Finding Community

One of the roles I play in almost every project I work on is community builder. My goal is to help educators grab onto the power of the network for their own learning and sharing. It can be a hard sell sometimes: time is short and social networks can be messy. Creating, maintaining and getting the most out of a Twitter feed requires ongoing attention but if you are willing to make time, you will be rewarded.

It’s important to make sure our students know how to find and use community whether it’s Twitter or a discussion forum or a Facebook page. They aren’t going to learn everything in school. They are most certainly going to develop passions as they get older and need to know how to learn about those passions.

I’m a perfect example: I am developing a passion for baking. I always enjoyed baking but it wasn’t an essential part of my life. Recently, I have begun baking on a regular basis and learning more about the science and practice of baking, especially with whole grains. I spent more time deciding what was going into my bread basket and what cake I was baking for Thanksgiving than anything else. Turkey? You’re supposed to serve turkey? Have you tried the cornbread?

Much of the community I have revolves around King Arthur Flour. This is, in my mind, a business that gets community just right. Recipes, blogs, and forums are free and open to all. Certainly, the recipes mention KAF products but almost none of it is required and you can easily find substitutes in your grocery store. And they would like you to follow them and subscribe and all that.

But, the community is offered for free. It is a warm, welcoming place. Not everyone is always happy: they complain about  recipes that didn’t work or meet their expectations. Complaints are always addressed by a KAF moderator sometimes with suggestions but other times just to let them know they’ve been heard.

The true meaning of a professional learning community was defined in this very enthusiastic and heart warming comment left on the recipe for Light Spice Cookies.

I am new to baking. I have been cooking since college, but only started baking about a month ago – so far only cookies, though this weekend I am going to branch out and bake a cake for my husband’s birthday. If it doesn’t turn out, well, there is always ice cream…. 🙂 Anyway, the first batch of cookies I made was a disaster and the 2nd batch only so-so. Then I found your website, and since then… every time I make cookies, people rave and want the recipe and request a few to take home and then their husbands email me asking for some and… I only make the recipes that have 4 or 5 stars and I read all the comments and your tips so I can learn from others and so far that has worked really well for me. As someone who is new to this, access to a community is a huge blessing. Anyway, these particular cookies (light spice) are my Mom’s FAVORITES. She told her best friend she never realized what a great baker her daughter was! My Mom loves these cookies, and so now I make sure she always has enough so she can have one with her afternoon tea. The one modification I made to the recipe – I added a small amount (1/4 teaspoon) of ground cardamom and I add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of both the ginger and the cinnamon.

There are three threads woven together her: She recognizes that the community has helped her grow. She demonstrates her ability to use the community to full advantage by being sure to read all the comments of the four- and five-starred recipes. And, she feels confident in her abilities to share her knowledge with the community by describing how she changed the spices.

Next time someone asks you why they need a professional learning community, point them to this comment.

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