Professional Development Opportunities

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Professional Development Opportunities
With Blogs and Wikis
Using 21st Century technology to embrace
continual professional development
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Sources Article Education Leadership
February, 2009 Author Bill Ferriter In response
to an article by Richard Elmore Professor of
Educational Leadership Harvard Elmore reported
in 2002 for the Albert Shanker Institute.
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Elmore Writes
As expectations for increased student
performance mounts and the measurement and
publication of evidence about performance becomes
part of the public discourse about schools, there
are few portals through which new knowledge
about teaching and learning can enter schools
so the brutal irony of our present
circumstance is that schools are hostile and
inhospitable places for learning. They are
hostile to the learning of adults and, because of
this, they are necessarily hostile to the
learning of students. Ferriter Explains
Because we are in a sprint through the day,
worried about leaving no child left behind, adult
learning is often pushed aside. The few minutes
of professional development are spent on silver
bullets . Teachers rarely get to self-select
learning opportunities pursue meaningful
passions, or engage in meaningful
discussions on
instruction.
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Ferriter Writes What makes professional
development so frustrating is most of it comes
from the business world. It has little Impact on
student learning. But teachers do not challenge
the status quo.

• A history of poor professional development
  experiences has left teachers jaded and stagnant,
  groaning, when given opportunities to learn.
• Statements like
• Nothing is going to change
• This is how professional development has always
  been done . Bring a big stack of papers to grade
  and you will keep busy.
• Discipline again (msk)
• Why cant we just work in our rooms. I need to be
  there (msk)

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Two Things Have Changed
There is a new emphasis on the importance of
collaboration learning among member of close knit
teams in schools opportunities to reflect on
instruction together
Digital tools now help fulfill fresh portals
through which new knowledge about teaching and
learning are discussed. Thousands of
accomplished educators are now writing blogs
about teaching and learning.
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What Blogs Are Doing
Educators are reflecting on instruction
Educators are challenging instruction
Questioning policies
Offering advice
Designing Solutions
Most of which is free
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Ferriter begins each morning -
_at_ gt _at_
Looking at blogs for 20 minutes, sifting through
the thousands of practitioners he might never be
able to learn from except for this method of
interaction. As one becomes familiar with blog
sites, users get faster as their comfort
increases. Ferriter stresses the point that the
practice of using these sites is not difficult.
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Patrick Higgins ( http// chalkdust101.wordpress.
com) This blog emphasizes characteristics of
effective professional development
Dina Strasser (http// theline.edublogs.org
) Elements of high quality instruction for
middle grade students.
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Scott McLeod ( www.dangerouslyerrelevant.org
) Discusses driving school changefrom the system
level
Nancy Flanagan ( http// teacherleaders.typepad.
com/teacher_in_a_strange_land ) Discusses the
connection between education policy and classroom
practice.
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John Holland ( http// circle-time.blogspot.com
) and ( http// inpractice.edublogs.org
) This discusses the challenges of working in
high needs communities.
Blogs create conversations from all over the
United States. Blogs can narrow in on specific
discussions
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Reading Blogs Expect reactions
Grade papers
Prepare for class
Raising a family
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Introducing the Blog Professional Development
Phase
Investigate where your teachers are with the
comfort of using websites. Use an example of an
issue that your campus is working through. Go to
a blog during a faculty meeting and view comments
and writings concerning this issue. Demonstrate
the use of participating in these
discussions. Alleviate the fears.
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Using technology to scan blogs for you
Page Flakes ( www.pageflakes.com )
Teachers ( http//teacher.pageflake.com
) These include a grade tracker, task list,
and built in writer tutor.
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Steps to incorporate blogs into your daily
efforts to grow as a professional

• Start by using a feed reader as a learning tool.
  These can locate several blogs that target
  educators grade level, content area, ect..
• Example Support Blogging Wiki
  (http//supportblogging.com

Caution You are about to enter the spin
zone. Bloggers should be prepared to agree,
disagree, get angry, want to engage in
conversations and write their own opinions.
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• 2.Dedicate a few minutes each day to browse the
  changing content on blog sites.
• make
  comments to authors
• engage
  other readers
• Discuss material with others about what you are
  learning
• create
  discussion groups
• present at
  faculty meetings
• steal the
  good ideas

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• Express your ideas.
  
  develop curriculum and instruction materials
• review research and
  debate its merits
• ask about issues
  troubling yourself or school

Additional Blog Services Type pad
( www. typepad.com ) Requires a paid
subscription, come with technical support and
file storage. Blogger ( www.blogger.com
) It is a free Google based product. Google
users only need a username and password to sign
in. Edublogs ( www.edublogs.org )
free blogging service that is dedicated to
educators.
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Using Wikis
Are editable web sites Require little technical
skill Wiki tool bars look just like a word
processing tool bar Designed for collaboration
among groups of users The writer is not
responsible for an entire selection all by
themselves. The writer can reflect with
colleagues.
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Wiki Sites
P B Wiki ( http// pbwiki.com ) very popular
website for educators because it is easy to
use. Wikispaces ( www.wikispaces.com ) One of
the first wiki services that educators embraced.
This site has thousands of spaces to look to for
samples. Wet Paint ( www.wetpaint.com ) One
of the newest of the websites with an emphasis on
tools for collaboration and professional
templates.
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Summary
In an economy that has the legislature asking all
agency heads to cut budgets across each
program Where time is short and mandate lists
for student improvement are long In a stimulus
world where it takes stimulants to be stimulated
and not become stymied
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Summary
Administrators are always looking for
innovative, cost effective, sustainable,
professional development initiatives.
Using Blogs and Wikis
Assign random groups monthly to research a
specific topic and report at monthly faculty
meetings Put a specific question out there for
feed back to address an issue the school is
having Give professional development hours for
quality on-line discussion
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Summary
Use this to discuss instruction techniques,
classroom management, and content expansion.
Caution
Check with your technology support to ensure blog
and wiki sites are virus free Remember some
blogs are opinionated, learn to analyze what you
read before you take it to heart and tell others
to take it from you.
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About the author
Bill Ferriter teaches 6th
grade science and social studies in Raleigh,
North Carolina and is a Senior Fellow in the
Teacher Leaders Network. His blog, The Tempered
Radical, is found at http//teacherleaders.type
pad.com/the_tempered_radical
or wferriter_at_hotmail.com