Blogtoberfest, Day 8: Torrey Trust

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Torrey Trust, PhD candidate at UC Santa Barbara, graduate of La Costa Canyon High School, and daughter of former SDUHSD teacher Jerry Trust:

My Professional Learning Network

In 2008, I started building my Professional Learning Network (PLN) for a class in the Educational Technology M.A. program at San Diego State University. I used the now extinct version of Google Reader to collect and organize 5 blogs related to educational technology (e.g., FreeTech4Teachers). These blogs featured other popular blogs and the next thing I knew, I was following more than 50 blogs.

While working in a low-performing elementary school, I noticed that the laptop cart, classroom computers, and Interactive Whiteboards went unused. The teachers shared that they didn't know how to use these technologies as learning tools. So, I used my PLN to find websites, games, simulations, and other interactive technology resources for the teachers in my school. However, I became overwhelmed by the amount of tools available, so I developed the K-12 Tech Tools Database to start organizing the tools that I found by subject, grade level, and standard. Today, that site has more than 2,000 technology tools and resources and it has been viewed by more than 150,000 individuals in 140 countries worldwide. 

The benefits of building a PLN did not stop there. When I entered graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Education at UCSB, I spent many nights staring at the ceiling hoping that my dissertation topic would magically pop into my head. Unfortunately, this strategy proved to be unsuccessful. Luckily, one day, in my Advances in Learning Sciences class, the professor lectured about the power of using technologies to connect and collaborate with individuals on a global scale. I realized that I was already doing that with my PLN. So I thought, “Why not do my dissertation on how teachers share knowledge with educators around the world using their PLN tools?" 

I'm currently wrapping up my second to last chapter of my dissertation and can't believe how far my PLN has taken me. 

I hope that in the spirit of Blogtoberfest, you venture out into the online world of social networking and start building your PLN. If you need ideas or resources, here’s a helpful tool to get you started: http://edpln.wikispaces.com

Blogtoberfest, Day 7: Sherril Brice

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Sherril Brice, ISOL and Math Teacher at La Costa Canyon School:

It’s the start of new school year, I’ve got my teaching assignment, my syllabus is prepared and ready to be dispersed to students, the bell rings and we’re off and running. But wait, it’s now Friday and I think I see an AP approaching me, he wants to talk briefly about my schedule… 

They are reallocating a section at our site, which means I will now be teaching a Sheltered Algebra 1 course starting at the end of the next week. With no teacher prep days for syllabus writing, web page design, or lesson planning I would have drowned except for being “saved” by professional connections at my site and a neighboring site. A teacher at SDA shared a wonderful book, Making Mathematics Accessible to English Learners, which essentially helped remove some “cobwebs” (see how I worked in October-ish stuff) and reminded me of some basics we had learned a few years back in SDAIE workshops. All three of the algebra teachers at my site rallied and offered up copies of lesson plans, resource books, and have continued to share, via email, both sites and activities they find useful and interesting. While it’s not perfect, someone even suggested checking out Google Translate, which has certainly been helpful, since it’s been over 35 years since I studied high school Spanish and had I tried to translate my syllabus alone it may have said something really crazy. 

No, I have not yet reached nirvana with this experience, nevertheless I have access to Algebra 1 lesson plans for the year, thanks Erin. I do have a word wall, we have made cool flip books for working with integers, there’s an M&M activity for modeling the distributive property in my tool box, and I am using Frayer model notes to help scaffold the lessons, thanks Paul, Julie and Jill. This definitely is not a Cinderella story, unless you think of the scene where everything changes back to pumpkins (did it again) and mice, because I am still re-inventing some wheels, ditching plans in the middle of the period as students get call slips for CELDT testing, trying every day to start with a positive fresh attitude, but the comforting knowledge is that when things go bump in the classroom, I have other helpful colleagues willing to lend support. 

Ghoulishly submitted,
Sherril Brice

Blogtoberfest, Day 6: Brinn Belyea

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Brinn Belyea, Science Teacher at Torrey Pines High School:

How have connections with other professionals helped my practice? 

The College Board is changing the AP Chem class to focus on in depth thinking, conceptual knowledge and lab applications.  To meet these goals and the goals of CCSS and NGSS I flipped my class this year. 

I prefer the PLN model to the PLC model so I follow the SDUHSD tech blog closely.  I did what the internet allows best which is to follow the links that are in links that are in links and found Roger Schank, an expert on learning.  Schank advocates story centered curriculum for retention of skills and knowledge.  I formulated a plan and went to visit CCA chem teacher Eric Smith.  I observed his flipped class and solicitied his advice on flipping and story centered curriculum. 

The College Board's AP chem message board allowed me to get a good idea of how the test is changing and how to prepare for that.  So far, the flipped class has put the responsibility for learning base knowledge on students and allows me to focus on in depth learning, problem solving, and critical thinking in class.  The students are much more motivated to drill and practice skills and to think critically in the context of the story centered curriculum I have developed than they are with traditional chem problems. 

The rate of change with ed tech is increasing so fast that I've found I can't keep up.  So, I rely upon trusted colleagues who think alike for tips on what to try.  Recently, TPHS chem teacher Angela Willden showed me socrative, a site that turns student cell phones into clickers.  I plan on using this for informal formative assessment, the kind I use for instant feedback on what kids get. 

I hope to keep building my PLN in order to improve as a professional educator.

Blogtoberfest, Day 5: Tracy McCabe

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Tracy McCabe, Science Teacher at Carmel Valley Middle School:

Teaching is a family business. Or at least I was raised that way. Having been steeped in public education by a pair of middle school teachers as parents, I understand why the children of actors toil within the entertainment business (which is almost as volatile as public schooling) like their parents before them. Some of my earliest memories are of cheering on the Standley Middle School’s PE Department’s OTL team at OMBAC tournaments as well as shopping at the warehouse every August to fill the sugar and flour containers in my mother’s cooking classroom. Though they ranted and cried missed opportunities when both my sister and I became teachers, it was always a forgone conclusion.

It would be a fool’s errand for me to attempt to recall the scores of teachers who have affected me. All for the common good, the teachers from my youth as well as past and present colleagues have all had a part in the educator I am today. We are inevitably connected to those we learn from, teach, and teach beside. For me, given my upbringing and my profession, work is personal. I’m vested. Because it’s a familial endeavor to learn and teach. 

Beside the heap of gratitude for the shared lessons, links to resources, and various professional development gems I’ve acquired over the years is the lot that has nothing and everything to do with school. My mentor teacher’s “No Bad Days” motto still elicits a smile when it greets me in my desk drawer each morning on a post-it. A scolding from my first assistant principal (“All parents love their children, Tracy.”) has long been my mantra when I read angry parent emails. The women I met during my Masters a decade ago still meet me for wine and whining biannually. The lunchtime pep talks and the happy hours and the colleagues that let me cut in the bathroom line because they have a prep next period are all essential to my survival in this biz. 

I know my practice is better today and everyday because of the teachers who remind me in the smallest ways that we are in this together. It is said that by choosing to be a teacher, you enter an emotionally dangerous profession. My connections to other teachers are my form of group therapy. And like a family, there is nothing like sharing your passion for your job with a colleague who knows your pain, struggles, and your triumphs. Professional help from my colleagues makes me a better instructor, but the collegiality keeps me sane. And teaching.

Blogtoberfest, Day 4: Kaitlin Wood

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Kaitlin Wood, English Teacher and ASB Advisor at La Costa Canyon High School:

I've never blogged before. In order to make myself feel less cheesy and awkward about this story, I decided to incorporate some post-it comics and a really mathematical line graph, all of which are in pencil, because, duh, I'm a professional. Here goes nothin'. 

I got hired a week before school started in 2009. I was THRILLED to have a job at a time when the economy was tanking and teachers were getting pink slipped across California. I had no delusions of grandeur about my teaching prowess-- I knew I had a LOT to learn, but I didn't know how to ask for help from my talented colleagues. As a brand new teacher, I felt this pressure to perform-- asking for help would have meant admitting defeat. Within the first few months, I had already been sick with every single cold or flu that my students brought in the classroom, was buried in grading, had reached the end of my "new and exciting" teaching strategies, and was barely surviving. 

First-year-teacher Kaitlin was a sad case. I ate my lunch at my desk, hunched over my sad leftovers while responding to parent emails. 

At some point at the end of year one I got over myself.

I started collaborating with my colleagues on a really informal basis. I have included the following graph to illustrate my point for my visual learners.

In fact, I'll be honest, most of the collaborating I do with my colleagues involves talking about our lives outside of the classroom, and our teaching somehow gets peppered in. We share ideas, strategies, and best of all, we're able to find out that we're not alone after all. Thank you to my lovely colleagues/friends/soul sisters/gurus I have here at LCC. You've made this job the best job in the world for me.

Blogtoberfest, Day 3: Chris Faist

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Chris Faist, Science Teacher at Carmel Valley Middle School:

Waiting in line for the bathroom is the best collaboration time. No one is there to have a long conversation so you have to get across your ideas quickly. And we are there so often that the collaboration is timely and efficient. No time wasted, the best professional development.

Blogtoberfest, Day 2: Lori Meyer

How have connections with other professionals improved your practice?  Today's entry is from Lori Meyer, English Teacher at Carmel Valley Middle School:

It is Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. I just got off the telephone with Rene Sowers, District English Department Coordinator. Normally, I would not call a colleague on a Saturday morning, but Rene and I have been working together for many years and have been down a few “rabbit holes” together. I knew she would be kind and willing to briefly discuss common core transition meetings with me honestly and openly. Our ability to collaborate and capitalize on our connections makes this district the thriving success that it is today.

Connections make us better teachers. We learn from our colleagues as we build our professional learning communities on our campuses. I’m a far better teacher than I was before I came to this district and worked with Michelle Challis-Hall, Rene Sowers, Jamie Swope, Lauryn Gahagan, Kathryn Stevens, and so many others. Not a week goes by that I do not walk across the patio to consult with Angela Halpin, Jason Dickinson, or Gino Scalo. Working with science and social studies teachers from all over the district in the transition to common core standards has expanded my perspective on learning and instruction immeasurably. Connections allow us to grow as educators, sometimes in ways we never expected.

One afternoon a couple of years ago, a colleague (@HollyEdTechDiva) popped into my classroom and introduced me (@meyerteacher) to Twitter. She invited me to an “edchat” that afternoon. From that one connection, I have been introduced to educators from all over the world and have gained access to their knowledge and expertise. It took an “old-school” English teacher into the 21st century learning community overnight. Today, I do not teach in isolation. I teach with the resources available to me at the touch of 140 keystrokes. Problem solving became 1,000 times faster. Every day new avenues of connection open up for us to better communicate with parents, students and each other. Being open to learning from them is the key.

I’m so glad to be teaching in a district that values the power of connections and collaboration. I’m thrilled to work with people who care enough to share what they know. And I’m so glad Rene picked up the phone at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, so the work I do this weekend will be more focused and valuable to teachers.