Power Connections: You are Not Alone

Today is a powerful example of the joys reaped in being a connected educator. I'm driving to Des Moines from Cedar Falls, meeting my friend Missy partway at The Boondocks so we can ride down together to meet Teresa and Allison. All are Iowa Council of Teachers of English (ICTE) board members. All are also united by our love of Billy Collins' poetry. I would not have met any of these people without The Iowa Writing Project (IWP) summer institutes and the fall ICTE conference. Due to time and distance, our friendships have been largely cultivated online. I'm not sure I would've driven alone this far to go to a poetry reading by myself, and I would've missed  hearing "The Lanyard" and "The Revenant" live, along with a lot of amazing quotes about writing and writers. And I would've missed the ride home with Missy where we remembered and recorded all the awesome things we wanted to share with our students on a Google doc.  Yes. YES.  I will share it with you! Tune in tomorrow!

When we make connections, we recognize the affirmation in thinking alike, and we delight in the wonderful surprise of thinking differently. Both of these types of encounters push us to become better educators. When I think of the people I've met over the years who have influenced me, whether by affirming and supporting or pushing back and playing devil's advocate, those connections were created through two organizations: Iowa Council of Teachers of English and the Iowa Writing Project. The people I've met through both organizations, and there's a lot of overlap between them, have shaped who I am today. They encouraged me to become not just an assigner of writing, but a writer who teaches writing. That stance has been the most profound change in my teaching practice because of coming into contact with these people and making these connections.

Another powerful aspect of being a connected educator is that euphoria you feel at a conference when you have a meeting of the minds that we can't achieve in a regular classroom setting.  I always left the fall ICTE conference wanting that euphoria to last, and while euphoria is by definition, not a lasting state, that connected feeling of reaching out and having somebody respond is essential to cultivate throughout the year in an organization, not just once a year. That's why I created the Facebook group for ICTE. (Join us!  You don't have to be Iowan!) Apparently, other people wanted to continue that connection as well because the group, which started in May, has grown over 250 people from all walks of the teaching life, at all age levels. The most important thing about being a connected educator is knowing you're not alone--that the problems you're trying to solve in your classroom are not so unusual that somebody else doesn't have some experience and advice to offer. You don't have to suffer alone. I repeat, you are not alone.

In a lot of school districts in Iowa and the Midwest, the English teacher is the English department, so if you don't have colleagues with whom to bounce ideas around, or you're not in a school culture where you feel nurtured enough to grow, you can create a personal learning network to help you. One recent example of the power of connectedness: my friend Russ Goerend posted in the group that he was having an issue with helping kids connect their evidence with transitions in an effective argument. Within a couple hours, there were multiple great resources at our fingertips from just one Facebook conversation. A number of people from different levels had chimed in.  It just so happens I'm starting to plan my argument unit, and this is a lesson I know I should teach my students.  I feel confident now with the resources suggested.  Even though it was Friday afternoon, when your brain is whack-a-doodle, we still put our heads together and helped Russ solve this problem.  Since the implementation of the Iowa Core, all of us benefit from more argumentation resources.  That is the power of connection: Solving problems before you even know you have them.