The smartest person in the room is the room

Last night at 9:00EST several members of my PLN were chatting in #sblchat or #1to1techat.  I jumped into the #1to1techat because the topic began to yield responses that enticed me to engage.  The topic was connected educators.  I’ll share some of the tweets that encouraged me to respond

#1to1techat A2: building a PLN is the best way to get better. You will see the benefits, and most importantly, your students will grow

A2: Identify a brilliant school or exemplary district. Follow the chain of leadership up. You will find a connected leader. #1to1techat

Josh Johnson @JoJohnso115

A2 role of a teacher has changed/changes dramatically, the only way to keep up is be connected to what is doing on education #1to1techat

Liz Paushter @epaush

A2: A leader must always be learning #1to1techat

I can’t put into words the changes that have occurred in my classroom and in my professional life as a result of becoming connected to awesome and innovative educators like these folks.  Just in the last couple months, I’ve organized WV’s first Edcamp and started #wvedchat to begin initiating the necessary changes and conversations that must happen to improve learning experiences for all of our students.  These opportunities aren’t a result of my own doing, however.  It’s about the room.  I read a story of a guy who got called for an interview to a principal’s position at a prestigious high school.  The guy showed up for his interview, introduced himself and began receiving the questions from the interview committee.  At one point during the interview, he excused himself but pulled out his phone for a few seconds.  He then laid it down in front of him and continued with his responses.  After a couple minutes his phone began buzzing.  He looked at it, picked it up, and held it out for the committee to see.  Shocked and dumbfounded, the interview committee must have wondered just what text message could be so important that this man had to share it with everyone immediately.  To their surprise, the man was showing them a resource that was shared by a member of his PLN through Twitter.  The resource was about engaging parents of struggling students.  The question he had attempted to answer a few minutes prior to this was one that reminded him of an expert in that area and he knew if he could just communicate his need via Twitter, that expert, or others, would chime in and freely share the resources and successes they had implemented in their schools.  The interviewee went on to share how a strong PLN had influenced him.  He admitted that he may not always have the answers.  But he said, “If you hire me, know this, you’re not just hiring me, you’re hiring all these smart and innovative educators that influence me 24/7.”  The man got the job.

See, the smartest person in the room is the room.  For so many, though, they’re still trying to lead their classrooms and their schools relying on their own merits.  Reading scholarly books is beneficial and there’s certainly a place for that in education.  But one simply can not replace the conversations.  I use Twitter because it’s 24/7 support from colleagues on the front lines engaging in conversations about how they can improve and adapt to better meet the needs of their students.  My growth has skyrocketed since actively engaging other educators and learning what goes on outside of my school and district walls.  I’ve never even dreamt that I was the smartest person in the room, but Twitter certainly confirmed it.  The smartest person in the room is the room itself.  What’s keeping you from engaging the support of the room?

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