Never still

By Lani Ritter-Hall

First the tide rushes in
Plants a kiss on the shore
Then rolls out to sea
And the sea is very still once more
Ebb Tide, The Righteous Brothers

With the ebb and the flow, ripples continue to grow as more members of the Illinois Ohio cohort engage in blogging in and out of the cohort space reflecting on their learning—

“I thought I had this teaching thing down to a science, but this year PLP has rocked my world. I started using a tablet computer last year and was using Moodle and other 2.0 tools, but PLP has opened my eyes far beyond a tool. I am now talking to my students about their own personal learning networks. I am working with showing them how their learning goes far beyond the 4 walls in my classroom.” –Pat Grove

“I met with my PLP group on Wednesday night for some yummy Thai food. We needed to cement plans for our project that we’d be hemming and hawing about. After quite a bit of discussion (and again, some yummy food!) I think we came to a consensus. Our project will be connecting.“ –Christen Fouss

“Being on the edge of this shift has been very energizing for me, but it has also been very frustrating. Many times, I have more questions than answers. I’ve never been a “think-outside-the-box” kind of person, yet I find that I have to continue to push myself to see how my classroom may benefit from changes in procedure. I’m gathering information from blogs, from my Twitter network and my Ning colleagues. I’m processing the sample lesson plans and assessment options available to me in the hope that I may also be able to give back and share ideas with others, who are also trying to build new procedures that make sense for our time, and replace systems that no longer work in the 21st century.” –Sherry Amorocho

“…somehow while I wasn’t looking I became a 21st century learner. Transformative professional development through PLP with guidance from fellow learners Will Richardson, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, the Illinois-Ohio Cohort members, and cohort members from around the globe has energized my thinking, teaching, learning, and life.”–Tricia Buck

in connecting with Twitter

“I have met multiple Modern Language teachers from the UK currently using exciting and innovative web 2.0 tools to enhance their language class. My Twitter buddy in California has helped me with all my accent mark trials and tribulations. An educator and translator in Spain continually send me great links to anything from online dictionaries to funny videos about language learning.” –Sherry Amorocho

“I’m finding that as a librarian Twitter keeps me up-to-date on YALSA awards and other ALA postings of interest. I also find that some of the “experts” I follow will TWEET an occasional interesting link worth following.” –Judith Condren Stuckey

and in thinning the walls of their classrooms for their students.

“I can’t imagine not using a wiki. It keeps me connected to the class even when I am out for a meeting and they are working with a sub. I can send comments to students whenever I find a need to do this without writing myself a note. I love what this wonderful tool is capable of accomplishing and hope to find even more ways to utilize its power.” –Darlene Andre

“Celestehopkins: just skyped with Ms. Lucas’ class in PA. Kids shared some info and reports. Voicethread in progress.” –Celeste Hopkins from Twitter

And eddies increase as teams seek to measure the velocity of the tide and its impact on their navigation through their intended projects—

And then—an Elluminate session– when that tide rushes in again and again as Sheryl and Will push and nudge, and push back anew, encouraging “shifts” to 21st Century Learning. A “tools” shallow bar, which thus far has managed to hold back those with significant draft, is challenged once more. And it’s in the third session, that the “learning tide” gains on the “tools” shallow as voices begin to respond to the flow with “WOW” and finally,

at the peak of the tide– “I get it, I get it.”

The heights of those tides, changed by the shifts in the sand, will continue to rise and the sea will never be still once more–

Spreading the Love

By Clarence Fisher

It takes time in the beginning to find your footing. No matter what you are learning, when we try something new, we are often unsure of ourselves and the skills and knowledge that we have. We can be learning to swim or learning a new language, at the beginning, we are all self conscious.

This is why I have been so encouraged lately with the developments coming out of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia cohort.

Gene Carboni and Jim Greene, a team leader and a plp fellow from Father Judge Highschool recently ran an inservice for their school:

“(We) introduced Web 2.0 and the creation of a PLN to the faculty and staff today. We prepared our presentation using the following tools: Google Notebook, Teacher Tube, and Slideshare. As previously mentioned we had already created a wiki for the school To date 31 members of the faculty are members. I introduced the concept of creating a PLN and the workings of a community member. Jim Greene did a presentation on Web 2.0 tools. Jim used “Wikis in Plain English” from Teacher Tube to open his segment. After the clip he showed the staff how to join our wiki. He followed that with a few slides on the ease of editing the wiki. He also showed the faculty slides on Google Reader and Google Notebook.”

A full day to say the least.

While a large portion of this day was spent working on tools with staff; introducing people to some of their options and taking the first steps to making them comfortable, these gentlemen were also sure to make sure they offered their staff members ongoing support:

“In March we will start a series of follow-up sessions to assist the faculty with building their network. We will be using the wiki to help the faculty create their Twitter accounts and get them to add people to their PLN.”

These are solid steps. Beginning with getting people comfortable and then moving past that into providing them with ongoing support and helping them to build their own professional networks.

Mary Harkins and Eileen Goldsmith from Archbishop Wood have been up to similar things in their building:

“(Eileen) showed a number of web 2.0 tools she has been using and how they can be used in the various disciplines. It was a beginners type of presentation. She talked about the fact that about 6 weeks ago she knew very little. What she has had her students do is amazing. She showed a number of interactive web sites and tools. Then we all went to the lab and joined the Wood ning. What a great experience.”

and the results?

“Collaboration was the name of the game. We have a number of groups, by department and by year taught. We also are trying to come up with a policy on cheating via the ning. It has been a great experience. Thanks to our learning in the cohort we did this all in house and the responses from the faculty are that it was the best staff development ever and I agree.”

“I think the biggest takeaway was “I can do this!” People were not afraid and saw all the opportunities. We are in the midst of Middle States Self Study and a wiki has already been set up to work on Middle States. This would not have happened last week.”

These are two more examples of the growth we have seen in our cohort this year. The ability to take charge of your own learning and gain the confidence to share what you know with others, becoming leaders with knowledge of your own is a sign of great growth.

When a community is in need

By Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

PLP is a community of educators and while most of the time the focus is education, we can’t help but get to know one another personally. In a family or community when some of us hurt we all hurt. When some of us succeed we all celebrate.

Many of those in our community from Australia are hurting after a brushfire started last week in Victoria and quickly spread killing 181, according to ABC News, and the death toll is expected to continue to rise. We need to stand with them in this time of crisis. One of our PLP 21st Century Fellows from Australia Jenny Luca started a community where educators can collaborate to help those in need in Australia.

Bottom line – Get your students involved. Join the Working Together site, raise some money, and donate to help rebuild schools and help Australia’s students. The left-hand column of the site has a PayPal button for donations.

I received this letter and have stripped the identifiers to protect privacy. I simply wanted to share to create an awareness that will inspire us to some collective action.

Hi all,

Just need to share this … for those overseas – more than 130 people died in a bushfire on Saturday and the death toll is still rising.

On Saturday, we (my colleagues and friends) lost one of our students in the Bushfire – I taught him from Year 8 through to Year 12 – he got the best score in IT Apps for my class last year. He stayed with his parents to protect their home and all three perished – his older brother and sister weren’t home at the time. He was a school prefect, involved in musicals and drama productions, a great student and topped many subjects. Many of last year’s Yr 12s came in today and the school community is devestated.

Also, one of my colleagues who retired 2 years ago and his wife have not been heard of since Saturday, so we are fearing the worst for him – his kids were taught at the school making it even more difficult.

A new student to the school was very upset this morning and when I took a closer look, it was the daughter of someone I knew (not very well). When I enquired, it turns out her father wasn’t responding to phone calls and hadn’t been heard of for quite some time. Her mother picked her up and they went to look for him.

Hopefully, tomorrow brings some closure on these missing people.

Many families and kids lived in the area and were on high alert over the weekend and continue to be on high alert. Buses aren’t running, so they can’t get to school. Many have lost their homes, livestock, businesses, etc. 3 colleagues lost their homes while about 15 – 20 families lost their homes.

The back of the school property (a back paddock) got burnt which makes me wonder whether our emergency plan good enough if it escalated.

It was a tough day speaking to kids in class today and they told stories about their situation or family or friends not heard of or losing everything. The devestation is amazing.

While we don’t live too close, we are close enough to hear the choppers, smell the smoke, see the haze and be aware that if the wind shifted in our direction for long enough from the wrong angle, there are many green (or dry) wedges that could put our house under ember attack. Fire plan is to just pick up the kids and animals and leave. Let’s hope it doesn’t get to this.

This sort of day makes you remember to live each day like it’s your last.

The following is a repost from Jenny Luca:

Yesterday I posted about the natural disaster that has ravaged the Victorian countryside. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach read my post and offered to help in any way she could. My good friend Angela Stockman, who I collaborate with on Working together 2 make a difference, also wanted to know what she could do to help. Here we have two Americans reaching out to assist those in a country very distant from their own. Why do they want to help? Firstly no doubt, because they are sensitive people with a desire to assist their fellow citizens of the world. Perhaps they are motivated also because they have formed connections through these networks we are working in and feel a link to a country far from their own.

Sheryl spoke with me tonight and has committed to help me, Angela and other educators who may wish to join us, to do whatever it is we can to raise funds to support those in need. The Red Cross has coordinated a fundraising effort here in Australia. What we are encouraging you to do is to join Working together 2 make a difference and post your efforts there. We will set up a paypal account that will direct the monies you raise to the Red Cross appeal. Here’s what I’ve posted on the Working together 2 make a difference site to enocurage participation;

Victoria, the State I live in in Australia, has been hit by a tragic natural disaster that is affecting the lives of many of our country communities. On Saturday the 7th of Feb., bushfires, fanned by fierce northerly winds in 46 degree celcius temperatures, ravaged our countryside, leading to the deaths of 173 people. This figure is expected to rise to over 200 in the coming days as they gain access to affected areas and search homes. Native animals, livestock and family pets were other victims of this disaster.

So how can we all make a difference? We would love to see our education community from near and far band together to support the communities in need. What is needed is money to help schools rebuild, families rebuild their lost homes and for communities to build the infrastructure needed that has been lost in these fires.

What can you do? Anything that will help your students to understand the need to help others when the situation is dire. Be it a sausage sizzle, free dress day, bake sale, whatever it takes to raise a few dollars that can be used to support others. In the next few days, with the help of Sheryl Nussbaum Beach and some wisdom fron Clarence Fisher, we’ll be setting up a paypal account to direct funds you raise to the Red Cross appeal that has been set up to support those affected. Create a page here and let us know your plans. We can support one another and link our schools to a common cause. Let’s show the world how the education community can use the tools at our disposal to connect and support one another for a common purpose.

So, wherever you are in the world, think about helping out those in need here in Australia. And let’s see just how small our world really is when we connect using these tools for the common good.

We would love to see our cohort rally to support this cause. It will be a wonderful example of the power of these networked connections and their ability to form community that cares and supports one another. Think about what your school can do to help. It doesn’t have to be huge, but whatever it is, it will make a difference. Go and visit Working together 2 make a difference and see what you can do.

Managing change

By Mary Worrell

PLP team members and fellows learn new things everyday. It’s when they bring these experiences back to their home schools that the real progress begins.

Blogging in the classroom
Mandy Shulman, member of the Illinois-Ohio Cohort, has been utilizing the network she’s developed through her PLP experience to jump-start a blog for her second-grade class.

“Through the discussions and videos on PLP’s virtual learning community, I became interested in using wikis in my classroom. After learning more about wikis from other teachers through the Ning, and after reading Will’s book, I decided that a blog would better meet the goals I had for my students.”

To get things going, Mandy met with her PLP 21st Century Fellow Judi Epcke a number of times to map out how she wanted to use the blog, what blogging host to use, etc. After only a month of working with the blog, Mandy saw growth among her students.

“I have already seen growth in our reading, writing, and technology skills. They have an interest in reading and writing, and communicating about their writing with others through comments. Rather than writing for a teacher and receiving one person’s opinions and thoughts, they are writing for a wide audience, and love receiving comments from their peers in our class and around the world.”

You can read and comment on posts by Mandy’s students here.

Testing out Second Life
Larry Kahn is Director of Academic and Information Technology at The Kincaid School in Houston, TX and a PLP 21st Century Fellow. After hearing about the virtual environment Second Life, Larry created an account and an avatar, but that was about as far as he got.

“I never did anything with it. I set my person up, sat at the welcome area and never got back to it.”

Larry connected with other educators through PLP interested in learning more about Second Life and decided to explore the virtual world with them. Second Life is an expansive, virtual environment where one can wander aimlessly, however, educators have utilized the environment for virtual field trips to recreations of landmarks like the Great Wall of China. Kahn said tagging along with others interested in leveraging the program in the classroom put him at ease.

“I would recommend people get together with a group of educators who have experience. It’s great for educators to go into Second Life through lense of education, because it’s a huge, diverse area.”

Having fellow PLP team members and educators vet the world of Second Life for him gave Kahn a chance to sit back, enjoy virtual exhibits like the one put together by the Holocaust Museum, and think about the potential of using it in the classroom.

Bringing PLP home
Hiram Cuevas is the Director of Academic Technology at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, VA and a PLP team member from the International Schools Cohort. Most PLP teams are getting started on their culminating projects and Hiram’s is no different. His team is looking for ways to connect what they’ve learned through PLP to the rest of the school and they’ve decided to do this through a school-wide wiki of how-tos for Web 2.0 tools, technology issues, screencasts and other learning opportunities for faculty. Hiram’s team is made up of faculty members from across the academy.

“Our team is pretty diverse and that was intentional. We wanted to try and drop seeds all over the school, not just in one core area. We wanted to get the most bang for our buck and have representation across the curriculum.”

The team has their own wiki going to track the tools and technologies they’ve utilized and how.

These projects are all the different things we’ve completed. And we started off by looking at the individual instructor. Rather than try to force technology down the students’ throat, we made an effort to make sure the technology selected was indeed appropriate.”

Some team members have utilized video conferencing in Skype to stay in touch with students while they’re away.

“We had some teachers go down to Mexico and they wanted to continue to instruct their class while they were away. They communicated with their class through Skype and were able to interview native Spanish speakers with the boys.”

Connecting through projects
Thomas Cooper is Technology Integration Coordinator at The Walker School in Marietta, GA and a PLP 21st Century Fellow. Recently Thomas has been educating PLP team members on the many possibilities of using Google Earth in the classroom through our Fellow Tool Series. He has helped develop a number of projects for his classes and for other teachers utilizing Google Earth, wikis and Skype, among other tools. The most recent, Land of Hope, launched last month to explore the factors that affect human migration. Technology students at Thomas’ school, as well as students from schools in Utah and Connecticut, are all participating in the project.

Students from the various schools are reading books on migration and discussing them regularly with their classmates and on the project wiki. During the course of the project students will develop videos on their book and migration and outsource graphic design work to Thomas’ school’s technology students, giving participants experience with outsourcing. Students will also create layers in Google Earth showing the push and pull factors influencing particular migrations.

“Eventually after we map out the migrations, we’ll look at the commonalities between them. We’ll be identifying positive effects and how we can use those to influence immigration policy.”

Thomas’ aim is to eventually have students raise money for a charity of their choosing that deals with children and labor and/or immigration issues, but for now that is an optional part of the project. His ideas for projects come from personal interests. In the case of Land of Hope, it was his anthropology background.

“I take an interest, and then ask how I can fit it into a class. I go into the literature and find a body of literature that supports it, because I want children to read something. I’m very interdisciplinary.”

“It has been exciting to watch Thomas develop and grow as a two-year alum of Powerful Learning Practice, especially in the realm of managing change,” said PLP Co-founder Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach.

You can see more of Thomas’ projects here.

Dispatches from the Front Lines…

This post from teacher in a community we’re working in is just too classic not to share:

Enjoy a laugh at my expense as I share recent highlights from my district’s firewall policies:

We use some sort of filter that counts how many pixels in a photo are flesh-colored. If the ratio is too high, the photo is blocked. Both Sponge Bob (who is yellow, by the way) and Michael Phelps with his Olympic medals are too racy for the filter.

We cannot use Wordle (even though the Website appeared in several national education journals) because students might read inappropriate words in the gallery posts of other users. No one in the tech department could specifically identify a post they found inappropriate for children, though. They never flipped through a National Geographic or dictionary when they were middle-schoolers, apparently (must be too low tech).

Our district blocked the Barnes & Noble site because “teachers might be shopping during school.” When I pointed out that B&N is an approved vendor and we cannot fill out purchase orders for books without accessing the site, the ban was lifted.

My students think the technology access is a joke, and it takes me hours to find sites for research or lessons that we can access at school. I could not even show Pres. Obama’s pre-inauguration comments on his Website because they were YouTube files.

Makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time…