Assignment 3.1 - Change a Teacher

Teacher Situation

            Ms. P. is a teacher librarian at two different schools in School District No. 57 (Prince George). She is currently trying to collaborate with other staff members in her school, and working to “develop joint instructional practices” (Huang). Ms. P. also wishes to create a Professional Learning Network through the Internet, to share ideas, collaborate and create inter-school or district connections.

Stages of Concern

            Huang notes, “the upper Stages of Concern are focused on the results and impact of the activity, a clue of which might be the use of pronouns which refer to clients, protégés, or participants who receive the benefits of the activity” (Huang). When discussing Ms. P.’s use of reference materials she clearly referred to the result of the students, and how the students benefited from her use of various strategies and reference materials; especially electronic reference resources such as World Book Online.

            Ms. P. also attends regular Professional Learning Committees (PLCs) also known as Professional Learning Teams (PLTs). Based on the language Ms P. uses as well as her involvement with school PLCs, it is clear she is at the Integration level of use within the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM).

Effective Use of Reference Resources

            Currently, Ms. P. is using more electronic reference resources than print, due to their updated information. She has the students view World book online, as well as local websites such as the Exploration Place website, to help facilitate local and curriculum learning. She does not use Google often but she does have students use it occasionally to broaden their search parameters. Ms. P. also has the students supplement reference resources with the non-fiction section of the library, for additional information.

            Ms. P. has also been working to collaborate with staff. She has been working with the second grade teacher on units, however, after interviewing her, she says most of the older staff members are more reluctant to collaborate as they have their own routines they focus on.

Introduction of New Resource:

            Ms. P. admitted she is interested in collaborating with other schools and teachers district wide, and provincially. Her goal is to connect with other teacher librarians and teachers. After an extended collaboration period, the students from both schools would be introduced, and would collaborate on a project. As part of another course within the Diploma program forming collaborative networks has been a key concept using social networking. When Ms. P. mentioned her goal for her libraries, I asked Ms. P. if she had a Twitter account. She replied, “No.”             

             According to William Kist, “Twitter is an online social network that asks participants to update their ‘followers’ as to what they are doing in fewer than 140 characters. Some ‘twits’ choose to ‘tweet’ many times a day to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of followers” (2010). I explained Twitter can be used as a platform for connecting to other teachers in the district, provincially, even worldwide. Will Richardson states, “Following other educators on Twitter

creates a ‘network at my fingertips’ phenomenon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go through the day. For many, it’s become a running river of conversation and ideas that has cemented their connections to the community and made the network even more palpable” (2010).

I also explained that once the collaboration between teachers was started, Skype could be used between the students as a means to communicate using video and audio! Ms. P.’s response was, “Can you show me?”

            Ms. P. and I met at a local coffee shop with laptops in hand. Over a coffee and chai latte, we constructed an Innovation Configuration (Appendix A) and I helped her set up a Twitter account. When starting a new account with Twitter, it allows you to add your friends using Facebook, but also allows you to enter specific people you wish to follow, or “you can find new people to follow using a variety of directories. …[All] sorts of resource sites have sprung up for teachers who want to connect with other Twittered souls. Try, for example, the exhaustive ‘Directory of Learning Professionals (& Others) on Twitter’” (Richardson, 2010). I helped Ms. P. pick new people to follow tied to education, such as Joyce Valenza and Buffy Hamilton (both teacher librarians) and also looked at the ‘Twitter for Teachers’ wiki. Richardson explains, “It’s a blend of the professional and the personal that makes Twitter such a cool tool on so many levels. Some people have described it as a ‘sixth sense’ in terms of the network; you feel more a part of the larger conversation, more a part of the community” (2010).

            I explained to Ms. P. that in order for this to work you have to make time to check what people have posted, and be involved with the conversations; post that you are interested in collaborating with other schools and see what develops. Ms. P. was so excited to be introduced to this new resource. Though this may not have been a reference resource, it ties into her goals for the future of her library.

            I also took the time to explain some of Richardson’s ideas for classroom integration. He suggests, “If you want a sense of how Twitter changes the game, check out the great ‘Twitter Collaboration Stories’ wiki that’s hosted by Nancy White (tinyurl.com/yw7sa8)” (Richardson, 2010). He also highlights “The ‘Twitter in Academia’ post at the AcademHack blog” which “has a number of ways to start integrating Twitter into the classroom” (Richardson, 2010). The AcademHack blog has about ten different ideas for using Twitter in the classroom. I pointed out “Grammar,” “Following a Famous Person or Professional” “Track a word” and “Classroom Community building” (dave, 2008).

            As Ms. P. and I were discussing the potential I referred back to Richardson and noted his final comment on Twitter, “But regardless of how you might think about Twitter in the classroom, remember, the short (140 characters or less) lesson is this: Think about Twitter for yourself first. It’s a great place to connect and learn with others who share your passions” (2010).

            Now that Ms. P. has her Twitter account it is up to her to take its use to the next level. One thing she did note early in the process was that she has wanted to start using more social networking but had not set time aside for this. This self-reflection could place Ms. P. further back on the Levels of Use Scale presented by Huang, but I believe that based on her commitment to learning and her desire to reach her goals in collaboration, Ms. P. will be moving forward on the scale, and will set aside time to communicate with other teachers throughout the world.

Self-Reflection and Conclusions

            When I first saw this assignment I had concerns about the goal of the assignment. I had issues with the title, “Change a Teacher.” Teachers do not like being told they have to change. Ms. P, however, was very excited to participate in the assignment, and was interested in my ideas. Ms. P. values collaboration, and was willing to listen to my suggestions. I believe approaching the assignment as an interview first, helped in determining which tool to share with Ms. P. as well. Rather than choosing a random tool from my collection, I was able to choose one that was tailored to her goals for her libraries. As Susan Loucks-Horsley notes, “The strength of the concerns model is in its reminder to pay attention to individuals and their various needs for information, assistance, and moral support” (1996). I feel this made more of an impact, and also allowed Ms. P. the opportunity to ask for my assistance in getting started with Twitter.

Appendix A: Innovation Configuration

Innovation Configuration - Twitter Network
Key Components	Ideal Implementation	Flawed Implementations	Unacceptable Implementation
*Teacher will join Twitter	Teacher will follow the steps provided by the Project coordinator, and create a Twitter account.	Creates an account but does not add acceptable followers for tool to be effective.	Teacher refuses to be involved with a Twitter account.
*Teacher will network with other educators using a series of tools	Teacher accesses the Sqworl created by the Project coordinator to network with other educators, and engage in dialog.	Teacher creates a network, however, teacher does not interact with the network.	Teacher does not connect with any teachers and only uses Twitter as a personal connection tool.
*Teacher will use the networks to collaborate on a project between two schools.	Teacher finds several schools or educators interested in inter-school collaboration and develops a project to get students connected with other students, provincially or worldwide.	Teacher starts collaboration process, however, completion is not followed through.	Teacher does not engage in any dialog with other schools, therefore not collaborating.

References

dave. (2008, January 23). Twitter for Academia. AcademHack [Weblog Post] 

      Retrieved from http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/

      twitter-for-academia/

Kist, W. (2010). The Social Networked Classroom: Teaching in the new media 

      age. Thousand Oaks, OH: Corwin.

Loucks-Horsley, S. (1996). Professional Development for Science Education: 

      A critical and immediate challenge. In R. Bybee (Ed.), National 

      Standards & the Science Curriculum. Dubuque, IW: Kendall/Hunt 

      Publishing Co.

Oris, A. and Huang, P. Concerns-Based Adoption Model. Retrieved from

      https://sites.google.com/site/ch7cbam/home

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools 

      for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, OH: Corwin.