A Profile of Our
Virtual Professional Community
We are teachers from small
and large schools; teachers whose experience ranges from many years
to just a few; teachers who teach in urban, suburban, rural, public
and private settings; teachers from many countries around the world
who have come together with administrators, staff developers, college
professors and others to talk about the teaching life. Some arrive at
the pre-service level needing all sorts of support and help. Others
come with many years of experience, still anxious to refine and deepen
their understanding of their craft. Our common bond is our commitment
to young adolescents during their middle-grades years.
On a busy day, as many as
50-60 messages may be posted on our main discussion list. We average
about 30 daily messages that contribute to as many as a half-dozen conversation
“strings.” More than half of our 600 members rarely say
anything at all. “I wouldn’t think of suggesting that our
MiddleWeb lurkers leave the listserv,” says John Norton, who began
the listserv in 2000 and continues to serve as chief moderator. “I
get private messages from them almost daily saying things like, ‘I’ve
never posted to MiddleWeb but it has changed everything about my teaching.’”
Often new members will choose to lurk for a while, gauging the temperament
of the listserv, and then find the confidence to begin to express their
own understandings about teaching and learning.
We are a civil, open-hearted
community – and an “open” list, where none of us know
for sure whether individuals from our physical world are listening.
Yet,
MiddleWeb is
a circle of professional friends. |
MiddleWeb members exhibit
a remarkable level of trust. They often write in great detail and with
considerable frankness about what goes on in their classrooms. Reading
through posts on the listserv becomes an exercise in daily reflection
and the progressive buildup of skills. Dewey’s notion of lifelong,
constructivist learning is brought to life in the continuous, dynamic
give-and-take of our conversation, which constantly reshapes itself
to meet the needs and interests of our members. This allows teachers
to break away from the isolation and inertia of the old model of teacher
as a highly individualistic, independent contractor.
Through its culture of collaboration
and coaching, MiddleWeb helps teachers consider ideas that will nudge
them into fundamental shifts of pedagogy. By creating access to the
insights and experiences of hundreds of accomplished educators, the
MiddleWeb listserv demonstrates the potential of a virtual professional
community to serve as the “master teacher” we all want in
our classrooms, giving advice and direction on the spot. Often, members
will exchange lesson plans and other teaching materials through private
email or by requesting the MiddleWeb moderator to post a helpful resource
on the website where anyone can download it.
The transfer of knowledge
from what is discussed on the listserv to what is practiced in our classrooms
and schools is evident in the follow-up stories regularly posted by
our members. Assistant Principal Alexis Weiner says that MiddleWeb “has
become my touchstone as I continue to learn about teaching middle school
students. MiddleWeb broadens my network of colleagues and allows me
to risk intellectual curiosity on a daily basis. This is profound and
amazing work. I am always amazed at the intellect that abounds ‘out
there’ - from thoughtful, reflective new teachers to those sages
with the wisdom of experience - all willing and openly honest."
MiddleWeb listserv members
are fond of describing themselves as “odd ducks” who revel
in working with early adolescents and prefer teaching at the middle
level. Many of us crave a professional collegiality that seems to be
missing in our own schools. Mid-life career changer Carolyn Beitzel,
who teaches in a large suburban school system, felt the lack of community
within her district and came to MiddleWeb looking for like-minded colleagues
and mentors. “MiddleWeb allows me to work within a community of
educators who are definitely committed to lifelong learning and striving
to make themselves better educators,” she says. “It allows
me the opportunity to talk with other teachers who may be facing similar
issues with their students, parents, administration, or faculty. But
I think, most importantly it gives me the opportunity to be a ‘fly
on the wall.’ I can listen to conversations and glean information
and participate when I choose. I can also disagree and debate merits
of strategies without the body language of someone who is angry, bored,
or unagreeable — no rolling eyes! I can listen collegially to
another's opinion and take what I want from the conversation. Being
in a ‘virtual’ faculty lounge’ takes away so much
pressure to ‘perform’ for your peers.”
Whether a suburban, urban,
rural, or small town middle school teacher, we were all represented
in the posts describing ineffective, time-wasting professional development
sessions in our schools. So many times, Beitzel said, teachers sit through
professional
development sessions that have little relevance to their own teaching.
Topics as diverse as Standards, Anti-Bullying, Curriculum Content, or
Graphic Organizers are all applicable to a teacher’s development.
But when those sessions provide little to no opportunity for meaningful
dialogue among teachers, nor follow-up and reflection, then too often
less is taken away than intended. “The problem I see in a school
as large as mine (127 faculty and staff) is that even when we attend
a professional development session that is meaningful, there is no follow
up,” said Beitzel. “We don't meet in small teams to develop
a plan for implementation. We don't implement and then reflect.”
For Beitzel and many others,
MiddleWeb provides opportunity for reflection and dialogue. The opportunity
always exists to discuss ideas, test them out in a physical environment,
return to the listserv with new insights, suggestions or questions,
and continue the cycle of learning. Laura
Robb, an acclaimed reading and curriculum expert, wrote that the
best staff development is collaborative in nature and follows a coaching
model (Robb, L. 2000). In a successful staff development meeting, teachers
support one another as evidenced by an increase in reflection of shared
expertise, where the teachers pose questions, discuss classroom practices,
and suggest books and articles that could expand knowledge. The MiddleWeb
listserv has proven to be a place where teachers can return to reflect,
moan, celebrate and ask for guidance. Listserv member Carolyn Wilson
Koershner has stressed time and again “the listserv community
is a critical element in supporting authentic
growth and reflective practice.” She attends professional
development sessions quite frequently in her education job but has never
been a part of one that “created an effective community for follow-up
and reflection" such as the MiddleWeb listserv.
The quality of the MiddleWeb
conversation can be reinforced by the fact that many instructors in
teacher education courses have recommended or require their students
join the listserv to absorb not only the ideas and philosophies being
debated but also the insight that lifelong learning is a necessary ingredient
of quality teaching. Often, these students will initiate discussions
of their own; as they grow accustomed to the give and take of MiddleWeb
and begin to visualize what it will be like to have their own classrooms.
