Monday, November 30, 2015

Educational Resources & Tech Tools 12/01/2015

  • This article gives the benefits and weaknesses of PLNs and PLCs.

    tags: pln plc pd professional development edutopia

    • a Professional Learning Community is "a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students."
    • A PLC is made up of "a school's professional staff members who continuously seek to find answers through inquiry and act on their learning to improve student learning.
    • Teachers who work in more supportive environments become more effective at raising student achievement on standardized tests over time than do teachers who work in less supportive environments.
      • a PLC is typically:

          
        • Face to face
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        • High accountability
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        • Comprised of colleagues from a face-to-face or daily environment
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        • Comprised of peers with similar professional responsibilities
    • Torrey Trust defines the PLN (PDF) as "a system of interpersonal connections and resources that support informal learning.
    • according to multiple, peer reviewed studies, simply being in an open network instead of a closed one is the best predictor of career success . . . the further . . . you go towards a closed network, the more you repeatedly hear the same ideas, which reaffirm what you already believe. The further you go towards an open network, the more you're exposed to new ideas
      • PLNs are typically:

          
        • Online and open
        •  
        • More informal
        •  
        • Open to a free flow of ideas
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        • Often welcoming to newcomers
        •  

      • PLNs' weaknesses are:

          
        • Teachers get excited about an idea but meet resistance in their local school.
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        • Teachers have no way to share and discuss ideas with their local school.
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        • Some educators use their PLN inconsistently and have no accountability to keep learning.
        •  
        • PLNs can be overwhelming because it seems like too much, or users can't focus.
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        • Authentic conversations can become dominated by a few loud voices.
        •  
        • Some hashtag founders exhibit territorial behavior that limits conversation.
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        • Trolls and spammers can derail hashtag conversations.
    • "Blend" your school's PLC by creating an online space for it. Make this a simple place to share resources and ideas gleaned from participants' PLNs. Many teachers don't collaborate online because it's just one more thing to do. Make it simple to share. Give the less social-media-savvy educators simple options such as an email subscription to a few blogs.
    • Encourage educators to share ideas. Set specific goals. You can't be everywhere and do everything. Focus can achieve incredible results if you're all searching your PLNs for new ideas to tackle a troubling issue in your PLC
    • 5. Link the online and face-to-face worlds.

        

      Administrators and others should mention the online spaces in staff meetings. Likewise, an online reflection of something said at the PLC helps show continuity. Educators should see both the online and face-to-face spaces as substantial parts of their PLC.

  • "Part of the strength of the TELL Project is its built-in ability for teachers to self-determine how well they currently meet the criteria defined in the Teacher Effectiveness for Language Learning Framework, relative to the growth they would like to make. To assist teachers in this aspect of reflective practice, TELL makes available self-assessment documents that allows an educator to pause and consider their current practice to identify possible areas of professional growth."

    tags: self-assessment foreign language Spanish

  • "Service Learning: Growing Action From the Roots of Passion"

    tags: service learning service passion projects

  • tags: thanksgiving SocialStudies Pilgrims history

  • tags: youtube youtube editing adblock technology tech tools

  • Tips for how to gamify your classroom with small tweaks rather than big changes.

    tags: gamification teaching learning

  • tags: apps ipad reading writing

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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