Join us for a Powering Up book launch party!

Over 1,000 of you have downloaded a copy of The Connected Teacher: Powering Up. We are so excited that the book has been met with such enthusiasm!

To keep that momentum going, and to celebrate the launch of our first book, we are hosting a virtual Book Launch Party on Thursday, December 6th at 8pm EDT.

Join five of our Powering Up authors (Kathy Cassidy, Brian Crosby, Patti Grayson, Marsha Ratzel & Shelley Wright) along with PLPress leaders Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and John Norton for readings, “wow” moments, takeaways, and Q&A.

It’s sure to be a blast!

Spread the word

Tell all your friends to join us. Spread the word with these Tweetables:

Join me for an online book launch party celebrating the launch of The Connected Teacher: Powering Up and #PLPress http://powerfullearningpress.com

December 6, join me for a virtual book launch party and powerful conversations about connected teaching: More at http://powerfullearningpress.com

Introducing Powerful Learning Press! (Get our free eBook about becoming a Connected Teacher)

PLPress PeriwinkleAt Powerful Learning Practice, we’ve perfected the art of professional development for the 21st Century educator – PD that’s anytime, anywhere, and networked. And now we’re proud to announce the launch of Powerful Learning Press, a new education publishing venture. We call it PLPress for short.

PLPress will publish concise, inexpensive books that showcase the authentic voices of teachers, principals and other educators who are revamping their classroom and leadership practices to better meet the learning needs of iGeneration students.

“We want to create vital, action-oriented books that give teachers and other educators the advice and encouragement they need to make the shift to connected learning,” — Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, PLP co-founder and CEO

PLPress will draw its pool of authors from among educators who are:

  • successfully integrating technology and social media tools
  • using student-driven learning strategies
  • emphasizing inquiry learning, passion and project-based teaching strategies, and authentic assessment

Many connected educators have transformed their classrooms and schools, and they have important insights and know-how to share .We believe they shouldn’t be limited by traditional publishing practices or book marketing programs that focus on the dominant educational trend of the moment.

How is PLPress different?

  • PLPress authors will be teachers, administrators, and education change leaders who are actively working to transform teaching and learning. Too few ideas, especially in education, are ‘asked’ to be published. We want to change that.
  • PLPress will publish books in the 15-30,000 word range, in interactive e-editions. Some books will also be offered in print. Many busy educators have great ideas and experience to share but don’t have time to write a 70,000-word book. We’ll help get those ideas out there for others to use and learn from.
  • Authors will retain copyright control of their work, with limited rights granted to PLPress. Many first-time book authors are annoyed to learn that they don’t retain copyright ownership of their work. Authors who publish with PLPress will own what they produce.
  • Authors will share equally with PLPress in profits from book sales. Compare that to traditional publishers, who offer first-time authors 8-15 percent of profits.

PLPress will provide editing, graphics and marketing support, and the authors will provide their intellectual capital and writer’s sweat. It will be a 50-50 partnership. We also intend to shorten the publishing cycle. The traditional publishing process can take up to 18 months. We don’t have that luxury in today’s rapidly changing learning environment.

Educators who are interested in submitting book proposals should visit the “Write for Us” page for more information.

The Connected Teacher: Powering Up

Powering UpWe are celebrating the launch of Powerful Learning Press by giving away its first product, titled The Connected Teacher: Powering Up. The free 132-page eBook includes 22 short essays drawn from PLP’s popular group blog Voices from the Learning Revolution. The unique collection supports teachers who are just beginning to make the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered learning.

The personal essays, which first appeared in the Voices from the Learning Revolution group blog, include images, clickable links and videos – plus selected comments by readers of the original posts.

The authors featured in Powering Up include well-known education bloggers like Ann Michaelsen, Kathy Cassidy, Brian Crosby, Lyn Hilt, Jenny Luca, Marsha Ratzel and Shelley Wright, and relative newcomers like Virginia fourth-grade teacher Patti Grayson, who began documenting her shift to student-centered teaching while participating in PLP’s year-long Connected Learner Experience.

The book also includes a foreword by education thought-leader and PLP co-founder Will Richardson, who writes: “These authors show us that if we have a passion to keep learning, a will to innovate, and a capacity to problem-solve and collaborate, we can make great things happen for the children who we serve.”

Get your free copy of Powering Up.

Veteran education writer John Croft Norton will serve as director and chief editor of Powerful Learning Press. John is a former education journalist who founded MiddleWeb.com and co-founded the Teacher Leaders Network, where he edited hundreds of articles written by teachers and published by Education Week. John also served for six years as Vice President for Information at the Southern Regional Education Board and currently edits PLP’s Voices from the Learning Revolution group blog.

I’m excited about this new PLP initiative because I’ve seen the potential of so many educators to create visionary books that are also practical and written with the needs of their peers in mind. We’re creating a supportive and collaborative publishing process that will help some of those educators bring their first book to life.” -John Norton, PLPress Director and Chief Editor

The first three solo-authored books from PLPress are under development and will appear early in 2013. You can also buy a print edition of Powering Up by clicking here.

Join us for a launch party

To celebrate the launch of our first book, we’ll be hosting a Book Launch Party on December 6 at 8pm. Join five of our Powering Up authors (Kathy Cassidy, Brian Crosby, Patti Grayson, Marsha Ratzel & Shelley Wright) along with PLPress leaders Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and John Norton for readings, “wow” moments, takeaways, and Q&A. More details are to follow, and it’s sure to be a blast.  Sign up here.