This really coincided with something that Elaan Bauder wrote as a guest blogger here on Pairadimes. [...]

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/feb09/vol66/num05/Learning_with_Blogs_and_Wikis.aspx

enjoy

Glad to see that you have entered into the world of blogging. You chose a great place to start. Dave has worked so hard to build his personal learning network. He continually scans the websphere for knowledge and has done such a good job of reframing it through his schema and then sharing it with his ever growing readership.

In response to Dave’s comment post I’d like to add the tweet that I then sent to you after you shared that you did not want to share rubbish.

@elaan one woman’s rubbish is another man’s treasure…I find it more of an opportunity self reflect and if other people like it…so be it.

With respect to the implementation gap that Dave talks about, I think that as presenters we all preach an approach to teaching that utilizes formative assessment and differentiated teaching strategies and then most often we lecture to our adult learners. We make the assumption that because they are there that they will be able to learn via the lecture method.

I can’t think of the exact percentages. But if we look at how well people learn, I think that something like 5% of what we listen to sticks, 25% of what we write down sticks, and so on until we get to a large percentage of what we interact with and use sticks. My point is that many of our pro d models involve sitting and listening.

The best model of pro d that I have been a participant in and facilitator of involves a mentor/mentee model. Or a facilitated action research group. You need to repeatedly hit on your ideas over a sustained period of time.

The best you can realistically hope for from a one time presenter type pro d is that you spark an interest in what you are presenting about so that your participants seek out more info on your topic. Or hit with a paradigm statement that will resonate with your audience.

For example, David Bolton (of Children of The Code), recently shared an analogy about a baby taking his/her first steps. The parent extends their index fingers so that the baby may use them to regain balance if they feel they need the support. He called this being on the edge of the baby’s learning.

That paradigm concept stuck with me. I now encourage my staff to find the edge of their students’ learning in all their subject areas and extend their metaphorical index fingers.

I guess my question is why should it be different for adult learning. Where is the edge of our teaching practice?

I am working on a post around this idea…hope to have it posted soon.

Three things come to mind as I read this:

1. I’ve felt similar as a Pro-D attendee – ‘Wow, that’s all well and good, but I couldn’t ever do that!’ This is why in my ‘The Rant, I can’t, the Elephant and the Ant’ presentation I spend so much time on the idea that “I can’t” holds us back too much.

2. I’ve felt similar as a presenter – I’ve created opportunities for participants at my presentations to take the next step after they leave and then seen very few educators follow up. I’m starting to see how this could be my fault. I’m now learning to embed these opportunities into my presentations and that seems to help.

Both of these perspectives speak of an implementation gap between what we learn and what we do. This post pinpoints many of the things that create that gap and the responses so far seem to suggest that Elaan’s points are shared by many.

3. Digital sharing compounds the issue – It adds pressure to be ‘right’ or to ‘have something important to say’ or to ‘feel like an authority’… essentially to “prove your value”!

damac32: @elaan great post on Dave’s blog. Are you now ready to take on your own blog? Or do you already have one? Here is mine: http://tr.im/gGIC

elaan: @damac32 @datruss The thing about starting my own blog – I don’t feel like I’ve enough to SAY. I don’t want 2 write rubbish just 4 the sake

As you say at the end of the post: “When we support growth amongst ourselves as professionals, we are better prepared to nurture growth for our students – because after all, we are all students in this journey together!” Thank you for taking the time to share this part of your journey with us!

@Heather – I appreciate your comments! It’s true that the best of intentions sometimes go awry (I know mine have at times!). Good thing we are in a profession that allows us growth and reflection. Good luck on your webquest/presentation!

@Bruce – Thanks, Bruce! I am grateful for your support. I know this isn’t a definitive list of answers (there never is one), but it’s perhaps a good starting point for discussion. I hope it helps!