Being a connected leader takes on many forms. Some of the forms it has taken in the past week of my life include:
Participating in back channel discussions during the Iowa Teacher and Principal Leadership Symposium that led to deeper understanding of the topics being presented and quality collaboration with colleagues from within and outside of my own district and area, many of whom were not even attending the event that day It also led to a very interesting conversation with Jeff Herzberg, Director of Prairie Lakes AEA (@herz6kids) and Prairie Lakes Director of Innovation, Scott McLeod (@mcleod) about the possible creation of an EdCamp Iowa. This began with a tweet on my part suggesting we have a "Here's What is Working for Us" conference for Iowa school districts. One of the greatest examples of connected leaders that day came from Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass (@jasonglassIA) who was simultaneously hosting the event and participating in the back channel discussion. Dr. Glass has been an outstanding example of connected leadership at the state level.
Communicating with renowned author Todd Whitaker (@toddwhitaker) regarding his latest book "Shifting the Monkey". I follow Dr. Whitaker on Twitter (are you sensing a theme?) I posted a tweet about the fact that I had just finished the book and was looking forward to sharing key points with my leadership team and the next thing I knew I had a message back from him thanking me and wishing me a good year. By the end of the brief conversation we had discussed the opportunity to have him Skype in to one of our leadership meetings. Once again, an amazing connection that would never have happened without being connected through social media.
Having a conversation with a colleague from Texas about a walkthrough system I helped develop with another outstanding connected leader from our district, Ryan Cunningham, Okoboji Middle School Principal (@rcunningham78). Two years ago we developed the system which utilizes Google Apps and Sites to provide immediate quantitative and qualitative feedback from walkthrough observations directly to classroom teachers. It has been a hit among our staff who appreciate the timely narrative feedback and the powerful conversations that follow. In an effort to share something that has worked for us, last year I decided to screen cast an overview of how the process works and put it on YouTube. Since then I have had a number of educators from around the country contact me after seeing the video and wanting more information. The contact and resulting conversation this morning was the latest example of that. Once again, learning and connecting that would not have been possible without the use of social media; in this case YouTube. In case happen to be looking to implement such a walkthrough system you can find the video on our system HERE.
As suggested in the title, these three examples come from just the past week. I could list countless other instances in which my connection to other educators through social media has provided me with opportunities to learn, lead, and connect in ways I never could have before. August is Connected Educator's Month. If you are not already linked in to this amazing network of people, resources, and learning, don't wait any longer. We can't wait to learn with and from you. Get Connected!
No comments:
Post a Comment