Oceans of Possibilities
By: Lani Ritter-Hall
Two face to face meetings –
A number of Elluminate sessions –
Sheryl and Will’s guidance and mentorship –
School teams mapping an interdisciplinary unit, planning together –
And recently on the PEARLS cohort Ning and the web, mini inquiry units begin to chronicle the ever evolving journey of teachers and students into 21st century standards based, student centered, inquiry driven learning.
In the 3rd grade at PS 16, PLPer Camille Terzino’s students have been learning the features of a non-fiction text through an “Artist Study” in which they generated their own questions such as Were they born with this gift or did they have to practice? about the artist they chose. Each student then read a book on their artist and wrote an informational report duplicating the key features in the text. They researched the country of the artist’s origin and recreated their favorite piece of art as they learned about line segments, shapes, and symmetry. The students will be creating Voicethreads with summaries of what they have learned and posting their paintings and images of the originals to the web for comparison. Camille noted:
“The kids were very excited about the project. They especially like the idea of exploring the different content areas and how art affects their lives. I can’t wait to finish their paintings and do the voice threads. I hope to have students from other classes comment on their voicethreads.”
Meanwhile 4th graders at St. Clare under the guidance of PLPers Denise Olsen and Patricia Molloy are learning about the “Census”, How has the census changed?, and conducting a census of their own. Denise and Patricia posted their map and unit in a Google Doc transparently sharing their journey in planning and learning. Then a post in the cohort virtual learning community from three of their students:
“Hi this is Anthony, Melissa, and Rebecca. We are 4th grade students at St. Clare School. Our class created a census and we would love it if you can take it. To take the census, go to tinyurl.com/scs-census.
There is also an intro that you can listen to that tells you about our census. Go to tinyurl.com/intro-census to hear it.
It would be really nice if you would take this census. Please tell your friends and family about our census too. If you know anybody that lives in a different country please ask them to take our census so that we can compare data from other places.
Thank you for your help! Anthony, Melissa, and Rebecca”
And Denise and Patricia note:
“We are moving along on our project. The fourth grade class is using the census (actually creating their own using Google forms) to learn about people. After the data is collected, the students will work in groups to analyze the results. Each group will be assigned one of the questions.”
As PLPer Joanne Teasdale and her kindergarten students at Blessed Sacrament explore “Oceans of Possibilities” she writes in her unit plan:
“How can teaching young students to seek information about a high interest topic (Oceans and ocean life), help them gain understanding of the natural world and stretch their worldview to help them to become caring, knowledgeable stewards of the earth and life-long learners?
This project was created to open up the world to my young students. The world of reading, writing, inquiry, practical practice and joy in learning. It was meant to empower the students by giving them the tools to seek out information, and enable them to transfer these tools to build their personal ‘fund of knowledge’.”
And Joanne reflects in the virtual learning community:
“My young students are just coming into their own – as far as skills – so we are doing map skills and ocean life studies, and book reviews at present – the rest is for the future! The student’s are very excited and really into learning about ocean animals. They have passionate favorites and already have a great vocabulary going: carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, camouflage, baleen, kelp forests, coral reefs etc. It makes going to work a joy every day!”
Their Ocean Book Reports, read by students with illustrations, garnered a plethora of comments on Joanne’s class blog and clearly demonstrate all they have learned.
They have connected, they have collaborated—and it’s just a matter of time until some take collective action. It’s truly refreshing and very exciting to read and hear the enthusiasm of both teachers and students as they all explore more deeply the oceans of possibilities that arise through 21st century inquiry driven learning.
We are going to help each other learn
By Lani Ritter-Hall
From the PLP Handbook—
Team leaders—
- lead and motivate their school team, organize meetings, and push action research project development
- serve as a facilitator and “encourager”
- engage team members in regular inquiry-oriented professional learning community (PLC) meetings that help to develop teacher professional knowledge
In the PEARLS cohort in New York City
Brian Licata, from St. John’s Lutheran, a 5th to 8th grade math teacher, is one such leader—
He models virtual community participation in the main forums sharing projects his class is doing and inviting others to collaborate with him.
“Anyone interested in joining me in the Stock market Game…ITS FREE! I copied & pasted the email I received below”
Holiday Greeting around the world–“add your class to the Google maps holiday greetings” (When community members needed assistance to participate, he created a screencast explanation using Jing with step by step instructions.)
My 5th Grade Math is learning how to make surveys and record the results. I am teaching them about Frequency Tables and want them to get some practice. I had them collaborate on making a visual questionnaire (using Voicethread) for 5th graders. We will incorporate Google Forms once I feel they are comfortable with Tallies, and creating graphs. If you can forward this to anyone who teaches 5th grade, 9-10 yr olds, I would really appreciate it.
He participates in main forums contributing, for example, thoughtful questions on the use of facebook.
These are some concerns:
Am I now responsible to monitor and report on everything they do online. Should I be looking through their facebook pages daily for anything that I think is inappropriate?
What about their friends that aren’t in my class or school?
What happens after they leave my class do I unfriend them?
If I don’t look and there is something inappropriate, am I going to be held responsible as a teacher?
Is this interaction between student and teacher socially acceptable? At what grade level does it become socially acceptable? Am I putting myself in danger?
Brian has created an open team room in the virtual community and other members of the cohort have joined to benefit from his sharing and leadership. In his team room, he has at least 10 discussions around the topics of digital storytelling, student driven videos, podcasting, setting up twitter, finding classes to work with, Voicethread and setting up a delicious account and often creates and posts screencasts to assist his team with the tool or skill.
In “Gaining confidence”, one of his discussions, he encourages his team–
Gaining confidence is extremely important in using new tools in the classroom. I notice that I usually have two options, roll it out and the class learns with me at the same time or I need to find a group of teachers to play with.
Either way I still find myself with no skills and don’t want to look foolish. Let’s see if we can work this out here. …We are going to help each other to learn how to use these tools in our classrooms.
Leading and motivating, encouraging and engaging team members, serving as facilitator—helping to grow and sustain both a personal learning team and a community of practice—
I watch for his postings, his screencasts, his team’s participation —so appreciative of the transparency, the modeling, the expertise, the “we” that he brings to the community.
We are going to help each other learn–
A “buzz” in the room
By Lani Ritter-Hall
Administrative expectations, pacing charts —
Students engaged in inquiry project based learning—
PEARLS PLPers – cognizant of the tension of expectations and needs of their students– gather in their virtual learning community supporting, nudging each other—delving into the issue of “time” for project based learning—an issue raised in an Elluminate session by some community members to whom the concept of inquiry is new and for whom the pressures of “time” and/or expectations loom large–
In response, their colleagues raise their voices—
Advocating risk taking and use of technology–
With the emphasis put on students passing state tests, most schools have moved away from allowing students to be risk-takers or creative and have everything structured for test taking skills. It is sad that they don’t realize how big a role technology can play by trying to integrate it into the curriculum across the board Marianne Troia — PS 18
Suggesting a personal strategy from which others might learn–
Certainly using an inquiry approach may take extra time in the beginning because we are learning how to do so. I think once questioning becomes habitual (for both us and the kids), it may not require extra time. I suppose it’s important to start with the end in mind…what is it you want the students to learn (standards) and then approach the teaching differently. Much easier said than done…I’m starting with small steps. Just asking questions about topics before they are introduced/discussed. I know I have a lot to learn about the inquiry driven approach… Not only will the in-depth knowledge gained by using this approach be instrumental in understanding current material, it will also help our students to develop skills that will help them to be successful self-directed learners in the future. Denise Olsen — St. Clare
Passionately advocating for inquiry, project based learning–
I think the teachers need to see how worthwhile it can be to the learning going on in their classrooms before they really embrace the idea with open arms. It would be great if we were given extra time to experiment with new and exciting teaching strategies and technologies available at our fingertips, but realistically it’s up to the teacher to be passionate about it and make the time if they ever hope or plan to be successful with these approaches in their classrooms. The inquiry approach can be a very intimidating one to teachers that have never explored it before, but with the right amount of dedication and collaboration their among fellow teachers anything is possible- even in an already full curriculum. Katie Christy PS 18
In a world of “trained test takers” we need to teach our students how to be “thinkers” first. They need to ask critical questions, make connections to their personal lives and to the world around them- most importantly learn to take chances.
Teachers have to learn to do the same…. Take chances, pose new questions, let there be a “buzz” in the room.
Learn through inquiry and let our kids make mistakes…..their mistake might be an answer to another unsolved problem! Bryant Romano — PS 44
Nudging, encouraging –from community members also immersed in restrictive environments – yet modeling taking chances, posing new questions– so much more powerful and effective than any contribution or question from me– helping to shift perspectives of others while clarifying their own thinking—reminding me of the challenges inherent in change.
“Teachers have to learn to do the same…. Take chances, pose new questions, let there be a “buzz” in the room.” That “buzz” is perceptible in the community— what a sweet sound, and in the background I find myself surreptitiously working on its amplification –
As Confidence Builds
by Robin Ellis
One of the challenges of my position in the district where I work has been how to “teach” others about social networking, how do you convey the benefits of virtual personal learning communities / networks, in a 3 hour workshop? How do you cover all the options, explore all the tools available to assist in creating those communities, and also build a comfort level for those interested, but who most likely have never been involved in something like this? As I reflect on my participation in PLP over the past several months and look at the foundations that have been laid for all teams across the cohorts participating this year and examine the structure in place it helps to answer the questions I struggle with. My conclusion is I don’t think you can adequately teach these concepts in an hour or two, to honestly understand the value, having the opportunity to be immersed in the conversations/immersed in the environment is the best way to learn.
What I have been able to see throughout all of the cohorts is the growth of individuals in this environment, there are emerging voices, those who are becoming comfortable are beginning to start discussions, add comments to posts others have made, share their own teaching experiences, as well as personal experience. Here is an example of one who has begun to incorporate some of the tools we have been learning about in PLP in her personal life.
One of the things I remember Will saying at our first meeting was a way to be successful with technology this year. He said that we are all so busy, so technology can’t be added to your life, but must take the place of something you already do. He used the example of how he used to watch the news, but now he uses technology to stay informed. I really thought that was important for me to remember this year. So what I’ve tried to do is use and learn about technology in the things I am already spending much time on. I attended a workshop on gifted students. The keynote speaker was talking about using technology with gifted students, he talked about 21st century skills, web 2.0, wikis, blogs, nings, etc. I understood everything he was talking about and used much of what he talked about with my students. This is the first time ever that I have understood more technology than many other teachers. I am so proud of what I have done the past few months and how much I have learned.
New Jersey cohort member Laura Sipes.
She started using tools she had been introduced to in her cohort, in her personal life, and as a result has gained confidence and understanding in the value of using technology as an integral part of what you do every day rather than add it on to your daily life.
Another portion of a post, from Scott Godshalk, principal, Tohickon Valley Elementary School.
Last year, I tried, unsuccessfully, to facilitate the use of a wiki at our school. I asked teachers to post a reflective document of their work during their Collaboration Sessions. As I reflected on this, I realized I dove in headfirst with the concept of a wiki. This was a new idea for the teachers, and a new way to collaborate. Teachers followed through with this expectation, and posted their Collaboration Session reflections, but there weren’t any additional comments, posts, or discussions about the content of their work. This year, I took a couple steps back, but pushed forward with the idea of a wiki. I send out a weekly bulletin to share my reflections and give teachers my thoughts on school and district initiatives. I spend a great deal of time preparing the weekly bulletin. Recently, I had an epiphany. Why am I working so hard on this? There is a school full of brilliant teachers who have fantastic ideas. They should help me with this! For the last two weeks, I posted a simple question on the wiki site, and had the teachers write a brief response to this question. The results have been phenomenal. Last week, I asked teachers what it means to teach in the year 2008. To be an effective teacher, what are the words that come to mind? Their response was awesome. Our staff is beginning to enter a new phase of collaboration.
Others are beginning to blog, some are sharing classroom experience, resources for teaching and professional development, creating Delicious accounts and sharing web sites with their cohorts. It is remarkable to see the growth of individuals who are supported and encouraged as they expand their knowledge and level of comfort in an area, just a few short months ago; many had never been introduced to before. This is the work of PLP, creating environments for collaboration and learning in ways that are relevant to all of us.
What Makes PLP Work
By Dean Shareski
Being part of 3 cohorts and witnessing and hearing the work of 4 others I’m trying to get a feel for these geographically diverse communities.
As someone who is charged with a leadership position in my own district and trying to achieve much of the same kind of work as PLP, it’s a wonderful learning experience for me.
It seems questions like, “How do we systematically move our teachers forward?” “What do we do with resistance teachers?” “How do we sustain momentum?” “How do we get momentum?” and you can add a few more standard questions are ones that leadership deal with all the time.
What’s exciting is the model of online communities that is now gaining validity among these districts. I don’t think all districts are ready to invest in online communities as an integral part of teachers’ professional learning. That’s because most of our leaders have never experience it. Fortunately with at least the leadership in these 7 cohorts somebody gets it.
I’ve been teaching pre-service teachers online for the past few years and while I still long for face to face experiences, it’s what happens online that make face to face experiences rich and meaningful. Teachers and students are busy people. Spending even 3 hours a week in a class usually offers little time to engage with each other. That’s the power of these communities. They provide an opportunity not only to learn beyond face to face experiences, but provide a space for people to get to know one another. I love this quote from one of my students as she reflected on our class experience.
…this is my only university class that I know every student by name, and know at least one important thing about them. This is really weird, because I wouldn’t have been able to do that even in high school.
PLP is based upon building communities and building communities doesn’t happen in the limited times we gather face to face. Inside many of the NING communities, I’ve enjoyed looking at people’s pictures, seeing them challenge one another and asking good questions and even having a little fun. You come and go as you please, you choose topics and conversations that engage you and you decide when you’re ready to jump in. Many of these things are not easily replicated in face to face settings for many reasons. Getting to know people is often overlooked as people jump into an online learning experience. If learning is truly social, then these spaces must allow people to be themselves and be social.
So as I reflect on what’s working here, I know that ultimately sustainability and change only occurs with a culture that values risk taking and innovation combined with strong support. PLP is providing this with the use of expert voices and the constant activity within each group.
One thing I do know. When I have discussions with teachers about change, many understand we should change but complain about the lack of time to do it. Meaningful change will never occur if teachers only want to invest in a few PD experiences throughout the year. Meaningful change does occur when strong communities are developed and that takes time. The online experience of the PLP cohorts is creating this exact environment. I’m just happy to be part of it all.
