Waiting to Hear from my Pen Pal...

Remember when we had pen pals? You would write the letter, send it off with the mail man (via snail mail)…then wait…and wait…and wait for a reply. This reply would eventually arrive from your friend who lived on the other side of the country (or world). Fast forward to today… So what does your Pen Pal program look like today? How does that communication differ? What are you learning and sharing?

In a recent conversation with Dennis Schug (@DJrShcug), Principal of Hampton Bays Middle School (Long Island), he made the succinct analogy of “waiting” for a direct message, tweet, or blog post today is just like the anticipation we had as children when we anxiously waited for a letter from our Pen Pal. I told Dennis, “That’s it. You need to write about that!”  Dennis politely declined and suggested that I take up the topic. So… here goes!

My 45 minute PD opportunity with Dennis today was like that Pen Pal letter of yesterday – only on steroids. We were able to share ideas, ask questions, laugh, and learn from each other. It was instantaneous PD. I was able to “connect” with Dennis who is one of my 21^st Century PLN Pen Pals. Now, after several months of corresponding via our tweets, Twitter chat discussions, and retweets we were able to “connect” the old fashioned way… using the telephone.

Next up… a potential GHO as we map out a plan to use Skype to make connections between our two middle schools. One in the Midwest, that’s my school, and the other on the East Coast -Dennis’ school.  The potential is limitless. Our teachers will share strategies, best practices, and learn from one another. Our students will share their understanding and knowledge with their new peers – affirming one another and building relationships with peers from across the country. I’m going to call this “A Tale of Two Middle Schools”.

For those of you who have yet made the “plunge” into the Twitterverse… please take this invitation as an opportunity to connect with a new Pen Pal via Social Media in this new era of Pen Pal letters. I refer to my Twitter PLN as my “PLN Pals”. It’s a phrase I started using a little over a year ago and it just stuck.

You never know who could be around the corner or the world… waiting to connect, learn, and grow with you.

We've Always Done it This Way!

Those immortal words were spoken by Rear Admiral Grace Hopper. This led me to reflect on the practices that are presently in place in the school setting. I know we work hard to advance our thinking and best practices. However, I needed to put on proverbial “reflective practitioner hat” to truly assess my school’s work (as well as that of other schools). What I learned is that “IF this is true in an educational setting, then we must work to reverse that philosophy, practice, and pedagogy.

In our schools we indeed have teachers, administrators, and support staff personnel who are pioneers in their schools. They are forging ahead with the implementation of BYOD/BYOT, Social Media, and APPs in the classroom. They are meeting the learners on a common playing field – and it is exciting to witness.

So what can we do? Simply stated, we should remain focused on the learner. We should continue our implementing the best practices of 21c. In order to counter the “We’ve always done it this way” syndrome you can support:

·         Flipped Classroom

·         Genius Hour (20% time)

·         Google Docs (and now Google Calendar

·         Remind101

·         Twitter use in the classroom

·         Skype

·         Infographics

·         Augmented Reality (e.g. Arasma, Layar, ColAR, Flashcards)

·         Backchannel (e.g. TodaysMeet)

·         Blog writing

·         Building a PLN

·         Student Voice

·         Teacher Voice

This only scratches the surface of ideas that can counter this “non-productive” philosophical practice. Keep posting additional ideas!