On Growing Mushrooms and Community
By Karen Richardson
As an early birthday gift, my husband gave me a mushroom growing kit. It was pretty much a box of dirt with a bag of “starter,” which I think were spores in peat moss. I spread the contents of the bag over the dirt, spritzed with water, and then covered it up with plastic. Waited patiently. When I opened the plastic, I discovered that the contents of the bag had begun to grow, not into mushrooms yet, but into a white web of organic material that spread over the dirt. There were some areas where the web was thicker. In other places, only thin strands made the connection. But the web was there. I spritzed some more and covered it with cloth to protect from drafts. More patient waiting. Then, one day I lifted the cloth, and there were tiny white heads in amongst the web. Teeny tiny mushrooms! I spritzed a bit, covered and…you guessed it…waited patiently. The next time I lifted the cloth, I discovered full-sized mushrooms rising from the web.
As I harvested a few this morning, I couldn’t help but think about the community that I have been a part of for the six months or so. It’s grown in a very similar way. In the case of my cohort, independent school teachers from across the United States came together. Sheryl and Will spread the starter and did the initial spritzing by developing a compelling professional development experience for these teachers. And they made sure they didn’t forget about the dirt: there was a strong support structure of both people and tools of which I was just one piece.
Then, we waited patiently. Probably the biggest difference between mushrooms and learning communities is the time involved. Mushrooms…about six weeks. Professional learning communities…potentially a lifetime. But, at the least, several months. Being part of this community was a reminder to me that change, especially in education, takes time and patience. But the web began to grow, supporting the voices of participants as they learned and grew together.
Mary Lou shared her hopes and fears as she faced the journey ahead:
“I teach fifth grade math, and I am struggling with how I can incorporate technology tools in what I presently do in the classroom. Misty May Trainor on Dancing with
the Stars tonight made a statement about learning to dance that seems very appropriate at this time. She said that learning something you have never done before is the most uncomfortable feeling. I think it will take time and practice in order to be comfortable with the tools to the extent that their use becomes somewhat second nature. I am also excited, and I share your fear of not having time to thoroughly explore the facets of Web 2.0/technology tools on a day-to-day basis.”
As some participants expressed concerns about how they would find the time to get involved, Shelley offered her gentle support:
“I think it can be challenging for educators to embrace the process/journey approach for ourselves because we tend to come to this profession after being very successful at “doing school.” It’s hard to face all the unlearning, and non-linearity and “gray” and not feel unsettled. But stress kills learning, so we need to find a way to make peace with the journey, or we risk shutting down. Though it may sound simplistic, one thing I try to do is remember to be forgiving of myself for not having “the answers,” and proud of myself for being willing to ask questions, consider big ideas and push myself into uncomfortable territory. The fact that we’re all here learning together is no small thing. It’s something that many of our colleagues — master teachers though they may be — are not yet ready to do. That’s something.”
The community became the place where they could return to share their new knowledge. Nanci wrote, “Since the consortium and Ning I feel like I’ve been all over the place – blogs, rss readers, google apps, and so much more. So it’s been a hands-on period of processing, experimenting and sampling . Thanks for the reminder to come back to where it all started and to share the resources. I am reminded that an important part of this process is to share as I go along rather than waiting until I have a finished project.”
Now, as the teams plan and implement their projects, we see the potential for expanding that web. The teams are spreading the starter and doing some spritzing in their own schools, providing the fertile ground where the web can grow, nurtured by patience, time and support. At least one team has already implemented a learning fair at their school. You can learn more about it at the wiki and read Julia’s reflection as well. The purpose of the fair was not just to spread the word about cool tools but to help teachers begin to see the potential of these tools to support student-centered pedagogies. Wendy wrote about how their conceptual approach has moved away from the tools:
“The theme of our discussion was to focus less on the tools and technology and more on teaching strategies and learning outcomes that support active authentic learning. Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of teachers at our school who think in terms of active learning and begin to incorporate technology that supports this framework. However, past experience tells us that change is more difficult for some than for others…The nice thing about the conversation is that teachers really started thinking about how to put more of the learning responsibility on the students. Our final challenge at the end of the discussion was to try one thing in the classroom in the next 3 weeks that reflects “more them, less us”. In other words, one activity that puts the responsibility for learning on the student. I know this seems small, but we were pleased with the direction of the discussion. We hope to share the results in April…Sometimes small starts turn into big leaps.”
Coming Together
Though the day energized me, I sensed that some (all?) of the team felt overwhelmed. As I asked them to jump into the ning, continue blogging, meet with me monthly, and “just try this” in their classes, I felt their stress. I was having trouble myself balancing my three English classes, my yearbook class using a new online platform, and my volunteer work with the state technology group for independent schools–and keeping up with requests from teachers around the school with tech issues.
Truly, this is a small sampling of what our team has been up to. I didn’t even mention the student-created videos, the improved presentation skills, the delicious and diigo research, google docs collaboration, and more.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
PLP News from Down Under
By Mary Worrell
A lot of news has been coming out of Australia recently – not all of it good. Last month a brushfire ravaged the province of Victoria killing nearly 200 people.
For Powerful Learning Practice’s International Cohort, the pain of the event hit close to home with team members having family and students affected by the fires. But it didn’t take long for the PLP community to spring into action and try to find some silver lining in the tragic news coming from down under.
Two members of the PLP International Cohort from opposite sides of the world decided to team up and give their students lessons in caring for the global community. Hiram Cuevas, Director of Academic Technology for St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va., connected with Jenny Luca, Head of Information Services at Toorak College in Australia, to meet with their students in a video Skype session. The students at St. Christopher’s made a commitment to help those affected by the devastating brushfires in Victoria, Cuevas said, and what better way to connect them to the event than through first-hand accounts.
Luca’s students and fellow faculty members were impressed that people from so far away could take an interest in their lives, she said. The students at St. Christophers were able to speak with the a receptionist from Toorak College who lost a house in the fires, giving them a first-hand account of the devastation. Without PLP, these two educators may not have met one another.
“PLP enabled Hiram and I to connect and this has led to our schools becoming connected. This International Cohort has been the launch pad for many connections that are proving to be rich and meaningful for our staff and students. This reaching out from Hiram’s school has been a very positive experience that has had an impact on our school community. We are very touched by the care and compassion extended to the Australian people from our American counterparts.”
Cuevas said his school’s involvement with PLP has allowed it to reach out to others far beyond its school walls.
“PLP has armed our school with the potential to develop relationships with other schools from around the globe. The world has become our classroom and the access to information and experiences from resident experts, individuals who were personally affected by a tragedy, or an opportunity to collaborate and share with other students is a powerful model. I look forward to growing my relationship with Toorak to expand and develop additional opportunities for our students to grow.”
While plenty of virtual community service has been going on surrounding the Victoria brushfires, PLP members are still in the midst of working on their projects. Many, like Adrian Camm, dove into utilizing their personal learning networks in their practice.
Camm, a mathematics and physics teacher from Mooroopna Secondary College in Australia, created a virtual learning community (VLC) for his physics students. He explained the community last month on the School Library Association of Victoria blog “Bright Ideas”:
“I have created a virtual learning community for Unit 3 & 4 Physics that will link all students across Victoria to experienced educators, members of the Australian Institute of Physics and textbook authors from both Nelson and Heinemann publishers. It will provide students with tremendous learning opportunities anytime, anywhere. Students (and educators if they wish to be a part) will have access to a password-protected learning environment, where they can ask for help with questions, chat about careers in physics and have concepts explained to them in great detail. The best part is it’s free!”
Time is always a factor for educators and a frequent discussion among PLP team members, but Adrian shared with the cohort his philosophy in trying to find time to post in the VLC:
“I say, make time. If we want to make substantial changes so that our teaching and learning practices are more relevent with our students world, then we need to make it a priority.”
There have been a few lighthearted threads around the PLP cohorts lately dealing with the challenges team members have faced during their year-long PLP experience, from unforgiving network filters to misunderstanding colleagues to time management.
Amanda Ritter, Head of Business Studies at Toorak College in Australia, has been busy in the VLC explaining her team’s process in developing their projects. But she took a moment to share a “swampy” metaphor in response to a post titled “What has been the ‘muddiest’ point so far?”
“The quagmire of internal, bureaucratic, dirty, red tape that one must continually wade against when implementing something new: all the website blocks and firewalls, internet downtime, computer crashes and when I just don’t have the technical skills to make my clear vision a reality. The mosquitoes buzzing by my ear –“you can’t do that”, “that won’t work”, “what about the content?” – they annoy me but I ignore or swat them and continue on my progress. The negativity of others bogging me down but I push ahead and draw inspiration from others who swim freely in clear waters. Currently striding more and more strongly, making a passage for others who begin to follow in my wake now that the path has been cut. I can now, just in the distance, see the edge of the swamp.”
This is the sort of determination needed to enact change in education and Ritter’s metaphor captured the many challenges educators are up against in these efforts. Ritter’s team is in the midst of developing its project. Transparency is key in the PLP process and Ritter has been very open about her team’s project development.
The project, titled “Building Our Digital Footprint Together,” involves teachers and students developing their online presence in “positive and professional ways.” A digital footprint isn’t the only goal, though. Ritter’s team is aiming to make teachers and students “clickable” while improving digital literacies and competencies with various technologies. Ritter’s team’s project involves many different content areas at her school as well as technologies, from wikis and blogs to virtual learning communities. This team’s project is really a project of many projects, one of which includes creating a closed virtual learning community for year nine English students to collaborate and share their learning with one another.
PLP teams are winding down their year-long experience and many are looking forward to face-to-face culminating celebrations. We can’t wait to see what they’ve learned.
Evolving Conversations.
By Dean Shareski
Having been involved in many emerging communities in the past 5 years I always smile when the conversations move from the WOW factor to the deep questions of teaching and learning. Education technology is full of “WOWs” and shiny objects. I like them both and no one should ever have to apologize over the excitement of a new tool. The great thing about technology is there’s always something new and exciting. The bad thing about technology is that there’s always something new and exciting. Many people get excited about using technology because of the WOW factor. From what I’ve witnessed over the past several years is that many of these teachers use technology but revert to teaching methods that they always used. Not that all traditional teaching is bad but technology offers us the opportunity to find new pedagogies that weren’t possible in the past.
What I’ve enjoyed most about the work of PLP is the observing and participating in great conversations about learning. Discussions like the folks from New Jersey are having around grading. In Philadelphia they are talking about cheating. While these are age old issues, we think about them differently and have to rethink our stances. There’s been some challenging questions, a few disagreements but lots of learning. I learn each time someone adds their own perspectives, resources and ideas to the topic.
Sharon from New Jersey writes,
If teachers knew about their students’ progress and learning abilities, they can adapt their own work to meet their students’ unpredictable and various needs. With progress scales, rubrics as a frame of reference, and electronic PORTFOLIOS I think the grading process can be transformed.
Ed in Philadephia on cheating,
We are in an era when it will become increasingly more important to redefine cheating. We will need to decide what is cheating, and what is resourcefulness using tools that exist. And indeed, we may need to ask different types of questions.
These types of discussion illustrate how technology is pushing our thinking. Not about the technology but about the teaching and and learning. While we might be seeing some of this happening in our schools as a result of some advancement in terms of Professional Learning Communities, I’ve seen many of them sputter and fail for three reasons.
- There is never enough time. The hard questions about teaching and learning requires time. The asynchronous aspect of PLP allows teachers to weigh in after some time and thought.
- There is never enough choice. Often teams are developed based on subject or grade levels. Most prefer that but most of the issues regarding shifts are not subject or grade specific. Being able to join the groups that interest you is a powerful feature.
- There is never enough diversity. When the issues of assessment or cheating arise, most discussions revolve around current practices, culture and policies. These discussions are greatly enhanced by voices who are removed from the specific school or district setting. PLP includes voices from all over and adds important diversity to issues.
The best part about PLP is watching and observing caring, dedicated teachers connecting with each other to ask the hard questions about education.
