With whom do you learn?

With whom do you learn?

Do you collaborate with a group of teachers at your grade level?

Do you share and bounce ideas with others in your school, your building, your area?

Do you belong to a network of teachers who meet to exchange ideas and share practice?

Do you participate in voluntary reading and learning groups?

Have you been to informal ‘teachmeets’ organised by teachers for teachers?

Have you participated  in global online conferences?

Do you write your own blog to share your ideas, reflections and practice with other educators?

Do you participate in the global education conversation by reading and commenting on educational blogs?

Do you engage with other educators on Twitter?

A session with teachers yesterday on developing our class blogs,  highlighted ways we can learn together.

• A group of teachers of different grade levels gathered together (voluntarily) to share ideas and learn together.
• A  range of great ideas was crowd sourced via Twitter before the session, with contributions from educators around the globe.
• At the last minute, David Mitchell offered to Skype in (at midnight!) from the UK to share his schools experiences with blogging.
• David introduced the concept of Quadblogging, in which classes around the world are grouped together

I was reminded of one of the most powerful influences in the building of my online  PLN.

It was Kelly Tenkely‘s blogging alliance that first connected me with many other educational bloggers around the world.

• The more I read other’s blogs, the more I wanted to find and read.
• The more comments I began to get on my posts, the more I wanted to write and share.
• I was exposed to different people, places and practice.
• I began to engage with teachers and learners around the globe.
• Connections were made, friendships were formed, ideas were exchanged.
• The learning was addictive.

It seems to me that connecting our students via Quadblogging can have similar effects. It’s much more than what David describes on the website as ‘a leg up to an audience for your class/school blog’,  although that’s an important starting point. Writing for an authentic audience, receiving feedback from the world, reading what others write and responding to them are all undoubtedly valuable outcomes.

But it’s more than that.

With whom do your students learn?

Are they expected to spend a whole year engaging with the same group of  twenty or thirty students in your classroom?

There are so many ways we can help our students create their own personal learning networks.

Quadblogging is another way to extend the potential for learning beyond the classroom walls…

Potential for learning…

Dear Heads and Co-ordinators,

Thanks for being such an appreciative audience at the PYP network meeting. I’m glad you enjoyed my presentation about what it means to be a connected educator.

It didn’t matter that it was the end of a long day and a long meeting or that we were all tired before I even started to speak.

It didn’t matter that Twitter is blocked at the host school and I couldn’t even show you a live Twitter interaction.

It didn’t matter that the internet stopped working and I had to talk my way round images of blogs and nings instead of showing them to you.

It didn’t matter that most people were taking pen and paper notes in a session about the use of technology.

It didn’t matter that some of you have yet to take the first step into this world of perpetual learning.

We are all educators and we care deeply about learning.

As soon as you saw what’s possible in terms of learning, both our own and our students’, I saw the light in your eyes.

I liked how you smiled when you saw I had borrowed some of my lines  from Steven Anderson’s video, which I showed at the end. It gave you a glimpse into the sharing and collaboration that is so much part of being a connected educator.

You seemed to enjoy being introduced to individual members of my PLN (most of whom I have yet to meet myself!) and hearing about how they have inspired me. I wish I’d had time to tell you what I have learned from each of them.

I was delighted by your enthusiastic response to our global plant inquiry and the way we use Skype to connect our students with the world. It was great to see you talking amongst yourselves about how you could apply some of the ideas I shared.

I liked the fact that you laughed at the image of the toe in the water because you could relate to it. Either because you’ve already put yours in and seen the result, or because you felt that making  just a small start isn’t too intimidating.

I loved that people came up to me afterwards to say that they were ready to put their toes in the water for the first time and begin their exploration. They were inspired, not by my presentation itself, but by their understanding of the enormous potential for learning.

Looking forward to welcoming you to my personal learning network….

Edna

Amazon Peru photos by Mazz Sackson.

Thanks @klbeasely for the inspiration.

DIY Professional Learning

Does your school run compulsory, one-size-fits-all PD? Are you ever bored, disinterested or unmotivated when attending?  Have you ever been to a conference where the presenter was dull, the audience passive and the content unengaging?

Fortunately, we have the power to create our own more effective professional learning opportunities. What’s yours? Daily connection with other educators via social media? Online workshops and webinars by educators for educators? Teachmeets, where educators meet and share practice informally? One of the many Twitter chats dedicated to different areas of learning?

Keen responses to a tweet from @wholeboxndice a few days ago motivated us to try and establish #pypchat, a Twitter chat for IB PYP educators. While the discussion will be PYP related, it’s all about learning and anyone will be welcome to participate.

A preliminary survey to assess the level of interest quickly attracted responses from every continent. It’s unlikely we can find a suitable time to accommodate people in all the time zones, but it’s encouraging to have so much interest expressed so quickly.

It’s interesting to note that nearly half the responders so far indicated that they would like to be part of the team of moderators. It’s an opportunity to create our own professional learning.

DIY. Why not?

(Survey here. Details soon)

10 people whom you might know…

It’s the start of the school year and we are organizing planning times. Collaborative planning is one of the things I like best about the PYP. A team of teachers gathers to plan the big ideas and key learning experiences for a coming unit of inquiry. There are usually at least six participants; the grade level teachers, ICT facilitator and librarian. Where possible, there might be other specialist teachers present too and if not, they will be consulted.

Facilitating these sessions is both rewarding and challenging, sometimes exhausting, sometimes exhilarating. It depends on how much the big ideas excite us, how much pre-thinking has been done and the level of collaboration and creativity on the day.

And it depends on the members of the team….

Disclaimer: The characters in this post are fictitious and bear no resemblance to real teachers. Unless maybe they work at your school?

1. Innovator
Suggests new and exciting ways to do things.

2.Thinker
Carefully considers all angles to find the best approach.

3. Risk Taker
Willing to give anything a go. Not intimidated by the possibility of failure.

4. Waiter
Comes unprepared. Waits passively for others to do the thinking.

5. Blocker
Actively blocks others’ ideas. Talks about why they wouldn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t work.

6. Provoker
Asks valuable, thought provoking questions that ensure a productive outcome.

7. Distractor
Interrupts. Talks about irrelevant matters. Might even sing in the background.

8. Historian
Likes the way it was taught in the past. Talks about old ideas and old ways.

9. Resourcer
Shares great resources to support the learning. Knows where to find treasure.

10. Know-it-all
Talks knowledgeably in a loud voice and rolls eyes disapprovingly when others express different opinions.

Do you know any of them?

10 ways Twitter has added value…

Dear Teacher who is still not on Twitter,

Maybe you didn’t receive my previous mail. Just in case it didn’t convince you, here are a few more examples of the benefits of Twitter… 

1. Continuous learning with and from a global community of educators, via countless links to interesting posts and articles, tools and websites, conferences and workshops. thoughts and ideas.

2. Year 5 students at my school are learning about Aboriginal culture. Twitter led me to @jessica_dubois, as a result of which classes at our schools were able to interact via Skype last week. It was an incredible learning experience for both sides!

3. Ongoing connections with PYP educators like @jessievaz in Chile, @maggiswitz in Switzerland, @sherratsam in Thailand and @garethjacobson  in Bangladesh (among others!), to whom I can turn for advice and ideas relating to learning in the PYP.

4. #Elemchat is a weekly Twitter chat for primary school teachers to discuss issues and share practice. It’s great to get different perspectives from all over the world and the connection with talented organisers @tcash in Morocco and @gret in Argentina is an added bonus.

5. Year 1 teachers at my school have recently started blogging and are keen to make global connections for their students. Via Twitter, I’ve found them a number of interested teachers and classes in Colombia, Switzerland, Canada, Indonesia, Chile and the US and inspired them further with the work of @grade1 to see what is possible.

6. Inquire Within, a collaborative blog about inquiry learning, has a range of contributors from twelve countries across six continents… all via Twitter. (Join us!)

7. Upper Primary teachers at my school were inspired by a Skype session on literacy and class blogging with @kathleen_morris and @kellyjordan82 a few months ago and the dynamic duo has agreed to do another session next term to inspire teachers in the lower grades too.

8. @toughLoveforX is a retired printer and design teacher in NY, who comments with interest on my blog and our school class blogs, giving valuable insights and asking tough questions about education that make me think (and act). 

9.  It was great to have @henriettaMi, who I know through blogs and Twitter, visit our school when she was recently in Melbourne to present at a conference. She graciously agreed to present an after-school session to further inspire teachers at my school with their class blogs.

10. Endless advice, assistance, support, collaboration, encouragement, inspiration, motivation … and friendship.

Why wouldn’t you want to be part of it? 

Let me know if you want help getting started.

Edna

By whatedsaid | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Dear Teacher who wasn’t on Twitter…

Partially inspired by Scott McLeod’s post  If You Were on Twitter.

Dear Teacher,

I know you don’t see the point of Twitter. I know you think people should have a balanced life and not be online too much. I know you think a great deal of time is required to find resources and create connections.

Last Sunday was a lovely, sunny day. Among other things, I went for a walk in the city, spent time with family, went out for breakfast with friends, cooked a pot of lentil soup, finished Seth Godin’s Poke the Box and read several chapters of A Man of Parts by David Lodge.

I also spent 30 minutes on Twitter participating in #elemchat, where primary school teachers around the world exchange ideas and share their challenges. Here’s some of what I got out of that half hour:

• A variety of new web 2.0 story book creators to explore and share with my colleagues.
• Inspiration and ideas from @dogtrax, like his environment project.
• The idea of using Edmodo for reading discussions.
• A promising collaboration with Tania Ash  in Morocco to start a world reading group for primary school students!
• The start of a connection with @plnaugle who shares my interest in inquiry learning.
• Discovery of another PYP educator @ctrlaltdeliver to add to my contact list.
• Potential collaborators for our unit about cultural beliefs.
• A comforting sense that educators worldwide encounter the same challenges that we do at our school.
• New contacts in several countries for future global collaborations.
• A reminder that there is no professional learning quite like half an hour on Twitter!

You should give it a try. I’ll help you get started if you like.

Edna

PS. There was a great #edchat session today on the role of blogging in 21st century learning, it’s value and the challenges, both for students and teachers. But that’s another story…

10 ways to help students develop a PLN…

There has been some discussion lately about the precise meaning of the term PLN. I’m not sure why it matters actually. Like any other word in the dictionary (!), it has more than one definition and might mean different things to different people…

My PLN is my ‘personal learning network’. It comprises the people I learn with and from, some face-to-face and others online, around the globe.  They  challenge me and make me think. They share with me, support me and collaborate with me. They argue with me, question me and force me to clarify my ideas. Wherever they are, whether I have met them in person or not, these people are part of my PLN.

As teachers begin to let go of  ‘the old way’,  to relinquish control and allow kids to take responsibility for their own learning, students too need to develop a PLN.  As teachers begin to step down from the position of  ‘boss of learning’, students need the skills and opportunities to learn from and with a wider network of people. How do we help students develop their own PLN’s? I think generally when people ask this question,  they mean an online virtual network. Kids are clearly great at developing such networks themselves! What educators need to do though,  is teach kids how to learn with others.

10 ways to support students in developing a PLN…

Start simply…

1. Arrange the tables in groups.

Provide opportunities for students to engage with their in-class PLN.   Encourage conversation.  Encourage cooperation. Encourage collaboration. Set tasks that allow students to construct meaning together with their PLN.

2. Let them talk.

Don’t do all the talking. Don’t be the filter.  Allow them to respond directly to each other. Even if it’s a frontal lesson where you need to explain new material, allow 5 minutes here and there for them to talk it through amongst themselves. Use thinking routines like ‘Think, pair, share’.

3. Be part of their PLN.

Model what good learning looks like and sounds like.  Share your own learning. Learn with and from your students. Don’t pretend to know all the answers. Discover and uncover new things together.  Don’t overplan. Explore and investigate with your students.

4. Promote an out-of-class PLN.

Let them work with students from other classes. Provide cross level opportunities. Arrange electives that allow collaboration across grade levels. Organize learning experiences that involve other teachers.

5. Flatten classroom walls.

Create global connections. Collaborate with kids in other countries.  Set up a Voicethread so kids all over the world can respond. Find classes learning about the same issues to debate with on Skype.

6. Learn from experts.

Invite speakers from your local community. Bring in people from anywhere in the world via Skype. Encourage students to pursue their interests by finding people they can learn from outside of  school and online.

7. Encourage conversation with family.

Invite parents to share in the learning, in person, or by commenting on class blogs and wikis.  Set tasks that involve parents, grandparents and siblings. Send student questions and wonderings that haven’t been addressed in class, home for discussion.

8. Learn through blogging.

Start a class blog.  Write for an authentic audience. Ask teachers from other schools and in other countries to get their students to comment. Get your kids to read and comment on other class blogs. Develop a conversation. Develop a relationship.

8. Focus on communication.

Whoever’s in your PLN, you need to know how to communicate. Listening is just as important as speaking. Teach them that it isn’t always about you. Model consideration and mutual respect within a PLN.

9. Define the student’s PLN.

Increase awareness that learning doesn’t belong only at school. Ask them to think about who they learn from and with. Get them to create a mind-map showing their personal learning network.  Keep adding to it as the network grows.

10. This one’s yours!

How can we support our students in building a personal learning network?

Series of posts on ’10 Ways …’ #7

10 ways to encourage students to take responsibility for their learning

10 ways to foster a love of learning

10 ways to create a culture of thinking

10 ways to grow as an educator

10 ways my thinking has changed

10 ways to think about your learning space

 

Blogs that made me think this week…

Reading blogs and writing my own blog have played a vital role in my learning in the past year. I wonder how teachers who aren’t regularly reading educational blogs are keeping abreast of change, extending their thinking and further developing their understandings. Each week I discover blogs that push my thinking in new directions, make me reflect on my own practice, introduce me to new ideas or new tools, direct me to other resources… or simply make me smile at the knowledge that I am part of a huge community of teachers and learners with similar experiences, issues, problems, highs and lows.

Some blogs that made me think this week…

The Next Step by @mrplough07

Corey has started an initiative in which he calls for nominations on a particular theme of education blog each week, creates a poll and then features the ‘winning’ blog. His goal (see details here) is to highlight EdBlogs and encourage bloggers to support each other. I was honoured to be featured this week! It got me thinking (again!) about the power and generosity of the online educator community. It never ceases to amaze me how educators help, encourage, support and promote each other, through blogs and Twitter.

Blogging in the Primary Classroom by @oliverquinlan

I have only recently discovered this thoughtful blog and still need to catch up on Oliver’s past posts. His latest post deals with physical classroom space and  he sums it up by saying ‘the thinking on innovative use of space should start with pedagogy not practicality,’ and adds that it should be about the learning, not the teaching. It made me think about how many teachers arrange their rooms in a way that’s practical for them, or allows for better ‘teacher control’ (!) rather than to facilitate learning. (I think this will be a future post for me, thanks Oliver!)

Clive in Sri Lanka by @CliveSir

I’m loving this blog (although I wish he wouldn’t talk about me), not just for what Clive shares about his teaching in Sri Lanka, but for the connection to another colorful world and culture. I’m not even sure how I first discovered it, but I have since been interacting with Clive and am interested in the development of his classes for computer teachers. Clive worked as an engineer for more than twenty years, before setting off to volunteer in the developing world. My own children have volunteered in India and Ecuador respectively and it’s something I would like to do myself one day, so his story resonates for me. I am also fascinated by what brings people to teaching, in it’s various forms, and what they get out of it as well as what they put in.

I’d love to hear about some blogs that made you think this week…

Series of posts: Blogs that made me think this week.. #2

Blogs that made me think this week #1

Profile of an edu-tweeter…

Sitting on planes for 24 hours, gives you plenty of time to think. I’m tired of movies and reading, everyone around me is sleeping, and I’m thinking how good it would be to have internet access and be able to interact with my Twitter PLN.

Since that’s not possible, I find myself thinking about the sorts of people who are part of my online PLN (personal learning network). There is a huge variety of educators participating in #edchat and the Twitter conversation.

On the surface it seems we’re very different in many respects…

There are kindergarten and primary school teachers, high school teachers and university professors. There are new teachers, experienced and retired teachers. There are presenters, consultants, developers and students.  There are people who’re involved in education in all sorts of other ways. There are males and females, of all ages, from all over the world with all sorts of interests and life experiences. This is the beauty of the online PLN. It provides the opportunity to interact with a broad range of educators, world-wide,  from diverse backgrounds and experiences, that could never have been possible or even imaginable, not that many years ago.

So what do all these educators have in common?

We share a passion for teaching and learning, an interest in technology, a willingness to share, a desire to implement change, delight in a challenge, intellectual curiosity…

As I begin to list the commonalities, I see a pattern emerging. I know I’m generalizing, but on the whole, the education community on Twitter appears to display the attributes of what we call in IB schools, the Learner Profile.

• Edu-tweeters tend to be thinkers and inquirers, interested in developing their thinking and practice, learning new things, exploring new ideas and broadening their understanding.
• They tend to be knowledgeable across diverse areas and generously share their knowledge with others.
• They are caring, expressing concern and wishing each other well, offering advice and assistance, reacting and interacting politely and respectfully.
• They are, without exception, communicators. You have to be in order  to engage in meaningful dialogue in 140 characters at a time!
• Most seem to be open-minded, interested in different perspectives, open to new ideas and willing to debate.
• They are risk-takers, who experiment with technology, investigate ideas and try out new things.
• They are principled, defending their beliefs, acknowledging their sources and giving credit as due.
• They are reflective. It’s reflection on teaching and learning, the impact of tech and the education process in general that the whole conversation is about.
• I’m not so sure about balanced… While people do tweet about reading, running, cooking, travelling and a host of other interests, I fear some of us spend too much time online!

Do you agree?