JOHN WROTE ON JULY 26:
Time to call it a day?
I've just read the messages from the last four days rather carefully. We
seem to be a bit stuck. We have several pretty good suggestions about moving
forward, but there's obviously some disagreement about which route to take
and how we might get there. I suspect that in the back of many folks' minds
is the fact that school will be starting before long and there won't be
much time for this listserv experiment once that happens.
Some of our stalwart listserv participants have "taken a powder"
on this already. Folks are coming and going, and momentum rises and falls
as a result. The effort to "catch up" when one returns (despite
my determined effort to archive the conversation!) is considerable, and
I'm sure that's why we've lost some folks who were enthusiastic participants
at the beginning (almost two months ago!).
Perhaps some of you have ideas about a way we can reach some finish line
from here within the next week. I'd say that's the realistic deadline, with
school rushing down the mountain toward us!
If not, then my suggestion is that we try to wrap up this fledgling effort
in the next few days by focusing on several questions that can help us try
again at a future date, better prepared to reach our ultimate goal.
I have 4-5 questions in mind, the answers to which would be a huge help
to me as I try to think through ways to be a better supporter of such a
project in the future. But before I post them, I'd like to see a show of
hands:
**Is it time to declare victory and go home?**
If we do decide to end this first effort, we haven't failed, of course.
It's clear that many folks on the project listserv are thinking more deeply
than ever about curriculum design, essential questions, overarching themes,
assessment, etc. And we certainly want to gather up everyone's insights
and "learnings" before we finish.
So...what shall we do?
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ANNE WROTE:
John, I think that it's time to wrap up our first interdisciplinary work
project. I've been "absent" for the last few days because I'm
wrapping up 10 hours of summer doctoral work, this week while developing
materials for a two-day workshop in NC early next week, and working full
time. I've stretched as far as I can already for the past few days.
I think the interdisciplinary effort needs an official leader/decision-maker
to bring closure to one part of the effort, move on to another, and organize
who will do what. That person could be (s)elected by the list participants,
or could take the leadership role from the first.
I think the wrap-up for this summer might include a summary of our ideas
to date, and that these should be posted on the MW list as an FYI. This
interdisciplinary topic doesn't have to disappear off our radar screen .
. . just go from Phase I (this summers work) to Phase II at some point.
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MARY ANNE WROTE:
We have certainly accomplished quite a bit in this venture. I admit that
going away for two weeks in the middle put me a bit out of the loop. Try
as I might, when I got back I was confused as to where this went while I
was gone.
I f I match the archives with UBD templates then we have successfully completed
the development of the concept, enduring understandings and essential questions.
From there we got bits and pieces of learning experiences, some of us even
began to brainstorm activities. The middle "the performance assessment"
is something that I think each individual teacher would want to develop
on their own.
I will say that I plan to use a lot of what we have done with my kids and
with the teachers at school. There is so much richness in what we wrote.
I know nothing about creating a webquest. It is something I would eventually
like to pursue in the future.
I guess what I am saying is that I agree with John and Anne. I started back
to work on Monday and have already filled my calendar for the next two weeks.
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ELLEN WROTE:
I think it is time not necessarily to give up, but to table what we have
and gain some perspective. I would really like to take another stab at it
at a later time, and I suspect many of us feel that way. I think a little
reflection about what was effective, what we have learned both about online
collaboration and about unit design, and how we can improve both in the
future would be helpful. As I think John mentioned at some point, our attempts
at online collaboration are pioneering. What can we learn from what has
happened so far.
I'm wondering when we would like to pick it up again. Next summer? A vacation?
I'd really like to see us develop this further, but I know that I am as
busy as the rest of you sound during the school year. Suggestions?
I have already learned a great deal about effective unit design and lesson
planning. I caught myself telling a colleague of mine, "Start with
the end in mind, then you'll be able to figure out what activities to use,"
as she was struggling through planning an inservice. Just that concept alone
has changed my practice tremendously.
I, too, will be gone from August 10-19 to Peru, so my time is running out
as well. BTW, has anyone ever been to Peru? I'd love to have some activity/restaurant
recommendations. Email me privately at ellen@accessus.net if you have anything
to share!
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BILL WROTE:
I felt mixed regret and relief at all those "TIME TO CALL IT A DAY?"
subject headers in my mailbox before even reading the emails, and that relief
part suggests that I too feel we need at a minimum to take a break. Like
many of you, I've learned a great deal from this process, and I hope and
imagine I will be a better teacher this year as a result.
As we wrap up for now, I would like to see John's four questions and maybe
take a few days to get initial impressions on what worked and ideas for
improvement. Would it be valuable to ask some of those who used to be in
the group for their impressions too? Would it be valuable to revisit these
questions in a month or two and see what additional thoughts time and perspective
will have brought us?
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KATHY WROTE:
Well I have been thinking about this and I guess I too see the need to put
it away. i have taken the theme & essential question and already adapted
it into a standards based unit. Because I am self contained, I will continue
to do that in all subject areas.
I am back into getting my room ready...is summer over already???
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MARSHA WROTE:
Given that I started back to work on Monday, in my new position, I would
welcome reflection time on "Change". I also agree with suggestion
that we should poll not only those that are remaining, but those that have
dropped.
John, what are your questions?
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ANITA WROTE:
I am afraid that I haven't added much to this discussion. By the time I
got online and read what everyone else had written, what I wanted to say
had been said. :) "like minds" and all that....I too have learned
a lot just from the reading of the many postings.
My family and I are going to the States to visit for the first time in two
years. We will be gone for three weeks visiting family in central Texas,
eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. I was dreading missing all that a web quest
entails, wanting to be a part in some small way. When we return, I will
be back at school fulltime as a new team leader -- new responsibilities,
new classroom, etc. My time will be fully occupied until I get a handle
on everything.
I, too, believe Phase I is over. But, I would like to be a part of Phase
II when it comes around. :)
You do not know how much MiddleWeb has affected my life. Thank you.
---------------------------------------------------------------
KEITH WROTE:
I was just reading an article in our local paper about Internet ups and
downs. One of the things mentioned was that the next big arena will be the
sharing of everything - ideas and documents - in real time. As a person
who has recently joined a "virtual office" team, I think that
there's a lot of trial and error along with training and tool development
that will become essential for all of us to be successful with this type
of learning. The project and attempt was somewhat visionary and, like formatting
your first hard drive or learning "DreamWeaver", the learning
comes from the process not necessarily from the project.
I can tell we are working with a great group from the comments such as,
"I plan to use a lot of what we have done with my kids and with the
teachers at school" and "I think a little reflection about what
was effective, what we have learned...would be helpful." Perhaps in
the old school evaluation our attempt at this unit would be labeled a "failure",
but with "alternative assessments" we can pull out key learnings
and apply them to our lives. Think about how many students struggle with
projects and difficult tasks, yet teachers "have" to (ahem) fail
them because they didn't complete the project.
I am working with a team to develop some of the tools needed to help teachers
with this very process, so I look forward to reading your ideas and reflections.
I'm sure John's questions will spark some more great dialogue and hopefully
plans for the future.
--------------------------------------------------------
CLOSING COMMENTS
JOHN WROTE:
Dear Friends -- All of you are exactly right -- this experiment was not
a failure, but a necessary step. Imagine all the scientific research that
ends without a major breakthrough, and how often the experiences gained
through that research lead to breakthrough later down the road. That's exactly
the situation we're in!
My questions are the same questions any of you would come up with, I think.
I will greatly appreciate it if everyone now on the list would provide some
feedback, using these questions and including any other thoughts they have.
Bill mentioned polling folks who had left the list. Actually, very few have
-- perhaps two or three. Remarkably, there are 30 people on the list now.
Lurker-City!
Before I list the questions, let me say that I agree that we might be able
to pick up this work and move forward at a later date, if we can organize
it in such a way that anyone interested could do a quick review and get
up to speed. Our memories will flag, I imagine, as the year rolls on. ALSO,
Keith Mack's comments are really "on point." One reason we reached
a bit of an impasse has to do with our (my) inability to devise easy-to-use
methods to 'brainstorm' visually online. I don't know about you, but I'm
really a 'graphical thinker' and always pull out a pad and start drawing
graphic organizers when I'm thinking something through. If we could find
a way for everyone to share this way -- like we would if we were all together
in a conference room with a fat white pad of poster paper -- we'd have a
tremendous tool that could help us move ahead.
Finally, Anne Jolly's comment about the need for a mentor/leader/manager
in a project like this is worth thinking about. See question 3 below. You
might want to read all the questions before you begin answering them.
THE (Clusters of) QUESTIONS
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it? What
were your expectations? How did you connect the project to your own professional
work? What did you expect the final product to be?
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
Did you have any of those "If only we could..." or "Why don't
we..." thoughts? What were they? At what points did the process seem
to break down some, and why? What might we have done, given our current
resources, to make more progress than we did? Can you really DO something
like this, with people coming and going, vacationing, seminaring, etc.?
3. Looking beyond the actual resources we had (a committed group of sharp
professionals, email, a website where we could post things in a limited
way, a list manager with limited time to do stuff), what other tools and
resources might have helped move us along and perhaps reach our ultimate
goal? Feel free to do some "imagineering" -- invent the solutions,
if you're not sure they exist. Would it have helped us to have a designated
leader who could make decisions about work-sharing, etc.? Is that possible
in this most democratic of forums? What if we had contracted with a curriculum
developer to join us in our journey and help us through the rough spots?
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment? Be as specific
as possible! Is it worth doing again? Should we pick up the current project,
or start a new one? If so, what's the best time to do that?
As I note, these are clusters of questions, and they leave plenty of room
for your unique perspectives. It will help me if you'll try to organize
your comments following the 1-2-3-4 format. I think I've made this loose
enough to accommodate most of your feedback, but if not, please add:
5. Other comments
Finally - I really enjoyed this process. Thanks so much for agreeing to
be the lab rats in the MiddleWeb Listserv's first online collaborative experiment!
----------------------------------------------------
DEB WROTE:
THE (Clusters of) QUESTIONS
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it? What
were your expectations? How did you connect the project to your own professional
work? What did you expect the final product to be?
I hoped to come away with an understanding of the way(s) to do collaborative
planning online. I also hoped to kick around ideas for a rigorous unit that
would be useful in our schools, complete with a menu of possible materials,
activities and assessments. I even hoped that some folks might use the unit
and share student work, teacher reflections, refinements etc. as the year
wore on...
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
Did you have any of those "If only we could..." or "Why don't
we..." thoughts? What were they? At what points did the process seem
to break down some, and why? What might we have done, given our current
resources, to make more progress than we did? Can you really DO something
like this, with people coming and going, vacationing, seminaring, etc.?
I was frustrated with our inability to post visually. I like to brainstorm
collectively with colored markers in big webs etc. I'm still hooked on the
idea that this is possible on some type of techno bulletin board, but my
ill fated attempts at an online "Chalk Talk" should make it clear
that I'm long on ideas and short on the know how in this regard.
Also, I got a bit confused by the separation of the project and the UBD
discussion, maybe we should have combined these two pursuits so that we
were all trying for the same format...just a thought.
3. Looking beyond the actual resources we had (a committed group of sharp
professionals, email, a website where we could post things in a limited
way, a list manager with limited time to do stuff), what other tools and
resources might have helped move us along and perhaps reach our ultimate
goal? Feel free to do some "imagineering" -- invent the solutions,
if you're not sure they exist. Would it have helped us to have a designated
leader who could make decisions about work-sharing, etc.? Is that possible
in this most democratic of forums? What if we had contracted with a curriculum
developer to join us in our journey and help us through the rough spots?
I'd like tech help, but I think we've got the ideas for curriculum in our
midst.
I liked the way various members stepped up to the plate and gave leadership.
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment? Be as
specific as possible! Is it worth doing again? Should we pick up the current
project, or start a new one? If so, what's the best time to do that?
I learned that it's hard to brainstorm in this format. I learned some lessons
about generating essential questions and I benefited from the collaborative
decision to return to a question for the students. I liked the three legged
stool metaphor, way back when, about the overarching question and the supporting
ones. Our process made me think about my previous tendency to rush right
into materials and activities without pushing for the heart or essence first.
While I always wanted to hear other folks' ideas about resources, I thought
it was powerful to dwell in the question stage.
5. Other comments
I'd like to return to this project after or sometime during the UBD conversation.
I think our timing might have hurt us. I know that I was away or my mail
was down off and on and it hurt my focus and involvement.
---------------------------------------------------------------
BILL WROTE:
1. I hoped to learn more about the process of planning a unit, thereby improving
my ability to plan for my own courses. I imagined the final project would
be lists of resources, questions and activities built around some sort of
theme (not having really grasped "essential question" yet), and
I was guessing I would develop my own French and music lists more or less
solo while other LA teachers, science teachers etc. were more likely to
collaborate. I suppose my prime motivation was simply to spend more time
with my online colleagues from whom I've learned so much already.
2. My personal creative frustrations mostly derived from the feeling I was
in way over my head - I'd keeping hitting the wall, someone would point
out something liberating, I'd work to understand that, run with it, then
hit another wall. Beyond my own personal limitations, I found (going along
with Deb's earlier observation) that we were having a hard time striking
a balance between having respect for all ideas and knowing when to move
on. I wonder if next time we might do some sort of "let's try to all
be online on this day and at this time" thing in working out the essential
question, and then agree on a timeline of some sort for the remaining stages
in the process. That way, people would be able to anticipate their comings
and goings in the context of what might be happening with the group, and
the issue of moving on might recede into the background.
3. Keith's ideas in this area are great. Moreover, in retrospect, would
a couple of evenings in a chat room somewhere have helped? I'm not sure
if we needed a leader so much as a defined way to agree when it was time
to move on (this is why I like the timeline). Any ideas about how work should
be shared out during each stage of the process could be jointly agreed upon.
A curriculum developer would be different from a designated leader within
the group, and from this outside perspective might well have been able to
move us through the rough points; on the other hand, this would detract
from the "we're all in this together and look what we can do"
feel we developed this summer. Personally, I think we could do it solo with
all we've learned this summer.
4. I learned a great deal about backward design, challenged myself to think
more deeply about what student understanding really means, gained a great
deal of awe and respect for what really good teachers do routinely, and
developed sort of a post-Outward Bound feeling for everyone who was in this
together. I think it is definitely worth doing again, but despite the deep
affection I have for our essential question, I think we should start over
from scratch to be as inclusive as possible of any new group members who
might turn up over the coming year who would want to be involved. I do think
summer is our only serious chance to do something of this magnitude, even
if it means restricting the project to 4-6 weeks or whatever.
5. Congratulations to everyone for all their hard work, research, suggestions,
positive thoughts, courageous comments, and more.
---------------------------------------------------------------
BRENDA WROTE:
Here are some of my thoughts regarding the "Change" project discussion.
I regret that I was not active in the project...it started before I was
done school so I didn't have the time to participate (I was still doing
report cards when you started....Canada is always behind your system...),
then when I did I couldn't quite connect in spite of John's great archiving
work of the discussion.
You know the saying, "You had to be there"? Well, I think it pertained
to this situation...I never quite felt I had "been there" so the
discussion wasn't as meaningful for me. There were gaps in my comprehension
and rather than looking like a fool, or asking/saying something that had
already been asked/said, I just watched. I'm one of these learners who must
participate otherwise my learning is questionable. I'm sure all of this
was my problem, not yours.
I won't say, however, that I didn't learn anything. I did catch a glimpse
of the richness encased in this exercise and came to the realization that
if I put this amount of thought behind my units, I would be entering a whole
new realm of learning/thinking/teaching.
I will read the comments of the active participants with great interest
because they "were there" in the salt mines for the past weeks
and what they learned during the joutney will be worth hearing about.
---------------------------------------------------------------
JEAN WROTE:
1. I hoped to learn about the process of a listserve collaboration. I love
the sitting-around-the-table brainstorming and developing aspect of curriculum
design when it is live, in-person. I assumed I'd find at least some personal
growth by reading, reflecting, and participating in the process. I didn't
have an expectation for the final product, but I assumed I'd be able to
take pieces of the product and adapt them to my own situation.
2. Sometimes the little quibbles over semantics irritated me, but I think
that is merely because of the on-line as opposed to the in-person method.
What might take a few days to work out on-line would be discussed and decided
in minutes in person. Narrowing the topic to particular themes didn't appeal
to me as much as the broader concept of change.
3. I'd agree that a virtual "blackboard" for brainstorming would
have helped. I truly don't think that a curriculum developer would be the
way to go.
4. I enjoyed reading all of the ideas and seeing how others perceived the
task at hand. I learned about backward design, and I think that I will be
more focused on where I want to go as I plan for this year for my seventh
grade English class. I feel a somewhat reassured that what I've been doing
for years is not so different from backward design. I'm certain that when
I sit down with my team in a few weeks, that I'll view the whole collaborative
designing process in a slighlty different light.
I think it would be worthwhile for those of us who use ideas generated by
the project to post the specifics of what and how they use them. I'd assume
that as we take ideas back to school, they will continue to grow and change.
I'd like to hear about that. Then perhaps next summer, we could begin again,
either with a new topic or not.
5. I think I tend to be quieter and way more self-censoring on the list-serve
than I am in person. I tend to be pretty outspoken and much more of a leader
in face-to-face settings than when I'm conversing through email. I don't
know that that is good or bad, but I think it's accurate. I'm not sure why-
I've taught for twenty-five years, and hopefully I have plenty to add to
a project such as this. Perhaps I simply haven't participated in this list-serve
long enough to feel comfortable. Brainstorming works best when ideas flow
freely, but I catch myself starting an email and then deciding, no, that
wasn't worthy or important enough. I bet I'm not the only one who does that.
Perhaps it explains the silence of some or the reason some dropped out?
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DEB WROTE:
Jean:
Thanks for your candid remarks. I hope that you will feel free to share
more in the future. I expect a large benefit of this work to be our collaborative
refinement of our questions, plans etc. I don't expect to be profound in
my posts, I just give it my best shot at the time, and as a result, I have
learned a great deal from the feedback of others. I look forward to learning
from your 25 years of experience.
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MARSHA WROTE:
1. What was my expectation from the project?
I joined hoping to gather together with like minded teachers to design an
interdisplinary unit. I thought we might create something that would be
very useful to a wide variety of content areas---reflecting the diversity
of our members. I felt we met my most important goal.
2. What "creative frustrations" did I encounter? Where did
the process seem to break down?
The biggest challenged I faced was feeling like my voice was not heard.
I had "stuff" to say and the conversation went right on past me.
I couldn't figure out if I should keep repeating myself until I could explain
my PoV well enough to be considered, or if I should just give up. So I did
a little of both. It seemed to me that others had this same experience.
Sometimes I know I was guilty not taking time/energy to find the merits
of others ideas off list and just here at home. So when someone on the list
understood my point, I was overly enthusaistic and wrote too much.
3. Other tools and resources needed to reach our goal?
I'm fairly active in an online chat place for teachers, TappedIn. We meet
in virtual space to discuss lots of issues. So the work is technical and
it can be challenging. It only takes a little practice before you're able
to cyberchat and use the shorthand. What I've learned by participating in
those forums is that you have to communicate "feelings" via the
written word. That takes practice. So instead of simply responding "yes",
you respond "yes" "as she nods in knowing agreement".
Sometimes you don't say anything and instead type in "looks puzzled"
or "is jumping up and down because she finally gets it". Then
the other people in the chat understand that you really know what they mean
or if they need to help you out. Email does not give that same communication
flexibility. We might want to consider something like this rather than a
bulletin board in the future.
I would not like to see a leader appointed at the brainstorming phase. I
could sense people's frustration when they perceived we were ready to start
working on activities and instructional modes. And others thought we still
needed to define direction and assessment. I think John's role as facilitator
was terrific and vital to keeping the conversation rolling along yet not
skipping steps.
Later when we were ready to start dividing up the work, a project manager
would be critical. This person, rather than being a neutral conduit of ideas
and asker of probing questions, tasks people with jobs and makes sure things
get done.
The idea of a curriculum developer helping us get unstuck didn't even occur
to me. What a terrific way to keep our project ours, but yield to the expertise
of someone who's been there over and over. Maybe they could have suggested
some little tweeks that could have gotten us over the hump.
4. Gains?
We: Experience and enrichment of relationships. I felt that I got to know
others personalities much better from the discussions. I better understand
who everyone is as teachers and where they fit together in our MiddleWeb
puzzle.
Me: The thrill of doing something new and challenging. I know it sounds
hokey, but it's true. Even if I don't agree with you guys, I treasure your
professional opinion. And it expands me. I also gained the knowledge that
I'm lousy at communicating my ideas in writing sometimes. I need to figure
out why my message wasn't received and then work on that. (I'm planning
on re-visiting the threaded discussion list and mapping out the flow).
Worth it again? Absolutely if we worked from an essential question perspective.
I would love to finish Change. It's so applicable to middle schoolers and
our struggle is very reflective of the struggle they must feel. I'm ready
anytime, but think we should at least wait until everyone's up and running
again. our school year starts again in two weeks. New teachers report in
a week.
5. Other comments.
Thanks to everyone for allowing me the space to grow my teacher toolkit
and the chance to be a part of something new and exciting.
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ELLEN WROTE:
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it? What
were your expectations? How did you connect the project to your own professional
work? What did you expect the final product to be?
I wanted to get a deeper understanding of how an integrated unit was put
together. I am a real novice in this area, and though my team tries to put
together integrated units, they seem to be more thematic than integrated.
We come up with the theme, then figure out where our curriculum fits instead
of looking at what we have to teach and what natural parallels there are...
I wanted the opportunity to learn from people who were more knowledgeable
than I. Alas, there are few opportunities in my building for that.
Although I learned a lot about integrated units, for me the major "A-ha"
was the idea of beginning with the end in mind. What deep knowledge do you
want students to know? What is important for them to understand? Although
I *knew* a lot of this, I didn't really *get* it until participating in
this project.
I thought the final product would be a large collection of integrated activities
where teachers could pick and choose what was applicable to their own situation.
I envisioned people other than the developers using and adding to the unit
over time.
2/3. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for
you? Did you have any of those "If only we could..." or "Why
don't we..." thoughts? What were they? At what points did the process
seem to break down some, and why? What might we have done, given our current
resources, to make more progress than we did? Can you really DO something
like this, with people coming and going, vacationing, seminaring, etc.?
I found the process a little uneven. Because we were waiting from responses
from others, my train of thought was frequently broken. There was too much
wait time.
I also found it difficult to give constructive criticism...not "knowing"
people through other interactions, personalities, body language, etc. made
it difficult to be honest...that's not quite the right word, but close.
I didn't want to offend anyone else if I disagreed with their ideas or wanted
to suggest a modification of them. Personally it never bothered me if others
didn't agree with me or wanted to change something I had to say, and I suspect
others felt the same way. Still...
I think we definitely needed more structure. In the future I would suggest
using a general timeline that could be adjusted if necessary. I think John
did a great job of facilitating, so I don't know if having an outside curriculum
designer was particularly necessary. Perhaps one of our "own"
who wanted to be involved in our project could take on that role?
I am primarily a visual learner, so the lack of graphic representations
of our work that could be modified by the group really hurt me. I am wondering
if a program like Inspiration or Knowledge Forum could somehow be put online
in a shared workspace? Maybe Keith's idea of an intranet might make this
possible....St. Louis Public Schools is developing an intranet where access
to lesson planning software is *supposed* to be available in a short time.
With more people in business collaborating online, there must be some kind
of technology to facilitate this type of collaboration.
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment? Be as
specific as possible! Is it worth doing again? Should we pick up the current
project, or start a new one? If so, what's the best time to do that?
I think we developed deeper relationships as an online community that can
only benefit the regular list. Successful collaboration depends upon close,
professional relationships.
I also think we should definitely do this again! The learning I gained is
permanent and deep...I wouldn't trade that for anything. I'd like to continue
to pursue our original ideas, but as Bill mentioned, that might not be fair
to new participants. They will have missed out on some of the opportunities
we had to build our own understandings.
5. Other comments
I truly enjoyed working with all of you on the list. I am humbled by your
abilities and understandings.
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NAOMI WROTE:
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it?
I thought that it would be hard for so many people to contribute to building
a unit. Then, when the discussion started, I thought it would be even harder.
We really are only to respond one person at a time, that is, we don't have
a cumulative sort of format. That brought us to use of the web. I did think
we would end up with something useful. I thought it would be a usable product.
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
I think the list serve itself makes it hard to do what we want. Several
people jumped in to fix that problem by creating a grid we could fill in,
or doing a summary. Sometimes the same discussion would go around several
times. I think we need a different on line format, but I don't know enough
to know what that is. Or perhaps we need to do such things in small groups
of about 5 people.
3. what other tools and resources might have helped move us along and
perhaps reach our ultimate goal?
I bet that a designated leader who is experienced in distance learning could
make a real difference.
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment?
What I gained was a great deal of information on planning units and what
goes into these plans. Also the world of WebQuests. The use of a grid. Book
resourses. So many wonderful educators gave their expertise. It was really
great reading the "think alouds" as people plan.
5. Other comments
I think we might choose a simpler project like creating text sets on certain
topics. But people really have to be good about adding to previous e-mails
and keeping the subject line correct. Is there a way to prevent a response
to all but the latest e-mail? In that way we would always be reacting to
all previous work.
---------------------------------------------------------------
KEITH WROTE:
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it?
To be honest, I had signed up for the project thinking I would be a "lurker".
I was curious what would happen and how the project would evolve. My main
goal was to gain additional insight on how people work together on a distance
project.
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
Like most everyone else, I thought the listserv and e-mails were not adequate
tools for what we were trying to do - too much lag time waiting for a thought
to run its course. Personally things happening in my own life and career
were always interfering with my ability to keep up with everyone. Summer
is a tough time for dedicated teachers like we had on this project - classes,
workshops, advance degrees, etc. (and dare I mention "family"?)
- so much to do and so little time. I also just wanted to talk this over
with everyone on a number of occasions. Also as mentioned, most of us have
never met and that can make some team members uncomfortable or unsure of
how to submit or react to things. I think there can be a tendency to "hold
back" in this type of situation.
3. What other tools and resources might have helped move us along and
perhaps reach our ultimate goal?
I think maybe a couple of conference calls would have really helped. I've
been involved in a lot of these, but have never paid for them so don't know
the cost implications. Chat rooms and instant messaging would be other tools
that might help to give a more "real time" feel to our work, an
element that was really missing from our work.
I guess I wished that I would have pushed harder for us to use something
like that Intranets site we looked at - the tools are evolving and we will
need to learn to evolve with them. When I think about how our team constructs
projects at school, we have some common ground and a pretty good idea of
how things might look when we are done. For this MW project, we don't share
the same history and experiences and so we couldn't seem to picture how
this was going to end up.
Maybe if we had started with the goal that we'd create five WebQuests around
our overarching question, that would have provided a common vision. In fact
this could be like telling people to picture a trip to Mexico. I see myself
on an ocean cruise liner. Others might see themselves on a jet to Acupulco
and others might vision themselves driving a '68 Volkswagen camper down
remote dirt highways. Maybe we needed to all agree on the airplane with
a limit on baggage and a definite departure and return date. Our project
probably was more akin to the camper van - lots of great times on the road,
plenty of detours, and a load of experiences and stories to share when we
got home?!?!
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment?
ME: I feel like I actually know many of you a lot better. It got so when
I saw a post, I could almost hear your voice and your passion. I came to
appreciate everyone's viewpoints. I also wonder sometimes what it would
be like for us to work at the same school. I also gained a better appreciation
for the barriers that will limit our ability to develop projects in an on-line
environment.
WE: I'm going back to the VW Camper Van analogy again. People contribute
according to their strengths. Some just wanted to sit and quietly look out
the windows, some changed tires and made sure the engine worked, others
checked the map and compass, and of course many of us took turns trying
to drive the beast to the final destination. The diverse backgrounds and
rich experiences from all involved fueled the learning in this project.
Isn't that what it's ultimately about? Learning from each other... I'm still
amazed at how students are often forced to only learn from their teacher.
I guess when I see and reflect on how I learn, I see so much more potential
to bring things into the classroom.
5. Other comments
I must say that I delete a ton of e-mail that is never opened, but this
group is tops for inspiring and thought provoking posts. Do you ever think
how cool it'd be if we all taught in the same school?
What if you were able to participate in building a project like this again
- communicating on-line with other teachers, building relationships, working
with a curriculum and an on-line facilitator, AND get college credit at
the same time? To me this is the next step for professional development.
I think teachers spend too much of their professional development life doing
things alone. Thanks to John for all of his support and for giving us free
rein to try this.
OK, I'm off the soap box and now I'm going to try to get some sleep in the
back of this VW camper. Who stole my pillow? If I start snoring too loudly,
please don't wake me up! :-)
---------------------------------------------------------------
MARY ANNE WROTE:
1. When we began, what did you hope to get out of it?
For me, I think the excitement of working with others on a collaborative
project was at foremost important. But, when we decided on the concept of
change I got really excited, because it definitely something I can use.
I was interested in hearing how other folks worked with a large concept.
2. "Creative frustrations"
What a nice way to put it--
It was slow! I know too that many people don't like reading long emails.
So, trying to limit comments was difficult too. I tried to do a graphic
so I could keep track of what people were saying and even on chart paper
I could not keep up!
3. What might of helped--
I think maybe a chat room situation would have helped. I have taken part
in on-line courses where a chat room was utilized. It was a great way to
share ideas. Group norms have to be set up at the beginning--how long, etiquette
and the like, but it is good way to exchange ideas.
4. What did I gain--
This is a really hard question because I feel like I gained so much that
cannot be put into words. I feel like I got to know everyone here alittle
better. I feel like I gained a body of content that is easily adapted for
my work. I got ideas and inspiration. I love Keith's camper analogy he is
exactly right!
5. Miscellaneous--
I think we broke new ground on this one! I would love to see us try it again!
Missing two weeks in the middle put me at a great disadvantage.
John, thanks for putting up with us!
---------------------------------------------------------------
MELBA WROTE:
1. What did I learn from this experience?
* Since I did not know anything about UBD, I lurked mostly. When I finally
got the books and began doing some quick reads, I re-read the earlier posts
and began to finally understand what was going on. I also realized that
developing the essential questions and the subquestions were no easy task.
2. Suggestions for next time?
* I truly believe that everyone on the project should at the very least
have read UBD. Not knowing much about it and finally understanding at the
surface level, I do not have any suggestions for improvement. I am very
impressed with the few people who worked on this project. I think they did
a terrific job. The graphic organizers and the webquest were excellent tools.
We should definitely use these in the future.
I believe my campus is going to learn this process this year so I will be
better prepared for the next round.
---------------------------------------------------------------
AMY WROTE:
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it?
Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew it was something revolutionary
and just wanted to enjoy the ride.
How did you connect the project to your own professional work?
I've been thinking and rethinking the way I structure my year. As I said
in one posting, those big ideas were really important to me this time. The
notion of change in language arts has really fit into what I would like
to do next year.
What did you expect the final product to be?
I still don't know on this one. We've had lots of exciting ideas, and I
think everyone who participated will take away at least an idea.
I still think the idea of a pull-down menu with mountains of ideas (with
webquests as a part of it) would be a great resource for teachers.
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
Did you have any of those "If only we could..." or "Why don't
we..." thoughts? What were they?
Sometimes I felt that we didn't have a clear direction. I found that frustrating
and amazing at the same time. It emphasized to me how complicated teaching
is! It was interesting to watch people push or pull us in certain directions
and then see the group either jump on board or say, "What? I'm confused."
What might we have done, given our current resources, to make more progress
than we did? Can you really DO something like this, with people coming and
going, vacationing, seminaring, etc.?
I kind of like the way we did it. I think it will take much longer than
sitting down in person, but I felt like the short breaks I took away from
the computer (and usually into my classroom) gave me a new perspective on
what we were doing and helped me see things in a new way. It will just take
a lot of patience on everyone's part. I do think it is doable.
3. Would it have helped us to have a designated leader who could make
decisions about work-sharing, etc.? Is that possible in this most democratic
of forums? What if we had contracted with a curriculum developer to join
us in our journey and help us through the rough spots?
I don't think a leader would help. John was a good outside observer to help
us move along, but I like the democracy of the group.
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment? Be as
specific as possible! Is it worth doing again? Should we pick up the current
project, or start a new one? If so, what's the best time to do that?
I did gain some questions for my reflections in English and some deep thinking
about what a "real" interdisciplinary project would look like.
I definitely would like to see Phase II develop next summer.
5. Other comments:
Thanks, John and others for pushing me to think more deeply!
---------------------------------------------------------------
ANNE WROTE:
1. When we began this project, what did you hope to get out of it?
A process for working together online with other educators to design and
build a product. While the interdisciplinary unit is important, it's the
process I'm more interested in.
How did you connect the project to your own professional work?
I'm researching and exploring now the areas of teacher collaboration - face
to face - and teacher online collaboration, and methods of making that work.
What did you expect the final product to be?
No actual expectations - I was looking to see if we produced group synergy
(and to theorize why or why not), if we were actually able to produce a
product (an interdisciplinary unit), or what sort of progress we were able
to make toward that end and how that progress came into being.
2. As the project evolved, what 'creative frustrations' emerged for you?
Did you have any of those "If only we could..." or "Why don't
we..." thoughts? What were they?
No real frustrations - just interest. I had several things I was observing.
In face-to-face learning teams I ask teachers to share leadership equally.
That apparently didn't work as well for online learning because no one took
responsibility or everyone took responsibility for trying to pull things
together. So, I wondered - should we have one leader, or should we have
different leaders each week? In any case, I think the leader's job description
might need to include "taking charge" of pulling the ideas together
at specific, predetermined intervals and then setting the group's next direction,
based on participant input. I thought it was interesting that we reached
a certain point - brainstorming - and never got much beyond that. So the
leader could be a facilitator, perhaps setting deadlines for responses to
particular questions or activities, and then moving the group forward to
a new stage when that deadline passed.
3. Looking beyond the actual resources we had, what other tools and resources
might have helped move us along and perhaps reach our ultimate goal? Feel
free to do some "imagineering" -- invent the solutions, if you're
not sure they exist. Would it have helped us to have a designated leader
who could make decisions about work-sharing, etc.? Is that possible in this
most democratic of forums? What if we had contracted with a curriculum developer
to join us in our journey and help us through the rough spots?
The curriculum developer might be a good choice to be a facilitative leader,
but I think the best thing would be to have an individual skilled in facilitation
who is interested in working with online facilitation. It's a relatively
new field, I imagine. If we get a protocol for facilitating online collaboration,
then the process would apply to any topic we want to collaborate on. So,
I think we should focus on a leader for the process and not for the specific
topic we're working on.
4. What did you/we gain from participating in this experiment? Be as
specific as possible! Is it worth doing again? Should we pick up the current
project, or start a new one? If so, what's the best time to do that?
Oh, absolutely - it' worth doing again! We have only begun to examine this
process. Can you imagine how powerful it would be if we could design a workable
protocol for online collaboration??? We've already learned - I think - that
we need a way to move from stage to stage, and that some sort of leadership
would be useful here. The next step is to design that leadership role. Then
field test again, and notice what leadership adjustments we need and what
other issues need to be addressed. Fascinating stuff - it'll evolve gradually,
don't you think?
5. Other comments:
This was a busy time of year for teachers to participate in designing a
project. But all times of year are busy for teachers - that's part of the
challenge of designing something like this. My thinking right now is the
we need to look at designing something that addresses:
1. Teachers' needs for knowledge, information, and skills in a specific
topic
2. Teacher motivation - what will make teachers really want to participate
in this to the point of putting in extra time to make it a success?
3. Online environment - what sort of setup will make this easy and friendly
and attractive for teachers?
JOHN CONCLUDED:
Here's a resource that we might want to explore when we take up these ideas
again.
DESIGN CURRICULUM
& BRAINSTORM IDEAS!
http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/bigideas/q4.cfm
ALPS, Harvard's online Teachers Lab, includes model lesson plans and activities;
curriculum design tools; online educational publications; interactive forums,
workshops and conferences. At this page, you'll find resources that can
help you design curriculum and brainstorm teaching ideas. For example, "The
Collaborative Curriculum Design Tool" is an online tool that you
can use to plan curriculum using teaching frameworks described in the ALPS
site. You can create unit designs by yourself or by using the built-in collaboration
features to design with a colleague or team of colleagues in your school,
school district, or around the state, country, or world. Another resource,
"The
Starting Block Activity," helps you shape your questions and preliminary
ideas into an active readiness to learn about the teaching of thinking.
Requires free registration.
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