Thursday, February 13, 2014

Snow Day...But the Learning Keeps Rolling!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Giant_snowball_Oxford.jpg
As the weather is not cooperating with our scheduled "Choose2Matter" plans for today we will be shifting the schedule of events planned for today to tomorrow. 

However, we will also continue to learn today.  At 11 AM on Twitter we will have a "Twitter Chat" hosted by Angela Maiers and Mark Moran using the hash-tag #C2M_EGHS . If you are new to Twitter or would like to learn more, here is a very helpful tutorial to get you started- http://www.sophia.org/tutorials/twitter-for-educators (It is geared to educators, but it is a very detailed step by step). The chat's theme is "How Big is Your Brave"- http://switchandshift.com/how-big-is-your-brave

If you would like to participate in the chat, but are not sure how here is a quick start guide- https://docs.google.com/a/egsd.net/file/d/0B5iaJJyGn1_nMlJVNjl5UFpMVTQ/edit and/or here is a very basic video http://youtu.be/m-sVDJBnTGM 

Please feel free to participate or just watch the conversation.  We are also working on this great google doc entitled "Thinking Outside the Snow Storm: Innovative Ways We STILL #Choose2Matter #C2M_EGHS" it can be found at https://docs.google.com/a/egsd.net/document/d/1JcMHfadFsRBBxPYhNgdOpxQA1UsBrKNeW-KrxL7PNdM/edit

I hope you and your family are warm and safe.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Beware the Polarizing Power of Twitter?

I had this exchange a while back on Twitter. (Thanks Michelle for agreeing to let me post)-

This exchange made me reflect on the following:

  • Does interacting with educators on Twitter skew the reality about the readiness of and appetite for systemic reform? 
  • What is important about connecting with educators on Twitter if we are just connecting with those who share our educational core values?
  • Does getting others on to Twitter help convert the "naysayers"?
  • Are we just preaching to the choir, furthering polarizing our belief system and adding to our frustration levels?
While I have different answers to the questions above, I have come to the conclusion that no matter the secondary effects of being on Twitter, it helps me to become a better leader because I get to connect to educators like Michelle Lampinen (and everyone else at #SBLchat) and then these exchanges force me to confront difficult realities and to stop once in a while to reflect on my school & State's current reality vs. that of the educational best practices promoted throughout the Twitterverse.

So a bit of advice- build your PLN, connect with others from across the globe, lurk and engage in edchats, follow those who you both agree and disagree with, but remember- not everyone is here...even though they should be ;)