I love to spend time my niece who is twelve and my nephew
who is eight. We have the greatest give
and take conversations, meaning they know so many thing that I don’t know. When I say “what is that or how does that
work?", they get a real kick out of showing me what they know. It is no secret that kids today are much more
familiar with technology than we are, just give them a device and let them show
you. +Reflecting on one of our conversations,
it dawned on me that I have to be comfortable with what I know and just as comfortable
with what I don’t know. The great part
about what I don’t know, is that I too can grab my device and search the world
for answers. After all learning is power!
This year in my district we are working on our practice in
the classroom through instructional rounds.
Too often great teachers move into administration and become managers of people
instead of leaders of learners. So how can I as an administrator continue to
grow in what I practice? My choice is Twitter.
I use this source because I always have a device in my possession and I get to
choose who I follow for information. I
agree that engaging in the Twitter-verse is an acquired skill, but none the
less worth the learning curve. I have to continue to grow my skills and acquire
information using what our kids are so familiar with, social media.
I am reminded of a professor I had in my
graduate work that would say a million times to us…”tell me what you know, not
what you think!” Here is what I know, leaders
of learners have to commit the time to learn, apply what they’ve learned in a
setting that others can learn from them, and they must seek information about
what they don’t know.
Remember the old adage of lead, follow, or get out of the
way – what I know is that your staff will get information from someone – make that
someone you. Be a leader, spend your
time researching practices that other schools are using to accelerate success on
their campus. Do your research, interact
with others on social media, through #edchats, or through other blogging
sources. It is amazing what I can learn
in ten minutes on twitter or reading another educators blog. Know what you don’t know, and commit the time
and energy to learn it.
Here are some of my favorite Twitter sites:
#leadfromwithin@EducatorsRoom
@SBEducation
@NEAToday
@TED_Ed
@EdTechTeacher21
