Wayfinding continued --

The wayfinding continues

Four years in

Looking back

As I look forward

Realizing more fully the tensions, the dualities, the uncertainties, the dissonance, the nuances that accompany the privilege of leading an online community remain constant—

Following year 1, these words described my first experience as a community leader for Powerful Learning Practice:

“On the side, in the middle, questioning, nudging, modeling, holding back sitting on my hands”


“Where I once might have suggested or pushed in a conversation, now others begin to take that lead. As an almost out of body experience, I hear my voice slowly morphing from that of leader as trust builds and the voices of the community grow and mature.” --Powerful Learning Practice

These tensions, this dissonance—only compel my own stretching, my moving out of my comfort zone as I find my way as a community leader. At this point, it's messy, it’s exhilarating, it’s formidable and it’s stupefying – 21st century learning at its best!!! Learning that brings new meaning to being open to new ideas, to flexibility, to being nimble— challenging and demanding.


As I find my way, seeking tone that is most welcoming, and yet again true, I find myself on the side in private emails and comments to walls on the NING encouraging those who continue to find this environment daunting.


… asking questions of clarification, hoping to push folk deeper in thinking or in considering an alternate perspective. Composing these questions—again with attention to tone –does not come easily-- wanting just the right words, just the right phrase, in my own voice—

Most challenging – sensing the right time to be quiet at the computer, just sitting on my hands, letting go -- allowing members of the community the opportunity for their own personal messy learning. I often feel like I’m on a roller coaster as passioned conversations take off and then suddenly few voices are raised-- I’m confident with my choice to step back and then I’m questioning the appropriateness—

Year1: http://possibilitiesabound.blogspot.com/2008/12/wayfinding-in-online-community-of.html

Those words, those phrases, those thoughts-- they continue today. 

Two years in

One year ago—passioned, savoring my journey as a PLP community leader— Feeling exhilarated, bungling, practiced, ineffectual, poised, uncertain And finally thinking I was on the cusp of moving beyond the tensions, the dualities I found inherent in the role of community leader—

One year later—perhaps a little wiser Just a touch more widely read—

Arrogant in suggesting a year ago that the “perhaps less need for me to make those difficult choices” as the community evolved-- of what, and when and how to nudge, to cajole and to be silent—

Finding that wayfinding, always is fraught with tensions and dualities – jumping in, sitting on my hands, nudging, holding back, encouraging—

Finding that wayfinding continues to invoke inexplicable, disparate feelings – joy, insecurity, fervor, doubt, excitement, indecision, zeal, awe —

Learning, forever learning-- reveling in the messiness, the tensions, and the day to day need for nuanced silence or responses—

Year 2 http://possibilitiesabound.blogspot.com/2009/12/one-year-laterwayfinding-continued.html

Those words, those phrases, those feelings, those thoughts-- they continue today.

And 6 months later:

‘Any serious learning will take you through a dark night of your identity’.
–Etienne Wenger via Jenny Mackness

..my wayfinding has been fruitful, though often fraught with frustration over my perceived inadequacies as I seek to become more competent in supporting sociability and participation in a community. Always asking how can I better help to support and build a sense of community and social relationships and trust, how can I better encourage different levels of participation, and how can I better add value to the community on the side out of the middle, always as a co-learner --for that is how I presently view this role.

Much learned, and so much to yet to learn, from this place in which I now find myself—

Helping build a sense of community
Taking the recommendation of Cothrel & Williams (1999) to heart --that community building is the key to success and developing a sense of community for its members is essential to achieve a high level of participation..

Helping to build social relationships and trust
With the building of relationships, collegiality and trust, members begin to feel a sense of community and with that arises sharing and learning from each other. Nichani & Hung (2002) point out that:
“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”

In my desire to build trust, I’ve used member’s names, met virtually with teams, responded with affirmations and positive statements, attempted to be sure that every member received a response in a timely manner, pointed to responses that evidenced competence, and co created content with digital stories as we became acquainted with each other for I’ve learned that in communities that are perceived as friendly, honest, reliable and competent, members are more willing to participate. (Sharratt & Usoro, 2003) Although my sense is that I’ve been somewhat successful, I believe there is a need for me to model more often and more fully competence through transparency and sharing, making myself more vulnerable to others in order to develop that kind of trust.

Knowing and understanding the normal three levels of participation in community (a small core leadership group of active participants, about 10-15% of the whole community; a small active group (15-20%) that attend regularly participate in community forums occasionally; and large proportions of members are peripheral and rarely participate) (Wenger & his colleagues, 2002) and confidently encouraging the participation of those on the periphery are two very different things. ... it has been argued that with diverse members in terms of knowledge and expertise, allowing novices to the practice to acquire expertise through legitimate peripheral participation is important, as early criticism can lead to inactive community members. (Lave & Wenger, 1998)

On another level, nurturing the growth of others to become leaders and then knowing when to step back and sit on my hands as they emerge to lead others has been a dimension that has been somewhat effective for me and an area I’ll continue to tweak and adjust with the dynamics of a particular community as guides.

Helping to add value
To encourage participation, potential members have to be convinced that it is worth participating in the CoP. (Sharratt & Usoro, 2003). …With my previously stated commitment to model and demonstrate more fully transparency in learning and sharing through blogging, tweeting and more widespread reading, I hope to feel more confident that I do add more value to the community and that that confidence may shine through in the sharing and be a factor in persuading others to also add value to our collective learning.

Cothrel, J. & Williams, R.L. (1999) On-line communities: helping them form and grow. Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol.3, No.1, pp 54-60.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity: Cambridge University Press.

End of year2: http://possibilitiesabound.blogspot.com/2010/05/reflecting.html

 I find growth in that reflection-- feelings and thoughts not changed, yet there is emerging a researched foundation on which to grow my practice.

And now--

A bit more confident--

Nevertheless continuing to sense the tensions, the nuances, the extreme care needed for the emergence and growth of a real community--

Realizing even more fully (did I think that was possible?) how leading a community is an art-- 

In the building of relationships, in the right and powerful questions, in the appreciative inquiry, in the capacity building, in the value adding--

And yet learning more and eagerly anticipating the next opportunity to grow and learn more, to focus on what I've come to know--

I know now that it is when everyone is sharing and everyone is deciding where and what they will read, do, or reflect upon-- that is when the real action and learning takes place. I want to model myself out of a job and make things easy for natural leaders to emerge.

I want to focus on keeping the community together. I need to recognize more fully the community’s need for balance; need for change and a need for stability. Too much newness, and there is a danger of the community losing its sense of identity; too much stability can lead to a loss of intensity and vitality. I'm thinking obtaining more feedback from all members can be helpful in guiding the community. I need to be more open, willing to consider new thinking, to help the community continue to evolve and thrive (Stuckey & Smith, 2004). I need to focus more on nurturing new leadership (Lai et al., 2006). I need to reach out to core members to lead an activity; create occasions that by their organic nature leave opportunities for leaders to emerge. As well, I should be engaging in ongoing efforts to build community especially focusing on social interactions, deepening and extending collegial relationships. As important, if not more, should be my continuous nurturing of and creating conditions in which trust develops -- the trust that comes to underlie collegial relationships where risk taking and stretching are the norm (Rasberry & Mahajan, 2008).

I've come to know that wayfinding as a community leader:

is always fraught with tensions and dualities – jumping in, sitting on my hands, nudging, holding back, encouraging —

will evoke inexplicable, disparate feelings – joy, insecurity, fervor, doubt, excitement, indecision, zeal, awe —

is learning, forever learning-- reveling in the messiness, the tensions, and the day to day need for nuanced silence and responses —

Image: 'London Loop or Beeches Way'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42439038@N00/6772899171 

Archdiocese of Philadelphia educators + Virtual Academies = Collegial Learning

What happens when a community leader for Powerful Learning Practice from NE Ohio and educators from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia come together in virtual sessions with presenters from Kansas, Quebec, Iowa, Illinois, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Manitoba, California, Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan, and Maine? Learning. More learning. And more learning.

For 3 years now, here in NE Ohio on many Tuesday or Thursday afternoons and evenings, I've been facilitating sessions and monitoring chats with passioned educators from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in a myriad of different webinars. My calendar reminders simply say VA-- reminding me of the Virtual Academy sessions. And on those same days, as soon as buses leave the Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools in the afternoon, a number of teachers have hurried back to their classrooms. It's likely time to log into the Virtual Academy webinar sessions sponsored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia with Powerful Learning Practice. Many times, these dedicated educators have extended their school day by a number of hours and joined the later webinar that evening. Why? In the service of their children, they have aspired to learn more about technology infused learning and become more accomplished connected educators. Following each session, I've had the privilege to engage in discussions with these educators around the topic of the week in our private online community of practice. I've had the opportunity to come to know caring, passionate educators who want the very best for their children and who are willing to step outside of their comfort zone to do just that. My role of community leader in the PLP Virtual Academy is one I've come to cherish.

Together we've explored TPACK in English, Social Studies, Math and Science classrooms as well as digital creativity in each of these disciplines. We've examined digital images and videos in learning. We've gone deep into implementing Common Core Standards and Understanding by Design into personal practice and classroom instruction. You can view some of the sessions here and see descriptions of others here .

And the Virtual Academy impact? Kay and Tina share:

Virtual Academies give me the opportunity to network with, share new ideas for engaging students, and learn how others are using technology in their classroom. The Virtual Academy gives me a an outlet for assisting my peers and discussions about providing effective student collaboration.The sessions gave me a way of talking and sharing with other Archdiocese teachers and educators from different parts of the country in a relaxed atmosphere.

The Virtual Academies are by far a great and powerful way of providing teachers who my be unable to attend a workshop with online professional development. When school was closed because of snow or ice the Virtual Academy still provided professional development for us. If I had missed a session all I needed to do was go online for an archived session to help improve my teaching skills. --Kathleen Burgess, Library/Media Curriculum Chairperson, Conshohocken Catholic School, Kay on Twitter

I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences with the Virtual Academy classes over the last 3 years. There were many times that I learned an exciting new tool and was able to incorporate it the very next day in my classroom. Even if I didn't know all of the ins and outs of the tool, my students and I gave it a try and had fun learning from each other. Not only did the teachers learn some fantastic new Web 2.0 tools, but we also had a place to converse and try out these new skills in the discussion group with Lani there to answer our questions and lend us a hand. Another important aspect was the chat discussions which lead to the exchanging of more great ideas and support from our colleagues. I was thrilled when I was asked to present at a Virtual Academy class this year! I enjoyed sharing my ideas and I hope I was able to encourage others to try something new. Special thanks to the Archdiocese for making this available to us! -- Tina Schmidt, 3rd grade teacher, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Tina on Twitter

Tina's classroom blog and her participation in a Flat Stanley Project with Romania evidence the sharing and collaboration in her classroom. In so many other classrooms, educators proudly share in chat and in discussions how technology is changing learning for their students-- that students are blogging, collaborating on wikis, creating and commenting on Voicethreads, making posters using Glogster, and creating stories on Storybird .

We've explored new learning landscapes. And as a result, the design of students' learning experiences are more authentic, more collaborative and full of sharing. And we, our lives are the richer for the time we have spent sharing, collaborating, laughing, and learning together. Now connected educators, I know these Virtual Academy members will continue to guide both their colleagues and their students deeper into connected, collegial learning.

Cross Posted at PLP Network

Slide rule--

Photo Credit

I saw this
My heart stopped for a moment
Remembering
Dad

A slide rule
Captured the essence of him
At one point in his life

He carried one everyday
His tie bar was a slide rule

Mechanical engineer
Logarithms, numbers and math

And so much more

Obviously I'm no poet but when Bud Hunt shared this image as a prompt for the NPM it touched my heart in so many ways---

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.

Harbingers of what is to come--

It's only March--
It's been unseasonably warm--
The plants in the garden have peeked out from their winter rest exceptionally early.

The daffies' green leaves, the red nubs of the peonies, the green points of the Japanese Iris, the maple's baby leaves, the buds on the weeping cherry hold a special promise for what is to come. These harbingers of spring and summer, in a climate of often difficult winters, lift the spirit and the hopes for better times -- gardens full of color and trees leafed in green!

So too, from the year 2 teams of Powerful Learning Practice, precursors begin to appear that portend the exceptional problem based learning units they are designing. Signs of exciting plans for learning from accomplished and passioned educators pop up on Twitter, blogs, Google Docs and Posterous where they are sharing.

From Cori on the Instructional Focus team
whose students are exploring how they can share their stories:
Alan, the team leader, illustrates how his 4th grade students explore this question here and here

In classrooms in PA, Texas, and Saskatechwan, students are asking "How can making global connections help me learn and grow in different ways?" Their teachers on The Whole Teacher/Child team recently posted how they are making their own connections. The team is currently collaborating on a Google Doc on a connections menu for their students. Becky, the team leader offered a window onto their process on Twitter:
And Kathy's grade 1's composed, narrated and filmed their introductory video for the other students with whom they will be making connections:



The Inquiry Driven team has been blogging transparently sharing how in classrooms their students are asking "How can we make a difference? The posts from Renee, from Gail, and from Kristine illustrate the diverse and unique perspectives from which students are exploring this question. Tweets from Beth encourage us to support her students in their Peace projects.



You can support them too by following the this link to their projects.

A group of accomplished administrators from PA, Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.is asking “How can we design problem/passion-based professional learning to engage our teachers for 21st century learners?” Leading the Shift transparently blogs as they capture just a bit of their rich conversations from Blackboard Collaborate sessions.

Our third Elluminate Session consisted of great dialogue about creating a framework for our project. We began the conversation by asking questions about how we can design units for our own contexts, what the framework would look like, and the planning and refining process. --source

Students in PA are asking "How can we pay it forward?" The educators on the Collective Action team collaborate on a Google Doc where they have already mapped their unit to standards, identified resources, initial and culminating activities and planned Skype sessions for their students.

Across PA students are exploring "How can art illustrate a culture of learning? The Arts and Crafts team has been blogging and has begun sharing on a wiki. Their passion based approach to this unit has generated great excitement among them as each teacher has brainstormed how this will become a part of their curriculum.

So much like the garden, these are harbingers only this time of meaningful, deep learning to come. Perhaps, even more exciting-- I have some notion of the garden I hope to see in May and June. I've only these hints and peeks at what may well become entirely new learning landscapes for these educators and their students. I'm impatient for both the garden and more about these projects-- Yet I know both will be more than worth the waiting--

Photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19secondslow/6839471512/

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

Reaching out a bit further--

Early this week, a terrible tragedy befell our small rural community. The entire town mourns with the 3 families who lost their sons.

Everyone, grieving and yearning to heal, supports each other. Red ribbons adorn trees and poles. More than a thousand people quietly stood outside St. Mary's for a prayer vigil because the church was full on Monday. Students organized a gathering at the village square and a walk together from there back to the school on Thursday. Residents lined the streets applauding and supporting them along the way. The Superintendent hugged every student returning to the high school. There are tears, hugs, arms entwined, everyone asking each other if they are ok--

A local author, in her "Shot through the heart" post shared her personal story and a plea that calls out to each of us --- as caring humans, as educators. You'll find it here:
http://christinenolfibooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/shot-through-heart....

"I refuse to finish this essay with empty platitudes about how we should all pray for the families and students of Chardon, Ohio. Of course we should. But we must do more. We live in a country littered with broken homes and lost children. You can reach out to a child. Now. Today. You can make a difference."

I know that you make a difference every day in the lives of children. But I hope you'll remember Danny, Demetrius and Russell and reach out just a bit farther.

4 years now--

Remembering the cold of that night, and the warmth of family love--

Winter, spring, summer, fall and winter again--

Little things spark memories--

Bringing a smile --

An emptiness that has not yet gone-

Often coming back to --

Words to hold close--

"We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny,

to a higher plateau of compassion,

to a more noble expression of humanness"
-Dr Martin Luther King

Photo Credit

From Silence to Jumping In--

Cross Posted

Had we been together face to face, you would have heard a pin drop. But we weren’t. The setting– a Blackboard Collaborate room- and yet the stunned silence, think lack of chat– of more than 50 excited year 2 PLPeeps was deafening. These passionate educators had returned to Powerful Learning Practice for a year long journey into PBL. Their local teams had collaborated on action research projects the previous year and they were pumped about working together again. Sheryl had just pushed them totally out of their comfort zone when she announced that they would be sharing their passions, and self selecting their teams around those passions to collaborate on their PBL units. Gone the now comfortable face to face collaboration to learn and create. This collaboration, often across long distances (Texas, Saskatchewan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania), would necessitate leveraging the affordances of collaborative tools minus the cues of body language and eyes that often tell so much.

Deep breaths. Some questions. Uncertainty. More quiet. And then they jumped in.

In their new private team spaces in the PLP community hub, they chose team leaders. They introduced themselves and shared Twitter handles. They created team blogs on which they will transparently share their journey. Given a simple activity to get to know each other, to co create content together, each team approached it in a different way bringing their unique talents and gifts to the task. (The Diamonds of Inquiry task: Given a graphic, as a team select 9 words that best describe inquiry in the classroom. Put the words on the image, prioritizing from most to least importance.) Two teams took this activity to an additional level as it became part of the foundation for their moving forward.

Each member of the Arts and Crafts team listed their choices in their private space on the PLP Community Hub; one their members manually prioritized their selections by number of times each word was mentioned. Another member used Picnik to add the words to the image. Subsequently in a webinar, Sister Geralyn, team leader, posted their completed image on the white board stimulating their first deep and meaningful conversation around their project.

The team with the Instructional or Discipline Focus began the task with a shared Google drawing created by one of its members. The image below illustrates their “diamond building” in progress.

In their team space days later, Sheamus Burns posted an idea:

“I thought we could rate the words we came up with on a scale of importance. Our project will have particular outcomes and the words we chose have to do with the nature of those outcomes. The words that we rank the highest can become categories in which we start determining what our intended outcomes for the project might be. I imagine we could have a set of shared intended outcomes and then our own personal intended outcomes.”

A link followed to a Google form he created to collect everyone’s input.

Undaunted by time zones and geographical distance, year 2 PLPeeps rise to the challenge. Their passions fuel their journey; the technology enables it; the collaboration exponentially enhances it. Their taking a simple activity and leveraging it as a foundation for their journey is telling. With their diverse talents and perspectives, they are on their way to extraordinary PBL units.

Stay tuned. They are just getting started! And I get to tag along, to marvel, to learn, to celebrate — what could be better?

for the New Year--

For this and upcoming years--
To remember--

You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment -- just one second -- to decide. --Seth Godin

Photo Credit

Moving from private practice to talking with "strangers"

Don't talk to strangers--

Strangers are people whom you don't know
if they come too close just get up and go.

Deeply ingrained in us as children--

A habit generalized for many teachers to professional lives as well-
Private practice--

Maintaining a private practice, uncomfortable talking to strangers--

Despite research that points to changes in practice when teachers engage in conversations with strangers--

Practices differed between Professionally Engaged teachers and Private Practice (or professionally isolated) teachers of the same subject. Examples of these different practices are:

"Professionally Engaged English teachers were more than twice as likely as Private Practice English Teachers to have students work in teams to complete assignments" (p. 13) and they were more likely to have students write in a journal at least once per week.

Professionally Engaged Social Studies teachers were much more likely than Private Practice Social Studies teachers to have students work on long projects and assess their own work. Professionally Engaged teachers were less likely to lead their students in whole-class recitation or to ask questions to test if their students knew the correct answer.

"Professionally Engaged science teachers were almost twice as likely as Private Practice science teachers to ask students questions in order to get students to relate their school work to their own personal experiences, and they were more than twice as likely to have students work in small groups on a weekly basis to collectively solve a problem" (p. 14).

Secondary math teachers among the Professionally Engaged groups were more likely to have their students work on problems with no obvious answer and were less likely to ask questions to see if the students had done their homework.
--http://caret.iste.org/index.cfm?StudyID=433&fuseaction=studySummary

Private practice teachers, challenged with breaking life long habits--

With others wishing they would join in, see the potential, what they are missing--

TEDxLondon is going on today–I caught the info about it on Twitter–and I know I am the only person on my staff listening to any pieces or parts of it. I wonder why, though, as I know many of my teachers are on Facebook and use social media in many different ways for personal reasons. How can I help them see the value of setting up a worldwide professional learning network and help them find the time to use it?

As I reread this in November, I can’t help but think how isolated many teachers are, for the most part. I can’t help but think how powerful conversations are for helping teachers see outside of their own little world of the classroom. --Paula White, http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/making-private-practice-private-no-more/

What if in our reaching out, inviting in--

• We more fully acknowledged and celebrated their dedication to children
• We worked even harder to get to know them and to appreciate their gifts and talents
• We were more intentional in highlighting similarities
• We took more time in sharing how important we believe relationships are to growing our practice
• We suggested more clearly baby steps for abandoning private practice--

My part today-- my open invitation--

Dear private practice teachers,
We share in common our passion for learning, for helping students reach their greatest potential, for wanting to play some small role in making the world a better place--

Those of us who are connected educators invite you, I invite you, to find as we have the incredible potential for improving practice through talking with "strangers"-- I can honestly say that some of those "strangers" have become true friends (not "facebook" friends)-- we share our family's successes and tribulations, we rejoice together and we cry together, we learn together--

To those of you for whom the "private practice" habit so difficult to discard, what if you--

• Make it a 30 day challenge?
• In your social network, you take the time to get to know 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 people well-- comment on their photos, comment on their videos, ask a question about something they posted, asked about what they do in their classroom through a comment on their wall?
• Make it a point to connect with 2 people that are located geographically in another area in the same way- comment on their photos, comment on their videos, ask a question about something they posted?
• Get together with someone from your school and did this as a group/team?

It's about getting to know each other, just as it is face to face; it is about building relationships; it is about those relationships enabling your professional learning and opportunities for learning in your classroom previously not imagined.

It's about talking with strangers, talking with new friends--
Take my hand?
Let's make a difference together,
Lani

Photo Credit

Fruitcake and learning in community--

Fruitcake, anathema to many—

Now becoming a new tradition in our home—homemade of course

As I mixed the fruit pieces, the walnuts and the raisins with a generous amount of an old liqueur that Gus has kept over many years, I got to thinking about learning in community. Later as we worked through the process of mixing the batter, of stirring in the marinated fruit mixture, of spooning the rich goodness into the fluted iron bundt pan, of the shared process of putting the heavy pan into the oven, removing it when it was done, and releasing the fruitcake from the pan—that analogy to learning in community stuck with me.

The fruits, the walnuts, the raisins, missing together ——like the diverse, unique members of a community sharing ideas in a common space—

The liqueur, the batter once laden with 5 eggs, white flour, brown sugar—bringing the best of what is forward- the liqueur, the brown sugar and imagining what might be by exchanging the eggs for egg beaters and the white flour for wheat.
In community, bringing what works for us now in schools, for example, PLCs (professional learning communities) and moving them into the current century with CLCs (connected learning communities).

The shared, true collaborative process of putting the heavy cake into the oven, removing it, and then extracting it from the pan—you see I’ve a shoulder that doesn’t work right and can’t lift heavy and Gus’ balance is more than tippy thanks to his MS—so we play to our strengths— his strong arms and upper body and my good balance- I hold him steady while he moves the pan to the oven and out, and as he turns the pan upside down to release the cake— each of us appreciating what the other can do. In community, playing to the gifts and talents of each member, building on those strengths, accomplishing a task, learning something together, doing more together than we could as individuals.

And finally the fruitcake, in all it’s glory, flavors nuanced by each fruit piece, each walnut, each raisin—admittedly not perfect— bearing reflection and considerations on bringing forward what worked and trying new strategies. As in community, a more accomplished global practice that necessitates reflection and ongoing development of expertise, persevering toward deep thought by exploring ideas and concepts, rethinking, revising, and continual repacking and unpacking, resisting urges to finish prematurely.

The huge disconnect here, of course, is that our wonderfully collaborative process of making fruitcake is an annual event—so unlike the ongoing, continuous exploring, experimentation, and deep learning in community.

Yet there is a lot to be said for both! I’m on my way to learning in community and to enjoying our fruitcake while dreaming of next year!

Photo credit fruitcake
Photo credit community

Dear Emma (@emmakate988)

Dear Emma (@emmakate988),

How I wish we could get together in a quiet place and talk—deeply and sincerely about your tweet that created such a firestorm and the possibilities for learning for so many that could come of it.

That we could explore how your tweet is not as “harmless” as you might think—that every step you take online becomes a permanent part of your digital footprint -- forever. A footprint that can influence your admission into college, your opportunities to get a job.

That we might examine the power of social media for learning, for effecting change.

That we might think about some “what ifs” –

What if you had tweeted during the governor’s address—what if you had factually summed up his viewpoints and respectfully added your perspective?

What if you had arranged with other students and government teachers back at your high school to tweet using #SMEYIG so they could virtually learn with you?

What if you had encouraged the Youth in Government program to arrange for students to tweet during the program as a public service to those not fortunate enough to attend?

What if you now decided to turn what has happened into learning for so many people?

You see, I’m a passionate advocate for students raising their voices, for students influencing the change they want to see. And I think that responsible use of social media plays a huge part in that story, as we’ve seen successful revolutions enabled through exactly that use.

And I’m one who is concerned that schools around the country are not doing their part, in helping students become good digital citizens --how to navigate these open spaces safely, responsibly and ethically.

I’m wondering if your teachers have taken time for you to learn about digital citizenship, responsible communication, and the permanency of a digital footprint? If they shared with you videos such as these?

Stop, Think, Connect-- Stay safe online!



Digital Dossier

And if they’ve not, what if you began and your friends in Youth in Government petitioned to make that happen—that included in your learning were opportunities to explore deeply the nuances and responsibility of being a digital citizen? Petitioned your principal? Petitioned your school board?

What if you worked with the state Youth in Government program to learn ways that responsible use of social media enables and influences the work of government? What if, at your initiative, your state Youth in Government program began to use social media responsibly to influence what was occurring in your Kansas state legislature?

What if you began to use your now expanded twitter following for social justice? for a cause? to make a difference?

I sincerely hope you might consider what I’ve suggested—so much could come of it and be of value to so many—

I’m @lanihall on Twitter—want to chat?

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!

Something's happening here--

Something's happening here--
And it's perfectly clear--
3 have something special over there
It's telling me I need to share--

I've been following the transparent journeys of 3 accomplished educators who generously share all they are learning as they and their students travel a path into PBL. It's been a joy to read their posts because clearly something very special is happening there.

And they each are so articulate, and thoughtful and honest-- so much to learn from them--

Shelley Wright, a high school teacher in Canada, blogs at Wrights Room where her reflections on learning and teaching are deep, and rich, and thoughtful -- full of joy and tears.

Marsha Ratzel, a middle school teacher in Kansas, blogs at Reflections of a Techie where her posts are filled with energy and enthusiasm, humility and humanity.

Kathy Cassidy, a primary teacher in Canada, blogs at Primary Preoccupation where her posts are filled with the amazing learning experiences in which her grade 1's are immersed and thriving

Shelley, and Marsha and Kathy are all about learning and learning more and sharing. They provide extraordinary windows onto their evolving pedagogical approaches.

And grand pieces of their journeys can also be found on the Voices from the Learning Revolution blog. Marsha's recent Teaching by Getting Out of the Way resonated with me as did Kathy's Global Learning: The Primary Way. And Shelley's Inquiry Learning: This Isn't Scary at All that ended with her wondering "what it will take to put us back on the path to real learning." called to me.

I'm convinced one of the things that "it will take to put us back on the path to real learning" is the authentic modeling and sharing found in the posts of these 3 extraordinary educators. Don't you think?

Occupy Education

Likely you've heard about or may even be following the "occupy" movements across the country. Did you know there is an "occupy education"?

From their website (http://occupyedu.tumblr.com/):

If you would occupy your statehouse to keep your job, pay, and benefits, please also consider occupying your classroom.

• Give your students at least a day a week to follow their passions.
• Get rid of your furniture. Help kids borrow, bring, or build their own.
• Get rid of your textbooks. Or redact them.
• Ask kids to make sense of the world as it happens across media and technologies.
• Build communities instead of reinforcing expectations.

It will be very scary, but not as scary as what others face. It will be very uncomfortable, but not as uncomfortable as remaining silent. It will cost us some, but without making some sacrifice we shouldn’t expect or ask our students to save us or our world.

We are inspired by the “We are the 99%” messages spreading across tumblr and social media sites.

We will collect stories about your classrooms, what you are fighting against and what are you doing to change it.

What do you want for your classroom and your students? What kind of education do you believe in?

Join us here and start transforming education! Reclaiming our Voice in Education!

So I'm wondering, what if you did just that? and what if you shared your stories there with other occupyed educators from around the country?

Really think on these questions; remember why we entered our profession-- to make a difference, to change the world--
What do you want for your classroom and your students? What kind of education do you believe in?

A serendipitous connection

That I have had an opportunity to co author with Sheryl is remarkable. A serendipitous connection has led to sincere friendship, continued collaboration and always learning—despite our diverse geographical locations in Ohio and Virginia. Where and how did it begin-- Fueled by my life-long passion for learning about learning and my desire to continue making some contribution to public education after retiring, I have benefited from a number of unlikely, unique connections that map my journey to The Connected Educator. Since life circumstances dictated I work from home in 2004 after 35 years in the classroom, I searched the web for educators with similar interests and an enthusiasm for innovation.

One blog linked to another, then another, until I found myself at Anne Davis’ "Edublog Insights" and her post describing a group of teacher cadets with whom she was blogging. I had just completed three years in a similar program for high school students who wanted to be teachers and was delighted to find a like-minded group. I contacted Anne through the comment feature on her blog, seeking her reaction to my mentoring her students through comments on their own posts. Many comments to students, emails and Skype calls with Anne later, I began reading Darren Kuropatwa’s blog, "A Difference" at her insistence.

Darren often pointed to his class blogs as he transparently shared his evolving pedagogy and one day put out a call for e-mentors for his students. I immediately submitted an email asking if he might consider my acting in that role, elated at the possibility of developing additional virtual relationships with young people. Consider the irony here, Darren is a master mathematics teacher in Manitoba who taught pre-calculus and AP calculus, whereas I completed Algebra 2 and Geometry some 40 years back, with Logic meeting my mathematics requirement in college. Thrilled that Darren invited me to participate and being one to always jump right in, I was immediately commenting and posting with many and varied questions pushing high school mathematics students to reflect upon their learning. Often Darren generously posted excerpts from our conversations on his blog as he, his students and I learned from each other that year and the next.

One day in 2006, a post on Darren’s blog really caught my attention--- he, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, and Wesley Fryer would be co founding a cutting edge, totally online, free annual conference for teachers by teachers, "K12 Online". In response to their call for assistance and for presenters, fascinated and excited by what I saw as enormous possibilities for teacher learning, I immediately volunteered any assistance they felt that I could provide. I was speechless sometime later to be invited to serve as continuity editor for the initial conference. Through collaborative work on the conference wiki, and Skype planning calls, Sheryl and I came to know each other. The following year, I was honored and humbled to receive an email from Darren, asking if I would serve as one of the four co-conveners. In September of 2007, Sheryl and I were on Skype for weeks as she uploaded files to a server and sent me links that I used in the blog posts I created on the conference presentation blog. For two weeks in October of that year, Sheryl and I were up together in the early morning on Skype rolling out presentations on the blog and tweeting the presentations.

As different in some ways as night and day, yet playing to each other's strengths, working well together and sharing common passions for learning, for making the world a better place-- the collaborations have continued to this place as has my learning. An opportunity to compile research on online communities with Sheryl led to my deepened understandings of the power of connected learning and communities. A subsequent connection led to my role as community leader in Powerful Learning Practice's virtual learning communities in which I constantly learn from community members. This story is just one illustration of many of the potential in the digital age for networked, connected educators to collaborate with and learn from each other as they aspire to a more accomplished global practice.

Thank you, Sheryl

The Connected Educator

The cover to our book: The Connected Educator: Learning and leading in a Digital Age which comes out early Oct. Sheryl and I hope you will consider reading it and getting a copy for your faculty as well.

Who should read this book?
To all learners—educators, teachers, administrators, curriculum developers, parents, and students—who have not yet considered the benefits of network and community participation, who have just dipped a toe into the torrent of opportunity, or who already are immersed in digital tools, we ask you to explore with us the power of connected, self-directed professional learning.
Help us remix the concepts of professional learning communities, personal learning networks, and communities of practice to support lifelong learning. Make use of and extend our suggested applications. Commit with us to develop a shared wisdom that supports teachers and leaders as learners first. As we offer our expertise to each other and work to solve problems collaboratively, we will build collective intelligence. This new way of learning will set our children on the road to a life of passion-driven, connected learning.

What Is Different About This Book?
This book is a journey into what it means to be a learner first and an educator second. It is a book about you, about your professional learning. It’s also about us—the collective us in education—and how our own learning can transform student learning through a systemic vision of professional development.

We decided books about being connected need to model what they promote and not be just a linear experience. So we ask you to Get Connected in each section by participating in an authentic application that completes each chapter. This is a crowdsourcing activity, that is, an activity in which readers come together in a virtual space and add to the collective knowledge of what is being discussed. You will learn to be a connected learner not only by reading about connected learning but by doing what connected learners do—co-constructing meaning and knowledge.

How in the world did I come to be able to compose this post-- read the story here.