Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Read the full story here. 

Year 1--"Learning in the 21st Century: Networks and Communities"
Focus: Understanding the global changes created by online social technologies and the implications for teaching and learning; provoking deep thinking about professional and personal learning practice; understanding practical and pedagogical implications for classrooms; initiating district-wide conversations and planning around long-term change and the scaling of these ideas and technologies.

Year 2--"Teaching in the 21st Century: Project/Problem Based Learning"
Focus: Understanding the powers and potentials of project-based learning using social technologies; provoking conversations and collaborative solutions to assessment issues; re-envisioning classrooms and curriculum; developing cross-curricular projects embedded with 21st Century skills and literacies.

Year 3--"Change in the 21st Century: Expanding the Reach" (Coming for the 2010-11 school year)
Focus: Moving to a reculturation of schools, districts and communities; planning for systemic, ongoing change; creating learning leaders in schools; implementing social technologies for increased participation and communication.

For those looking for shorter or more economical options, we've added a few new delivery methods:

 - "Visioning Boot Camp for Leaders," scheduled for July 2009 in Philadelphia, is an intensive, small-group, three-day workshop for school leaders who want to understand how 21st Century technologies are challenging curriculum and pedagogy and providing economical new ways for learning.

 - "Virtual Institutes" is a customized, economical way to provide ongoing, virtual professional development district-wide. The institutes include "big picture" discussions as well as practical, make-and-take sessions and ongoing conversations in a virtual learning community. Up to 90 educators per session in your school or district can participate in two customized, hour-long, online learning sessions per month. Participants will also engage in an ongoing virtual learning community throughout the year and be granted access to "PLP Live" events, cross-cohort collaborations and regular consults with PLP Partners.

- "PLP Speakers Bureau" will be free and open to the public featuring regularly scheduled Webinars from the PLP team on the uses of social technologies in schools and classrooms. Check our PLP Sessions Calendar for more information.

PLP founders Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Will Richardson will also offer PLP Consulting services around professional development, initiating change, long-range planning, assessment, budgeting, establishing your own customized learning communities, and more.

Planning for the 2009-2010 school year is underway. For more information, contact us visit our Web site.
 

Finding your footing

Clarence Fisher

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia cohort was supposed to be about finding your footing in times that require change in education. Many of the teachers in this cohort were very new to using technology in classrooms. But instead of slow movements, some classrooms have jumped in with both feet.

Take Jim Meredith and his class. Jim wondered about his comfort zone and how to use technology in his class:

In the end, Jim decided to bring Facebook into his teaching. His class has been connecting outside of school, he has been leading discussions and the students have been posting questions and comments. It has opened whole new doors of discussion and new ways to connect. Jim tells us:

Sharing, risk taking, and creativity

Karl Fisch

One of the fascinating things about being a "Community Leader" in a PLP cohort is the opportunity to observe the great discussions going on and ideas being generated in schools around the world, and watch as learning communities develop both in individual schools and virtually in the cohort. Recently in the ADVIS PLP cohort, Dennis wrote in a post titled "Sharing, Risk Taking, and Creativity":

Read the full-length version of this article here.

Beyond boundaries

Lani Ritter Hall

As the rhythm of the Illinois/Ohio PLP community ebbs and flows, there is one constant - the shifting and blurring of boundaries once perceived as fixed and unchanging.

Immediately following the initial face-to-face meeting in Avoca, members discovered a shifting of the traditional boundaries of time and place as they tested the waters or immersed themselves in the virtual community.  Participation in a myriad of distributed conversations, second nature in the "lounge" or at a party, became a challenge to some who had not yet experienced asynchronous chats, unbounded by a meeting time or physical room to meet. As this community continues to grow and mature, a reluctance to embrace this shift occasionally resurfaces, at which time the growing numbers of those who have gone beyond step back to support their colleagues.

As well, over the course of the community's existence, various members have sought to engage all in dialogue to find that openness and transparency was an additional boundary that many had not yet pushed, not only within the community, but outside.  A significant number of thoughtful, animated discussions revolved around personal reluctance or willingness to embrace transparency and openness - first as the community pondered the issue of becoming comfortable with more public lives, and then as they considered participation on social networks. Those who sensed the blurring of the boundaries of private/public lives engaged and encouraged others to join them. In a sequel discussion, "Facebook Part 2: I looked fear straight in the interface...and I laughed!", Tricia thanked the community for encouraging her and extended her invitation to others to follow, encouraging additional, meaningful conversation.

Scott's invitation and question, "Why is responding so hard", released a torrent of voices from those whose attempts at pushing this boundary hadn't yet been totally successful. Recently a few members have taken an important step toward becoming more open as they have begun to blog, most within the community. In a post, Julie remarked on her surprise at being uncomfortable expressing her views; yet she continues, urged on by members of the community.  And Tricia has embraced openness yet further when she concluded in her first public post that she's glad to move from "reluctant teacher to eager learner."  

From my spot in the corner, that's been a boundary shift that has been difficult for many--  from teacher/expert to learner/collaborator.  It's a line pushed within the confines of the private school team areas where Avoca, Forest Hills, Leyden, Bedford and Northbrook Jr. High engage in spirited, deep discussions. With encouragement from those who have stepped a bit beyond --21st Century Fellows Chris, Cary, Abby  and team leaders Mark and Julie - that line is now moving. It's shifted too with the inclusion of five "expert voices" in the community who generously and openly share their experiences with 21st century learning. It has also blurred as members have moved farther from the isolation of their own classrooms to becoming more connected, growing their own networks of learning. A Twitter discussion ignored early on, now features responses similar to Mandy's: "I have found that it is much more valuable than just sharing what you are doing. I have communicated with and learned from educators in various places, in various placements. I have learned about new projects, and read blogs and articles about different topics." And Cary's: "Between my RSS feeds and Twitter, my days are filled with amazing growth."

With each ebb, with each flow, each community member encounters some boundary-one that is shifting or blurred in 21st century learning. The pure beauty of this PLP community of practice is that its very construct forces an awareness of the boundaries by community members; they encourage and share with each other; those that have pushed the boundaries move ahead and return-to connect with and nudge others for whom the blurring and shifting hasn't been as easy.  And with that, the community stretches, moves forward and beyond -- 

Connecting globally

Mary Worrell

Interview with Chad Evans

Bud Hunt

Chad Evans is an 8th grade social studies teacher in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. I recently had an opportunity to talk with him about his experiences in NJPLP as a team leader and as a participant in building a learning community. 

In our conversation, Chad spoke about the work of his PLP team and his role as a team leader, but what I kept hearing him coming back to in our talk was the experience of building and participating in an online learning community, a new experience for many.  I have felt much of what he described.  Some excerpts:

On learning how to work in an online environment to build community and conversation:

On thinking about professional development that his team will be designing for their district as their culminating project:

On building learning communities:

The full conversation is available for download as a podcast here. I’d encourage you to give it a listen, as I can’t fully express Chad’s passion and excitement about his work and professional learning.   

Sharing ideas, experiences

Karen Richardson 

"The videos were a great project. My students were engaged and improved as they watched one another's work," wrote Lucinda, a member of the Independent Schools Consortium. This post, made just after the beginning of the new year, brought us to the end of the journey that we had been following since October thanks to Lucinda's blog posts.  She provided a glimpse into the planning and implementation process as well as into her own reflections on the that process.  It was like getting to hear a teacher think out loud about practice and how digital technologies and social networks are beginning to change her interactions with students.

It was her commtiment to the PLP community that prompted Lucinda to share her ideas and experiences.  Our expert voices have also made the commtiment to our group, providing a variety of conversations around blogging, Second Life, VoiceThread, Twitter, and leadership.  Members of the Second Life group have been meeting in world with a group of educators from Virginia.  They've explored the Great Wall of China and the Sistine Chapel as well as Rumsey's 3D map collection.  But, more importantly, they've made connections with educators that they otherwise would not have met, educators who share similar interests and concerns, educators who help expand their perspectives as they chew the fat of the practice together.

Most importantly, I think, they are learning.  Kim, AKA Thunder Insippor, is our Second Life expert voice;  she reassured a community member who felt like Second Life was for younger people by laughingly sharing that she was 53 and a grandmother of two.  She wrote, "You are never too old to have fun learning. Second Life is FUN!"  Like Lucinda, Kim took the time to share her early experiences with Second Life, letting us know about her own initial trepidation and her subsequent learning experiences.  After sharing a must-see video related to Second Life, she commented on the importance of this virtual community to her professional growth: "Second Life renewed my interest in the national organization [ISTE]. I became a paying member for the first time in 2008. I am presenting at VSTE in 2009 for the first time. I've become a DEN Star Educator because of people I met in Second Life."

Like most professional learning communities ours has grown over time, sometimes in fits and starts, voices coming and going.  But it's always growing with new voices mingling with old voices.  We're deaing with our fears and finding time for community.  As Debbie wrote, "Learning to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes? I could never have done this early in my career. I have become more willing to try and I thrive on discussing ideas with other teachers. Still you have to make this time for growth and exploration."

And that may be the most difficult part of all...making time.  I know when I'm busy, the first thing to go is the time devoted to myself, either personal or professional.  But, I also find that when I am busy and tired, taking a break to visit the Ning can provide a much needed boost, kind of like having a quick conversation around the water cooloer with my colleagues.  I head back to my virtual desk feeling renewed and probably having learning something that can help me.