here comes learning
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Here Comes Learning. Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach [email protected] Will Richardson [email protected] http://snipurl.com/necc09. With whom, why, and about what do novice and experienced teachers “talk” in an online mentoring community ?. Year 2. Year 1. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Year 1
With whom, why, and about what do novice and experienced teachers “talk” in an online mentoring community?
Flow: What are the directions and frequency of the posts among mentor and novice teachers?
Function: What are the purposes and frequency of the posts among mentor and novice teachers?
Content: What are the topics and frequency of the posts among mentor and novice teachers?
21st Century Learners Project
http://abpc21.org
Big Goals for the Project
Goal 1: Establish among participants from our project schools an awareness of and advocacy for (1) the need to integrate 21st Century skills into school curriculum and (2) for teachers to use digital technologies to engage students in the development of these skills.
Goal 2: Improve information and communication skills of teachers at participating schools through an increased understanding and use of Web 2.0 technologies.
21st Century Learners’ Goals
Goal 3: Increase use by teachers at participating schools of classroom strategies including problem-based and project-based inquiry approaches that engage students in critical thinking and problem solving.
Goal 4: Improve the collaborative skills of participating faculty and staff at the 21st Century School sites through the introduction of virtual tools and environments that better equip them to function as a community of learners.
“My greatest insight as a Fellow is recognition of the urgency for change in the way we teach today’s students.
My professional goals and philosophy of teaching have been completely revised as a result of my fellowship.
Now, my greatest concern is how to illuminate others to the necessity for this change. Change, while intimidating, can be a good thing and I have definitely found it so. These past two years of professional growth have been the greatest I have experienced in a very long time.”
--Scarlett Gaddy (20 year teacher in Alabama)
A Compelling Case for Change
Photo credit: www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/change-management
So What is Best Practice in PD?
“The research tells us that teachers need to learn the way other professionals do—continually, collaboratively, and on the job. The good news is that we can learn from what some states and most high-performing nations are doing.”
~Linda Darling Hammond
Best Practice in 21st Century PD: Prepares teachers and leaders to
integrate 21st century skills into their classrooms and schools.
• Ensures educators understand the importance of 21st century skills and how to integrate them into daily instruction
• Enables collaboration among all participants
• Allows teachers and principals to construct their own learning communities • Taps the expertise within a school or school district through coaching, mentoring and team teaching • Supports educators in their role of facilitators of learning • Uses 21st century tools
NSDC's Definition of Professional DevelopmentProfessional development fosters collective responsibility for improved student
performance and must be comprised of professional learning that:
- primarily occurs several times per week among established teams of teachers, principals, and other instructional staff members where the teams of educators engage in a continuous cycle of improvement
- provides job-embedded coaching or other forms of assistance to support the transfer of new knowledge and skills to the classroom
- informs ongoing improvements in teaching and student learning
- Staff development that improves the learning of all students organizes adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district.
Read entire definition: http://www.nsdc.org/standfor/definition.cfm
NSDC Rationale for Learning Communities
Staff development that has as its goal high levels of learning for all students, teachers, and administrators requires a form of professional learning that is quite different from the workshop-driven approach.
The most powerful forms of staff development occur in ongoing teams that meet on a regular basis, preferably several times a week, for the purposes of learning, joint lesson planning, and problem solving.
These teams, often called learning communities or communities of practice, operate with a commitment to the norms of continuous improvement and experimentation and engage their members in improving their daily work to advance the achievement of school district and school goals for student learning.
A Definition of Community
Communities are quite simply, collections of individuals who are bound together by natural will and a set of shared ideas and ideals.
“A system in which people can enter into relations that are determined by problems or shared ambitions rather than by rules or structure.” (Heckscher, 1994, p. 24).
The process of social learning that occurs when people who have a common interest in some subject or problem collaborate over an extended period to share ideas, find solutions, and build innovations. (Wikipedia)
Communities of PracticeWhile there are there many unique approaches and pedagogical
frameworks for building and sustaining social networks and communities of practice, certain trends and patterns of best practice do exist.
Empowering, non bureaucratic,risk tolerant, fewer levels,distribute data widely,externally oriented.
Centralized, bureaucratic,risk averse, multi-leveled, limit access to data, inward focused culture
Social communities of practice need to be designed in such a way that they evolve over time.
What develops is co-created and collaborative with multiple opportunities for member feedback and ownership.
Characteristics of a healthy community
WorkshopsTwo all day
workshops that build
capacity, community
and develop 21st
Century skills.
WebinarsLive meetings where
teams meet, listen
and then reflect in
small groups.
Virtual Learning Community
Where we deepen
understanding, network,
share resources and
grow as a community
of practice.
Professional Learning TeamsJob embedded teams who meet face-to-face
and work towards scale and alignment of 21st
Century skills with school improvement goals
PLP Delivery Model
Our Goal… Seek out schools willing to invest some time
in exploring the challenge of 21st Century Learning.
Ask the schools to identify small teams of educators who are ready for this exploration.
With the support of our Cohort Community Leaders, PLP Fellows, and Team leaders we began that exploration together.
…With the eventual goal of "scaling up" the exploration in each participating school through the co-creation of content (our project).
“Joining PLP has pushed me to re-examine what I am doing in my class and how to improve it. As a teacher I constantly ask myself: how can I better engage my students and enrich their experience? How can I make their learning more meaningful? PLP is helping me find answers to those questions.
Meeting (in person and virtually) teachers from other schools and learning about their successes, questions and struggles in implementing 21st Century Skills in their classrooms has been invaluable.
Ever since the first meeting, my mind has been spinning. I feel there is so much to learn about what these skills are and how to effectively teach them to my students. I have a steep learning curve, but I am excited to take this on.”
~Nick Romero,Haverford School
Personal Stories
• Nancy Caramanico- Archdiocese of Philly
• Susan Carter Morgan- Fredricksburg Academy
Menu of Services and Graduate Credit Available
“Boy, they weren’t kidding when they said this would be powerful! From the very first, I’ve done nothing but learn. I would admit, though, that a lot of what I’ve learned I had not expected to . . .What I’ve come to realize is that, through PLP, we are gaining exposure to the world that our kids already inhabit easily – and learning in that environment is not neat and tidy.
For those who are wondering, “what’s next?” or “when are we actually going to do something?” I would have to argue that, if you really take a learning posture – give up your control and your need to feel industrious – you will find that you are learning. And you have been all along!”
~Lisa Snyder, Team Leader ADVIS Cohort
Questions? Concerns?
Comments Encouraged!
[email protected]@plpnetwork.com
http://snipurl.com/necc09