Starting on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007, on Skype from 10pm-11pm, an open discussion with MASH members: 1)to get to know one another better, 2)to find out others' interests and ideas and 3)to begin to build the trust necessary for collaboration to begin.

This idea is directed at members of the MASH page. I'd like to offer a one hour weekly open discussion on the topic of collaboration.

I imagine I'll be talking to myself for the first few weeks, but optimistically hope others will see the value in investing an hour a week to exploring opportunities to pursuing one's professional development.

Send me a message via e-mail or Skype if you'd like to participate (only 8 seats available)

Cheers,

Steve

Sounds like a great idea and if more can get involved then make more groups. Maybe a certain topic can be discussed in a group?

Pity I have a class from 9 to 11 pm on Wednesdays

"Professional Development through Collaboration"

Hello all,

Well, It wasn't nearly as lonely as it might have been. There were 6 other people at the inaugural Open Skype. They included:

Phil Brown - Mod 6
Anthony Hollinghurst - Mod 6
Joshua Sargent - Mod 6
Grace Wang - Tutor
Theron Muller - Tutor
Joanne Sato - Mod 3
Steve Herder - Mod 6

Some questions we discussed:

1. A year from now - what would we like to be able to say that we've accomplished?

2. What are you thinking about in about your teaching these days?


Personally, I'm interested in classroom research in the following areas:

1. Positive psychology (research in progress)
2. Extensive reading research (research in progress)
3. Defining and comparing a theory of practice collaboratively
4. Clarifying expectations of my learners and myself
5. Exchanging videoed lessons for reflective learning.
6. Teaching online lessons via Skype (research in progress)

I hope to hear some impressions, ideas and comments from other participants.

Cheers,

Steve

Here are some things to think about for the Open Skype next week:

Introductions of any first-timers

1) Mark will ask, "What are your first impressions of the MASH homepage?" Please think about comments that express what you like or don't like about the page.

2) Mark will walk us through using the homepage and will explain the direction in which it is heading.

3) Steve will ask, "How do we take a general consensus that collaboration and classroom research are good, and turn it into action and results?"

Hey everyone,
On Wednesday the 19th, I will be asking your opinions about the homepage, more about your thoughts on its ease of use as well as things you might want to see different.

In the second part - walking you through the software, I will explain some of the theory behind creating the page and use your feedback and my own thoughts to explain the concept of the web site. A lot of my own research went into creating the site, based on the original skype group as well as collaboration theories.

See you Wednesday!

Attended:

Mark de Boer
Matt Walsh
Colin Skeates
Theron Muller
Steve Herder

Colin and Matt gave many useful first impressions and comments about the MASH website. Mark now has an ever-growing list of ideas and changes to begin to implement over the next few months.


Mark explained some underlying concepts behind the MASH website. He also outlined the collaborative opportunities for teachers involved in MASH.


Steve asked, "How do we take a general consensus that collaboration and classroom research are good, and turn it into action and results?" It was agreed that specific goals are very important in order to get things accomplished. As ideas are generated, people will jump on board when ideas match their interests.

The next OPEN SKYPE will be on January 9th, 2008. The topic will hopefully be posted by the 7th.


Cheers,

Steve

Within the spirit of New Year's Resolutions and the next vital step for Open Skype, I'm going to think about CONCRETE GOALS for 2008.

I'll be prepared by tomorrow night with a list of these goals as they relate to 1) my MA studies, 2) my involvement with MASH, 3) my teaching and 4) my professional development.

Of course, I would love to hear other's CONCRETE GOALS and have a chance to discuss the details of getting things accomplished.

Hope to see a few of you online tomorrow night.


Cheers,


Steve

Twas a small but mighty talk last night.

Mark de Boer
Theron Muller
Steve Herder

We talked about collaboration - models of collaborative groups, reasons for the success or failure of collaboration, and the underlying tenets of continuing collaborative interaction.

Our on-site at the U of B student colleague, Kirsten Anderson (once known as Shakespeare), joined for about 7 seconds but her connection was crap, so she bowed out unfortunately.

I later had a great chat with her about her new life - she's doing 3 modules in 3 months, and I hope she'll offer some glimpses of life on campus for all of us as she gets geared up and in the swing of things.

Mark, Theron and I never got to the concrete goals section of the talk. I wondered if others didn't join in because of the "heaviness" of the topic? Personally, I found the exercise challenging yet satisfying and it only took me about 10 minutes. Therefore, I'm going to expose myself (I may never get my goals completed) for the purpose of giving people a starting point. My goals for 2008 are listed below:

1) My MA studies,
Functional Grammar essay by march 16th
Find a dissertation question
Conduct one classroom research project or replication
Finish the dissertation by September 30

2) My involvement with MASH,
Continue Open Skype until June 30th
Organize MASH IT UP Osaka08
Organize MASH IT UP Tokyo08
Attend Hiroshima08
Record 20 10-minute MASH videos

3) My teaching,
Develop ways to make reading more extensive
Develop a student-supported rubric for grading based on effort
Understand classroom expectations better

4) My professional development.
Osaka JALT Presentation
MASH IT UP Osaka08 Presentation
JALT Conference procedings reader
Learn to use and make video
Publish two articles - JHSH SIG,and Dictogloss or one of my essays

I would love to hear others concrete goals. I would also love to share ways of attaining our goals and having an opportunity to support one another. Anyone willing to expose themselves with me???

Steve

Without concrete goals, how do we know if we're getting where we want to be?

It's easy to teach this stuff about goals to our students, but a different story when we turn the tables on ourselves. It's inspiring, motivational and thought-provoking to read or hear other people's goals. It actually only took me about 10 minutes to get it all down on paper.


We're all at different stages in our growth as teachers, writers and administrators; but the opportunity to work and learn together is right now staring us in the face.


How about it? Does anyone else want to join the conversation? We have so much to offer one another. Just jump in...


Thanks to Theron for allowing me to print these on the MASH forum.


Cheers,

Steve Herder



Theron Muller

1) Birmingham
Continue to work with my tutees and provide quality feedback on their papers
Marking papers with the January submission
Add 2 new tutees with the April intake

2) My involvement with MASH
Present at MASH Tokyo about publishing
Continue to participate in Open Skype
Consider and implement collaborative research with another Birminghammer in 2008

3) My teaching
Consider another research into tasks and my students
Begin a collaborative research evaluating the effectiveness of phonics teaching with my high school students

4) My professional development
Continue editing for TLT and the Asian ESP Journal
Edit the JALT2007 Proceedings, coordinate reading and edit the papers I'm assigned
Complete chapter for MELTA series on collaboration
Write chapter for submission to TBLT2007 Proceedings
Start joint research into editing identity/philosophy with John Adamson