The Power of e: Moving toward Collaboration and Connectedness

A small pK-12 Catholic school, founded in 1859, is discovering the power of eCollaboration among its faculty, and most of all, its students. “Students publish stories they write online,” writes Sister Geralyn Schmidt, “they produce animations; create book trailers; use SMART response systems to share knowledge about specific topics within the curriculum; construct new planets within far off solar systems and describe their features; view on online surgery videos; and edit and upload their multimedia and still images for parents and other students to see.”

Thanks to our Faculty Ning Community, We're Collaborating Like Never Before

The Ning has connected our faculty in ways we never imagined. We wanted our teachers to connect and share, and share they did! As we got to know each other better, we began to feel a greater sense of community and common purpose. Our faculty can now easily collaborate on lesson plans and community service projects across divisions. They readily share ideas and resources. We now have a virtual community that parallels our physical community, and its powerful anytime-from-anywhere communications capabilities make us feel closer together than ever.

PLP's Voices from the Learning Revolution: Our Easy Reference Index (Posts 30-65)

We launched our PLP group blog Voices from the Learning Revolution just six months ago, and we’ve now shared 65 wide-ranging articles and essays about the future of learning, written by teachers, librarians, IT specialists, principals, district leaders and consultants who are allied with our Powerful Learning Practice communities. Here’s a brief guide to our most recent 36 posts, and a link to our first guide published last May.

Out with professional development, in with professional learning.

In their revised national standards, Learning Forward (formerly known as the National Staff Development Council) has undergone an important shift in focus and message: from one of development to one of learning. The new standards focus on teachers as learners. Teachers are not to be treated as vehicles through which schools deliver programs and policies. This has been the focus of traditional professional development frameworks for way too long. The goal for administrators should be how to foster the learning spirit in every one of our teachers through a system of learning opportunities that cater to their individual needs.

PLP Journey: Planning Our EdCamp PD Day

Our faculty has been very active throughout the year implementing innovative teaching strategies and creating engaging projects that fit their IP21 (Individual Plan for 21st Century Teaching and Learning) professional goals.These goals are not mandated by the administration but selected by each teacher. Giving ownership to teachers to design their professional growth makes these goals relevant and meaningful to our teaching practice. So why not apply this same PD approach to designing our Professional Learning Day?

PLP's Voices from the Learning Revolution: Our Easy Reference Index (Posts 01-29)

Just two months ago, we launched Voices from the Learning Revolution. Nearly 30 posts later, it’s time for a recap. Here’s what our teachers, librarians, IT specialists, principals, district leaders and consultants have shared so far. A special thanks to all our twitter friends and blogs like MindShift, The Answer Sheet, Connected Principals and many more for pushing some of these great ideas and insights out into the viral stream.