Chestnut+Hill+Academy

Chestnut Hill Academy is excited to be a part of PLP. We are rolling out a laptop program in the 10th grade on October 7th, and we can't wait to get started.

Expectations - Team leader will follow up with individuals - Smiles and no more gray hair - Time set aside to work on this project (covered by sub) - I will get more involved personally with web 2.0 - First Elluminate session as a group or at least modeled - Our team will be available for each other with guidance and constructive feedback - We will meet regularly and offer support to each other's ideas and attempts - Year two comes with a stipend. Year three, publish credit. - Have fun - We will experience techno-glitches but will be undeterred in our commitment to "21st Century-ize" CHA - To be impressed by the dedication of the PLP cohort

Assumptions - We will have trouble meeting as frequently as needed - leaders and Fellows will be able to schedule the Elluminate room - We will encounter institutional resistance to change. We will feel frustrated by blissful ignorance. - Outreach to other faculty - Our team will strive to model the PLP ideas with other faculty - Our team has support from our administration since they've invested in us. . . - Support from our administrators, periodic participation for division heads - Elicit support of department heads - We are self selected early adopters that will have no trouble adopting for ourselves but will have difficulty extending to others. This will require planning and work. - We will go back to CHA and find full administrative support

PLP Projects:

PLP UnConference In-Service proposal

The participant-driven UnConference provides for meaningful collaboration and professional development. Participants moderate and participate in workshops of their own creation. A simple and dynamic process lies at the core of the UnConference: on the morning of the in-service day, faculty and staff use Google Docs to either sign up for an existing workshop or create their own (and offer to moderate) if they find no other topic of interest. As more participants create workshop opportunities, every faculty and staff member has the opportunity to attend or facilitate a session in which they have interest.

Each teacher signs up for or creates as many workshops as interests him. Each workshop nominates a scribe who generates summary notes for the workshop and posts the notes to the CHA Ning.

PLP proposes that CHA dedicate the November 8, 2010 in-service day to an UnConference with the goal of bringing teachers together to exchange ideas about good teaching and learning. While PLP promotes the appropriate and effective use of technology in teaching and learning, we stress that the workshops do not need to be technology oriented. Because the faculty, not the technology department or the administration, design the conference workshops it is our hope that the environment generates authentic and frank discussion over myriad topics and relevant faculty interests.

-- Create a mentoring network that matches faculty to a mentor at the appropriate level. Set goals and meet regularly. Share the inventory of skills from throughout the faculty in the Ning. Doesn't necessarily have to be tech related. Mentoring has two parts: one, we set up a relationship with the mentee so we can support them as they mentor in their areas. Two, as a continuing part of that relationship we can bring resources to the teacher that will help teaching and learning in their classes.