Following the Crumbs: Blogging as Professional Development for Teachers

Blogging is a bit like the story of Hansel and Gretel. For three months I have been maintaining a blog about my professional research, exploration and learning. As I pause this week to consider the effectiveness of blogging and blogs as a professional tool for professional development, I can follow the trail of crumbs to see where I have been, just like Hansel and Gretel. I can read my old blog posts and consider old comments. But, unlike the story of the witch, the house of candy, and the journey home, this isn’t a trail to lead me home. These crumbs serve to show me where I have been, but through reflective practice and experimentation, I will use them to chart a course further away from ‘home.’ My blog serves to mark passages in experience and changes in thought. It reflects upon what I once thought and sheds light on where I mean to go. It is a guiding force in my professional growth.

Earlier in my journey this term, I wrote about the importance of reflective practice:
* "By taking this course I remain a reflective practitioner of students with diverse needs, with additional tools in my toolbox for meeting the needs of learners." (October, 2008)
* As a reflective practitioner, I am responsible for looking inward and backward simultaneously, and then tempering my excitement and inspiration. Only then can my students and I use Web 2.0 tools in a meaningful way without becoming overwhelmed or overloaded. (Oct. 08)
* My blog is evidence of "the very core of what sets teaching and teacher-librarianship apart from other occupations. It is the art and artistry of reflective practice." (Oct. 08)

But just how are my blog, and the blogs which I follow, evidence of professional learning and growth? In researching this week’s topic, I resorted to a paper copy of a professional reading. "Professional Learning Communities at Work" (DuFour and Eaker, 1998) is a book I am currently reading as a part of my leadership work at school. The authors suggest that most professionals refer to their work as a "law practice" or "I have been practicing medicine for twenty-one years." But, the authors point out, "when educators refer to ‘practice teaching,’however, they are typically referring to the nine-week period in their senior year of college in which they were expected to learn everything there is to know about teaching." If we are to truly ‘practice’ education in order to create professional learning communities in which colleagues explore the artistry and science of teaching, we must reflect. When teaching is ‘practiced’ and educators are reflective, there are five significant changes that take place. Blogging and blogs meet each of the criteria!

1. Professional teachers emphasize learning rather than teaching.
-Because blogging is a new process and concept to many teachers, it forces us to actively learn something new. The nature of the tool pushes us outside of our comfort zone and pushes us to reflect on our learning. We are reminded of the feeling of trying something new, being frustrated and feeling overwhelmed. We are learners.
-RSS feeds ensure that we are learning regularly as we receive new ideas and research from those all around the world.

2. Professional teachers emphasize active student engagement with significant context. The real question is how to engage students in the exploration of significant content in real and meaningful ways over the sustained period of time that is necessary for students to reach high levels of proficiency.
-Blogging encourages us to reflect on how we are engaging our students. The public nature of a blog allows others to comment on our success and challenges, and to leave suggestions or ideas. Our blog readers further our reflection and push us to consider what will best engage our students. Our contact with educators from around the world adds context and a more rich perspective to our ideas and abilities.
-Reading blogs offers limitless ideas, content, meaningful connections, engagement, authentic inspiration and ‘experiences.’ Whether we are following blogs for our own professional development, or to share directly with our students, we are capable of more effectively engaging our students. And they may see a connection between their learning and the ‘real world!’

3. Professional teachers focus on student performance and production. "In schools that function as professional learning communities, students are asked to do the work of scientists, musicians, business entrepreneurs, politicians, mathematicians, attorneys, novelists, physicians, designers, historians, critics, etc"
-When writing our blogs, we can ask colleagues and others to help us reflect on what we are having our students doing. Our audience can help us to consider how our teaching ideas and strategies are engaging our students.
-By subscribing to a variety of blogs, not just those aimed at educators, we open our classrooms to scientists, musicians, business entrepreneurs, politicians........you get the picture! We gain knowledge about a variety of topics (for example, my RSS feeds on Sky Science) to share either directly or indirectly with our students.

4. Professional teachers routinely collaborate with their colleagues.
-This semester I have certainly collaborated with my colleagues in my school building, but the limitations of report cards, lesson planning, parent meetings, and staff meetings make our time scattered and minimal. But I have also corresponded with educators in Bangkok, Boston, England, Winnipeg and British Columbia thanks to my blog! Comments on my blog from these colleagues have furthered my reflection and practice with their fresh perspective, and have validated my concerns and frustrations with their share experiences – even a world away!
-Similarly, reading blogs of colleagues both locally and internationally, affords me the opportunity to seek out those with similar challenges or questions. I can relate to their experiences and reflect on my own in reading their blog posts.

5. Professional teachers are students of teaching and consumers of research.
-Blogs allow teachers to track, chart and map their personal professional development. They can read their thoughts and can share them with others. If there is one common thread I have noticed about teachers as bloggers this semester is that none claim to have all the answers. They all appear to be on a reflective journey of exploration and learning. It is refreshing, and permits me to do the same. To admit that I am a student of teaching, and to participate in a community of colleagues who believe the same.
-RSS feeds make being a ‘consumer of research’ simple, accessible and painless. By subscribing to some ‘research-ly’ blogs and others that share reflective journeys, teachers participate in daily professional development. It is important to remember, as I have learned this term, that being a consumer of research does not mean reading scholarly journals exclusively. Seeking out new ideas and making discoveries is research. And let’s not forget action research.
Wikipedia defines action research as "Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems." THAT’S BLOGGING AND BLOGS!!!!

Blogs are the "Professional Learning Communities at Work" that DuFour and Eaker discuss. While it is certain that blogs are not what they had in mind while writing the book, participating in the Read/Write web by using blogs is active participation in a professional learning community. I came across the most wonderful term this week during my research. On the website Work Literacy, I discovered an article referring to the E-flective Practioner. I thought the term was fabulous! That’s what I want to be! With the skills I have learned in this course, and the guiding principles of professional learning communities in mind, I just might have a hope!

Until then, I will continue dropping my crumbs and following them at the same time – a mistake I am sure Hansel and Gretel never made. But the more I drop and the more closely I follow, I am discovering something curious. I set out on this journey to use a blog as an account of my professional development. I have written, and read, and reflected, and now I think I am back where I started. The trail of crumbs have led me back to my blog. What I thought was the map, is actually the path. Blogging and blogs, are the professional development, not just the crumbs! My blog has been my driving force and my reflective tool in this professional development. My teaching practice has changed significantly this term, and I can articulate why I have made these changes in my practice. That is powerful professional development! And for a teacher, that’s a greater discovery than a house made of candy in the woods!