Communities of Practice

     Similar to Valerie, when I listened to the video about Communities of Practice, one of my initial thoughts was that a community of practice is similar to a Professional Learning Community, but as I process the information, I am coming to understand that  a community of practice is so much more.  A Community of Practice can influence a Professional Learning Community and I look at a Community of Practice as a community of professionals learning together, then reflecting, and ultimately affecting one's practice.   The reflection is when the true learning takes place.  As a Community of Practice expands, the members of that community can influence their Professional Learning Communities through bringing their own reflections and learning. 

     The short video about why do people blog had a significant impact on my thinking.  I am impacted the most by the statement that blogging is for yourself to force oneself to be reflective, to be concise and to become part of the conversation. 

     One of my Communities of Practice has recently changed due to a new position within the workplace.  Both my colleague and I are new to the position and the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face with other people in the same position is limited.  What an opportunity!  So off I go to search the web for a Community of Practice for people that are in roles to support new educators!  As I share with my colleague about this, the real power is in the discussion, learning and new practices that result from this collaboration.  And of course, my Community of Practice also consists of educators that seek educational justice and equity. 

     The use of technology as a springboard for reflection and learning should be part of one’s routine.  Personally, the tools that I enjoy the most, and therefore find most useful are blogs that relate to educational practices.  In this fast-paced world, Tweets move too fast for me, but I do believe that I need to give Twitter another try.  

What Does Learning Look Like?

My girls took a shot at a rock climbing wall- it took them each a couple of tries, but both eventually made it to the top.  

Co- teaching and Research Haiku

Maximize teaching

Co-teaching is the new way

Differentiate

From Problem to Possibility- Reflective Journal

The title of the article of From problem to possibility (Daly & Chrispeels, 2005) struck me in a most unanticipated way.  Although the article itself is about leadership for implementing change, organizational stress and other topics, the title itself served as a catalyst for an epiphany.  I have always had an interest in students that are emerging bilinguals, and I plan to make this the focus of my research.  I reflect back on some of the terminology that was used (and in many areas still is) fifteen, twenty years ago when I first entered into the field of education.  For example, LEP- Limited English Proficient, ELEPS- English for the Limited English Proficient Student- the program written in San Diego City Schools for students taking English as a Second Language (ESL).  Now I shake my head and wonder how could we as educators look at an entire population of students from a perspective of what they don’t have, clearly a deficit viewpoint?

That is not my epiphany though.  The epiphany is about the power of language.  Over the past few summers I have been fortunate to attend several trainings and conferences, including Project WRITE, the Cultural Proficiency Institute and a talk with the author of Words were all we had: Becoming biliterate against the odds.  It was at the Project WRITE training a few years ago that I first heard a new term as a replacement for ELD (English Language Development)- English as a New Language (ENL).  Not only is this an appropriate term for our students that are acquiring a new language, but the term implies, if one gives it deeper thought that the student already has language.  This acknowledgement is one of many on a path to recognizing an asset.  With this new term so many changes in our speech are possible and make so much more sense.  For example, instead of English Learner- Emerging Bilingual.  Furthermore, if we incorporate language that is grounded in a belief that the primary language of a student is an asset, a shift in philosophy seems at first plausible and then probable.  For example, if the term Emerging Bilingual is used on a regular and consistent basis, then the discussion of transition programs (the goal of which is to at best not develop a primary language and worse to eliminate the primary language) seems not far off on the horizon and with it how illogical those programs seem.  Regarding students as Emerging Bilinguals (and hopefully emerging biliterates) foundationally sets the stage for not only the maintenance, but for the continued development of the primary language.  

I would like to see a change in behavior within our school systems.  Using the term Emerging Bilingual but then not permitting the use of a student’s primary language, or admonishing a student for code switching not only seems illogical, it makes the speaker of those admonishments look at the very least foolish.

So back to the epiphany, from the “problem of English Learners” to the possibility of biliteracy.  I think that I am pretty aware of my language, but the commitment that I make is to shift my language so that it becomes habit.  I am a leader and if I have to explain what I mean to people that give me puzzled looks, then I will.  I actually look forward to those conversations and hopefully the reflection and eventual impact that they will have.  

References

Daly, A. & Chrispeels, J. (2005).  From problem to possibility:  Leadership for implementing and deepening the processes of effective schools.  Journal for Effective Schools 4(1), 7-25.

de la Luz Reyes, M. (Ed.) (2011). Words were all we had: Becoming biliterate against the odds.  New York: Teachers College Press. 

Visitors and Residents

     Last year Dr. Doug Fisher presented to the two classes of Secondary Literacy that I was teaching.  During his presentation he showed a video clip of one of his colleagues teaching to help demonstrate a particular concept.  In the video (this was not the main point of the clip), the teacher texts one of his contacts to get clarification on a piece of information, and within a couple of minutes the teacher had a response.  In the room in which we sat there was an audible gasp that a teacher was actually texting in class, in front of the class, and on video.  After the video clip was over and Dr. Fisher was about to continue his talk, hands went up and the next few minutes were devoted to talking about the texting teacher.  Dr. Fisher’s reaction was somewhat surprised that people wanted to talk about that teacher and then quickly acknowledged that some schools still live in an “era of prohibition.”  I remember thinking at the time, “neat, the teacher has a very current technological tool and he is using it.”  I did not see anything wrong with it.  Dr. Fisher concluded that portion of the talk (because I would imagine that he wanted to move on) by saying, “21^st century learning is 10% over already, and some schools are still not letting our students use 21^st century tools.”  It was at this point that my views about using cell phones and smart phones in the classroom changed.

      I thought about Dr. Fisher’s presentation as I was watching the video Visitors and Residents featuring Dr. White.  According to Dr. White, I would be a visitor- I use the internet as a tool, but I am a very frequent visitor, to the point that I pretty much have internet capability with me at all times, whether it be by using my iphone, my ipad or being on a computer.  I am such a frequent visitor that there are certain tasks that I do not even think about which type of tool I am going to use, it is automatically an online tool.  Banking-check.  Paying bills- check, buying airline tickets- check, want to go to a movie?- check, the family calendar- all online,  a store that offers to send me my receipt via email- absolutely.  Maybe I am like a snowbird resident. 

I particularly liked Dr. White’s example of a visitor being characterized as one that can be very competent in using technology, but not having a large web presence.  I think this is more of who I am online.  I use Facebook to keep up with friends, but I do not post very often, and I do not have many online friends.  My Facebook page reflects who I am in real life- a very private person with a close group of friends.  In fact, I view Facebook as a tool- I go “there” with a purpose and often feel guilty if I spend too much time just “wandering around.” 

     As for the 21^st tools that some of our students are not permitted to use in the educational setting, I would really like our learning to be reciprocal.  I would very much like to learn about how they live on the internet and how they use it.  And as I create more of a web presence through the different social media tools that are being shown to us, I would like to teach students to be more targeted and competent with their use.