The PLC

PLC or Professional Learning Community has become "the thing" for educators. Yet, many do not truly know what a PLC is. My own understanding has evolved over the last few years and continues to evolve as I participate in a PLC and create my own learning environment and network.  This blog is part of my learning network along with my Facebook page, Twitter account, and so much more.

The PLC is not simply staff development.  I believe that is the huge misconception. Too many educators look at it as just another name for staff development when it is really (or should be) so much more than that. The PLC is a group of professionals seeking to improve their craft by learning together. It is the "community" aspect that really takes the PLC beyond simple staff development.  The community must have a shared vision and a shared desire. The PLC requires its members to take an active role in the learning not just sitting back and waiting to be fed information that they may or may not use. If the PLC is going to be effective, all members must contribute to the learning.

The PLC of course ties well into a chapter that I just read in Trends and Issues in Instructional Design (3rd Edition),.  The chapter, written by Allison Rossett and Bob Hoffman (both of San Diego State University), addresses the topic of informal learning.  It is a thought provoking glimpse of how we learn outside of the formal classroom setting. Research suggests that 80% of what we learn is informal. The PLC came to mind as I read, because a true PLC should provide many informal learning opportunities as the members of the PLC share, teach, and learn together. The PLC is not just the formal meeting times, but all the times the members share ideas, information, strategies, or skills.

For those of you that are members of a PLC that you are not happy with, ask yourself if you are actively engaged in the community? Are you willing to challenge yourself and your thinking? Do you want to learn?

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2012). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Common Sense vs. Common Practice

Our district began working with Robert Marzano's The Art and Science of Teaching" this year.  Several members of our staff are participating in The Art and Science Academy. As we learn more about the research and strategies it becomes apparent the much of this is not new.  In fact, we have known about many of these strategies for a long time and they are common sense strategies. However, during our recent cohort meeting it was stated that what is often common sense or common knowledge is not always common practice.  Why?  Are we bogged down with so much stuff that we simply forget the basics like setting learning goals or objectives? Did we forget that our students need to know and understand what those goals are? Establishing goals is just one thing that is common sense but often not common practice. Why? What are some others?

Managing Research

With any educational program comes research. Now I am going to really date myself here! There are some of us that can remember going into the library and actually opening drawers in a card catalog. We can also remember pulling actual hardback and paperback copies of the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.  Then of course there were the wonderful foot notes. Yes, remember rolling the paper back and forth in the electric typewriter to put a little mark where you needed to stop typing to leave room for the foot note at the bottom.  Of course this process became much easer as we moved into the digital world and word processors. However, there was still the difficulty of managing our sources.

I just spent this morning trying out some interesting tools. These are desktop and web based programs to aid in my not only finding research articles, but these tools also create my citations, allow me to take notes (what no note cards) that are stored with the resource. Now that is great news but there is more. These tools will also work in my word processing software to create in text citations and build my works cited/bibliography as I write!

Now this may not be news to many of you. I realize some of these programs have been around for a few years. But I couldn't help but think about their impact on my own research efforts. It also makes me wonder why I would walk into a classroom or library of a middle school or high school and see citation charts posted on the walls. Why are we not using these tools with our students, especially in 1:1 environments? We all know that the different styles for citing research change. We cannot teach all of the styles. Why would we? Instead, we should be teaching students how to use these tools.

We can begin small by using such tools as EasyBib and BibMe. As students move into high school and more in depth research projects they can be introduced to tools such as Mendeley and Zotero.  As part of my Ed Tech program I will be using and evaluating these programs over the next few weeks with others in my cohort. Watch for a post with a summary of those reviews.

Voice Thread

One of my first assignments for my Ed Tech program was to create a Voice Thread.  It could be on anything as it was just to get everyone to learn how to use it before we use it for other assignments. Voice Thread is something that I have used with my students in the past. It is a great way for students to share their learning and allows for creativity.  Something we often squash.

I decided to create a Voice Thread in response to a comment one of my middle school students made (echoed by several others) in the lunch line this past week. It is my goal to do more of these and email the link to my students to encourage them to read.  Since we have a 1:1 environment, it is easy to drop a line to my students from time to time.  Let me know your thoughts and reading suggestions to pass on.  

Lifelong Learner

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

We here the term "Lifelong Learner" bandied about by educators and schools frequently. "Create Lifelong Learners" (or something similar) has become a mantra of sorts. However,we must ask ourselves if we are modeling that same ideas? Do we continue our own education through either formal or informal means. Are we learning and using what we learn to improve our efforts to educate our students?  We want students to be readers, yet we seldom read.  We know that education is the key to the future. As an educator, I will set that example for my students and staff.  It seems as though I have been in some type of education or training program for most of my life and am continuing my learning through the online Ed Tech program with Boise State.

This blog will document my learning as I progress through that program, as well as my on learning through other educators and daily experiences.  I look forward to sharing with you.