Balancing Administrative Reality with Being Connected #SAVMP

#SAVMP

Balancing Administrative Reality

with Being Connected

I recently finished watching the Google Hangout hosted by Amber Teaman a.k.a @8amber8 on “Balancing the Administrative Reality with Being Connected.” The hangout was extremely informative because I got to see all the different personalities that I often follow on Twitter, but I also got to think about their responses to several good questions.  I was happy that many of the responses were similar to my own responses. I shared the same answers that they did on several questions, and that helped me feel like I am being successful in my Personal Learning Network (PLN).

The first thing that was humorous to me was... YES, some people consider being connected as not necessarily working. Justin Tarte @justintarte shared a story about getting called into the superintendent's office for tweeting while at work, but he was ultimately able to explain to his superintendent and eventually win him over to understand that leveraging social media is a highly effective way to increase your instructional leadership capacity. I have always been very wary of tweeting or blogging during work hours, and so I try to reserve my PLN work for evening hours. With this practice,   I don't ever run aground, and I keep perceptions from ever being misguided. I am very careful in this respect.

Next I was able to find solace in Tom Whitford's a.k.a. @twhitford answers. His view is that it is okay to send out personal tweets included in your PLN tweets because we are all real people. I appreciated that response because I have often tried to keep my personal and professional voices separate. I have three different twitter accounts, and it was refreshing to realize it is okay to use my educational account to throw out some personal tweets every once in a while to all my peeps so they will know I am more than my leadership “self”.

Next I got a fantastic resource from Amber Teaman called #kinderchat. That, by the way, is really what all this connectedness is about.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't identify and learn something from my PLN and then I turn around and share that information with the people in my own PLN or even better... I share it with my faculty or our school or our community.

Just this past week, I used the resources I found in #kinderchat in my newsletter that goes out to the faculty which I send out every Monday. I focused on the #kinderchat information that analyzed increasing rigor in the early grades. I received new knowledge from digging deep into the resources provided on that Twitter feed.  It is a great resource that allowed me to develop a context or knowledge base for something I've never done. I have not taught kindergarten and so having the new #kinderchat tool gives me a certain level of knowledge that empowers me to be a better leader for my early grades teachers.

One of the best parts of the conversation centered on the question… how can leaders find the time and find the energy necessary to be connected? I appreciated their answers. First of all, each of them seem like they are very high-energy. I am definitely a high-energy person. I am drawn to other energetic folks.  They shared that being connected is motivating and inspiring to them and it is what they live for! I agree because I know I love to learn. I constantly pursue new learning and strive to process new information to aid me in growth and improvement.  That feeling of growth is, in itself, inspiring to me and gives me the energy to spend those extra few minutes every night being connected and being the connected learner engaging in  DIY (DO IT YOURSELF) and creating my own pathway for improvement.

The last question that spoke to me was about... the need to be connected and still be productive at work. Wow. That is a tough one. I marvel at some of the people that I follow in my PLN like George Couros or Justin Tarte or Amber Teaman. I am alarmed at the level of presence they have and how little presence I have in comparison. Sometimes it is discouraging, but I know that I have just started this journey, and I will be able to grow my connectivity as the years go by. Also, I know that I will NEVER be the “Rock star” that some of those folks are. I will just be me, and I will be amazing being me! So, I will put in my 100% during the work day, and then I will come home and give my other 10% to my PLN. Then I have to kick in my mom and wife 100%.  Until they approve human cloning, I will just be very busy and very happy giving it all I’ve got!

Here is the Hangout in case you want to watch the professionals:

Google Hangout - Balancing Administrative Reality with Being Connected