This week I am away on an offline vacation. Rather than let the blog be dormant or rerunning old posts I decided to give some other people a chance to share their experiences and ideas with you. I hope you enjoy the posts.
Having
just completed my first year as building principal, I continue to hear
the words of a former Science instructor at every turn, “The
only thing constant is change.” As someone new to the world of
Educational Administration, this phrase helps describe my first year as
an Elementary Principal. I use these words as guidance and continue to
reflect upon them throughout the process. This past year I found many
“changes” in store for me and no doubt for my staff as the principal of @HickoryHillElem, a K-6 building in Nebraska.
THE IMPORTANCE OF A PERSONAL LEARNING NETWORK
As
a new principal, there are many “firsts” to experience throughout the
course of a school year. Some take much time, consideration and thought,
while some just happen and you must respond. No matter the situation, I
have come to rely on several things while experiencing many of these
these firsts. Never underestimate the power of your PLN (Personal Learning Network).
My PLN serves many purposes; it is my support system, my personal
trainer, my magic mirror, my coach/referee, and my charging station. As a
new administrator I quickly realized the benefits of connecting with
other educators and began expanding my PLN as a part of this process.
While my network includes those within my own district team (13
Elementary Principals, Central Office and Building-Level Staff), I also
began seeing the benefits of extending my connections beyond the walls
of my own district.
It was at this point that I began making @Twitter
work for me. Up until this point in my career I had a Twitter account
and little understanding of the benefits it could provide. My network
consisted of a few close friends and a few other “big name” leaders in
the world of education. I would classify myself as a lurker and someone
who was passively using the platform. I had little to no idea of where
to begin and was only receiving
information through those I followed. It was during the end of my first
quarter as a principal and I was beginning to feel my ability to keep
up on educational issues slipping and my energy for staying current with
the most recent literature waning. This was not me and it was not who I
wanted to be and I knew a change must take place.
Not fully knowing what I was about to get into, I sought out a local district resource Josh Allen, who was kind enough to put up with all of my questions; I began actively participating via Twitter and growing my PLN. I have found the following hashtags #satchat, #edchat, #edadmin, and #cpchat to fit my needs quite well. I have particularly connected with my Tweeps who participate in #satchat (meets Saturday morning 6:30am CST).
IMPACTS ON THOSE AROUND YOU
As an educator, it’s o.k. to grow slowly, but it’s mandatory that you grow.
Your PLN is a great support in this process. One great benefit I’ve
reaped from a more active approach within my PLN has been my
incorporation of and now reliance on @evernote.
I have found Evernote to be a very effective tool when it comes to
providing frequent, timely, and specific feedback to teachers &
staff. While conducting formal walkthroughs and visiting classrooms
Evernote allows me to meet these three requirements for effective
feedback, allows me to record conversations with students and to take
pictures of the classroom environment or student work. I am then able to
instantly email this information back to the classroom teacher or staff
and engage them in reflective conversation regarding the observation.
It also allows me to create “notebooks” for each grade-level and
organize my notes through the use of common “tags”. This application
allows me to foster collaboration throughout the school building by
sharing the great things that are occurring within our classrooms on a
daily basis. This promotes teacher connectedness, the development of
internal capacity and a system that relies on the sharing of ideas and
risk taking. I will continue to look for ways to maximize and enhance my
use of Evernote as I move into the 2012-2013 school year.
I will leave you with a recommended reading that came to me via Twitter http://t.co/2ebC3wlB (7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals) by Jennifer Demski. The three interviewed educators in this article (@L_Hilt, @bhsprincipal & @NMHS_Principal)
would make a great addition to your PLN and are definitely worth a
“follow”. Moving forward, I continue to read and reflect upon this
article, the 7 Habits that are outlined and where I am in this process.
Where are you in this process? Is Social Media and Tech integration a
passing fad or here to stay? Remember, “the only thing constant is
change.”
About the Author
Josh Snyder is an Elementary Principal at @HickoryHillElem
(K-6). He has a wonderfully supportive wife and two beautiful
daughters. He is currently working in the EdD Ed Administration program
through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln @Huskers.
Josh also enjoys spending time with his family, reading, technology,
fishing and golfing. He feels “Life is full of multiple learning
opportunities.”
Twitter – @JoshLSnyder
Jennifer
Demski (6/7/12) 7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-leading Principals
(the JOURNAL; Transforming Education Through Technology)
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/plugusin/7339375376/in/photostream/
bit.ly/temperedradical
Original Image Credit: Baseball by Paco Mexico
www.flickr.com/photos/pacomexico/3292574548/sizes/l/in/ph…
Licensed Creative Commons Attribution on May 22, 2012
Concept from The Method Method
www.amazon.com/The-Method-Obsessions-Start-up-Industry/dp…
Slide by Bill Ferriter
The Tempered Radical
