Kentucky Connected Educators Day 8

Shannon Treece

Eminence Independent Middle/High School 

Principal

In what way (s) are you a connected educator?

Networking and collaborating are key to learning and growing as an educator.  There are many ways to become a connected educator from serving on local committees, to engaging in the principal group at my local cooperative (OVEC), but without a doubt Twitter has allowed me to grow my PLN and become a connected educator way beyond the boundaries of local networking.  Twitter has allowed me to connect and brainstorm with people all over the world, in the comfort of my home.  The obstacle of trying to research and find schools doing what you want to visually see no longer exists.  Contacts are literally 140 characters and 1 minute away from reality.  

How does being connected impact your practice? 

We are growing our mastery learning work and implementing Standards Based Grading at Eminence.  In our endeavors to achieve this we have had some questions arise and wanted to see how other schools have addressed the scenarios we were experiencing.  I reached out to Twitter and found the #SBG (Standards Based Grading) chat, participated and began making connections immediately to other schools experiencing the same scenarios.  The conversation was thought provoking and gave us other options to consider as a staff.  It also allowed me to connect with Deron Durflinger the principal of a very well known school in Iowa who just happened to be using Infinite Campus and was also implementing Standards Based Grading.  We used Google Hangout to have a conversation and both schools were able to learn from each other despite having never met formally or traveling for a site visit. That is the power of Twitter.

Another example includes a connection to a high school principal in Massachusetts by the name Patrick Larkin.  He has since moved to central office, but was implementing a 1:1 program in a high school when others were dreaming about going 1:1.  He had much experience and I was able to connect with him and determine what they found to be best practice and what was most effective in their implementation as Eminence was going 1:1.  What I learned via Twitter, would have taken a year or more to potentially learn.  

TeachMeet Events are another great way to learn about technology tools and how to use them.  It is totally an “unconference” style of event, 20 minute sessions, freedom to move in and out, relaxed atmosphere where anyone can sign up to present on the spot.  It is a great place to get ideas to share with team.  This is where I specifically learned about Flubaroo, a grading tool and how to screencast among many other tools.

How does being connected impact you as a professional?  

It makes me accountable…no reason to not know or be learning on any topic.  There is a twitter chat available for any topic imaginable in education everyday.  There is no excuse for not engaging in new 21st century learning, I want to be responsible steward of learning for those that I serve, both staff and students.  Being connected can be overwhelming too at times, I have to work hard to keep the balance.

What advice or resources would you recommend to colleagues interested in becoming connected?  

Pick a topic and time that works for you; find a twitter chat and just following along until you are comfortable joining into the conversation.  Attending a twitter chat is a unique experience that truly has the potential to revolutionize PD for educators.  It has for me and it will for you as well, given the time to experience results.   Being connected will open doors beyond what you ever imagined.   It will make you a more informed professional in a field that is rapidly changing to serve those we love the most.

Shannon Treece is a principal at Eminence Independent Schools.  

Follow her on twitter @PrincipalTreece