21st Century Learning

Anne Davis: The Voice of Experience

Tech Enhanced Learning
Anne Davis is an amazing teacher and woman. Yesterday my students had the priviledge of spending 50 minutes with her chatting as though we were having tea around the kitchen table. Anne style is so natural and relaxed that she makes you feel like all of this is really doable. The students loved her.

I first met Anne through another precious Web friend, Darren Kurpatowa, who is a secondary math teacher in Canada. I met Darren through his blog. Anne and I also worked together during the K12Online Conference where she gave one of our keynote presentations. When I was putting together this course I asked Anne if she would be willing to speak at one of our Virtual Monday sessions and she graciously agreed. She shared her experiences about blogging with elementary students and as all of these students are starting to blog themselves, she gave some general tips for professional blogging as a teacher. If you would like to watch the archive of the session click here.

Virtual Mondays
The course is Tech Enhanced Learning and it is for preservice elementary teachers at the College of William and Mary where I serve as an Instructor.  I have the unruly task of teaching this course on Mondays and Wednesdays in 50 minute periods in a classroom with laptops that have to be taken out, set-up, and booted and then taken back down as part of the 50 minutes.  It has challenged me to be very concise in the information I choose to share and be quite creative in delivery.

On Monday, we meet in Elluminate.  In an attempt to model networking and illuminate the possibilities of collaborating with others from around the world, I have asked various guest teachers experts to meet with us on Mondays and share their ideas and enthusiasm for different 21st Century teaching strategies. You can view the lined up speakers on the wiki.

As a solution to being able to engage the students more with the concepts of the course I decided to meet f2f on Wednesdays and online on Mondays. In addition, we are using a class wiki and Tapped In to organize, collaborate, and build networks throughout the course.

F2F Wednesdays
On Wednesday, I typically arrive 45 minutes early to class and find most of the students there waiting! I use the time to answer questions and troubleshoot. It is so humbling and inspiring to see these students in their seats so soon before class. Then when everyone arrives at the official start time of the class, I teach like a wild person for 45/50 minutes  (to allow take down time of the laptops). It is very intense.

E-Mentoring
The students are also collaborating with many talented educators, another W&M class (secondary preservice) and other tech using educational stakeholders from around the world in our electronic mentorship experience in Tapped In. The conversations taking place there are lively to say the least.
The differing global perspectives are making this a learning experience for me as well. If you would like to be part of a virtual mentorship experience just comment here and let me know.

A big virtual thank you to the following mentors:

Secondary
Barbara Besal- Virginia
Chris Craft- SC
Vicki Davis- Georgia
Randy Fullington- Alabama
Joseph Papaleo- Australia
Bud Hunt- Colorado
Vinnie Vrotny- Illinois
Marsha Ratzel- Kansas
Crystal Wright- Alabama
Mark Clemente- Virginia
Art Lader- South Carolina

Elementary
Connie Stigler- Alabama
Jon Hanbury- Virginia
Paul Harrington- Wales
Lynn Holland- Alabama
Allanah King- New Zealand
John Holland- Virginia
Jeff Utech- China

Past Teacher - Or Edc Specialist
April Chamberlain-Alabama
Jonathan Messer-Virginia
Emily Kornblut-NY
Mark Wagner-California
Anne Davis- Georgia
Karen Janowski- Massachusetts
Aimee Smith- Alabama

Special Guest Preservice Teacher:
Christine Papaleo- Australia

Don't Read to Me!

Networking is a wonderful thing.  In my adventures online I began Skyping with Chris Craft one day. One thing led to another and before I knew it he had agreed to be one of the virtual Monday presenters to my preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary.

Chris presented in Elluminate on Presentation Tips and how to NOT use PowerPoint. He did a wonderful job. We got a tour of his classroom, visited all his favorite sites, including one he likes to keep secret so that his presentations are unique. He made the technology come alive and students saw how effortless his use of technology to teach Spanish really is.

If you would like to see his presentation on presentation software -- he will have it up on here in a day or two.  If you would like to follow the course and the other Virtual Monday presentations you can do so via the class wiki. Chris' page on the wiki is here.

A big thank you to Chris for a wonderful job.
Tomorrow he is sharing his flat classroom project with the Alabama Advanced Teams which are part of the 21st Century Teaching and Learning project I help lead.

Still thinking about Connectivism

"When connections are weak...not more research, but better connections are needed," according to George Siemens.  I teach a variety of ICT courses to preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary. One of the common projects I have included in each course I have taught for the last three years is an electronic mentorship. The motivation behind this assignment is to help beginning and preservice teachers to build their networks.

Terry Anderson at the recent  Connectivism conference, spoke about design-based research theory and methodology. I walked away from his presentation thinking of what I do through the electronic mentorships as a form of intervention. I had never made that connection before.

MENTORING AS A NON-TRAINING INTERVENTION has grown rapidly in the last twenty years. From teacher education to aerospace, from financial firms to community foundations, mentoring       relationships are increasing in popularity, and have a variety of designs and outcomes. But thinking of mentoring in terms of a networking strategy needs more exploration.

Research has shown mentoring can promote teacher effectiveness. Successful mentoring experiences can lead to beginning teachers’ increased contentment with and proficiency in teaching, and, as a result, the professional development of mentored novices is more noticeable than their non-mentored counterparts (Spuhler & Zetler, 1994, cited in Thomsen & Gustafson, 1997).  Mentoring programs that promote teacher effectiveness recognize that early-career teachers must arrive at a place in their professional growth where practical experience and professional wisdom provide a secure foundation upon which to draw as they make their ongoing pedagogical decisions (Berliner, 1986; Ralph, 1998; Shulman, 1987).

Teacher Prep
One of the strongest attributes of William and Mary's teacher preparation program is that they pair preservice teachers with the same cooperating teachers throughout their field experiences right up to their student teaching. It provides consistency and an opportunity for a seasoned teacher to know their novices needs, strengths, and weaknesses.  However, this relationship can prove to be a challenge in that it doesnt give the students access to a diverse support network: diverse in ideology, pedagogy, and global perspectives.

By  requiring preservice teachers to participate in an online mentorship experience with highly accomplished teachers from around the world they are able to get the diverse perspective they need. In the past, the mentors involved in my project, while top educators in the field, didnt necessarily use technology in instruction. My justification was that the purpose of this experience transends any particular web-based tool.  I also wanted students to use electronic communication tools as a way of networking with highly accomplished educators that could offer "just in time" advice that wouldnt seem evaluative in nature.

Each of the technology experiences are embedded into content students need to learn to be effective in the classroom. This semester, I decided to take a different twist by choosing mentors that are both highly accomplished teachers from around the world but who also understand the importance of using Web 2.0 tools and other technologies in their teaching. My thinking was that the focus would be on both technology and best practice through a global lens, that would also help prepare these students for the changing demographic they will find in their classrooms, while at the same time showing them the value online networks can have on their growth and developing practice.

Mentor Roles and Outcomes
The role of mentors is to to weigh in on the discussion by commenting, clarifying, and asking probing questions of the mentees to stimulate their thinking. They post when they are asked a specific question or something posted by someone else resonates with them. However, many feel free to post much more than that.

In the beginning, the mentors see the opportunity as a way to "give back" to the profession and collaborate with other mentors in improving the profession a few teachers at a time. However, it becomes clear early on that the mentorship experience is as much about moving seasoned teachers along a developmental continuum toward improving teacher leadership, as it is about a one-way communication strategies to impart mentor to novice knowledge. The collaborations fast grow into a learning ecology with as many mentors professionally communicating with other mentors as novices communicating professionally with other novices -in addition to traditional mentor to novice communications.

This semester, a few days into the networking experience, several first time mentors with my project shared how the experience was impacting their ability to reflect upon their own practice.
These two comments occurred in Skype conversations with mentors who teach on the other-side of the world from me.

[2/5/2007 7:00:28 AM] P says: Hi Sheryl - how are you ?? The
conversations going on in the Tapped In room are very interesting - greatly
enjoying contributing  - thanks for inviting us to join.
[2/5/2007 7:03:50 AM] Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach says: I am so appreciative of
your time and effort
[2/5/2007 7:04:52 AM] Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach says: It will be awesome for all
of us I think-- to see how things are done in different places in the world.
[2/5/2007 7:05:03 AM] P says: It's quite good to get time for
us to reflect on practice as well - as you don't get much time when you are
actually doing it!!!
[2/5/2007 7:05:25 AM] Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach says: That is what many mentors
have said.
[2/5/2007 7:05:34 AM] P says: I think the collaborative
aspects of web 2.0 are quite awe inspiring
[2/5/2007 7:06:12 AM] P says: I am off for lunch now following
my morning maths class - take care
------------------------
[2/9/2007 3:29:41 PM] A says: Hey Sheryl- Just a note to say I am loving the debate in Tapped In. One of the first things I do when I get home is check the conversations- as you say- it is helping me think more clearly about things by sorting out what I think about the debate in my own mind. Thanks for the invite- it's great.
[2/9/2007 3:30:12 PM] Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach says: I am so appreciative of the time you are putting in
[2/9/2007 3:30:17 PM] Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach says: You are quite awesome.
[2/9/2007 3:30:36 PM] A says: It's good for me!
----------------------------------------------

This note came in an email from another mentor not living in the US.

Hi Sheryl,
just letting you know that I have already learnt heaps from participating in
this.  The student questions have given me time to reflect on my own
practices, so thanks to the students.  Then reading responses from other
teachers around the world and knowing exactly where they are coming from is
heartening.  Too often, staff have looked at me as if I had rocks in my head
when I made suggestions about using technology, but reading other teachers
uses of mp3 players in Kindegartens is what I have had in mind for quite
some time.

There are many gems here and I look forward to participating as best I can.

Thanks,
J
--------------------------------------------------------

The networking of preservice teachers with accomplished teachers who not only understand good pedagogy, but who are comfortable collaborating in a virtual learning community has positive outcomes for everyone. The learning is universal; each member builds upon the ideas of the other and the ideas grow and change within the community. The amazing thing is that participants are at very different stages in their development and yet everyone is learning something.

Generally, the mentors are encouraged to give reasoned advice that could be applied globally. Obviously, there is much US terminology thrown about as most of these students will be teaching in US schools. However, I think it is important for the students to understand just how flat the world really is in terms of learning and how by making global connections we all grow.

Tapped In
I use Tapped In rather than blogs and wikis (although they do create and use these tools as well for other objectives in the course) so that these students can be candid and not fear anything they say will be used in an evaluative way. Tapped In is a "walled garden" in that what is said in our group is not broadcasted to the search engines. It has been my experience that this aspect creates a feeling of community and trust in our groups.

The Networks Tend to Merge

The most interesting aspect of using online networks is how they feed and inform each other. For example, out of my preservice group mentoring grew ENDAPT, a mentoring project done with William and Mary first year teaching alumni and the Teacher Leaders Network (TLN). TLN is an online group of teacher leaders from around the US and Canada that have been communicating and collaborating for the last four years via a web page and listserv. Amazing things have grown out of that group. So it was a natural for me to include them as mentors both with my preservice teachers and the ENDAPT project.

In helping to lead the ABPC 21st Century teaching and learning project in Alabama, I connected with some excellent teachers who were growing in their ability to use Web 2.0 tools to collaborate online. It was natural for me to invite them to be involved as mentors in my projects.  As one of the conveners for the K12Online Conference, my network grew to include educators from around the world who were beginning to heavily influence my thinking in educational reform. Again, I invited them to join the learning communities in Tapped In and modeled for my students the importance of building on collaborations. Other mentors came from my network connections made from reading blogs and comments.

Viral Effect
Now it is clear to me that as my network has grown a viral effect has been at work. My networks have merged pulling participants from one group to another and back again. A true learning ecology.

Is it not exciting to live in a time such as this?

Photo credit: http://www.ladiesinred.org/images/dec04/connections%20006%20(2).jpg

 

It Is Still All about the Comments

One of my preservice teachers posted this today...

One of our assignments throughout the semester has been to maintain a blog about our pre-service teaching experiences. Prof. Nussbaum-Beach has also encouraged us to get our students blogging. Thus far, I have been somewhat skeptical on the idea, as it seems logistically challenging to implement. However, the more I maintain my own blog, the more benefits I come across to blogging. The main aspect of blogging that I find increasingly exciting is receiving comments from other educators across the nation. Although this has not happened very often, the times that it has happened has motivated me to write again. Furthermore, other educators' comments have led me to new ideas...Initially, I thought that students may not care who is reading their blog. However, I find myself checking my blog just to see if I received comments. I can only imagine that elementary-aged students would be ten times more excited to receive comments!

Comments are exciting and motivating. I get really excited to know someone is reading what I write and has actually been motivated enough to comment. I was talking to Darren the other day about comments. I had recently been asked to share my "story" at a keynote presentation and had decided to blog about it. No one commented. And I wondered why. Darren said that sometimes people read and are moved, but just do not comment. He is right, but commenting is a very important part of blogging. It is the comments and feedback that motivates us all to write more and reflect deeper.

Bud, Lani, and Anne comment. Often, without prompting, they comment on my preservice teacher's work. My students, all soon to be teachers, get so excited. Lani's comments are so detailed. It is refreshing to see edubloggers giving back, modeling and helping to nurture novices along.

Another of my preservice teachers posted this about comments.

I came across a blog by Anne Davis, suggesting that parents really get involved in commenting on their children's blogs. Anne Davis showed an example of a blog where a parent had wrote on her son's blog, and her comments were very positive and thoughtful. In a world where papers don't always make it home and progress reports get lost in the bottomless pit of student bookbags, I think having student work online and parent posting is a great way to encourage invovlement from the home.

And then there is Tiffany's blog. She reflects deeply. Her writing is fascinating, and yet because she doesn't link out to other blogs or tag she doesn't show up on anyone's radar and very few comment on her writing. Which is quite a shame, because if she is out there then there are others. I wish there was a way to let those who are willing to deeply reflect upon their own experiences and thoughts and still have them surface- so I could find their writing, read their ideas and grow from having been a part of their lives.

In some ways I think it is a professional responsibility to comment on student blogs. Especially on preservice teachers blogs.  Maybe we should start a wiki for teachers to advertise suprglu sets of student's blogs on which they would like for people to comment. As teachers we could agree to adopt a few students to encourage each month.

I am grateful for those of you that have taken the time each semester to pour into my student's blogs. There will be a new set in January. I will post their blogs in my blogroll. I hope you will check in on them from time to time-to make their day and help shape their practice by leaving a comment or two.

 

Blossoming Teachers

Emergence and empowerment are the most spectacular aspects of this stage of the journey on which I find myself. It is a dual occurrence, where as I help others blossom, I find myself learning, growing and empowered in equal proportion.

I have the honor and privilege of teaching preservice teachers at the College of William and Mary. This semester I have the rare opportunity of teaching the same students I had before summer break. The are novices in the profession and novices in the Web 2.0 world. It has been so incredible watching their blossoming.

Want to read their blogs?
They started blogging last spring and were nurtured by several of what Stephen Downs calls A-listers <wink>- Vicky Davis, Bud Hunt, Darren Kuropatwa, Will Richardson, Anne Davis and others. This semester the unsolicited nurturing continues. And like all K12 students, my students too show marked excitement when they get comments! Thank you all of you who have helped nurture their emergence and empowerment. We are a community of learners in the blogosphere and everyone is so eager to help and collaborate.

One of my students, Brittany who blogs over at From Student to Teacher recently shared the experience of her first time in a "Teacher Store" and the excitement she felt at browsing all the possibilities with the visuals, gadgets, and educational toys. I can distinctly remember feeling the same way. She follows those thoughts with the realization that as a new teacher, who needs these items the most, she might not be able to afford them. I distinctly remember having this feeling as well as a new teacher. In an effort to find an alternative she finds this solution online-

I was browsing again this weekend, this time through blogs, and I came across a wonderful "store" that will certainly help when I do have my own classroom. Cynthia Rutledge has compiled a list of resources for free educational materials and shared it in her blog. This list is especially for teachers, and there's some wonderful items that would be an asset to any classroom, especially for subjects like geography and the sciences, with everything from posters to videos and even textbooks!

That is when it hit me! We need a Craig's list for education. I am thinking about suggesting it as part of the Learning 2.0 projects the Alabama teachers are creating in the Advanced schools (part the ABPC work I have been doing). Wouldn't that be cool? Think of the 30 year retiring teacher and all the materials that are typically in her position. If we had a Craig's list for teachers, novices could have access to all those resources.

Brittany has also created another blog called Precious Moments where she is recording those sweetly beautiful sentiments of wonderment that occur in the elementary classroom. I wish I had done that as so many of my stories have faded with time. Beautiful, precious stories that could have been archived if only I had been able to blog about them.

Another student, Meg blogs over at : Be all that you can be. Find your future as a Teacher
and her First Two Lessons Ever  post is a must read. How exciting to get to share in that emergence from student to teacher through her blog!! Do you remember teaching your first lesson solo? She also talks in another post about being excited about all the new possibilities but being scared that:

1. I'll forget about these resources
2. That they won't work out realistically when I get my own classroom.

She asks key questions to which we all need to grapple. Take a read and offer her your advice.

Tiffany's posts are deep and engaging. Her writing style is far beyond emergent.

In addition, several of them are experimenting with creation of their first WebQuest on Quest Garden (by Bernie Dodge) as part of an implementation project for my course. We are creating a course wiki that will link to all of their projects. I will share here soon. But here are Tiffany's, Meg's, Erin's and Rachel's first draft versions of their WebQuests. They possibly are not in finished form.

I coming to see that part of my place in the blogosphere is much like that of a Web 2.0 midwife. I help birth bloggers and social networkers as a way of reforming education. Not because I value the tools, rather because I know using this medium provides for authentic audience, connected communities, strong writers, thinkers, and nurtures the development of higher order thinking skills.

Please join me in helping to mentor my soon to be teachers. They are hungry for your input.

 

Electronic Mentoring

I have been writing lately; a literature review and project description for a collaborative study I helped to design and implement around electronic mentorship. I dont think I have ever really described the project here so I thought I would share. We recently finished year one of the project and have finished our content analysis. We are in the process of submitting our paper for publicaion. I'll let you know when it is released.

Teaching has been described as the profession that eats its young. In an effort to address the support and growth of novice teachers,the College of William and Mary and the Teacher Leaders Network partnered to bring together novice teachers and accomplished teacher leaders in an online mentoring community.(TappedIn)

Current research reveals that up to one-half of new teachers leave the profession within five years and that the most important variable in the academic achievement of students is the quality of their teachers. Clearly, novice teacher retention and development are priorities. More intensive mentoring of novice teachers is increasingly seen as a way to address these needs. Teachers in quality mentoring programs tend to be better able to serve their students, more satisfied in their professional roles, and more likely to continue in the profession.

ENDAPT- (Electronically Networking to Develop Professional Teachers)
The ENDAPT project began as a pilot in the fall of 2005 as an offshoot of a preservice group- mentoring initiative that I was using in my education courses. Dr. Judi Harris  became interested in launching a one-to-one component similar to what she developed in Texas and the project was born.

ENDAPT’s design and functioning are based upon online mentoring research and practice that have been ongoing since 1993 in the Electronic Emissary Project and since 2000 in WINGS Online.

Through a grant from the state department of education and at the request of the newly formed ENDAPT committee, I recruited several of my colleagues (National Board Certified and other highly accomplished K-12 teachers from around the country) who had prior e-mentoring experience in my  preservice courses to serve as online mentors to first year novice teachers who had recently graduated from W&M's teacher preparation program.  

The virtual mentorship project took place in a customized group mentoring environment constructed in a virtual learning community called Tapped In (www.tappedin.org). Inside the virtual “room” core discussions took place in a common arena, among all mentors and novice teachers—usually in an asynchronous manner. I facilitated and also served as the virtual community organizer. It was my role to stimulate and prompt discussion when needed through the posting of various discussion threads related to the needs of a beginning teacher. Over the course of the project, the participants (both mentors and novices) continued to respond to facilitator designed “starter prompts” as well as create threads of their own. As the project progressed, mentors and novices initiated most of topics (threads) of discussion; the dialog contained in these discussions were built around the “just in time” needs of the beginning teacher.

Private conversations were encouraged via private email exchanges between mentors and novices, and development of a dedicated area for one-on-one mentoring situations is being implemented as part of the project’s scaling for the 2006-2007 academic year.

Participants were recruited from recent school of education graduates through a letter explaining the project goals that was sent in both hard copy and electronic form. Potential candidates were offered a monetary incentive in return for agreeing to answer several online surveys about perceived needs and experiences around the professional support for teaching they received and to participate by posting a minimum of at least once per week during the academic year and at least six times during the summer of 2006.

The novice teachers consisted of five elementary, two middle and four high school teachers. Two of the novices were reading specialists. Most of the beginning teachers in the program taught in Va., one was teaching in Florida and another in Arizona.

The eleven mentors were hand selected from a national group of teacher leaders.   There were six elementary, three middle, and two high school mentors. They lived and worked in Alabama, California, Flordia, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Virginia.

As individuals they had 5-31 years of experience among them, with 20 years being the average. In terms of expertise, many of them have served as Teachers of the Year in their school, district, region, state or in a national capacity. They all are National Board certified. One is a Danforth fellow and several have been officers or presidents of state professional associations, served on state and national commissions, operated as department, team, grad-level chairs in their schools and have received various other awards from professional associations.

Year one of the project took place over a ten month period that coincided with the traditional school year. During September through October we recruited, did orientations to the virtual environment, and trained mentors. The training more of a refresher as the mentors selected had been trained previously to work online with preservice teachers in another project. We launched the virtual mentoring project in October calling it “ENDAPT” - ENabling new teachers to ADAPT to—and to adapt—the complex, ever-changing contexts of education as teacher leaders and in service of student learning. The acronym ENDAPT stands for Electronically Networking to Develop Professional Teachers. In December we conducted our first survey and in March–May we began our development of the content analysis methodology used for the research, conducted the second survey and concluded the group mentoring.

The most rewarding moment in the project for me happened on the very last day. One of the novice teachers, a young man with enormous potential, had revealed in his posts toward the end of the program that he wasnt certain if he would return to teaching. Passionate dialog took place between this young teacher and the mentors. It was obvious we all felt it would be a huge loss to the profession if he quit. On the last day he made this post and I knew the pilot had been successful.

The end.
Posted on Jun 1, 2006, 3:05 PM
 last edited on Jun 1, 2006, 3:05 PM   
 
 Today it ends. When the bell rang at 11:28 am, the students walked out the door for the last time this academic year. Tonight is graduation. Tomorrow is a work-day. Done. And my friends, what a ride it has been. Ask me how it was. My response: I have no clue- I'll let you know in a week or two.
 
 Regardless, from a deep place inside, thank you all. It was very reassuring to know that you were available to run to when my world was collapsing. Your input has been internalized and has shaped my approaches this year. As I look forward to reflecting this summer, know that your input and our conversations will be one of my primary sources for material.
 
 Again, my sincerest thanks.
 
 Matt
 2nd year teacher.

When I saw 2nd year teacher I jumped up and down. And marveled at the fact they pay me to do what I do...

Sad Goodbye!

Yesterday was the last day of the semester. Not sure why, but I was disappointed to see it end. I became attached to one of my classes of preservice teachers. I see so much potential for the future in this group!They really seem to understand what it will take to change the world 20-25 kids at a time. One of the coolest things about this group is that they all left as successful bloggers. None of them blogged at the beginning of the semester. Here they are--

I was touched this morning by a post Erin made--
"I have learned so much about teaching, about who I want to be as a teacher, and really I have learned a lot more about myself. It's really a nice feeling, to know that so far by persuing your goals you are becoming more of who you dreamed you could be and everyday here at school i'm just getting one step closer. To me that is amazing."
She goes on to question whether she will teach after her program finishes. I sure hope she does-- children will lose if she doesnt.

In another post Erin wrote this in response to something she was moved by on Darren Kuropatwa's blog

The reason I chose the teaching profession was to make a difference. I was inspired by the teaching profession in the profound way you have the ability to make a difference in a child's life.

... I have always thought that even if I just make a difference in one, one single child's life I would be completely happy and feel rewarded. This quote just says exactly how I feel; atleast I would have done something for that one child and hopefully he/she is better for it, maybe they will be grateful their whole lives, maybe they won't even know, or don't care to say, but I know that if I didn't take the time or effort to help that one child, or many children, they would all be "missing a drop".

The reason I chose the teaching profession was to make a difference. I was inspired by the teaching profession in the profound way you have the ability to make a difference in a child's life. This quote moves me because I have always thought that even if I just make a difference in one, one single child's life I would be completely happy and feel rewarded.

This quote just says exactly how I feel; atleast I would have done something for that one child and hopefully he/she is better for it, maybe they will be grateful their whole lives, maybe they won't even know, or don't care to say, but I know that if I didn't take the time or effort to help that one child, or many children, they would all be "missing a drop".

Pam posted this on her blog.

As pre-service teacher, I wonder about a lot of things. Am I the right person for this job? Will I be able to provide a stimulating enough environment for my students? Will I be able to get the point across to the students? Am I ready for the big adventure!!??

I have heard that if you question about these types of things, then you are already showing how much you care about the profession you are getting into. If you care about something that much, then you will try your hardest to be a good as you can be.

I know that I do care about teaching and I know that I want to be a great teacher. When I hear all this great advice from my edu professors at William and Mary, I quickly write it down and I tell myself to make sure that I do that in my classroom. I know that it will be hard the first year, but even in the first year I do not want my first year students to miss out on anything cool, special, or creative. I want to give it my all every year that I teach. 

How I feel about being a teacher is summed up in this quote, "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." John Ruskin
I just need to make sure that my skill equals my love for teaching!!

That is a powerful quote. Pam's not John Ruskin. "I just need to make sure that my skill equals my love for teaching!!"

My prayer, is that in my helping to prepare the next generation of teachers, that somehow I can inspire that "love" as I am helping them explore ways to leverage the Web in their instruction.

Rachel, another one of the fabulous teachers pictured above understands...

Oh, the frustrations of teaching begin. And here is my concern as a beginning teacher: I love technology! I welcome it, embrace it, and encourage it...unfortunately the rest of the world is a little more reluctant. So many people in the world are still stuck in the "Oh, we didn't need that stuff when I was coming along, so why do you need it now?" mindset.

Face it people...TIMES ARE CHANGING, like it or not!!! Technology is new, it's different; it's the way of the future! This is what it boils down to: the students who have exposure to technology willl have that extra edge in the real world. They'll get the big breaks and be snatched up quickly out of high school and college.

These posts are just the tip of the iceberg! There are too many profound quotes to share them all here but you can read for your self by visiting the suprglu site where I have them all linked.

Yes. I will indeed miss this group. They have been a joy to watch grow and I have learned so much from them. Keep your eye on their blogs! This group of preservice teachers will be the change agents who will help to implement what many of us out here in the blogosphere have been chanting for so long.

Value Added Impact

I have birthed a successful blogger. It feels very satisfying-- 
this young lady, one of my preservice teachers at the College of William and Mary is a teacher leader in the making. "You can't give away what you do not own"-- and this soon to be 
teacher-- owns it! Rachel posted the following in our CRIN 304-401 -Tapped In group.
----------------------------------

Rachel (my first semester preservice education student says....

"Here is the link to my blog:
http://rfprev.blogspot.com/
It's been so cool to get noticed by other edubloggers, so I can 
imagine the excitement my students would feel would be ABSOLUTELY 
AMAZING. What's really neat is the connections you make...Somehow, 
I ended up here:
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/blogboard/
and here:
http://www.ptacentral.org/useful_teacher_blogs.htm
I mean, who ever thought that people would think what you have to 
say is useful? I've learned so much from reading others' 
blogs...And, they allow so much creativity! I can really write 
about what I feel, what I think works, what doesn't, and by 
connecting to so many others, I realize that we can together share 
similar experiences."
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Here is what Ed.Week said about her...

A REAL LAUGHER

Rachel Previs, an elementary education major at the College of William and Mary, hopes that, when she becomes a teacher, she’ll be able to balance her desire to be seen as a professional with her innate silliness:

I think teachers often get so swept into the fears of standardization and cramming information in that they forget to laugh every now and again with students. … I always think it’s a great thing to remember is to learn to laugh at yourself. Be prepared to make mistakes and embarass yourself, but learn to laugh it off!

Out of the mouths of babes ed. students. ...

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As teachers we need to use our voices to advocate for the  profession. As Rachel is proving, blogging is one very effective way of instilling that in preservice teachers.

I remember my friend, and National Teacher in Residence during Clinton years..Terry Dozier saying something along the lines of...If we really want to Honor teachers-- it isnt through certificates, cookies, luncheons and other such Teacher appreciation rituals. If we really want to honor teachers we need to honor what they know. How often does this happen in K-12 environments?

Well the secret here Is--- via the Read, Write, Web-- they can honor themselves and get what they know works out side the isolation of their classroom walls and into the blogosphere where it can resonate with many and impact countless children in classrooms around the world in authentic ways.

Rachel is part of the new breed of teachers. They are formatted for technology when they arrive, but it will take a teacher prep program who understands the importance of empowerment to launch them in the right direction.

I believe--

• Novice teachers show teacher leader potential
• That often what they say and think is brilliant and not yet jaded by the working conditions and culture they must endure
• That we could awaken the sleeping giant by building the self-efficacy of teachers in their ability to rethink and redesign schools, teaching, and learning.
• That teacher as writer-- is a no brainer and there should be a R/W/W component to every content methods course taught at undergrad, masters, and doc level.
• That each graduating class of novice teachers that is trained by professors who do not realize their responsibility in this area... become part of the problem.
• We have to create a sense of URGENCY. Scare them to death. Make sure they understand that they, as profs, will be IRRELEVANTif they do not get on board NOW!

What Advice Would You Give?

A colleague of mine at The College of William and Mary responded to Stephanie's post today via email. He shared this--

Wouldn't it be interesting to collect the insights of student teachers...but
to do so at various points in their student teaching?  I wonder how their
insights would change.

I love hearing student teachers talk about the "real life lessons" that they
have learned in the field that they haven't been taught in the School of Ed
(ours or anyone else's).  I wonder if they recognize what they HAVE been
taught?  I also wonder if we tried to teach them some other things, whether
they would tune us out at the time.  I think that's just human nature.  It
just goes to show how important it is for people to learn through simple
exposure (like reading it in a textbook or talking about it in class),
engaging with it and practicing with it in real life, and then reflecting on
it in some formal or informal way.

As I thought about what he had to say I realized that what he is talking about is what goes on out here in the blogosphere all the time. We read it...talk about it...engage with it...and practice with it in our own lives and come back and reflect on it some more. That is what blogging really is all about.

William and Mary in collaboration with the Teacher Leaders Network by way of a generous grant from the Virginia Department of Education are partnering to pilot a virtual induction program for first year teachers who are W&M alumni. It is a model I developed in my preservice courses. I asked the question my friend mentions above of the novice teachers and their mentors and got some interesting responses.

If you were to give advice to student teachers who will be first year teachers next year... What are the three most important things a new teacher should do to prepare for his or her first year?

Sarah weighed in...

1. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Many veteran teachers assume you want to try and see how you do on your own and that if you need help, you'll ask but many new teachers are afraid to ask. ASK AWAY! I've gotten lots of help and great resources from teachers by asking what they do for this or that lesson.

2. Get organized and stay that way, otherwise you'll feel overwhelmed with stacks of paper, meetings and planning. Set up a system that works for you - you'll be so much more effective, prepared and ready to teach.

3. Contact parents early! It will be so much easier to speak with parents during the year if you have set a solid, positive base to work from early on. They are much more appreciative and willing to listen and work with you halfway through the year if something isn't going right if you made the initial contact at the beginning of the year.

George one of the mentors shared these top three suggestions...

1. Whether assigned or not, get to know and work with another teacher from day one.

2. Don't focus on students' correct answers, focus on their reasoning and explanations.

3. Make contact with parents - all of them - a top priority.

All the rest of the administrative stuff and keeping up will come in time, not to fret and fuss a lot!

Muriel said...

I completely agree with #1. I would not have made it through the year as well as I did without finding a few people in the building I could go to with questions and for advice! I developed a network beyond just the mentor I was assigned.

I also have shared anything cool I've found with the other teachers. Many of them have appreciated it and they have been more than willing to share cool things with me too!

So how about you? What advice do you have?

If you were to give advice to student teachers who will be first year teachers next year... What are the three most important things a new teacher should do to prepare for his or her first year?

What I Never Knew...

Stephanie, one of my preservice secondary education students posted this in our Tapped In group today... I love it!

There are so many things I will admit I never knew before these first few
weeks of student teaching.  The School of Education NEVER taught me....

*It is always wise to hole-punch your handouts for your students...just
   trust me!
*Organization and planning SERIOUSLY cannot be lacking
*Lunch duty is horrible!
*Some students just do not care...and that is sad to me
  *A few students you will spark a connection with your first few days and
   they will hold a special place with you forever
  *The other teachers, especially other young teachers, will be your
    greatest source of comfort when it comes to sharing lesson plans and going out together after-    school
  *High school students still love to cut, glue, and color
  *Parents are continually wanting your time and attention (like right
     away)...sometimes more than their son or daughter

I'd like to write a book called "The First Days of Student Teaching" and
maybe it would be as successful as "The First Days of School"