School Ning for Teachers

Is there anyone who has set up a school ning for teachers to collaborate and share ideas? We are trying to set one up where teachers can post what they are doing in their classes, what they are learning themselves, what they are reading, and a forum to respond to timely topics in education. Does anyone have anything like this currently set up for their school that they would be willing for me to see?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Fritz on July 28, 2009 at 11:02am

I would recommend just having everyone join classroom20 and education.ning.com. That way your school can benefit from and take part in a greater discussion than would be possible within a single school. You could also set up groups on these sites to organize everyone at your school.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Gorman on July 28, 2009 at 12:13pm

Chris even though I believe your idea has merit and I can't for the life of me figure out why someone in education doesn't read this, I think you need to start small. Without knowing the demographics and tech saavy of the staff , some may feel intimidated and inferior by using this site. I think starting small and then introducing the staff to other websites may be advantageous to get them where you want them to be.

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Permalink Reply by thebyrditlady on July 28, 2009 at 12:56pm

I see you know my staff!! We always start small then go big!

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Permalink Reply by BoBraxton on July 28, 2009 at 7:15pm

Reading this in Nairobi, Kenya, at end of month-long work "in the bush" setting up One Laptop Per Child, our second July. A year ago, six from G1G1. This year, one hundred! Unfortunately our Educational Centre does NOT (yet) have internet.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Papera on July 28, 2009 at 7:50pm

Sure, I would encourage teachers to join Classroom 2.0 and a few other sites for wider collaboration, but there is something to be said for a building site. The teachers feel safer and they will discuss the little things that are specific to the building. We had luck with a school wiki last year, but it was cumbersome. Just started a private Ning a few days ago and the teachers are up and running. Half of the staff is on and almost all have posted something. Definitely better than the wiki. They even posted a happy hour event for a summer gathering. Well worth the 15 minutes it took me to create it. Our district started a district-wide one as well. The school site gets more posts. They don't feel like big brother is watching.

I toyed with the idea of doing an open one for the school community at large, but I am afraid that it could turn into a gripe session or teacher bashing site. It is on hold for now.

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Permalink Reply by Gene Carboni on August 2, 2009 at 11:27am

In the 2nd semester of the 2008-09 school year I started to work on PD sessions with our staff using a PBWorks. My intention was to get their feet wet and this year move to a private Ning. I have encouraged them to join classroom 2.O and PAEducators Ning for those of us here in Pennyslvania. There are a few who are embracing the process while the majority do not seem to see the need for such interactions. It does not seem to be related to age or the number of years in the profession. Young and old, rookies and senior teachers are very reluctant and resistant to change.

I was part of a PLP cohort in the 08-09 school year and had the opportunity to work with our team leaders Will Richardson and Sheryl Nussbaum Beach who were both very enlightening. I will keep you posted on this year's progression.

Gene

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Permalink Reply by kathleenn on August 2, 2009 at 11:31am

I just sent a link to some colleagues about a Ning that a school is using for everything you mentioned and more. They are conducting a book study and using it as a followup for a new F2F workshop cohort.

As Gene noted, some embrace it and some do not.But it is still relatively new and the school year has yet to begin! (Note the 81 comments on the first chapter).

My district has done a book study for the last two years. I sent the C&I director this link because we have been talking about getting teachers to use these tools in their professional practice. I think many teachers may have preferred to participate in this way since it is more flexible. In any case, I think having a structure to the community in the way that this site does, is a good way to scaffold this type of PLC.

Here is the link to the Book Study:
http://virtualsouthside.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chapter-1-construct...