The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people.
Kenneth Blanchard
The jubilation that she had felt during the welcome back to school week had worn off. Gone was the energy of connecting with new faces and interacting with her peers and preparing for the arrival of students who were eager to get back to school after a long summer. She was now alone, in her classroom, removed from the rest of her peers. She was feeling isolated, less effective, and thirsting for some adult personal and professional interaction.
(Graziano, 2005, para. 6)
The scenario described above is all too common in our profession, especially for new teachers who have not had the benefit of establishing a community of support. According to a recent article (Graziano, 2005), nearly half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years. Schools hire more than 200,000 new teachers every year and by the end of the first year, at least 22,000 quit (Graziano, 2005). Moreover, the research shows that of those who do make it beyond year one, 45% leave by the end of their fifth year.
Teaching has often been described as a lonely profession. In many schools, teachers walk into a classroom 180 days each year, shut their door, and do the best they can. They spend 90% of their day every day with students, deprived of any significant adult interaction. Over time, this lack of connectivity with other professionals like themselves leads to low efficacy, less risk-taking, low performance, burnout, and high turnover. Sadly, we begin to question whether we can even make a difference. Educators, like any other professionals, need peer-to-peer interactions and reciprocal investments in order to grow and develop. Why is this so critical? Because effective educators recognize the importance and value of making the time to connect with others both personally and professionally in order to avoid these islands of isolation. They know that students who feel connected to a school are more likely to succeed and realize that the same holds true for them as professionals.
“Educators, like any other professionals, need peer-to-peer interactions and reciprocal investments in order to grow and develop.”
It was our intention to include the word “invest” as part of the heading of this chapter. Ultimately, we recognized that the success and impact of any personal learning network depends on the investment of time and effort that each individual is willing to commit not only to others, but to themselves as well. Creating a personal learning network is a collective effort, but unless each of us is willing to give of ourselves, the likelihood of that investment paying off any amount of positive dividends is dubious. Let us be clear: giving of ourselves does not only imply that we are restricted to giving to others, but, equally important, taking time to pause so that we benefit from our own reflection on what we receive in return. These “returns,” or fundamental learnings, are part of building and investing in a personal and professional learning network. As we explained in our introduction, Getting Connected, this is often referred to as a “PLN,” with the “P” sometimes representing “Personal” and sometimes representing “Professional.” We believe that both are equally important and think about this as “P to the Power of 2,” or as we sometimes like to call it—a P2LN, so that, collectively, we continue to grow not only personally, but also professionally, in our learning network.
Connected educators do not invest in others with the goal of getting something in return. That would be selfish. On the contrary, we aim to encourage others to approach it first from a service mindset, knowing that the key to growing a personal learning network begins and ends with a genuine and sincere effort to connect in order to serve a cause greater than ourselves. In other words, we must be prepared to give of ourselves when we are called to action. We can attest to this point from personal experience as shared below by a member of our P2LN.
What this author and member of my P2LN taught me in a 10-minute conversation about servant leadership is an experience that I draw from on a regular basis.
I blew it. I had a golden opportunity to earn an assistant principal position in a strong school district, with high academic standards. There was no internal candidate in the running. But, I was also running on empty and I’d been interviewing all week in other places. So, what did I do? I let my emotions get the best of me. You make me wait an additional 45 minutes past my interview time in a room with no air conditioning after I hauled butt to get down there? No apology or reason given when I do get in the room? Is this where I want to be right now? No. And I let them know it through my verbal and nonverbal communication. I wasted my opportunity.
But my P2LN friend wouldn’t let me do that. I had another interview the following week. My P2LN colleague believed in me, regardless of the rejections I’d received after previous interviews. I sent him a direct message on Twitter and asked him to call me. He did, from San Antonio, Texas. He was at a conference. I would later learn he was presenting there. I needed a support system and the most important thing for him in that moment was to support me. He invested in me during that conversation; it wasn’t so much what he said, but what he did. He called; he listened. And I’ll never forget that as I explained how I felt and used an analogy, he replied, “You taught me something.” I went out the next day and killed it. I didn’t get the position. It went internal. But, I owned that room. The principal called me the following week to tell me how well I did. And, when I’m supporting someone who is struggling through something, I make sure to find a moment to tell them that they taught me something, too.
Today, this person has become an integral part of our P2LN after first connecting somewhat by chance via Twitter. In fact, we made it a point to meet face to face, and we were fortunate to be able to do so a few months later. For fear of sounding over-dramatic, it was close to being a life-changing moment in the sense it brought us even closer together. There is no better feeling than watching someone you connect with grow and develop a sense of confidence that pushes them to be better than they ever thought they could be. Truthfully, investing in others is hard work. It takes energy, time, effort, patience, and a sincere commitment and understanding on our part to recognize that it is not about us, but about what we are able to do for others at any given time. We must be present and intentional with our time so we do not miss opportunities to impact others when they most need our support. Although their goal is not to receive any reward for investing in others, inevitably, connected educators gain as much as they give when they commit to investing in others. These rewards are out there for educators everywhere to reap as soon as we make the conscious decision to take a risk and invest in others. Connected educators know that it all starts with building their own personal and professional learning network.
As connected educators, it is not uncommon for us to be engaged in a conversation with other educators in which the topic of Twitter comes up. With educators not connected professionally on Twitter, this often elicits comments like, “I don’t get it,” “What is it for?” or “I don’t care what Ashton Kutcher or Justin Bieber have to say.” We hear stories of how people opened up Twitter accounts, did not see the purpose, and soon after lost interest altogether and gave up on it as a professional learning vehicle. But for many other educators who manage to stay the course, Twitter becomes their “go to” tool for connectivity. In essence, they discovered the power of Twitter, stuck with it, and over time began to see the value and understand the impact that Twitter could eventually have on their own personal and professional growth. So what was the tipping point for these Twitter users? How were they able to do what so many others were unable to do? How were they able to take control of their own learning and begin to cultivate, maintain, and grow a P2LN that made them different from other educators?
In order to begin to grow your network through Twitter, it is important that you understand the purpose of your profile. Begin by choosing a Twitter name; we strongly urge you to choose your actual name or something that is very close to your actual name. All Twitter names begin with the @ symbol, so we suggest trying @JohnSmith for your Twitter name (that is, of course, only if your name is “John Smith”). Your goal is not to hide who you are or be clever with your name; instead, you are promoting who you are and what you are interested in professionally in the hope you can connect with other “real” people looking for similar support. The next step is selecting a photograph that best represents you. Once again, it is important to understand you do not want to hide who you are, including what you look like. If you want others to take you seriously, you need to stop being a Twitter “egghead.” Users who do not upload a photo of some sort to their profile have, by default, an egg-like image representing themselves instead. Trust us on this: you will not gain a loyal following of learning network members as long as you are a Twitter “egghead”! Connected educators, on the other hand, are anxious to show the world who they are, confident in their professional profile and hoping to connect with other educators who are equally willing to show the world who they are. Educators who grow a strong network on Twitter know it is important to show their face to the world. In addition to a profile picture, Twitter users can add a header, or background picture, which allows you to get creative and share an image that showcases your school, your students, your family, your organization, or anything else you choose to project the professional image you want to share with the world. Almost anything goes when it comes to your header. Have some fun with it.
The next step in creating an effective Twitter profile is to create a short biography. This may be the most important component of your Twitter profile. This is the place to share your story, to tell the world who you are, where you are from, and what you stand for. It is also the place to share a link in order to connect your followers to your blog, Facebook page, or website so they can learn more about you and your personal and professional interests.
Once you establish your profile, it is time to begin building your network. There are many ways to begin the critically important step of learning who to follow and getting others to follow you back. Understand that everyone has something to share that others find profound or valuable. It is imperative that you begin to shift your mindset beyond negative thoughts of “Why would anyone care what I have to say?” and begin to take pride in the fact that you do have unique talents and exper- iences, and others not only can, but will, learn from you. Use the search key to find other educators who are active on Twitter and begin to view their lists of who they follow as suggested resources. Do not feel strange about reading their bios, viewing their tweets, and scrutinizing their list of who they follow and who follows them. This is how we all get started growing our learning network. Your purpose is to grow a network of professional colleagues with whom you can interact: conversing, gathering information, learning from, sharing your own ideas, and exchanging resources. Tweet to others using their Twitter name, which always begins with the @ symbol, and ask specific questions. However, do not feel as though you have to tweet constantly. Start slow. We recommend starting with, perhaps, something as simple as four tweets a day: ask a question, share a resource, respond to a comment tweeted out by someone else, and, lastly, tweet out something personal that speaks to who you are. Eventually, this can create your personal niche with others connected on Twitter. Also, it is perfectly acceptable to “lurk” (a term used for simply following the Twitter stream and not tweeting back in return). You can learn a lot merely by watching all the amazing resources and ideas shared by others. As your network grows and your comfort level of being connected improves, you may catch yourself not wanting to miss the flow of tweets. This may happen. If so, keep perspective that it is called a Twitter stream for a reason. Just a like a stream of water, your Twitter stream will flow all day and night and that is okay. When you are ready to dive back in, you can just pick up where you left off. There will always be a new flow of tweets ready for you to view, mark as favorite, and/or retweet.
“It is imperative that you begin to shift your mindset beyond negative thoughts of “Why would anyone care what I have to say?” and begin to take pride in the fact that you do have unique talents and experiences.”
There is no timeline or mandatory minimum regarding when and how often you should begin tweeting. Go at your own pace, but do not let fear drive your timeline, rather embrace your vulnerability. Once you begin to interact with others via Twitter, you slowly see your confidence rise and your number of followers begin to increase. Be prepared to eventually hit a plat- eau of followers. It will happen until you are ready to expand your participation. Do not let this deter you. Keep at it. Push yourself to take risks and take part in a chat (this is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2). Taking part in Twitter chats will expand your audience and allow you to interact with others who share a similar interest in a specific topic. By doing so, you will continue to increase the number of people with similar interests you follow as well as gain your own additional followers; in other words, you will begin to firmly establish your P2LN!
On occasion, we hear others share how they do not want any followers or they do not care about their number of followers. Well, they should and so should you. Not because connecting via Twitter is a popularity contest or having a large following is some sort of status symbol, but because in order to make the greatest possible impact you can, you will want the greatest audience possible with whom to connect. This is one way that connected educators think differently. As we discuss in Chapter 4, they want to give, take, and then give some more to as many people as possible. By doing so, they begin to grow and expand their network to a global scale. Some educators we know are comfortable doing what they have always done and learning only from people with whom they interact at their own school. Connected educators strive for more; they feel obliged to expand their professional learning network in order to become better at what they do and, ultimately, better meet the needs of the students and/or colleagues they serve.
By connecting with other educators on Twitter, you have access to a plethora of resources and a host of other educators eager to learn and share their knowledge with you. Our experience, not unlike many of our networked colleagues, has been that participating in the educational community via Twitter has rekindled a strong sense of renewal to our profession. We urge you to join the growing legion of connected educators on Twitter—not only will you learn from others, but you can also contribute by giving back of your time and resources, which in turn helps our profession as a whole. Your presence on the “Twitterverse” gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge, which leads to more opportunities to teach others what you have learned and allow you to make an even greater impact on others than you ever thought possible. Moreover, getting connected inspires you to expand your circle of professional colleagues outside your own organization to include others around the world who also desire to develop meaningful professional relationships in an effort to better serve their students, parents, and colleagues. In short, you become encouraged and professionally challenged to strive for greatness!
“Your presence on the “Twitterverse” gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge, which leads to more opportunities to teach others what you have learned and allow you to make an even greater impact on others than you ever thought possible.”
For years, educators everywhere have lived their professional lives on islands of isolation. Our roles as educators are somewhat of a paradox—we are surrounded daily by scores of students and colleagues and have hundreds of personal interactions a day, yet we often find ourselves feeling alone. From a professional standpoint, our days and evenings can be spent on lesson preparation, searching online resources, collecting materials, responding to emails, interacting with students, providing feedback on homework assignments, or completing the multitude of other daily tasks our work requires us to do. However, much of what we do is still spent working independently or on individual tasks that do not require much meaningful adult interaction. How often have you heard colleagues share that they sometimes go an entire work day and feel like they never left their classroom or their office? Or how often do you hear staff members talk about how they sometimes go days or even weeks without seeing some of their own colleagues? Sound familiar? The truth is this is an all-too-common experience for thousands of educators around the world. Yet, we elect to continue on with our daily lives like we are living in some prison of unfulfilled connectivity.
For educators feeling unfulfilled in their professional lives, we have three words of advice: Get Connected Today! Getting connected both professionally and personally can be a life-changing event for educators. Yet, the notion of expanding our networks beyond the traditional means of email, telephone calls, educational workshops, and conferences can be an overwhelming process for many educators new to the possibilities that web-based technologies can offer them. After all, we can barely manage the work we have now; we certainly do not have time to keep up with the constant changes in technology and the information overflow that comes with tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Plus, Skype, Google Hangouts, and Voxer—just to name a few. Or do we? The fact is we must make the time. The global society in which we live has changed dramatically in the past few decades and we must be prepared to model for our students and for our colleagues a willingness to embrace this change.
We can begin by connecting with others around the globe. It is hard to believe that the Internet—something we now take for granted—is a relatively recent phenomenon. In fact, it was not until April 1993 that the World Wide Web technology became available for anyone to use on a royalty-free basis. “Since that time, however, the Web has changed the world. It has arguably become the most powerful communication medium the world has ever known” (World Wide Web Foundation, 2014, para. 5).
The time has come for all educators to fully embrace the opportunities this amazing resource offers us—and our students. Scott McLeod, Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE), makes the case for educators to once and for all embrace 21st-century teaching and learning, suggesting that embracing this shift in mindset begins with making the conscious decision to become a connected educator (McLeod, 2011). McLeod challenges us with important questions about what we must do in our schools and classrooms. Make no mistake about it: these are big questions. Answering confidently requires us to band together and become connected. The answer lies within the personal, professional networks we create, maintain, and grow:
Effectively answering these questions requires us to band together and learn from each other. We often hear the term “lifelong learner” being overused in educational organizations to the point that it is at risk of becoming yet another educational cliché. Connected educators, on the other hand, see this as their mission: to not only serve as lifelong learners, but also to model lifelong learning for their students. They know they cannot learn it all on their own, so they work intentionally to establish a network of fellow lifelong learners. Over time, these professional networks have evolved into incredible personal relationships as well. The opportunity to spend quality time and engage in meaningful dialogue with other educators who also aspire to be better eventually becomes a primary goal of connected educators. These personal connections allow us to set our own barometer for how, with whom, and when we want to connect. In the past, these connections were somewhat more limited, their number often restricted to lack of accessibility due to location, time, or other factors. Today, these factors have become nearly obsolete with the introduction of virtual tools which allow us to engage in wide open spaces and extend our learning opportunities to unlimited boundaries.
We have a tremendous opportunity within our grasp to make not only a professional impact on others, but a personal one as well. What we expect of ourselves is what we get in return. If we want to prepare our students for the rest of this century and beyond, then we must quit living in the last half century and recognize the value of becoming not only a connected educator, but also a connected, lifelong learner. The more we consciously strive to serve as connected educators, the more likely it is we can support our students in becoming connected learners.
Math students are often asked to give their answer in “simplest terms,” causing them to struggle to find the right solution to a problem. What they fail to recognize is that sometimes you have to change the equation in order to find the exact value you are looking for. The same can be said about learning networks. Recently, we overheard one educator saying to another, “Some days it feels like I am all alone running on a treadmill and I don’t feel like I am going anywhere.” This person is not alone in feeling this way, but like other educators who feel this way, she must realize that perhaps it is time to change the equation. Rather than run alone on a treadmill, this individual could benefit from joining a Sunday morning running group. If you have ever joined a running group then you know what it feels like to join a group of passionate individuals with similar interests who share a common goal, right? Simply put, it jacks you up! Well, the same feeling exists when you join a learning network of educators who are committed to making a difference for all kids and who aspire to be excellent. Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers), an educator, author, and speaker who is passionate about the use of social media and its impact on our world, says that “Every person wants to matter. Everyone wants to do work that matters. Secure their heart and their passion and you will be inspired by their contribution.”
If you have ever heard Angela speak you know she means what she says and she says what she means. Angela has modeled what it means to be connected and has found value in her learning network by connecting with educators worldwide to spread her message to learners of all ages of the power of reading, writing, and global communication. Like Angela, there are educators all across America who have found the value of becoming a connected learner and joining a network of passionate educators all interested in what they can do to make a difference.
Brad Currie (@bcurrie5), a New Jersey school administrator and co-founder/moderator of one of the more popular educational chats on Twitter (#satchat), is a perfect example of what one person’s commitment to becoming a connected educator has meant for not only his own growth as a professional, but how he has been able to leverage his learning to transform his school. Currie’s (2014) post entitled “Take Action” describes in detail specific changes that have come about at his school, Black River Middle School. In other words, the value he has gained from his learning network served as the catalyst for many of the changes at his school that came about as a result of his learning and inspiration from others to whom he is connected. His post can be viewed here at http://www.bradcurrie.net/blog/taking-action .
Educators around the globe are transforming their classrooms and schools by stepping outside their comfort zones, finding value in their connectivity, and utilizing free tools accessible to them via their computer, iPad, and smartphones which allow them to connect with like-minded colleagues on a daily basis. They are forming “connected communities,” which, in turn, is elevating them to greater heights and ultimately benefitting their school communities and students in positive ways.
Our profession has been silent and isolated for too long. We have paddled our way through this vast sea we call teaching and learning on our own for way too long. The time is now for us to take responsibility for owning our professional learning by networking with individuals who share our passion and our desire to be the change! In order to do so, however, we must find the time to consistently “take that one minute” to invest in other people as well as ourselves. Only then will we have the opportunity to reach our full potential as professional educators. Connected educators start along the path of connectivity by investing in a personal and professional learning network. Every subsequent step along this journey happens as a result of modeling the way and taking this initial step.
“We have paddled our way through this vast sea we call teaching and learning on our own for way too long. The time is now for us to take responsibility for owning our professional learning by networking with individuals who share our passion and our desire to be the change!”
For additional insights into establishing a P2LN and making it work to enhance your life as a connected educator, we suggest you Follow 5 educators who are leaders in investing in their own learning networks, Find 5 resources we have shared, which helps you to create and maintain your own learning network, and Take 5 specific action steps which set the wheels in motion for becoming a connected educator.
Follow 5: These five educators from our learning network stand as models in the area of investing in a P2LN, which we have written about in this chapter. We have listed their names and Twitter “handles.” We encourage you to follow these exemplary educators on Twitter and interact with them to enhance your life as a connected educator. Here are short pieces of advice from these experts in the field on investing in a personal and professional learning network:
1. Joe Sanfelippo (@joesanfelippofc). Superintendent of Fall Creek, Wisconsin School District. Co-host of @BrandEDPodcast. Joe regularly participates in #wischat. According to Sanfelippo, “My PLN is essentially like being in the best staff lounge ever. People share, connect, and help each other personally and professionally. It allows me to model continuous learning for our staff and students.”
2. Cristina Zimmerman (@CristinaZimmer4). Spanish teacher at Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Cristina regularly participates in #IAedchat, #langchat, #edtechchat. According to Zimmerman,
Using Twitter can be an overwhelming experience for some educators, but the time investment in learning how it works pays huge dividends. There is no better platform for networking with other teachers. For those educators who struggle with the hashtags and symbols, I suggest that they get started using Pinterest or Facebook as a means of professional development; however, the real learning takes place when you have a place to exchange ideas with other teachers and this is what Twitter does best.
3. William M Ferriter (@plugusin). Sixth grade classroom teacher in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to Ferriter,
Investing in a professional learning network can help any classroom teacher gain ready access to materials that they can use in their classrooms immediately. My lessons are almost always influenced by the content shared by the people that I follow. More importantly, however, investing in a professional learning network can help any classroom teacher gain ready access to like-minded peers that can leave them energized and inspired. The colleagues that I’ve connected with are a source of constant real-time support and instant smiles that I turn to whenever I’m feeling discouraged or overwhelmed. They are a reminder that I’m NOT alone. #thatmatters
4. Todd Nesloney (@techninjatodd). Principal of Navasota Intermediate in Navasota, Texas. Co-host of @EduAllstarsHQ. According to Nesloney,
My PLN has provided me with a set of individuals who continually challenge me, push me further, and provide a listening ear. I know for a fact I would not be the individual in education that I am today, without the influence of my PLN. I always say, “You are who you surround yourself with,” and I believe that I surround myself with the best people in the world through my learning network.
5. Jenna Shaw (@teachbaltshaw). Middle school language arts teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. Jenna regularly participates in #edtechchat and #IAedchat. According to Shaw,
We live in an amazingly large world that is full of extremely wise people, yet on a daily basis we only get to interact with a tiny portion of the population and tap into a droplet of that wisdom. Building a community of learners through a PLN has helped me gain strength, courage, knowledge, and compassion through expanding my reach and relationships outside my school community, stretching into a global space of learning and growing. Through these connections I have gained thought-partners, critical friends, and true companions that push me to be a better person in all areas of my life.
Find 5: We have found these five online resources/tools to be particularly useful in getting started building your P2LN. These are links to resources that we have learned about via our PLN and that we have used ourselves to improve some aspect of our job performance:
Take 5: We conclude each chapter by recommending five action steps you can take to get started or continue as a connected educator. Here are five steps we suggest you take to get started in growing your PLN: