1. Developing Communities of Practice Through Content, Coaching, and Peer Interaction Mary Anne Mather Martin Huntley MERLOT, Costa Mesa, CA 2004

2. “Every professional conversation between two teachers is professional development.” Aaron Listhaus Educator, Long Island City, NY from The Knowledge Loom (knowledgeloom.org)

3. Knowledge Loom Collaboratory Not a course in the traditional sense…

4. Knowledge Loom Collaboratory …but an on-going conversation.

5. Our topic: Adolescent Literacy in the Content Areas A challenging issue for middle and high school content area teachers Literacy skills needed for learning math, science, social studies… Teachers of these content areas typically do not see themselves as literacy teachers

6. Online Collaborative Learning Learning Content Community of Practice Expert Facilitation Peer-to-Peer Interaction

7. Learning Content Resources that bridge research and practice Summaries of research Stories from classrooms Case studies Examples of student work Specifications of learning tasks that generate new learning content

8. Learning Content The Knowledge Loom Content knowledgeloom.org knowledgeloom.org Case Studies & Vignettes Lesson Plans & Lesson Videos

9. Expert Facilitation “For professional development to truly build practitioner knowledge and expertise, it must provide the opportunity for ongoing learning and access to timely feedback on relevant issues in practice.” Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000

10. Expert Facilitation Literacy Expert Content Area Coaches Technical Facilitator

11. Peer-to-Peer Interaction “Historically, teacher learning has been considered an individual endeavor, outside the lines of shared inquiry.” Huberman, 1983

12. Peer-to-Peer Interaction Interdisciplinary Interactions Online Content-area Interactions Online Interdisciplinary Interactions On-Site

13. Work-Situated Activities & Conversations Coping with a Difficult Text Analyzing a difficult text to gain understanding of the difficulties students face Example of text analysis dialogExample of text analysis dialog (local-Mac) (local-PC)local-Maclocal-PC Lesson Planning Framing ideas for lesson plans and getting peer and facilitator feedback Example of lesson planning dialogExample of lesson planning dialog (local-Mac) (local-PC)local-Maclocal-PC Lesson Observations Delivering lesson and getting feedback from observing peer Example of lesson reportExample of lesson report (local-Mac) (local-PC)local-Maclocal-PC

14. Outcomes: Shared Learnings that Change Practice “What I gained most was the chance to collaborate. It was a dream come true for me.” Collaboratory Participant & High School Science Teacher, 2004

15. Resources The Knowledge Loom: Adolescent Literacy in the Content Areas spotlight knowledgeloom.org/adlit knowledgeloom.org/adlit Recent feature story about the Collaboratory www.alliance.brown.edu/stories/story0804.shtml www.alliance.brown.edu/stories/story0804.shtml (See the story’s Related Resources for transcript of some dialog from the Collaboratory.)

16. Contacts Mary Anne Mather Martin Huntley This work is conducted by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, a program of The Education Alliance, with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U. S. Department of Education, under contract ED-01- CO-0010. This presentation does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, or any other agency of the U.S. Government.