Just wanted to send a quick shout out to everyone who helped spread the word about the WNY TeachMeet. If you haven’t had a chance to register yet, please do so by the end of this week! You can take care of that right here. Last week, I announced a book give-away, and it was great to hear that so many of you invited colleagues, friends, your staff, and members of your online network to…
Mary Howard is a middle level teacher and brand new edublogger from Grand Island, New York! Mary and her colleague Jillian Schneider recently began exploring connected and collaborative writing with their students, and I’ve been fortunate enough to find myself basking in the glow of the energy that they are generating. So glad to know that Mary is inviting a wider audience here….hope you will go say hello!
The WNY Teachmeet is rapidly approaching, so if you haven’t registered yet, please drop by the wiki and do so as soon as possible. Please take a few moments to help us out by inviting your staff or colleagues to this event or by writing a quick blog post, update, or tweet that spreads awareness. If you register or spread the word between now and 5pm on May 18th, you’ll be entered into a drawing…
Meredith Stewart recently began a conversation on the English Companion Ning about setting meaningful professional goals, and this thought of hers really struck me: “Based on the goals that I have seen from others, it seems the trend is to write very nebulous or very easily achievable goals. I would like at least one of my goals to be something at which it’d be possible to fail.” This is a compelling consideration, isn’t it? Goals…
As some of you know, a group of local educators began collaborating several months ago, hopeful that we would be able to coordinate a regional TeachMeet. Last night, we were able to put the final touches on our pre-planning, and we’re excited to let you know that registration is now open for this free, teacher-led event. Here are the essentials: When: Saturday, May 30th 10am-2pm Where: Genesee Community College, Batavia Campus–in the cafe Who: Educators…
Earlier this year, I had the chance to work with Rob Currin, a high school English teacher from Alden, NY. Although I was only scheduled to work with him briefly, he was invited to keep in touch with me and connect to my larger learning network on Twitter and in Ning. As a result, we’ve remained in touch and continued to learn together all year. Rob’s engagement with social networking tools for professional purposes has…
The fellows of my learning community have been revisiting our commitment to disseminating the expertise that we share and cultivate within our group. This week, conversations have begun around the purpose of publication, the process itself, and whether or not the work that is shared within blog posts and in other online venues can be as credible as the stuff of peer-reviewed publications. In most cases, I’ll admit, I don’t think it can be. That…
I’ve been thinking a lot about this post lately. It’s an important one. Go read it. It makes me think about the not-so healthy level of competition that sometimes exists between people. It astounds me that so many people can’t appreciate this simple truth: there is a lot of work to be done in this field. There is plenty for all of us to do. Trashing colleagues we disagree with and belittling those we feel threatened…
A while back, several local educators on Twitter began thinking about organizing a regional teachmeet. This happened in a pretty organic way. I received a message from Gene Gordon, asking if anyone in my network would be interested in getting together in this way. I asked a handful of my local colleagues and friends. They said yes. Gene and his wife Anne Marie asked theirs. They said yes. We invited everyone else to join in the planning…
I’m finding that one of the more dramatic shifts that takes place when learning communities come together is around purpose. I’m not just referring to the work of professional learning communities that are populated by educators. I’m also referring to the work of the learning communities that are populated by the students in our classrooms and the parents in our communities. Things are changing. Suddenly, it seems that more than a few people are realizing…