Power Tools and Teacher Sharing

I have been to several conferences and workshops over the years since entering the field of education. They have all been well run, hosted in wonderful venues, and very interesting. I always leave them feeling motivated and inspired by what I have seen and ready to share all of my new findings with the educators within my circle of influence. I then see what can actually be utilized mid-stream and on the fly in the middle of the school year. But as is customary, the regular school day comes back into focus and eventually my grandiose ideas fade as I grind on in the normalcy of daily life within my school. As I attend a workshop at The College of William and Mary hosted by Jan Rosselle and Carol Scearce on their book Power Tools for Adolescent Literacy: Strategies for Learning, I once again am becoming very excited at the information presented to me. Their book is great and the website is full of very useful resources as well, but that is not the only reason that I am excited. I am also inspired by the possibilities that have been generated while here.

Think back to your last workshop and then reflect on the following questions:

1. How much of your behavior has changed since you received new information from a workshop?
2. How much of the information you learned has been put into practice throughout your entire school?

If your answer to one or both of these questions is very little don't feel bad, you're not alone. It is a more common result than you know. Most people don't readily change their behaviors even after a very uplifting presentation because they do not feel a true relationship to the information. This is where crowdsourcing could definitely play a part in working with the knowledge gained in similar situations. People are more likely to continue their efforts of working with new information long after a conference or workshop is over if they feel they have a place to turn to that is designed to help them share how they are using new information effectively. By utilizing Web 2.0 technology as a way to create a fluid resource site on the internet, presenters can create a following based on their information and in turn the followers would have a place to be recognized for their efforts. This motivates followers to continue to be engaged with the information while at the same time increase the viral effect of the content, thus increasing the number of followers over time. It is a win-win situation for everyone and in turn we would see the creation of a greater product over time. This would help everyone change their answers to the previously posed questions and help educators become an even stronger team of collaborators.