How do you keep up?

Cross Posted at changinghighschools.blogspot.com

I have unfortunately had to have some surgery that has put me in the position of having too much time on my hands. With that comes plenty of time to think about 'stuff'. Having the personality that I do, while I can ponder my next vacation, reminisce about events of the past year, and even count my blessings, it doesn't take long before my thoughts come back around to my work. It is a huge part of my life and dedicate an enormous amount of time to work and work-related activities.

When I think about my role as a leader and educator, I am constantly asking myself, how can we do it better? How do we engage students more in their learning? How do I share what we are doing as a school community and gather ideas from others trying to do the same? While there is always research to read as well as a plethora of subscriptions related to education, there is so much more information readily available through blogs and wikis. These media also give the opportunity to ask questions, comment and expand ideas with an immediacy that you cannot achieve reading printed material. So now I spend as much time, probably more reading blogs and wikis and participating in social networks.

I use an aggregator to organize the blogs, wikis and social networks I want to monitor and have a few I automatically go to. There are several I contribute to. I've have often said and written that my learning has grown exponentially and I have gather great ideas to "borrow". While I have never been one to sleep for the suggested 8 hours per night, I do most of my reading and writing in the wee hours of the morn'. The challenge is in keeping up. Do I post? Do I read? Do I contribute? The obvious answer for me is that I want to do it all. I feel that as a leader, I need to be a role model. As our teachers learn to participte in Web 2.0 technology and most recently particpate and share information in a social network, I feel that I should contribute in some way on a regular basis. When that happens, I believe that teachers will see that it is valued and can be a successful and efficient way to share and gather information. I have principals that are now posting agendas for faculty meetings along with minutes to Ning. Social networking is something our students do on a regular basis be it MySpace or Facebook. There are incredible learning opportunities using social networks and we now have several teachers integrating them in their courses. Students blog and read blogs. They have heard and read that our soon to be president  used blogging as part of a comprehensive and awesome campaign. Technology is the way of the world and we can't escape it. We do an injustice if we don't recognize this and at least expose our students to these tools.

With our economic challenges we seek to find less expensive materials to use in school as budgets get tighter. Free is always nice! There are incredible learning tools available on the web at no or little cost to schools. While I don't support sitting a child in front of a computer all day, it does have its place in learning and students are excited and motivated to engage in on-line learning. Not only can students engage in exploration or practice, many tools on the web can track a student's performance so a teacher can monitor if in fact, learning is taking place. I feel that I have some role in investigating and sharing these tools with our teachers.

Then, there is my professional growth and personal commitment to sharing what I have learned with others. I have two blogs that I author and one that I am supposed to contribute to on a regular basis.  Which leads to the question, "How DO I KEEP UP?".  I wish there was one platform that would serve all my needs.  Actually, there is......a wiki.  The difficulty is that not everyone is ready to navigate a wiki.  Giving people a URL to locate a blog or social network seems to be what the mainstream is capable of.  Heck, for many, they continue to 'lurk' and have not taken the leap to comment or contribute to a discussion or forum.  In time, it will come.  For now, I need to find a way to juggle. 

For the answer, I need to hear from my readers.  There are so many people that I follow and envy such a Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Will Richardson and Chris Lehman.  I also realize that these folks present and blog professionally.  I on the other hand, run a school district with a $39 million budget and all the responsibilities that go along with it.  To be successful on the web, I know you need to speak to an audience, have something worthwhile to read and need to post regularly.  Thus the question that would help me tremendously.  What is it that folks would like to read about, learn about and/or engage in dialogue about?  Obviously, I see exciting things happen in our schools and classrooms on a regular basis.  When I do, I share those experiences and will continue to do so.  But is there more?  Sometimes you need to take a step back and get feedback.  This is that time.  If you have been following and continue to be interested in exchanging ideas about how we can make our schools more engaging for students and better prepare students for their future, please let me know. 

I look forward to hearing from you!

Comments

[Angela Maiers]

Neil,
This post really hits home! I wish that I could be a full time learner, but that "work" thing gets in the way. I thought over break I would catch up and start the year ahead, but I have added so many new blogs to my reader, I am actually farther behind!

What has helped me tremendously has been Twitter. It has become almost a replacement for my reader as new links, blogs , and resources are shared in real time. Many of those you read, and voices you may not yet know of are active on Twitter and generously share knowledge and advice.

As for your blog-don't underestimate the power of sharing the day-to-day happenings in your building. It is easy to get wrapped up in rhetoric and pedagogy and forget what our work is really about...the day to day happenings at schools! Your insight there is invaluable!

[Tracie Weisz]

I think whenever educators have any kind of a break imposed upon them (injury, illness, scheduled school vacation), we inevitably have the luxury of really letting our thoughts have some breathing room. I have blogged about this recently, and have noticed an underlying current of this same idea in many of the blogs I read lately. Not sure there is an answer to your questions regarding post? read? contribute? That is something I struggle with. There is no easy answer, but the search for one is what motivates me to continue looking, experimenting, and learning. I would agree with Angela's comments that Twitter has been a fantastic resource that opens up new discoveries with almost every post. I also read something recently (it may even have been on this blog) about a daily or weekly goal of posting one picture of your school on Flickr. One of the reasons I read this blog regularly is for the ideas it explores that get at the heart of moving our systems (not just one educator) toward best practices. Educators who post, comment, and read regularly and use this learning in their classrooms are usually the ones who are already changing and evolving. What we really want to know is, how can we work within our whole system (site, district, etc) to change the view?

[JillG]

Funny to read this post today when I was just talking to my husband about this topic last night. He works in technology in the private sector and was telling me about how company executives have little time to participate in blogging activities online. Yet, it is where many ideas are exchanged that one almost cannot afford to miss in order to keep up with changes in their industry. It seems that online social networking plays a large role in moving industries forward, particularly in the private sector. I believe this can be said about education as well.

I'm still trying to get my head around this as it is new territory.

I would love to see our staff engage in online discussions. One way is to talk about how we can instructionally best serve our students--discussions that may be an extension of our dialogues during meetings. Other ways are to see what is happening in other schools/classrooms perhaps to help troubleshoot an issue in the school, to bring in other ideas that we have not tried, or to formulate our thinking/deepen our understanding around issues in education.

There are challenges though. One is the time factor. Much time goes into planning for instruction that spending time online gets pushed to the back burner. Another is the proficiency around technology. There are those that are very comfortable with using the internet and those to whom the internet is still a very foreign entity.

Regardless, this is clearly a direction that we (the larger 'we'...educators, society, etc.) are going. At the very least, our students who are tech savvy will ensure this.

[Neil A. Rochelle]

Well, at least I'm not in the same boat. This is what I love about the on-line community. Angela, I have seen so many of your tweets. I try to use it but read more than I post. It is very effective to put something out and get information/resources. I also appreciate the comment about not neglecting the day-to-day experiences to share and that is where the rubber meets the road.

Tracie, you made me laugh outloud. As I try to 'get ahead' while I'm down, I must have bookmarked 6 new blogs I found that excited me and want to follow......making the challenge even harder. Thanks for that!

Jill, we are having quite a bit of success using Ning with our high school teachers. I'd love to chat about that with you. I think it's set up as a closed community right now. You can try checking out [email protected]. I'd also be happy to connect sometime, perhaps a skype call. You can call thesuper518 if you see me on-line.

[Neil A. Rochelle]

Well, at least I'm not in the same boat. This is what I love about the on-line community. Angela, I have seen so many of your tweets. I try to use it but read more than I post. It is very effective to put something out and get information/resources. I also appreciate the comment about not neglecting the day-to-day experiences to share and that is where the rubber meets the road.

Tracie, you made me laugh outloud. As I try to 'get ahead' while I'm down, I must have bookmarked 6 new blogs I found that excited me and want to follow......making the challenge even harder. Thanks for that!

Jill, we are having quite a bit of success using Ning with our high school teachers. I'd love to chat about that with you. I think it's set up as a closed community right now. You can try checking out [email protected]. I'd also be happy to connect sometime, perhaps a skype call. You can call thesuper518 if you see me on-line.