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Connie Weber

Ann Arbor

United States

Profile Information:

School / Work Affiliation: Emerson School
Blog: http://firesidelearning.ning.com
Website: http://firesidelearning.ning.com
Twitter / Plurk / Other Account: twitter: connieweber
About Me: Long time fan of Steve Hargadon, very grateful for his visionary impact on education. Participant in CR2.0 since it was about 200 members. In December, 2007, I created Fireside Learning, a spinoff international network for educational and pedagogical discussions, including administrators, teachers, professors, parents, business-people, and college students.

I'm learning more than ever in my life, on an extreme learning binge, thanks to having networks of deep-thinking colleagues.

Teacher-leader, professional development leader, eager to participate at the upcoming Harvard Summer Institute "Future of Learning" as well as Project Zero. Originator of "Fireside Chats," a F2F model for local PD groups. Evaluator for the American Teacher Awards for more than a decade; featured in Creativity in the Classroom series.

Interested in teaching kids about nature, evolution, ecology: immigration in American culture; creativity in teaching/learning, reflective learning; student motivation through empowerment and ownership of learning.
Personal: certified dog tracker, soccer coach and player, gardener
Personal heroes: E.O. Wilson, John Dewey, Jane Goodall
Favorite cartoons: Far Side, Citizen Dog, Mutts, Get Fuzzy

Comment Wall:

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Sholom Eisenstat

That's not just any starfish!
That shot was taken on an Alaskan beach last summer just at the foot of an amazing rain forest.
My friend the starfish.

May 27, 2007
Steve Hargadon

I haven't had the paragraphing problem in blog posts. Two thoughts. 1. If you're using a feed reader to read them, they can lose that formatting. 2. If you want to, you can use the html code "
" for line breaks. That might help?
Steve

May 27, 2007
Steve Hargadon

I couldn't find the Portrait of a Thinker group. I'm assuming you figured out how to delete it yourself?

Jun 4, 2007
Hans Feldmeier

Hi Connie, you are doing a lot of good discussions, congrats!
Welcome!
Greetings from Germany.
Hans

Jun 15, 2007
Kathy Schrock

Connie,

Thanks for the kind words!

Kathy

Jun 17, 2007
suziea

Hi Connie, Thanks for your welcome. I'm impressed at how active this community is and hope to learn a lot from everyone. My biggest frustration right now is that I am not actually in class doing all of this but I am trying to get as many teachers interested in what web 2.0 has to offer as I can.

Jun 25, 2007
Ginger Lewman

check this out!

Jun 27, 2007
Esbjorn Jorsater

Thanks for your comments about my blog post about using comics in the education.
I have some tutorials about drawing faces and animals (cartoon cat) at my http://comicartschool.ning.com

You are welcome to join.

When I have time I can add more material about this projects. I let you know.

Jul 2, 2007
Laura Gibbs

hi Connie, I had seen your post about the Tanager Woods... very inspiring! I just moved from the city out into the country. My years of tree-deprivation are finally over! :-)

Jul 2, 2007
Daniel Bassill

Hi Connie, thanks for introducing yourself. I encourage you to read a blog message I posted today at http://tutormentorconnection.ning.com

It illustrates a service learning role that teens could take, integrating technology, leadership and advocacy. In your area such a role might help kids in Detroit have more and better non-school learning and mentoring opportunities as a result.

Jul 2, 2007
Lisa Parisi

Thanks Connie. I think the question of modifying work is important but nobody really addressed it. Maybe the second time around people will begin to.

Jul 7, 2007
dave garland

Hi Connie I'm pleased to meet you on classroom 2.0

Jul 8, 2007
Bridget Perry-Gore

I was hiking in Peru...a 4 day trek on the Inca Trail. A fantastic trip

Jul 13, 2007
Adina Sullivan

Thanks for your posting on my forum question. It is great to get ideas from so many people.

Jul 19, 2007
Donna Hebert

Thank you for the invitation to be your friend.

I take it that you've seen my survey. Thanks for participating.

Jul 22, 2007
AngelaStockman

Hi Connie! Good to meet you...I am an avid gardener myself : )

Aug 2, 2007
Andrew Pass

Hi Connie,

Thank you very much for your note. I work really hard on the living textbook and am grateful that people, such as yourself, like it.

I just noticed that you live in Ann Arbor. I live in West Bloomfield. Even though physical distance sort of becomes irrelevant on Web 2.0 I still like meeting people who live nearby. I wonder how many of us on this network are within easy driving distance.

Aug 9, 2007
Steven Senor

Hi Connie...thank you very much for your warm welcome...will look forward to talking with you further and hoping to contribute to the conversations...appreciate your support and friendliness...ss

Aug 14, 2007
samccoy

Thanks for the comment. That is cool that you know about Monarch Watch! I belong to Journey North also. I usually do the virtual migration and related activities. I think that the mystery class is awesome.
Won't you be my neighbor?

Aug 22, 2007
samccoy

Connie, please check out my new blog post. I am excited about a collaborative project that a colleague, Leni Dolan, started. This would be a great project for a teacher who has never started one. It is simple, but it can be expanded. Would you share this info with your colleagues in the real world? I think they would enjoy it. It is similar to the Journey North Virtual Migration. Children's privacy is respected.
I was thinking that students could even send audio ecards or other ideas creative teachers would try.

Aug 23, 2007
Laura Gibbs

hi Connie, my thoughts exactly about curiosity being the natural human state, and it having been blocked by something that happens to people - some kind of punishment or negativity that they experienced as they explored their curiosity.

one thought to keep in mind also - the etymology of curiosity (I feel obliged to add this since I am a Latin teacher!). the word comes from the Latin word "cura," meaning "care, concern." someone who was "curiosus" in Latin was someone who was concerned about a lot of things - this could be a negative sense (someone who was worried about things), but also someone with concerns in a positive sense, caring about things.

I think this is a very important dimension of curiosity. The lack of curiosity is also a lack of care, a carelessness, a detachment from the world in an ethical sense that really plagues the world today.

Lots to ponder here - I will enjoy sharing thoughts about that with you this year! ;-)

Aug 26, 2007
Elizabeth Davis

Hi Connie,
I'm obsessed with Carol Dweck. I'm really interested in developing some Professional Development for teachers on her work. I would definitely be interested in brainstorming about ideas for developing curriculum (for students and teachers).

Aug 27, 2007
samccoy

Connie:
Thanks for the invite. I added my first mp3 file to my music. Check it out! I am not always a Pollyanna. Here is the website where you can go to download it also...if you want. I heard it first on Jan.1, 2007 on Morning Edition on NPR.
Look for the link called Not On The Test:
http://members.aol.com/chapinfo/tc/index.html
Hope everything at school is coming into focus for you and your colleagues.
Have a good one,
Sheryl

Aug 30, 2007
Doug Brockbank

Hi Connie,
"rather" a change agent?? I'd say you're a very rare breed based on my own (admittedly narrow) biases about education. Thinking such as yours keeps me from sliding into total cynicism about education. But my current knowedge is scant. After much research, my wife and I opted for homelearning (dislike the word "schooling") for our kids many years ago, and have never looked back.

Good decision making processes are alas too rare in the corporate world as well. But what little I know of the education system would make it all but impossible.

I am a fan of "open space", and "coucil" (originating from nature-based cultures) as a way to nuture real dialogue and decisions on the one hand. And I am a fan of very clear decision roles and responsibilities on the other (consensus as it's commonly understood is often a detractor from effective decision making).

But I honestly don't know what I'm talking about in this context. My frame is so different from most here. I know little of the sources and experts referenced, and mine are likely foreign to others. This is why I joined the conversation, so I need to shut up and keep reading and "listening". Thanks so much for your insights here. Very inspiring!

Sep 4, 2007
PEDRO MENDOZA

Thank-you for your invitation...any comments and experiences on the subject are very much welcome....

Sep 6, 2007
Ricart Prats

Thank you for accepting the invitation to connect. I found your thoughts on teacher leadership very enlighten and insightful.

Rick

Oct 11, 2007
Marielle Lange

Hi Connie. Thanks for the invite. John Dewey as a hero. I can understand that ;-). You may be interested in this website: edutech @ university of Geneva. As you may know, Geneva was the hometown of Piaget, influential in the emergence of the constructist movement. These guys do fantastic stuff and have a splendid wiki, full of information.

Oct 11, 2007
Kevin Glass

Hi Connie;
Thanks for responding. My interest is in exposing my 9th grade students to alternative learning experiences. I would be interested in any ideas that you might have. As far as the project is concerned, I'm interested in forming a discussion group with other students. Let me know what you think

Oct 16, 2007
Elizabeth Davis

Hi Connie,
Are you still interested in collaborating on some kind of Dweck Professional Development? Maybe we could use the google docs presentation tool.
-Liz

Oct 16, 2007
Marielle Lange

Hi Connie, thanks for the nice work. What is great about this place is that you find a lot of persons with an "active" mindset.

"I want to talk to you more about ideas for class work. "

Please, do :-).

Oct 17, 2007
Fred Haas

Hi Connie,

Thanks for the response and invite. I would love to spend some time collaborating on teaching methods that foster greater creativity. I have a few ideas but I certainly need all the help I can get.

Oct 17, 2007
BobStimson

Hi Connie,

Thanks for your comment on my article "Announcing a new Species". I agree totally with what you say about how the Internet seems to be transforming our planet into a huge brain.
This is a very current idea in lots of fields right now, not only education. I belong to the World Mind Network, (worldmindnetwork.net) which explores this very notion. I'd love to invite you and your students to participate. It's a great way to investigate nature, evolution, and ecology, among many other things. Let me know.

Oct 19, 2007
Daniel Craig

Hi Connie,

Thanks for taking the survey. I'll post results in the forum after this weekend.

I've also enjoyed a quick look at your blog. You're one to follow :)

Dan

Oct 24, 2007
Daniel Craig

Hi Connie,

I just read your actual survey response. I had just seen your comment in CR20 when I replied.

I'm not sure how far I'm going in this direction. I've done professional development for a while and I'm really looking to go a different direction in my research.

I worked for a series of grants at Indiana University for a few years: Interdisciplinary Collaborative Program (ICP), and a couple others that I forget names for :) TACIT and ICCATS. Essentially, they were all very similar. They taught language teachers to incorporate content into language classes and content area teachers to incorporate language methods into content area classes. These were all really great programs and the students (in-service teachers) really did benefit from them when asked during follow-up interviews 1, 2, and 3 years later.

I should also mention that most of these courses where online. I taught a couple and assisted with a couple.

The problem with doing professional development research, in my mind, is that we already basically know what has to be done to change practice, but, in most cases, we can't get the system to do it. I'm a big fan of Gusky's work on professional development. He really has a systems view, which I think is necessary to design, develop, implement, and evaluate initiatives.

So, this may be my last foray into professional development research, but you never know :)

If you'd ever like to talk, let me know. I'll be here :)

Have a good one.
Dan

Oct 24, 2007
Kevin

Connie,
Thanks for the nice words. The dog is my puppy Starbuck and he is a deep soul. I use the blue snowball mic for roundtable discussions. http://www.macobserver.com/review/2007/01/16.1.shtml
It seems to hover around 100 bucks.

Oct 28, 2007
Daniel Craig

Hi Connie,

I haven't done a lot, but I've had an introduction into the area :)

However, I'd love to talk to you too. I'm always available....well, almost always. :)

Oct 28, 2007
Lilith Windwalker

Hi Connie,
You're from Michigan too? I ended up here in NYC after I lost the battle for my students' press freedom at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, MI. Perhaps you know the school?

Oct 28, 2007
Larry Ferlazzo

Thanks for the invite, and for participating in the forum discussion on parent involvement.

Oct 30, 2007
Ian Grove-Stephensen

Thanks for the invite Connie - you can teach my kids on your bus anytime!

Oct 31, 2007
Harold Shaw

Hi Connie - thank you for answering my question(s). We are just now getting gaggle sorted out, probably another week before administration is comfortable with it being up and running!. I will be a little while longer on the Ning group, but we will get there, probably try for the teachers to test bed a pilot first. Thanks again -- Harold By the way I used to be stationed up at St. Ignace for 3 years 79-82

Oct 31, 2007
Sharon Betts

Connie,
I ok'd your ClassroomBraids request. What breed is your dog? Sharon

Nov 1, 2007
BobStimson

Hi Connie,

Sorry to take so long to answer your question!

We at the World Mind Network are really interested in your experience with your new homeroom of 20 4th and 5th graders. Is there any we we can capture part or all of the magic you are exploring with either webcams or video cameras? If so we would be glad to provide them. You can go to worldmindnetwork.net to see some of our webcam feeds.

You may recall that last month I suggested that today's connected kids seem to be creating a new 'species' of humanity, because of their amazing collaborative abilities via MySpace, YouTube, etc. And you had a very insightful comment on my post. It seems that you are facilitating,
or 'midwifing' this change. I would love to share this with the world.

Bob

Nov 5, 2007
BobStimson

Hi Connie,

It does sound like you're presiding over the evolution of a new kind of homeroom class. Even the mayhem stage sounds exciting, though it probably would come across on a webcam as just chaos. However, when things calm down a bit I'd like to discuss with you how we can share what you're learning with students and teachers everywhere through the World Mind Network. I think your kids could end up being the most famous 4th and 5th graders in the world.

Bob

Nov 9, 2007
Kevin H.

Hi Connie
This is prob not related to your Creature Project so much, but we do a Monster Exchange earlier in the year to accent descriptive writing. The kids create monsters, write up a descriptive narrative story, and then swap writing. All of the monster drawings are on the wall, and they have to match the art with the writing.
Next year, I would love to do this with another class.
Anyway, we made this movie:

Kevin

Dec 1, 2007
Larry Ferlazzo

Connie,

Thanks for sharing the Scientific American article. I've just posted the link in my blog, thanking you:

http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2007/12/01/article-on-the-role-of-effort-in-learning/

Dec 1, 2007
Ginger Lewman

Sorry--I just now saw your comment. We do have a wiki, but it's really not-so-great. We really do much better in person. I can direct message you an invite to our wiki, but if you just want to Skype me, I'm GingerTPLC. You can do it just about any time from here to WinterBreak. Sometimes we'll be "in the middle of it" but sometimes not.

If you want to give me a brief "ping" an hour or so ahead of time, we can easily adjust what we're doing. The kids are getting very used to visitors coming in person and via Skype.

Dec 12, 2007
Ed Jones

Connie, I just wanted to leave a note of gratitude. Can't leave them for all, but you and Nancy and others, with Steve to start us all off, were a great deal of value to me last week. Friday I submitted an application for The Education Entrepreneur Fellowship at The Mind Trust. Its a very nice package to work on building sustainable initiatives in education. Don't know how mine will register with the evaluators, but I'm certainly proud of the proposed project and the ideas backing it up.

The expression of those ideas has been refined a great deal in the past year thanks mainly to this community, the folk at the Fordham Institute, and Rick Hess & staff at AEI. And while those two groups are excellent at holding to principles, remembering the worst of our schools always, and pinging for good research, its been this group that has really filled in the gap between my own personal experiences and the great wide task that is building an economically sensible education system that respects the civic culture that got us all this far.

I know you work amazingly hard at school, in the field, online, and at home, and just wanted to thank at least you for the work here & at fireside. I have a much greater level of hope today than I did a year ago, primarily due to the collaboration you all are enabling.

Feb 20, 2008
Marlen Rattiner

Thank you for the warm welcome. It's exciting for me to be part of such a wonderfully dedicated community.

Apr 24, 2008
Kevin

Welcome from Pennsylvania. Nice site you have here.
Kevin

May 26, 2008
Kevin

Connie,

Hi, this is Kevin. Hope your summer is going well and you had some time to relax.

I've started a new Ning network for Middle School Science Teachers and I thought you might like to join as you are (may be) also a m.s. science teacher. I thought it would be really good to have just middle school science teachers share some of their labs, demos, concerns, what works and what doesn't about teaching this level. Hope to see you there.

Thanks, Kevin

Aug 9, 2008