My friend and fellow TLN blogger, Bill Ferriter, shared the events and the thinking that led him to recently block someone on Twitter. Not only was the post classic Bill in its transparency and thoughtfulness, but also it required a courage we see too little of in social media. The courage to admit that rudeness is not okay, and that it is not only possible, but necessary to hold one another to standards of conduct.

As usual, Bill has hit on a real issue in the social media world that touches many people--judging from the comments to the original post. But the points he raises go beyond just the rudeness of people on Twitter or in blog comment boxes, and takes me right into the heart of my classroom. 

I teach students ranging from 14-year-old 9th graders to 60+ year old college sophomores. One of the most important goals of my teaching is to help students learn how to engage in meaningful communication. Communication requires us to comprehend and analyze messages from others, respond to those messages, and share our own ideas with increasingly broader audiences in such a way that they will respect and consider what we have to contribute.

These lessons are hard enough to teach under the best of circumstances, but have become even harder in the current social and political settings that condone insult and personal attack as valid forms of discourse. I started my professional career as a journalist; I grew up watching Walter Cronkite and reading the work of great print journalists. My father (who was also trained in mass communications and journalism) and I used to watch and critique a cross section of news shows and news articles every day. Dad was the first to teach me to never get all my information from just one source unless that source was God--everybody else needed a cross-check.

Teaching students of all ages to be good writers means teaching them how to express ideas clearly, but that's only one side of the communication. Truly good communicators are also strong readers, careful observers, and effective listeners. I sometimes ask my students directly: Can you separate personalities from ideas? Can you listen to someone you don't like if that person has a valid point? Can you accurately summarize ideas in a printed or spoken text, even if the author is taking a position with which you personally disagree? Can you refute or offer a counterargument based on what another person actually said without making references to his/her mother or physical features?

These are important lessons for us to teach, and sadly, our mass media too often promotes exactly the opposite lessons. As teachers, we have a moral and a professional obligation to model good communication skills, including how to have civil, productive conversations that increase the learning  and maintain the dignity of everyone involved.

Thanks, Bill.

One might not find it unusual to find a group of teachers chatting about learning. Recently I was in a virtual room of nearly 60 amazing teachers discussing their own professional learning.  The fact that so many teachers spent an hour sharing their perspective on professional development for educators was not unusual.  What was unusual was the insight and inspiration gained from participating in these discussions.  I find taking part in Twitter chats a fast-paced and deeply thoughtful activity. But the part I like best is the reflection after the chat.  (My colleague, Shannon C’ de Baca, has prepared a Storify of the May Twitter chat, which I highly recommend!)  Allow me to share a few of my thoughts on May’s chat on professional learning.

PLNs and Creating Community

I must redouble my efforts to support teachers in building their own professional learning community while supporting the creation of a culture of community in my school.  How will I do this?  Because so many of my #teaching2030 colleagues inspired this thinking, I will turn to them as I plan.  For example, when asked who is responsible for a teacher’s professional learning, Diana Laufenberg, Jerry Blumengarten, and Mike Gwaltney respond:

@dlaufenberg: The answer is the same as the student… learning happens in a community that values learning. All members are responsible. #teaching2030 and @dlaufenberg: The interesting thing is that we often think of tcher learning as somehow more difficult to ‘pull off’ than stdnt learning#teaching2030

@cybraryman1: I have seen great learning & sharing on Twitter which is PD 24/7 from outstanding & passionate global educators #teaching2030

@MikeGwaltney: As we all here know, PLNs are essential to effective professional learning, and we need to teach our peers how to make them. #teaching2030

I agree with Diana, Jerry and Mike wholeheartedly.  Their collective knowledge and experience on PLNs and creating community is the resource I need to support my redoubling efforts.

Rethinking Traditional PD

Another interesting question posed to those taking part in the chat was “What is the best professional development you’ve experienced and why?”  The responses didn’t look much like the traditional professional development offered by school districts today.  Here’s a sample.

@engaginged: My absolute best PD comes through my Google RSS reader. Amazing bloggers teach me so much. Twitter = close second.#teaching2030 and @engaginged: My own blogging has been great PD, too. There’s something powerful in sharing & reflecting. #teaching2030

@wendi322: My best PD comes when it’s something I seek out myself, something I deem crucial/important at the time #teaching2030

@teachingwthsoul: Best PD was #edcamp and Reform Symposium! Educator led and driven! #teaching2030 and @cybraryman1: Best professional learning nowadays are from #edcamps & #TeachMeets where you have choice & can give sessions too #teaching2030

@lhill40: What do you think about action research as PD? #teaching2030

Imagine what professional learning initiatives might emerge if these ideas were turned into PD action plans.  It really is time for the teacher voice to penetrate the professional learning agenda for teachers.  According to this Twitter crowd, the teacher is responsible for their own development.  Does that mean pushing for more innovation and diverse pathways for formal teacher PD?  Every month I leave the #teaching2030 chat with inspiration to find answers to such questions.  Advancing teaching as the results-oriented, 21st century profession as it should be is what these chats are all about!

The entire transcript from May’s Twitter chat can be accessed here.

The third Thursday of each month teachers gather on Twitter to chat using the hashtag #teaching2030.  Join us for our next chat on June 21 at 8:30 ET.

Hey John and Jose,

I always enjoy this time of year.  Looking ahead to the possibilities of a brand new year fills me with excitement and hope.  Over the last few years we’ve shared our dreams and goals for our profession with one another, much of it outlined in our book, TEACHING 2030.  I’m so glad to see this conversation expand using social media.  Our #teaching2030 Twitter chat every third Thursday of the month continues to draw a crowd passionately interested in advancing our profession.  The December 15 chat on teacher evaluation was no exception!

The conversation began with a discussion on the essentials of teacher evaluation. Some highlights:

• @stephe1234: “We first have to create a culture of relational trust and growth among teacher and administrators.”
• @MsMagiera: “Teacher eval must feel constructive, not punitive. Tchrs must feel safe enough to fail—without failure, there is no growth.” 

While it might seem daunting to deeply discuss a topic in only 140 characters at a time, we moved on to a discussion about peer evaluation.  @ratzelster, @CohenD, and @MWilliamMoran engaged in a lively debate on the role of peers in teacher evaluation.  @ratzelster worried that peer evaluation would take time away from PLCs and that peer evaluation could risks eroding those relationships. But @MWilliamMoran wrote, “Peer evaluation builds community, strengthens morale, and are often more trusted than evals coming from superiors.” 

The participants in the #teaching2030 chat had much to say about the direction teacher evaluation should take in the future. Some highlights from this discussion:

• @TRackowitz:  “Shouldn’t master teachers be held to a higher standard?” 
• @CohenD: “I’d hope we move towards differentiating evaluation just as we do for students.  My needs are quite different from new teachers.” 
• @MoniseLSeward: “There must also be ‘space’ to included things teachers do to foster learning/creativity that cannot be measured.” 
• @rcniman: “Should parents and students have input in evaluations?”  

Wow!  When teachers gather, the time always flies and leaves us with much more to share and discuss.  Luckily, the next #teaching2030 chat is coming up soon: January 19, 2012 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. (ET). 

The new year brings great possibilities for teachers.  Teachers curious about exploring, sharing, and engaging in conversations about our profession are invited to participate every third Thursday of each month in our #teaching2030 Twitter chat. I’m looking forward to a wonderful year of hopeful discussions about the future of teaching.

The complete transcript from the December 15 chat is available here.

Like our students, many teachers are embarking on new learning adventures at the end of the summer. Actually, many of us have been in learning mode all summer long. I have taken time this summer to explore the rich discussions with other teachers on many of the growing social networks for teachers around the Web.

One of the most productive and useful learning spots is English Companion Ning created by California English teacher Jim Burke. Right now at ECN we are in the first week of a book club discussion with author Troy Hicks on The Digital Writing Workshop. There have also been book clubs with Carol Jago and Penny Kittle. All of these authors are also classroom teachers who, like ECN founder Burke, take the time to share their expertise and draw others into mutually productive exchanges.

Speaking of great exchanges, I have become a huge fan of the teacher chats on Twitter--especially since I've learned to use the desktop application TweetDeck that lets me follow those conversations more easily.  These chats can be located and joined by searching or messaging with the appropriate Twitter hashtag for the discussion (e.g., #engchat, #mathchat, #sschat, #ellchat, #gtchat, #edchat...).  Most of these are weekly discussions with a topic chosen by online poll. They are fast-moving, info-dense session. Thankfully, most of them are also archived.  I'll be hosting next week's #engchat on Mon. 6 - 7 CDT. Bunch of English teachers talking about teaching grammar...I get excited just thinking about it!

I've also enjoyed several of the Elluminate (online conferencing site) conversations sponsored every week by Steve Hargadon of Classroom 2.0 and LearnCentral. Teachers and educational thought leaders from around the world check-in for open conversation followed by lively Q & A. I caught the ones with Linda Darling-Hammond and Sam Chaltain.

Over at Teachers Letters to Obama, we just held an amazing teacher roundtable webinar examining the effects of school turnaround policies led by teachers who have been through them. Some penetrating analysis and important calls to action for teachers and parents.

My TLN colleague Bill Ferriter, hosted a VoiceThread discussion of his new book, Teaching the I-Generation and it spawned some deep thinking about what is or should be changing in our schools and classrooms (like maybe the physical and mental walls).

This has also been an intense summer of writing for me as I have worked virtually with several editors and collaborators on multiple pieces about education that will be published in various venues over the next 3 - 6 months. One of the most exciting is the Teaching 2030 book project coming out in January through Teachers College Press.  More important, I've heard from many other teachers who are doing the same.

Come October, I'll be gearing up (and you should too) for the K12Online Conference, an international virtual conference sponsored by teachers for teachers on integrating technology into our teaching.

What excites me about all of this is how teachers are taking charge of our own professional development through social networking, rather than just waiting on whatever offerings are forced upon us by our schools/districts that may or may not meet the student needs we are facing in the classroom.

I know there is even more teacher learning going on throughout the virtual world. Share some that have helped you with us here. Should professional learning such as the kinds I've mentioned here be counted as professional development for teacher certification renewal? Is it any more or less valuable than the workshop sessions we sit through in our buildings or at face-to-face meetings?