PLP’s Australia Community Gears Up for Culminating with Incredible Projects
Sometimes it’s the unexpected learning that surprises and captures us. For many teachers in the PLP Victoria, Australian community, the journey through PLPConnectU and their project-based learning showed them how powerful collaboration can be. The teams will be attending their culminating on November 29. Led by Sheryl Nussbaum Beach and Alan Levine, known as CogDog to many of us, the #plpconnectu teams will present their final work and hear from Alan about story-telling. The groups have been collaborating on a range of topics from...
read moreIt’s Time to Learn
We know you want more, and budgets are tight. So we want to give you something. For free. PLP continues to provide long-term learning communities for schools and divisions, but we want to reach out to you–as an individual. Check this out! We are offering a series of e-courses, a way for individuals to participate in our virtual professional development experience without having to be part of a school team. This is so easy! We are offering a two-week Do It Yourself Web 2.0 Tools eCourse for FREE! Sign up and you’ll receive an...
read moreCome On, Flip Out. You Know You Want To!
As we consider whether the “flipped classroom” is the best approach for learning, PLP has a way for you to experience it. Shelley Wright, a teacher from Moose Jaw, Canada, has flipped the five-week e-course she and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach are co-teaching. That’s right. You’ll get the readings, videos, and activities ahead of time to ponder, peruse, and practice. Then, when the class meets synchronously, you will have a chance to share your thoughts. “It’s neat because teachers can actually experience the flipped classroom if they...
read moreIn the Hive, Making Two Classes One
Talk about authentic learning. Canadian teachers Heather Durnin and Clarence Fisher and their 7th and 8th grade students just finished up an entire school year collaborating online. That in itself would have served as a terrific example of meaningful work, especially since they are 2700 kms (1677.702 miles) apart. But the culmination of the year proved to be, well, the icing on the cake. “It was such a big, big moment,” said Heather, remembering the interview with author Markus Zusak. It all started when Heather from Wingham, Ontario saw...
read moreBooks to Share
A friend stopped by unexpectedly last night as I was about to go to bed. (I do turn out the lights early these days.) “I was on my way to the library,” she said. “And then I realized I could go to Susan’s house instead!” I laughed, completely understanding what she meant. In my years of teaching, I was also a reader. I collected books on writing, thinking, pedagogy, and leadership. On my shelf I have Shirky, Gallagher, Kohl, Li, and Wagner. During my days at FA, I tried to share as many books as could, handing...
read moreIs Boredom the Answer?
My contract with AT&T is up in a few days, and, because of all the dropped calls I seem to have in my house, I swore I would switch back to Verizon as soon as I could. (We don’t have a land line.) I figured I would purchase the Verizon iPhone and simply change services. But I also recently bought an iPad and carry a monthly data charge for that. So I’ve been wondering…should I carry two devices with data charges? Yes, I know. The iPad is big. Who’s going to pull that out when a smaller phone will do the trick? And I...
read moreKevin, You Rock!
With most of the PLP team at ISTE11, I am watching tweets, posts, and youtube uploads from my backyard. Here’s one I just watched from ISTE connects, interviewing our PLP Community Leader Kevin Honeycutt talk about Garage Band on the iPad. You share so well, Kevin! Love watching the kids,...
read moreVisualizing Our Communities
We talk a lot about community in Powerful Learning Practice. Through online discussions, skype calls, and face to face interactions, we learn and grow together. Often our collaborative journey makes us feel as if we are closer than we really are. Amber Karnes, our marketing and design guru, created this map to help show where our current and prospective communities “live.” Take a look, and if you are interested in joining us, come to an information session to learn more. If you aren’t close enough to an existing cohort, come anyway and...
read moreObviously Important, Obviously ‘Ah-ha’
Sometimes the “ah-ha” moment for Powerful Learning Practice team members comes at the same time. For one of the Eastern Lebanon School District team, headed by Judy Uhrich, the moment came when they discussed how useless the old newsletter model was for communication. “The tech coordinator who was also the Fellow of the team said, ‘There’s got to be a better way,’ said Judy, who has served as the Technology and Learning Coordinator for 18 years. “We all looked at each other and said, ‘We know what we’re doing for our Action...
read moreWorking Together
One way we try to get to know one another in our communities is by co-creating. Here is our first attempt from the Australian cohort. Feel free to check out what we are reading and recommending to one another:
read moreVoices from the Learning Revolution
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