ago) and high school. I used to think of it at the beginning of each school year during those first few days with new students. I saw myself in Anna in the King and I; we both were delighted to get to know and learn more about new students. It was a critical step toward developing meaningful relationships with them.

 Getting to know you---

 Now, in online spaces, Getting to Know You is the first discussion in the communities of practice of Powerful Learning Practice that I've had the privilege of leading. It's the very first step in developing trust among educators. It's the first step on the way to developing collegial relationships that enable deep and messy learning to occur. It's a beginning that holds great promise.

 Getting to know all about you--

In the PLP Connected Coaching model and in the eCourse around that model, we spend more than considerable time on trustbuilding. Online spaces require that be done with greater intent, lacking the informal ways in which people often meet and share face to face. Our Connected Coaching model encourages use of the greatest bandwith as coaches get to know those with whom they will be coaching-- through video, through audio, through images we learn more about each other. We push coaches to Skype with team leaders-- to get to know them.

Getting to know you--

Just about this time last summer I had a grand Skype conversation with Jane in Australia--she a team leader and I the team's Connected Coach. We talked, not about the work to follow, but about children, how we saw teaching, some of the projects in which we were involved. That initial conversation, hearing her voice, her intonation, the passion in her voice on certain topics paved the way for developing a collegial relationship during which time I supported her team as they developed an excellent PBL unit.

Getting to feel free and easy--

In the eCourse we dig deep into building trust with video, activities, discussions and crowdsourced presentations, seeking ideas for trustbuilding in online spaces. One of the first tasks in the eCourse is creating a video of introduction. We also build a crowsourced collaborative presentation gathering ideas from everyone who will contribute about trustbuilding in online spaces. The February section's presentation illustrates the power of images coupled with brief text and the June's presentation is now growing; hope you'll add your thoughts there.

 Getting to know know you--

In addition, and one of the key reasons for this post--
In conjunction with the learning contracts that I requested co learners in this June section to develop, I asked that they briefly skype with me around their contract and any questions they might have about the eCourse. Now this is after our getting to know you discussion, our setting ground rules, our creating 6 word stories and posting passions, and our creating introductory videos. At this point we have really been getting to know each other. Yet it's my feeling, that it's been in these one to one conversations-- with the focused one to one sharing, the voice intonations, the real time opportunity to respond, the laughter, the children wandering into the room, the hearing more about families and aspirations and past activities -- that we've truly begun to build the kind of trust, deep and profound, that engenders and enables meaningful, collegial collaboration.

To my co learners-- Judi, Amy, Dawn, Lynn, Lindy, Pati, Smadar, Janne, Wendy, Heidi, and Jen-- thank you!

So glad we're
Getting to know you--

Thinking on assessing learning--

Out of sync
Always wanting better
Not in agreement
Time and time again

More than 45 years ago, GRE exams
My answers and scores significantly impacted by the recent death of my mom
Not a reflection of my learning at all

More than 30 years ago, a Master's thesis and comprehensive exams
Real opportunities to demonstrate what I had learned

More than a decade ago, applying for a new position and answering a question on assessment
Replying that the process and the projects themselves illustrated what students had learned

In that new position, creating rubrics for projects for high schoolers aspiring to become teachers
Knowing that the state used the same type of rubrics to assess new teachers
Crying in the car after being told to change the rubrics to written tests by an old school CTE administrator

Almost 10 years ago, with a terrible cold, an appointment to take the assessment component as a NBPTS candidate
Timed testing, no kleenex allowed in the testing room, cranking out as fast as I could responses to 6 questions
No time to think

High stakes testing even for our beloved Harley as his obedience training classes came to completion
In the dark in a strange park, he would not stay as I walked away passing 9 of 10 tasks and failing
He curled up in the corner of the back seat with his head down on the way home

Some 6 years ago, designing and creating online professional development courses for Ohio teachers
Always pushing back against suggestions of quizzes, of tests
Pulling for learner created content and powerful questions that enabled deeper learning

Assessment--
Grades, points, projects, quizzes, standardized tests, rubrics--

And then MOOC 2008 with vast learning landscapes, autonomy, openness and distributed learning
I assessed my learning in the open here on this blog (in the blog search box, enter CCK08 for 6 pages of posts)
That learning experience was empowering and scary and full of wonder
And my thoughts on assessment are shifting --again

WHO/WHAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE SHIFT
Very honestly, I've never been a real quiz, test person. In the classroom, I had conversations, I observed, I watched process and explored projects. With proficiencies and standardized testing, I was pushed to change. Conflicted, some testing entered the learning experiences of my students-- not without tension.

Now I'm old, less disposed to "push"-- more likely to follow my instincts---  especially when I've had an experience such as MOOC 2008 and I'm finding other educators seeking a shift/making a shift too.

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach undoubtably has provided the most fodder for my thinking. She has articulated in so many places a vision of what could that truly resonates with me. That wayfinding, co constructing meaning and self directed processes play a huge role in shifting is an understatement.

Let the co-learners in the room decide context- the how of what we will share, the teaching and learning processes and the why of how we learn it this way.

Let us do our own wayfinding. Let us construct our own meaning and design, our own sense making activities. Let us show mastery of what we learned in ways that align not only with the standards but also with the self-directed processes and creative ways in which each learner chooses.

maybe we need to standardize (make it business as usual) that learning should be self-directed and knowledge co-constructed.
http://plpnetwork.com/2011/03/12/disconnect-content-context-common-core/

Anne Fox joined the group of PLP Connected Coaches last fall and in a conversation shared this resource on Heutagogy. Totally new to me, very exciting as learning moves from self directed to self determined. Maybe it's because so much of my professional learning was self determined (I rarely felt that the organized PD that was a staple in my career was of much value) that this notion speaks to me so clearly as does the accompanying concept of developing capabilities. This resource has had a critical impact on my thinking.

Heutagogy (based on the Greek for “self”) was defined by Hase and Kenyon in 2000 as the study of self-determined learning. Heutagogy applies a holistic approach to developing learner capabilities, with learning as an active and proactive process, and learners serving as “the major agent in their own learning, which occurs as a result of personal experiences” (Hase & Kenyon, 2007, p. 112). As in an andragogical approach, in heutagogy the instructor also facilitates the learning process by providing guidance and resources, but fully relinquishes ownership of the learning path and process to the learner, who negotiates learning and determines what will be learned and how it will be learned (Hase & Kenyon, 2000; Eberle, 2009).

When designing a self-determined learner experience, certain considerations should be made. A heutagogical approach to learning and teaching is characterized first and foremost by learner-centeredness in terms of both learner-generated contexts and content. Course design elements that support learner-centeredness in a heutagogical approach are presented below.

    Learner-defined learning contracts: Learning contracts support students in defining and determining their individual learning paths. These individualized contracts, such as those used at distance education institution Empire State College (see www.esc.edu), define what will be learned (e.g., scope), how it will be learned (e.g., teaching and learning approaches, learning activities), and what will be assessed and how it will be assessed (Kenyon & Hase, 2010; Gilbert, 1975; Cristiano, 1993).
    Flexible curriculum: In a self-determined learning environment, the learner is the driver in creating flexible curriculum, which is defined by the student: learners create the learning map, and instructors serve as the compass (Hase & Kenyon, 2007; Hase, 2009). Flexible curriculum in this sense is negotiated action learning, which adapts and evolves according to learner needs (Hase, 2009; Hase & Kenyon, 2007). Learners negotiate “how, when, where and to what upper (rather than minimal) level they want to take their learning” (Hase, 2009, p. 47).
    Learner-directed questions: Learner-directed questions and the discussion that results from these questions are what guide learners and serve as mechanisms for helping learners make sense of course content, bring clarity to ideas, and promote individual and group reflection (Kenyon & Hase, 2001; Eberle, 2009). Guiding learners to define self-directed questions is one of the biggest challenges facing developers of heutagogical courses, as designers must be “creative enough to have learners ask questions about the universe they inhabit” (Kenyon & Hase, 2001, para. 29).
    Flexible and negotiated assessment: In heutagogy, the learner is involved in designing his or her assessment. Negotiated and learner-defined assessment has been shown to improve the motivation of learners and their involvement in the learning process, as well as make learners feel less threatened by instructor control of their learning process (Hase & Kenyon, 2007, p. 115; Hase, 2009; Ashton & Elliott, 2007; Canning, 2010). One way of incorporating negotiation into the assessment process is through the use of learning contracts (Hase, 2009). The assessment should include measurable forms of assessing understanding of content, including whether the learner has achieved the competencies desired. Rubrics can also be used effectively in guiding learners in their self-assessment process, for example by assessing “discussion skills, quality of work, outcomes, collaboration, academic soundness and knowledge of material” (Eberle, 2008, p. 186).

Another dually important characteristic of heutagogy is that of reflective practice, “a critical learning skill associated with knowing how to learn” (Hase, 2009, p. 49).
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076/2087

Dean Shareski  has recently reflected on assessment as he teaches again his pre service online course at the U. of Regina. When I read his post, I reread the the sentence "The biggest change this term was to have my student's assessment themselves for the entire course." and I read it again. I like that and his "I really don't care much about the grade at all." as I don't either. It took me back to my learning in the 2008 MOOC-- of how much I learned, of how excited I was.

The biggest change this term was to have my student's assessment themselves for the entire course. In the past, it was required for a few assignments but not all. This term I was clear that they were going to tell me their grade and justify it. As long as their documentation was clear and from my perspective truthful, that's the grade they would receive. I suppose in some respects, I'm still assessing, assessing their assessments but my goal was to do two things. First to empower them to think deeply about their learning. While I've always advocated for reflection, I tried to emphasize more documentation. I still need to structure this better but that was my intent. Secondly I wanted the pressure of grading to be removed from learning.

I really don't care much about the grade at all. I'm interested in their documentation of learning and how I might support them and indeed provide new and better opportunities for them in the future and for my future students as well.
http://ideasandthoughts.org/2012/04/18/adventures-in-assessment/

Dave Cormier  has been talking assessment around the course he began teaching this spring. Over the years I've been learning with Powerful Learning Practice, I've become convinced as is he that "making meaning, creating knowledge, is something that happens in public". And so his students are negotiating grading contracts with him.

I’ve been lacking a way to bring a method of assessment to the course that reflects the philosophy of education I’ve been working with. The idea of saying that you understood 92% of the ‘right’ way of seeing something is the exact opposite of the way that I see this course. From a traditional perspective… I want you to cheat. I want you to ‘get the answer’ from your neighbour. I want you to tell me that you did that… but more importantly, I’m hoping that you’ll tell each other that. So the contract measures how much work you’re doing… How much you are contributing. And, if you take anything from this course, is that making meaning, creating knowledge, is something that happens in public.
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2012/05/16/why-we-work-together-cheating-as-learning/

Student work in this course is evaluated by ‘contract’ – meaning that each of you decide how much work you would like to do for what grade.
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2012/05/09/ed366-learning-contract-prior-to-student-input/

The contract grading approach, loosely speaking, is one where the student and the instructor negotiate a ‘contract’ for how that course is supposed to go.

Here is an excellent example from Cathy N. Davidson that I’ve been borrowing from. (or, as she suggests, pilfering from)
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2012/05/07/grading_contract/

I'd rather contract grading become contract learning or rather a learning contract. I'm starting to put pieces together. Learning in public, self assessment, learning contract, no talk of failure--

Cathy N. Davidson  was one of the resources to which Dave Cormier provided a link. With her contract grading the learner decides on what she/he wants or needs from the course (yes I remixed that too from "what grade"); the learner empowered to follow personal passions and needs truly resonated with me. If you follow the link below the quote, Cathy did not create her grading contracts with that in mind; yet her words "what you need or want" are important in my thinking.

The advantage of contract grading is that you, the student, decide how much work you wish to do this semester; if you complete that work on time and satisfactorily, you will receive the grade for which you contracted.  This means planning ahead, thinking about all of your obligations and responsibilities this semester and also determining what grade you want or need in this course
http://hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/contract-grading-peer-review-heres-how-it-works

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
As the facilitator for the PLP Connected Coaching eCourse  I had to submit a syllabus to NDSU; we wanted to provide an opportunity for learners to earn graduate credit if they so wished.  Required by the credentialing institution, I laid out assignments and their influence on a total grade to be earned (no points, percentages).  Not entirely comfortable with that, I've been thinking hard on ways to incorporate all that resonates with me best for learning and assure that learners in the course who seek to earn graduate credit have that option.

In addition, I wanted the course to be of value to the diverse range of educators who were interested for varying reasons. Some wanted to become PLP Connected Coaches, some were face to face coaches and wanted to learn about strategies for coaching in online spaces, some were classroom teachers who wanted to move to a more inquiry based classroom and sought insight on facilitating communication. Some were in it to go deep; others more on the surface. My quandary, a way to facilitate deep learning that met the needs of everyone, remained true to the inquiry based model of the course, and promoted self governed learning.

HERE'S MY REMIX
Adapted, adopted from those who have gone before me, with a lot of Lani sprinkled throughout, I requested that all learners create a learning contract. Really anxious, very much believing in it's potential, yet still nervous I posted this and asked each learner to post theirs in our asynchronous virtual space.
Here it is: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qWQgDmtsJflNfLbS3OaJHHg2h-YtjRCBWHtauQSVSZY/edit

It's not perfect. I haven't figured out how to give those taking the course for credit more options although I have personally encouraged them to add their own personal learning goals, to negotiate percentages for the graduate assignments, to create a timeline for demonstrating their learning that best meets their own personal schedule within the time limits of the course. I've asked them to determine how they will show evidence of their learning and to assess themselves using strategies of their own choosing. In the end, the reality is, I have to submit a grade; we'll Skype or phone; and if there is a need, we'll negotiate--  I am feeling at this point, this is a step in the right direction. If it proves to be of value in the learners' eyes, I will attempt to modify the syllabus for the university to more closely reflect this philosophy of learning.

AND THEIR INITIAL REACTION
2 weeks of learning in, I asked for initial reactions (yes I remain anxious and nervous, very much wanting this to be of value) in a recent webinar. Participants placed red stars on the value line on the whiteboard to indicate their feelings. This coupled with comments -- "scary but valued, learning about me,respecting the learner" --encourage me.

Stay tuned-- In late August when the formal course time for learning has come, I'll be back here sharing what I learned, what we learned --

 Image: 'Thinking & Playing'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/43433634@N05/6919665797

New possibilities---

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannat/6825713098/

11 passioned women educators spending hours of their summer break learning and collaborating together in the current section of the PLP Connected Coaching eCourse. In our first few days together, their remarkable sharing has begun to enable an environment where a community of co learners can grow and flourish.

It struck me as we left our first webinar last night, an all women group is new for this course. My sense is that portends unique and exceptional opportunities to go deep into appreciative inquiry and coaching together. That's not to say that did not occur before; it did. The male voices in the previous sections have been incredibly insightful, and have added a richness to the collective wisdom of the groups. Yet with these strong, accomplished women, my intuition tells me we are about to travel an exceptional learning journey where possibilities truly abound.  I'm excited!

It happened. Again.

It happened.

Again.
After just 9 weeks together.

Just before the last webinar session on Twitter:



And when the "recording is stopped" signaled the end of the last webinar session for participants in the Powerful Learning Practice Connected Coaching eCourse folks hung around, not wanting to leave the room.

And then on Twitter--





Co-creation of content, trustbuilding and developing relationships became the foundation for a community of learners to dig deep, to collaborate meaningfully across vast geographical distances. Educators from China, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Ontario, Alberta, Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida with a common passion came to know and to appreciate the expertise of each other. It's happened before--

In late November, 2011, I delighted in posting about the potential for learning in online spaces when trust and meaningful relationships develop. I quoted then from chapter 4 of our book, The Connected Educator, and it's worth sharing again:

"Connected learners have to work harder to establish trust. In our face to face interactions, we get to know people over time through causal interactions. We see them come in, take off their coats, complain about traffic. We get to know their families through pictures in frames on their desks and through conversations about the baby having a fever and children’s sports events. The steps are all there but shared in covert business as usual ways. We do not have to create intentional acts to share this information. It just happens naturally. In online spaces, we have the same casual interaction if we think through how to make them happen. And these intentional acts have the same trust building effect as those that occur naturally. We upload pictures, type stories about our children, create and share videos of sports events and tweet about traffic jams."

Intentional acts of casual sharing in online spaces can lead to incredible trust building, the development of meaningful relationships and learning not even imagined! We do spend a significant amount of time in the eCourse building trust-- modeling for and immersing participants in the process as that is the first major pathmarker for Connected Coaches in our appreciative inquiry model.

One of the major trustbuilding activities is co creating a collaborative Google presentation around the topic of building trust in online spaces. For we believe that co-creation of content influences the development of collegial relationships that are prerequisites to meaningful collaboration around improving practice. This presentation was one of many opportunities to build trust during the 9 weeks we spent together.



For any naysayers, who would push back on the power of relationship building in online spaces and it's potential to deepen learning, just check in with Jim, Patti, Harry, Sarah, Anne, Ann, Tod, Camilla, David, Shelley, or Shelley (yes, 2 Shelleys) from this section or any of the accomplished educators from previous sections. You don't have to take my word for it--

I am grateful and humbled to have come to know and learned with such smart, dedicated educators -- thank you all.

Diversity and Connected Coaching

Our latest Connected Coaching webinar ended Wednesday evening at 8:30 PM EST. At 9:00, Traci, Debra and Camilla continued to talk with each other in Blackboard Collaborate as they collaborated on a wiki page building a Connected Coaching toolkit. Three educators from Australia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with diverse perspectives and a common goal, collaborated across time zones and geographical boundaries.

One of the many beauties of online collaboration and Connected Coaching is the potential for diverse perspectives to deepen learning. In our current course section, passioned and accomplished educators from Oregon, Ontario, Alberta, Virginia, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, China, Finland and Norway bring their unique gifts and talents and do just that.
That diversity is a critical component in effecting change and in improving our coaching practice. As Sheryl and I note in The Connected Educator:

"The importance of diversity is foundational for organizations and individuals wanting to reculture, transform, or totally reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant in students’ lives. To stimulate new ideas, facts, experiences, possibilities, insights, perspectives, and skills—conceptions and conversations need to bump up against each other in fresh and surprising ways. It is almost impossible to have something new emerge from people who hang out together all the time and think about the same things in much the same ways.

One of the strengths in collaborating as connected learners, both within and beyond the schoolhouse walls, lies in the range of thought, ideology, and culture that becomes part of the conversations and learning process. Connected learners expand their schemas and process issues and possible solutions from new perspectives and conceptual frames. Connected learners are able to hear differing voices and opinions and learn to confront challenges to assumptions authentically, in the manner of critical friends." --page 41

I am humbled by this opportunity to learn with and to facilitate an esteemed group of educators whose journey into Connected Coaching validates and illustrates the power of diversity to deepen thinking, open possibilities for innovation, and a more accomplished Connected Coaching practice.

Image: '3D Full Spectrum Unity Holding Hands Concept'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22177648@N06/2137735924

Sharing, trust, relationships and learning--

A Wednesday evening, the first free Wednesday evening in 8 weeks--

And this popped up in my Twitter feed--


That followed this from the week before:



—a true testament to the power of relationships online –relationships built on trust, for:

"...trust is the glue that binds the members of a community to act in sharing and adapting manner. Without trust, members would hoard their knowledge and experience and would not go through the trouble of sharing with or learning from others.” (Nichani & Hung, 2002, p. 51)Nichani, M., & Hung, D. (2002). Can a community of practice exist online? Educational Technology, 42(4), 49-54.

Why those tweets?

For just 8 weeks, at 7 pm EST, a group of passioned educators met in Elluminate to share and dig deeper into concepts of Connected Coaching following a week of conversations in the online course space. During both the week 7 and week 8 webinars, comments in both audio and chat bemoaned the fact the scheduled learning of the group was coming to an end. The final affirmations – personal and heartfelt-- validated more clearly that indeed, a learning community had been developed.

The importance of trust in online learning communities can’t be understated!

In the communities of practice I’ve had the privilege to lead for the last few years, I’ve seen that trust and those relationships develop and grow over a period of 8 months. Teams and communities have come to engage in deep collegial conversations that have led to significant shifts in thinking and practice, many of which are documented here and here. And more recently, in the six month pilot of the Connected Coaches program, an extraordinary learning community developed in which each offered support to others, pushed back, asked difficult questions and consequently adopted new dispositions around coaching.

In those communities and in particular with the Connected Coaching pilot, taking time to build trust was purposeful and with intent. During the pilot, Dean Shareski led us in experimenting, playing --leveraging the affordances of technology to do just that—to develop collegial relationships that would support deep learning. We played with images of meaning to us, shared why, honored each other’s ideas; we used audio files to introduce ideas, more fully bringing understanding to our passions and our thoughts. Video files, faces paired with voices, sometimes fresh from working in the garden, other times while traveling on a train brought us closer together. Sharing family moments, sharing passions, sharing aspirations.

In the recent 8 week course, we did the same—and what I knew could develop for colleagues who worked together face to face, for colleagues who virtually collaborated over a number of months – the building of trust and subsequent collegial relationships—developed truly over the short course of just 2 months!

Coincidentally, Jane, wondered as she reflected on leading a “virtual” team”

“So, is this therefore a 21st C skill and ability to be considered? If we are to begin to increasingly work with others online in collaborative forums, the ability to use online technologies to ‘virtually’ build relationships – the development of ‘online human leadership’ skills – must become an incredibly important one to consider.”

After she noted:

“You don’t really ‘know’ the people, their lifestyles and passions, out of work commitments; nor, do you have the regular everyday opportunity to build the relationships essential to leading those involved.”

Growing virtual relationships, building trust online— I’d suggest, yes it is a new leadership skill and one, that when practiced, enables deeper thinking, deeper learning, and opportunities for systemic change in education.

In chapter 4 of our book, The Connected Educator, we share:

"Connected learners have to work harder to establish trust. In our face to face interactions, we get to know people over time through causal interactions. We see them come in, take off their coats, complain about traffic. We get to know their families through pictures in frames on their desks and through conversations about the baby having a fever and children’s sports events. The steps are all there but shared in covert business as usual ways. We do not have to create intentional acts to share this information. It just happens naturally. In online spaces, we have the same casual interaction if we think through how to make them happen. And these intentional acts have the same trust building effect as those that occur naturally. We upload pictures, type stories about our children, create and share videos of sports events and tweet about traffic jams."

Yes, Jane, nurturing those human relationships in online spaces— building trust is essential to knowledge construction and sharing from which change is birthed –

Intentional acts of casual sharing in online spaces can lead to incredible trust building and the development of meaningful relationships and learning not even imagined—even in 8 short weeks!

Spaghetti sauce and Connected Coaching

The homemade spaghetti sauce last week was rich, flavorful-- just downright extraordinary.

I attribute most of that to the quality of the ingredients-- something about organic farm fresh tomatoes, new onions, fresh organo, real garlic, and a touch of hot sauce to add a bit of a zing. Yet I've used those same ingredients before and the sauce never had the unique flavor of this batch. There must be something to the love, to the passion that becomes part of the process. No longer a strict recipe follower when I'm putting together a dish I've made before, there is the possibility of an extra large clove of garlic, maybe dried oregano-- always evolving, responding to conditions at hand.

While I was washing the dishes and the pot in which the sauce simmered to take on all its goodness, similarities to our Powerful Learning Practice Connected Coaching pilot struck me. That experience was downright extraordinary too. The ingredients were topnotch. Our 6 coaches, all accomplished educators-- Brenda Sherry, Marsha Ratzel, Zoe Branigan-Pipe, John Pearce, Mark Carbone, and Chad Evans-- brought their own gits and talents to deep discussions around coaching and entered communities with enthusiasm and passion. Our unique model was well flavored by dashes of Tschannen-Morans' Evocative Coaching, Costa/Garmston's Cognitive Coaching, Knight's Instructional Coaching and Dana/Yendel-Hoppey's Coaching Inquiry Oriented Communities. The zing emanated from Dean Shareski's exceptional vision and expertise for leveraging images and video, moving beyond text, in online spaces, and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach's brilliant insights around developing community.

The coaching process, unlike the sauce, lacked any prescriptive recipe and was not one we'd tried before; we let it simmer a bit, added a bit more of Tschannen-Moran and Knight, turned down the heat for a while, then back to a simmer, not unlike our description of the model as one of wayfinding with looping back, checking pathmarkers (building trust, questioning, and facilitating design thinking). I'm guessing the inquiry based appreciative elements (think more than dashes of Tshannen-Morans) increased the likelihood of such an exemplary experience. And unlike the sauce, our coaching was a collaborative process. The joy, the rush that comes from engagement in collegial conversations around difficult topics can not be overstated.

In focus sessions, we attempted to distinguish the specific ingredients or parts of the process that led to such a remarkable experience; we were unable. We were in total agreement that the ingredients and the process intertwined into a model for coaching in online spaces that should be replicated --- again.

Like the spaghetti sauce, the grand aftertaste leads to a longing for more.
Additional opportunities for connected coaches are simmering; I can't wait. They will have Dean, Sheryl, Marsha, Brenda, Zoe, John, Chad and Mark to thank for their creativity and imagination, for their passion and perseverance in concocting Connected Coaching in 2011.

And I am anticipating too the next batch of farm fresh tomatoes and the potential to replicate that unique sauce once again.

Photo Credit

Animals/Habitats team is on their way!

I just posted this in the group room of the Animals/Habitats team of the PLP ConnectU walled garden community.



The members of this team are really on their way to planning an exciting PBL experience for their students.

In their second Elluminate team meeting, every member of the team attended; every member's voice was heard. Under the extraordinary leadership of Jane, the team leader, this team has developed driving and supporting questions, selected VELs that will be addressed in the unit, looked at possibilities for assessment, thought through a WOW beginning activity, created a project timeline, and begun to blog about their journey and is sharing all of this transparently.

I am anxiously waiting to hear about the initial walkarounds they and their students will be taking as they explore animals/environments in their local areas and asking questions of them as they respond to Jane's latest Ning posting around Scaffolding the Personal Learning - Helping the Learner to Learn how to Learn!! Really exciting!!!

A new journey into Connected Coaching

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

What happens when 8 passionate educators distanced geographically (U.S., Canada, and Australia) meet in an Elluminate room or in threaded discussions in Ning to engage in conversations around coaching in online communities?

They grow and develop expertise to transform online professional learning.

Through text, images, encouragement, support, videos, sharing ideas and experiencing a collective joy that comes from participation in a group whose sole goal is to improve learning for teachers and students, we grow. Through an appreciative approach which leads to deep and sometimes difficult collegial conversations this new and unique model evolves as each coach brings their talents and gifts to the table.

A vision, initially only on paper, becomes reality and Powerful Learning Practice Connected Coaches--
Brenda Sherry
Marsha Ratzel
Chad Evans
Mark Carbone
Zoe Branigan-Pipe
John Pearce

join Dean Shareski and I on an incredibly exciting journey into wayfinding as coaches.

Our connected model draws heavily from Cooperrider's appreciative inquiry, Costa and Garmston's cognitive model and Tschannen-Moran's evocative coaching while infusing much of Sheryl's wisdom on learning in online communities.

Currently engaging with members in the El Paso and ConnectU Powerful Learning Practice communities, we really are about changing the world of online professional learning. And with this accomplished group, with whom I am privileged and honored to learn, I see it happening.