Category Archives: Personal

June 4, 2014

End of the year: Part 1

My school allows teachers to complete an end of the year evaluation each year.  This is just an effort to allow everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the school and offer suggestions for improvement.  I’ll be sharing a version of my evaluation that is hopefully a help for others.  I have learned so much over the past year from engaging in 24/7/365 professional development on what I want when I want.  I’ve learned from some incredible leaders in the field of education that have been carving out a presence on social media for some time.  These leaders are constantly sharing the successes and failures from their own schools in an effort to allow others to learn and/or provide feedback.  In the past year…

  • I’ve attended two Edcamps, co-organizing one myself.  Both of these Edcamps have lead to the opportunity to develop connections with innovative educators like Bobby Dodd and Craig Vroom.
  • I got the opportunity to meet and listen to Dave Burgess, author of Teach Like A Pirate.  He’s been the most incredible educational speaker I’ve been fortunate enough to meet.
  • I’ve begun reading Eric Sheninger’s book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times.  Eric is principal at New Milford High School in New Jersey.  Just read his page about his typical day and you’ll be amazed.
  • I’ve engaged in conversations lead by front-line leaders in public education: Brad Currie, Joe Mazza, Rick Wormeli, Tom Murray, Jimmy Casas, Oliver Shinkten and many others.  The biggest reason for my growth as an educator is due to the time I’ve set aside to read tweets, blog posts, and engage in conversations with educators like these.  They have opened my eyes to a world I would have never known otherwise.

All of these things have lead to real, sustainable change in my practice as an educator and a leader.  I’ve had numerous opportunities crop up as a result of my growth and I’ve been able to make some awesome changes to my practice, all of which were not included in this post.  Completing my school survey caused me to reflect on my growth over the past year and I wanted to share it with you.

May 24, 2014

Tell your story or someone else will…

It’s the end of the school year and in my spare time I’ve started to prepare a bit more for some teaching engagements I’ve got this summer.  I’ve got the opportunity to teach two separate week-long courses.  For both courses, I’m attempting to engage other educators in innovative learning experiences centered around digital leadership.

One aspect of digital leadership that Eric Sheninger focuses on in his book titled Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times, is called branding.  If you consider the amount of time, energy, and resources companies invest in branding, the reason why it’s important for schools to invest in branding starts to make sense.  Corporations invest in branding because they have a story to tell and they want to form the right story in the minds of consumers.  Digital tools have given school leaders access to free, easy, and convenient ways of reaching their “consumers”.  Isn’t it time schools started to tell their story?  Why not invest in these free, easy, and convenient ways of getting your school story out to the public?  All schools are carving out their story every day.  Unfortunately, in most cases, those stories are carved out in the newspaper or on the evening news.  Or they’re carved out by angry parents venting their frustrations on social media.  Are there schools providing students with innovative learning experiences?  Absolutely!  Why aren’t they sharing it?  Parents shouldn’t have to ask their child “what did you do at school this week?”  The culture of fear, management, and compliance has prevented more schools from investing in building their own brand.  Below you’ll find some methods of building a school’s brand that I’ve gathered from innovative leaders effectively building their school’s brand.

  • A student-run Twitter account is an easy way for students to take ownership of building a positive brand for their school.  Twitter is a social media network based on sharing small bursts of information with an unlimited amount of people.  Using a school hashtag or class-specific hashtag, all the awesome learning experiences can be shared out using a student-run Twitter account.  Stakeholders can also be kept up-to-date on school-wide events or results from sporting contests or academic achievements within the school.  A school hashtag can be created to allow other users to share quality information via the school hashtag.
  • Out at Bettendorf, Iowa, Principal Jimmy Casas allows a Twitter stream to be shown daily on a big-screen television in his school cafeteria.  The Twitter stream shows all tweets including the school hashtag #BettPride.  I once asked Jimmy what happened when an inappropriate tweet showed up on the stream and he replied “we use it as a teaching moment.”
  • Teachers are encouraged to keep a blog archiving all the great learning experiences occurring in their classrooms.  These blog posts can be shared through social media channels to keep all stakeholders informed about what’s happening in their classrooms.  This is a great way for teachers to build their own classroom brand.  Again, if you’re not telling the story of what’s happening in your classroom, that doesn’t mean there is no story.  It just means it’s likely not the story you want being told.
  • Text-message based services like Remind101 or Celly are great ways to communicate your school brand to all stakeholders.  These services provide a safe environment for all communication by keeping all cell phone numbers private.  Imagine the increase in communication that could be had by investing in free services such as these.
  • Podcasts or video conferencing can be an easy way for leaders to promote the brand at their school.  I’ve seen administrators that host a video chat each week from their school to share and talk about the amazing experiences that went on during the week.  These video chats are posted to the school’s Youtube page.  Occasionally videos are posted of students engaging in these experiences or student-created videos are posted that summarize their experience at a school event.  Podcasts are audio or video clips that can provide a similar experience to stakeholders.

Every school has a brand that captures the mission, the norms, the traditions, and the values of the school population.  The more transparent schools can be about the brand they are promoting, the better the consumers can be prepared to answer this question: “Why do I send my child to that school?”

This post was inspired by a post that appeared on Eric Sheninger’s page on May 15, 2014.

May 2, 2014

SHARE

I’m writing this in response to a meeting I was part of recently at RESA V.  I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to view videos of exemplary instructional methods that incorporated a wide variety of effective teaching techniques such as, blended learning, virtual learning, cooperative learning, and project-based learning.  The videos that were submitted were excellent evidence of high quality teaching going on in each of the classrooms.  As I sat there watching, I kept thinking of the other educators that I knew would benefit from what I was seeing.  I was not thinking of how bad other educators are in the classroom, in fact, I was thinking of ones that I know are eager to learn and improve their practice.  Call me naive, but I feel that most educators have a genuine desire to present the best possible instruction for their students.  Consider what educators are saying when they have the attitude that there is no room to grow and nothing else to learn.  The experience I was a part of last night should be one that all educators get to experience.  How would education in my area change if all educators had the best access to the best teaching methods?  I say how would classrooms change if educators had 24/7 access to the amazing things going on in classrooms all around us?

One ELA teacher put together a great video demonstrating how her video lessons allow her to differentiate for the multiple reading levels present in her classroom.  I can only imagine the rich conversations that could be had if other educators had access to ask questions, present their struggles, or share their successes with this educator.  What benefit would those conversations have for all educators involved?

One SPED teacher shared how she uses Second Life to develop guided lessons for her students to have 24/7 access to study materials and results-based instructional strategies.  She and another teacher are able to push these lessons to all students through Edmodo, a social media platform for schools.  I couldn’t help but think about the SPED and general education teachers in my own building who would love to learn more about the possibility of creating these lessons for their own students.  What impact would these lessons have on learning if they could be shared with other grade levels or even other schools?

An elementary teacher put together a video demonstrating her use of cooperative learning structures within her 4th grade classroom.  What would that video do for other elementary teachers struggling to manage their own classroom?  What ideas and resources could be shared if those educators had the opportunity to discuss their own successes and failures.

A math teacher presented his excellent use of project-based learning in an 8th grade classroom.  His video included students engaged in high quality learning experiences that required them to prepare, plan, collaborate, and communicate.  At the end the students were required to justify their problem-solving as well as their solutions.

I appreciate you reading this far because what I’m about to say is, in my opinion, of critical importance today.  This post would have little meaning if the possibilities of sharing these great experiences didn’t already exist today.  Social media is embedded in all our lives already!  Just 20 years ago, copying multiple videos, copying typed summaries, or perhaps writing a book or article would have been required to get these resources in the hands of other educators.  The conversation, if any, would have been mostly 1-way with little back and forth opportunities.  Today, the opportunity exists for educators to engage in meaningful, reflective conversations all in the name of improving their practice for students.  These opportunities are no longer reserved for those who can afford to attend a national conference or for those who have the time to dedicate to reading an educational book.  Those are, no doubt, still successful means of learning today.  However, I am writing this to encourage more educators in the state of West Virginia to start SHARING.  Start engaging in conversations about what is going on in YOUR classroom and what is going outside of your classroom.

Thursday nights at 8pm EST is the WV state-wide educational chat.  Every Thursday evening educators are using Twitter to engage in these very conversations.  In a short hour many links, questions, answers, experiences, and resources can be shared.  Most of all, connections can be made that allow us to expand our perspectives and our resources to improve our own practice.  No one joins an educational chat on Twitter because they think they know all there is to know about their practice.  Being a part of these conversations begins with admitting that there’s opportunity to learn and someone out there who may benefit from hearing YOUR story.  The most limiting factor in your classroom is you.  I encourage you to share in whatever capacity you can.  There are so many others that would benefit from hearing your story.

Click here to view my Twitter 101 post or my help page on Twitter Chats. 

April 27, 2014

The Enemy of Empowerment is Compliance

A recent experience with a student of mine has reminded me that the enemy of empowerment is compliance.  I reflected on some of the policies in my own classroom.  I considered which ones were designed to empower students and which ones were designed for compliance.  If this post causes you to reflect, I want you to consider the students who traditionally struggle to comply with traditional school rules.  I’m talking about the students who don’t eat dinner every night or those who ride the bus to an empty home every evening.  Every teacher has the student who never does homework or won’t return that letter signed by a parent.  This post is for them.

I wonder how often school leaders consider empowerment vs compliance when structuring school policies.  Common consequences for homework not turned in on time or at all include reminders, after-school D-hall, lunch D-hall, or a zero.  I’m not advocating against those measures necessarily, but I’m asking, which of those measures empowers the student?  It’s been my experience that the students who these policies are generally written for, the most common offenders, are the ones who need empowered the most.  Most schools have a tiered system of consequences that accompanies one or all of these measures of compliance: exceed X days of D-hall and student will receive a day of in-school suspension, exceed X number of reminders and student will earn a letter sent home, no recess for the students that didn’t come prepared for class.  At what point does the student receive anything empowering him/her?

I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I have secretly boycotted these measures in my own school.  I’ve tried really hard to design a class where all students can succeed, specifically the students for whom this post is written.  That’s extremely hard in a public school system where time is the constant and learning is the variable.  And success doesn’t come without failures, reflection, and my professional learning network.  I value the impact of conversations in my relationships with students.  I recently dealt with foul language coming from a student in my class.  Initially, I wanted to demonstrate my zero tolerance attitude towards foul language being used in my room, but instead opted for a short conversation in the hallway.  The conversation concluded with a surprising and unprompted apology coming from the student.  Afterwards, I felt I saved the relationship between the student and I, while also empowering the student to be more cautious of his/her language while in my classroom.  No D-hall was issued.

The issue of compliance has proven to be a touchy subject around many educators.  The thought is that without these measures of compliance, how are we teaching responsibility?  Unless we punish irresponsible behavior, students will never learn to be responsible.
So how can attitudes change from compliance/punishment to empowerment?  Because I feel that if we can begin to empower these students to realize their potential, value the attempts their teacher is making in the classroom, and respect themselves, perhaps we can see real change.  Perhaps we can begin to remove the impact that socio-economic status plays on student achievement.  Unfortunately, I believe many policies that exist in schools today only widen the achievement gap, rather than narrow it.

The following are some decisions I’ve made this year to help empower the common offenders, rather than punish them:

  • I chose a long time ago that I would teach students, not tests.  Learning is first and foremost and that philosophy is woven into every fabric of planning, curriculum, assessment, and management.  This is important and applies directly to the culture of the classroom.
  • I never take homework for a grade.  I’ve reflected on the purpose of homework a lot, and at no time can I justify a homework assignment being evidence of learning that is sufficient enough for me to input as a grade.  My students work persistently on work that is rarely graded.  This is perhaps more related to the blended and paperless classroom.
  • Incorporating standards-based grading principals have allowed me to teach responsibility, empathy, tolerance, etc but not reflect those as part of their grade.
  • Retakes are a big part of my course.  Students feel a measure of ownership in their grade when they know they have the entire year to demonstrate their learning.  They used to ask me for more grades, but now they know they may have to try different versions of the same assessment 4-5 times before they can demonstrate learning at a level of mastery.  I don’t assess all students on the same day.  This post isn’t about assessment, but I believe these practices contribute to the culture of the classroom.
  • Slow down.  This is still my weakest area.  Allowing the students to dictate the pace is touchy.  You still have to push them as much as possible, but they are always watching with a keen eye to see if you care enough to provide them more time.  Most often, they’ve been pushed through concept after concept with no regard to whether they’ve learned it or not.  This had to change.
  • I’ve increased my efforts to communicate with the homes most difficult to reach.  Joe Mazza, moderator of #ptchat, the parent-teacher chat on Twitter, responded to my frustrations about not getting parents to attend academic functions at my school with “when was the last time you went to them?  Sometimes we have to go to them.”  Don’t expect those homes to come to you if you haven’t made any attempt to go to them.
  • I have to constantly remind myself to be cautious of the norms and behaviors of students from poverty.  It requires that I redirect language, make realistic goals, and accept the gray areas often.
  • Communication should always come after this thought: Is what I’m about to say going to bring me closer or pull me away from this person?

 

April 12, 2014

The trouble with being a connected educator

Tom Whitby @tomwhitby has wrote many times:

“Connected educators are the worst advocates for becoming connected.  Too often they are so enthusiastic at how, as well as how much they are learning through being connected, that they tend to overwhelm the uninitiated, inexperienced, and unconnected educator with a deluge of information that both intimidates and literally scares them.”  At the same time, sharing what you’ve learned through your experiences is what connected educators tell you to do in order to expose the non-connected to the connected world.  Too often I find myself walking on egg shells avoiding offending anyone.  The experience of learning and trying to grow connected educators who engage in sharing, learning, and reflecting just becomes a sour one.

I’m not an administrator in a position where modeling to staff is a critical role.  Leaders of school staff must model these new learning behaviors to develop a culture of growth within their buildings.  What then do teachers do who teach in a predominately un-connected school system where educators are patiently awaiting the next professional development opportunity to learn something new?  How do teachers like me initiate sustainable change in their school buildings?

April 6, 2014

Edcamp Parkersburg 2014 Summary

On April 5, 2014 educators from the area came together at Blennerhassett Middle School for West Virginia’s first Edcamp.  Edcamp Parkersburg included educators from Wirt, Jackson, and Wood counties.  Leanna Prater, a TIS from Lexington, KY also joined us.  Leanna is a PHS alumni and heard about Edcamp Parkersburg from participating on #wvedchat Thursday nights on Twitter.  Robert John Meehan once said “Our most valuable resource is each other.  Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”  That quote became the theme of our Edcamp.  

The morning of Edcamp begins by creating the session board.  At this time, all participants get a chance to suggest topics they’d like to learn more about, propose topics of discussion, or schedule a session they’d like to facilitate.  At 9:00 the participants scattered to the session of their choosing.  The first hour included topics like student motivation and using Twitter to build a professional learning network.  The 50 minute session flew by and immediately you could see participants extending the conversation to the hallways between sessions.  I overheard one of the principals in attendance say “Now this is real learning.”

Garnet Hillman, a Spanish teacher from Illinois and moderator of the weekly #sblchat (standards based learning chat) on Twitter, joined Edcamp Parkersburg via Google Hangout and shared her standards based grading experience with about 20 participants.  How incredible it was for Garnet to join us to help expose local educators to this alternative form of communicating student learning.  Several educators were charged to reflect on their own grading practices.  Garnet concluded by encouraging us to support each other as we continue exploring SBG.  She also invited the participants to use #sblchat on Twitter as a resource as there are many experts sharing their experience daily.

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After lunch educators returned for three more Edcamp sessions of their choosing.  The afternoon sessions included topics like flipping the classroom, Google docs in the classroom, National Board & SAS curriculum integration, and classroom management just to name a few.  Sessions are very discussion-based and everyone is encouraged to provide their input.  “The group is smarter than the individual” is often cited at Edcamps because emphasis is placed on sharing the experiences of all in order for all to move forward.  Edcamp Parkersburg was about all participants improving their practice, engaging in conversations they’ve never had time to engage in before, and supporting each other in the journey.  Throughout the day, it was as if a community was being created.  That sentiment was verified at the smackdown.  The smackdown is a common event at many other Edcamps where all participants are given the opportunity to provide verbal testimony of their experience that day.  During our smackdown Tim Murray, assistant principal at Wirt County High School, shared how his basketball players were playing in a tournament that day.  One of his players texted him earlier that day to ask if he would be present for the game.  He responded with “No, I have to attend some professional development today and can’t make it.”  His player responded with “have fun” to which Coach Murray returned “It’s usually not fun.”  Tim went on to explain how Edcamp Parkersburg far exceeded his expectations and he wanted to pursue having an Edcamp with his school.  Kevin Campbell, principal at Hamilton Middle School, echoed Tim’s experience and shared how he always expects at least one aha! moment.  He explained that in the morning sessions alone, he had at least 4 of those moments.  The following are some more quotes from the smackdown, I feel they speak for themselves:

  • I willingly got out of bed at 6:30 on a Saturday on spring break and came to work and I’m incredibly happy about it.  I loved it.

  • I want this in my school now.

  • My big aha! is that we did this so well with so few.  Just imagine the resources in our counties with even more input from others.

  • I learned more through this than sitting through any guest speaker.

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The participants were also encouraged to tweet about Edcamp Parkersburg using #edcamppkb and those tweets were collated at https://storify.com/Mr_Oldfield/edcamppkb-tweets.  We encourage educators to join in similar conversations weekly on Thursday’s at 7:30 using #wvedchat on Twitter.  Several local educators, others in our state, and some from across the country are reflecting, sharing, and learning each week from conversations just like the ones at Edcamp.  Look out for the 2nd Edcamp in our area coming up Fall 2014.

 

Derek Oldfield

 

March 31, 2014

It’s Imperative: Connect

#Colchat, Colorado’s weekly edchat that occurs on Twitter on Monday nights served as the reminder and encouragement that I needed to write this post.  I was previously convinced of this, but I was admittedly discouraged.  It is of utmost importance for all educators to engage in the conversations going on among connected educators via social media.  One person provided me this analogy recently.  He said during a triathlon when the athletes complete the swimming section, it’s most common for them to swim in groups, essentially drafting each other.  How much more efficient are those athletes when they can all swim in the wake of one another pushing in the same direction?  When compared to the swimmer who is by him/herself carving out their own current, I would much prefer to swim with the group.  The choice to connect with other educators and engage in the conversations focused on improving their practice and providing students better opportunities to learn is no longer an option.  Those educators who have chosen to join the group and share in the learning have engaged in a transformation completely unknown to non-connected educators.  The conversations have evolved so far beyond those conversations happening in classrooms, teacher-lounges, and schools that non-connected educators struggle to see the need to develop a PLN and engage in learning through social media.  Tom Whitby describes connecting to stepping on a bullet train headed to improved practice, reflection, and sharing the great things happening in innovative schools.  While not connecting is like waiting at the train station for a more comfortable train to ride.

One of my colleagues standing beside me in the trenches of my district recently said on Twitter: “I’ve learned more on Twitter than I have in any PD or college education class.”  #Colchat’s first question tonight was “Why is it important for educators to be connected?”  Expand your perspective.  Don’t try to solve problems or improve your practice looking through your own lens.  In fact, don’t seek solutions from someone else looking through their own lens.  The group is smarter than me.  In public education, truly innovative schools and classrooms involve the village.  It certainly does take a village…  Finally, this tweet was part of #colchat tonight: “A teacher not trying to make themselves better in the classroom is not someone I want teaching my kid.”

What drives you to become better?  There are a lot of ways to improve your practice, but when was the last time you were part of a conversation involving people outside our district?  State?  Who pushes you to become better?  Who is the one educator you learn from the most?  Comment below with 3 educators that model attributes you consider important in today’s education landscape.

March 23, 2014

Relationships, Relevance, Rigor

I haven’t wrote in a while.  For some reason, the topic I chose to put down is probably the most common theme I’ve written about this year: Relationships.  Though I’d like to take it two steps further.  I’d like to link relationships to relevance and rigor.

I believe the three must go in that order.  Building relationships with students means discovering their interests, learning about their background, and peeling away at their personalities.  Once these interests, backgrounds, and personalities are discovered, the teacher can begin to personalize instruction to make learning relevant.  Relevance is one of those topics you hear a lot about in college.  “Make learning meaningful and relevant.  Connect learning to something which they can relate.”  Those sound great, but I wonder how many teachers actually know how to do that?  Or how many teachers actually do it?

In my own reflections recently, I’ve wondered just how much of my own content is relevant to my students.  I’m currently trudging through a unit on rate of change, slope, graphing lines, etc.  This is historically the toughest topic for my students to grasp.  In the past I’ve exhausted methods of instructing these concepts but it always seemed that the assessments would indicate my efforts were to no avail.  I’m sure the 9th grade math teachers are wondering if I even spoke about slope of a line at all.  I’m convinced that these concepts are just too abstract and mean nothing to my students at this time.  I’ve struggled to make these concepts meaningful and relevant to them.  I’ve invested a lot of time and effort into building relationships with my students and I’ve wrote about it a lot in this blog.  For some topics this year, I feel I’ve done a good job of strengthening students understanding by making math relevant and meaningful to them.  The relationships I’ve built with students allow me the possibilities of building those connections.  Whether it’s the student who will probably join his family in the roofing business when he gets older, or the student who dances year round, or the student who enjoys coding and minecraft, trigger those interests as often as possible.  Reinforce their passions and desires from inside your classroom.  Do that and those students will work hard when things become demanding and difficult.

I have a had a few college students in my classroom this year for observation hours.  One such college student had an encounter in which he and another student of mine chatted quietly about college basketball during my instruction.  After the period ended, the college student came to me to apologize for distracting that particular student during my instruction.  I quickly explained to him that those are the opportunities that teachers need to capitalize on more often.  Because tomorrow, if the college student were to ask my student to engage in something of rigor, that student is more likely to work hard because of the time you took to talk with him about his interests.  Students don’t naturally engage in rigor.  It’s getting more and more unnatural for students to engage in demanding tasks.  Perhaps an emphasis in building relationships and making learning relevant will help our students engage in more rigorous learning activities.

March 9, 2014

Why start an Edcamp? Voice & Choice

I first heard about an Edcamp several months ago now.  I read a reflection someone had shared on Twitter of their first experience at an Edcamp.  They compared it to the professional development they had always attended prior to Edcamp.  I found it interesting because my experiences with regular professional development were similar to the writer’s.  I’m not writing to complain about typical professional development, however.  In fact, one of the reasons for starting an Edcamp in my area was to expose others to an alternate form of professional development that was attendee-centered, not presenter-centered.  There’s certainly a place for presenter-centered professional development and I’m not advocating it’s extinction at all.  I hope that Edcamp simply provides educators a day of refreshing change.

I knew there was value in providing educators a voice and choice.  I hope that others see Edcamp as an opportunity to demonstrate their professionalism and share the awesome things going on in their classrooms and schools.  I know educators don’t get that opportunity nearly enough.  Edcamp makes a strong attempt to open up dialogue that has been missing in traditional professional development.  What is created is an environment that values the input of all attendees.  I felt that investing in Edcamp was worth it because I had something valuable to share and I knew I couldn’t be the only one.  I’ve left PD sessions before where mumbling and grumbling were the only conversations that occurred.  I knew things could be done differently.  With a voice, educators can leave Edcamp empowered, but can also leave with connections that will improve their practice.  Kristen Swanson once told me, “don’t ever say you’re just an eighth grade math teacher” but because I’m not in a position that makes decisions about professional development and educator growth, no one has ever asked me if I had anything to share.

I also knew Edcamp would offer educators choice.  Professional development is currently judged by hours of seat time.  Only a few educators get an opportunity for choice.  Edcamp’s philosophy is dominated by educator choice.  That’s why the session board isn’t created until the day of Edcamp.  The board is created by all the attendees according to their choice.  It’s frightening arriving at Edcamp and looking at a blank session board.  It’s also empowering knowing that I have an opportunity to not only facilitate a session of my own, but suggest sessions about topics of which I’d like to learn.

Finally, like many other educators, I’m sick of the media deciding what to write about teachers.  I’m sick of being judged by a single test score.  I want my professionalism back.  I’ve attended an Edcamp and I was amazed at the initiative by 200 educators to take back their professionalism.  Every one in attendance was using their own time to invest in their own growth and development.  There was no reward offered for attending.  Motivation to attend Edcamp was completely intrinsic.  No longer should anyone else be in charge or dictate my own growth and development.  I hope others will feel the same.  Given the right environment, educators can engage in discussions centered around the students and the schools.  I think more educators need reminded that they are professionals capable of investing in conversations and determining learning sessions that would benefit them.  I intend to engage educators in discussions that don’t occur inside our school buildings.

Are you ready for Edcamp?  I’ve made a commitment to getting this off the ground, but there’s a chance this area isn’t ready for Edcamp.

March 5, 2014

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?