A thousand mile journey begins with one step – Guatama
After reading The Relevant Educator just a short while ago, I thought I would have been completely finished all of the books by now. I’m also glad that I didn’t rush through all of the them. This series offers a wide variety of topics covering all things #EdTech in education today, and time is definitely needed between each read to reflect and take it all in.
Connected educators are no different than their predecessors. What has changed is the technology, which allows us to have access to infinite amounts of information at any time.
Dr. Spike Cook kept it simple and to the point in his book Connected Leadership, which is part of the Connected Educator Series that was released last year. The idea of connected leadership can be taken in many different ways, and oftentimes can be intimidating to even begin understanding what connected leadership really means. Dr. Cook combines his own knowledge and experiences, and has also included that from others whom he has connected with, making this a book that can help one learn about making those connections at various entry points, and with a variety of means.
Who doesn’t have 10 minutes to open a whole new world?
The term leadership alone is a word that can often be misunderstood in an educational setting (for me anyways at times). When I picked up this book, I knew that I was going to be reading the leadership experiences of principals most likely, as this is one of the leadership role in K-12 education in my mind. I am not a principal, but do consider myself to have been in a leadership role of sorts over the past four years as our board’s e-Learning Contact (eLC). Considering this role, it is nice to continue my self-education on better understanding the principals role, and how I can best help in any way that I can.
The more people become part of the connected movement, the more information becomes available.
Becoming more connected over the course of my time as eLC has helped me grow both personally and professionally. I feel more confident having a broader sense of knowledge and information that I wouldn’t normally have had if I weren’t connected as much as I am. I find it crazy to think that I am able to follow amazing, world-renown educational leaders from afar on any device that I have at my fingertips.
Leadership can be a lonely place, but it doesn’t have to be.
This is exactly what Connected Leadership gave me as a takeaway: becoming connected allows you to go deeper as you develop into a leader, as you’re not only building your connections for development, but building a support system along the way. With the right approach and choosing your leadership colour (p.46), teachers will start to believe and entrust in your thoughts and decisions more confidently as well.
Not long after a connected educator established a comfort level using social media, a transformation takes place.
The homework that I have given myself after reading this book is to go back and answer the questions that Dr. Cook has left the reader to think about at the end of each chapter (chapter reflections). I hope to make future posts that will include answers to some of what he’s asked.
The overarching goal for all connected educators is to improve the learning environment for everyone.