In the last year or so, I have had the distinct pleasure of taking part in something that invigorates me as a teacher and supplies me with a seemingly bottomless treasure chest of resources and motivation as I try to work more effectively with my students. If this was an infomercial, now would be the time when the enthralled host would breathlessly utter "And what magical experience would that be, and how can our viewers get in on this?" The answer is simple: I discovered the modern tools to help me develop my PLN, or Professional Learning Network.
Before you click the X in the corner of the page and abandon this page, let me beg you to bear with me just a little longer because "WAIT! There's more!"
I am proud, and a little embarrassed, to be honest, to say that I am a 2016 Kansas Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist. This program has allowed me to spend several days visiting the districts of truly talented teachers from around central Kansas. We get to ask each other questions, laugh together, learn what the world outside of our classrooms looks like, and explore the different ways we can work with our kids each day. It has been an amazing experience. Getting together, talking about what they do, learning from one another, and exploring ways we can continue to stay connected even after our tours are over has been a gift. These are amazing teachers and people: why wouldn't we want to stay in touch and continue to draw on one another to become better at what we do? Without the KTOY program, I probably would not have met these exemplary people. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity to become part of this circle, to be able to build my Profession Learning Network. Everyone should have this chance.
On the way home from Council Grove after our last tour, I commented to Jenn Keller, our elementary KTOY nominee and fellow Semi-Finalist, about a fact that struck me during this process. I coach football as well. Actually, the way I look at it, I have the pleasure of having multiple classrooms where I get to teach: Room 202 upstairs at BHS, the weightroom on the north end, and the practice and game fields where our boys play. Something is different though. As coaches, the PLN, while not called that, has been the basis for success and growth for ages. Coaches have been developing and building PLNs as a natural process and never think twice about it. Coaches seek out one another. If Bo Black runs a no back, no huddle system before everyone else in Kansas does, then Coach Warner makes a trip to Great Bend after we move to Buhler and they discuss how they do it, and more importantly, what might stop it. Coaches in Wichita mention how their LBs read the zone, and Coach Warner and I drive down to NW Wichita after school one day and talk football for three hours. Wisconsin runs the power play to perfection in the Rose Bowl, or Kansas State abuses defenses with run-pass options, so we get on the phone and set up ways to pick the coaches' brains about what they do in their programs. Coaches talk, and if more than three are in a room for more than 12 minutes, a dry erase board is going to turn into what might look like a modern art piece as plays are drawn upon plays and defensive counters are diagramed out and adjustments are made.
And yet, a recent attempt to draw teachers from neighboring districts together in an effort to share, learn, and support one another was met with everything from skepticism to outright rejection. That is frustrating.
The desire to share and be a part of a bigger community of positive thinkers and innovators is present in all great professionals. Teachers are no different. In 2016, we have incredible opportunities to do just that. It is literally at our fingertips. We can connect, not only with those teachers in our districts, but throughout the state, across the country, and beyond all borders. Thanks to some of my colleagues, I have been thrown into the community pool of Twitter Chats, Voxer, and the like. And, I can honestly say, "Come on in. The water is fine."
Thanks to these tools, I have, at my fingertips, the ability to not only share my thoughts, but to tap into the gifted minds of thousands of educators who have different experiences, varying resources, altered viewpoints, and extraordinary imaginations. Sometimes, this simply allows me to renew and recharge. I have selected three Twitter Chats that send up smoke signals for what is becoming my professional tribe (outside my hallway, building and district, which are still a source of terrific pride and energy. I am blessed to teach in Buhler): #leadupchat, #ecet2, and #ksedchat. Each one has its place, and I was drawn into each one by different people. One Monday, I was having a truly Monday Monday. I was grumbling, I was dark, and I was frustrated. I did not even intend to take part in the #ksedchat discussion that evening. However, at 8 pm, I opened up my tweetdeck, and took a glance or two at the feed over the next 10 minutes or so. Soon, I was reading about how Ts (Teachers for those saving their 140 characters) engaged reluctant students. The ideas were flying, and commitment was clear. A couple struck a nerve with me, and I read more closely. Then I was engaged. At 9, I was disappointed it was over. I felt so much better. I could actually breath easier. My jaw was relaxed. And I began planning anew for the week.
Our district has been discussing how we can use Twitter Chats to help teachers develop and grow. The question was posed: Do Twitter Chats really offer anything more than a chance to toot our own horns? That is a legitimate questions. Twitter is, after all, SOCIAL media. What real good can come from it?
The answer is simple. Growth. Several weeks ago, I commented on a picture that Greg Froese (@Froese89) had taken while his seniors read poetry outside on the football field. The irony of the Thoreau-esque activity taking place on artificial turf was not lost. Shortly after, Suzanne Rogers, an AP English teacher from Arkansas had commented on the photo and asked if I had seen how "Thoreau" the rapper Macklemore had gone on his last album. She sent me a link to a video. BOOM. Lesson on Romanticism that will relate to my students today (after I edited 2 words from the video). Last week, I connected with a teacher who will be speaking a two ComiCons and a national social studies conventions on the topic using comics to teach history (and many other things). I had shared that we use "Walking Dead Mondays" in my English classes to help draw in students who might not otherwise be interested in plot development or character motivation. The discussion was during an #ecet2 edchat about engaging boys in the classroom. How am I, a lowly teacher in central Kansas, going to exchange ideas in an immediate fashion with a creative teacher who will be speaking to multitudes at the nation's largest ComiCon in San Diego? Guess what? I am doing it regularly now when I see the lessons he is teaching posted on Twitter. Just this Saturday, I saw a comment on my Twitterfeed about distict Twitter Chats. I replied to the poster. Her response? "DM me, and we will chat." So I did, and we did. In between stops at garage sales, she enlightened me about the process she and her district has explored in using this tool to help their teachers and district grow. We can use this expertise in our own journey. The teacher, Ms. Denko, teaches 3rd grade in New Jersey. We might have crossed paths at some point without Twitter, but the odds are slim. I don't get to Jersey much.
Great, you might say, for you English teacher nerds. But wait. There's more. I recently set up Coach Warner's Tweetdeck. I had found this little Twitter Chat called #MeshPoint, which focuses on option football. That's right: we can even geek out about football plays.
It goes beyond Twitter Chats. This week, Dr. Randy Watson, the Kansas Commissioner of Education, spoke to me. In his voice. Ok, he was speaking to many of us, but he spoke to us. I was added to a group on Voxer that is pulling together Awesome Teachers from across Kansas. Dr. Watson has replied and even liked a couple of my comments on #ksedchat. He is a regular participant. He doesn't have to be, but he is. That means something to me, as he is a part of a positive and energetic town hall meeting of educators from across Kansas, not once a year or leading up to some election, but nearly every week. We have several Voxer groups in our district at this point, each one with a particular aim, from team communication to student celebration. It is just beginning to take off.
This is an exciting time in education. It is so easy to read the headlines and grow jaded and frustrated with how our state's leadership seems to be trying to tear us down. However, we owe it to our kids to keep growing, and in turn, help them to do the same. We do not need to wait for the district to approve the funds (which are being held up in Topeka) to send a group to some conference. We do not have to wait for a PD day speaker to lift us up and energize us with new ideas. Those activities have their place and are valuable. But we have so much at our disposal. We just need to tap into them. The PLN is out there, waiting for each and every one of us to "contribute our verse."
No comments:
Post a Comment