Takers eat well; givers sleep well.
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Connected educators give of themselves freely and often. This giving is typically in addition to the giving they do throughout the day during the normal course of their “regular” job, in which they are giving to the students and parents they serve as well as to the colleagues with whom they work. After a day spent giving in their daily workplace, they often go home and give some more professionally, by answering questions that have been asked of them by learning network colleagues near and far, by participating in online learning chats, by scheduling a video call with a colleague around the world, and by meeting up with learning network colleagues on a weekend to share ideas. The giving nature of a connected educator can be exhausting and grueling, but as the quote above suggests, such givers sleep very well at night, both literally and figuratively. Working this hard can be very tiring and requires that we remember the importance of balance in life, including enough hours of sleep each night. In a more figurative sense, giving educators sleep well at night because they know they are contributing not only to the organization they serve, but also to the education community as a whole.
Although connected educators are well known for their selfless acts of giving to individuals and to the profession in general, make no mistake about it: these educators are also interested in “taking.” Although the quote above is intended to make fun of those who “take” in a selfish sense, and extolling the virtues of those who give freely, “eating” is every bit as important as “sleeping,” and connected educators enjoy learning (“taking”) from others just as much as they enjoy teaching (“giving”). Connected educators engage in a never-ending cycle of giving to others (whether by sharing a resource or offering to listen to a problem a colleague is having), taking back from others (whether by trying out an idea first learned of from a PLN member, or tweeting out a plea for help on a problem they are having), and then starting the process all over again by giving some more. Connected educators possess an almost fanatical “pay it forward” mindset, whereby they become energized not only by giving, but also by receiving help. Once they do receive help, they tend to become even more passionate about giving back in return and helping some educator, somewhere, become better in the process. It is probably fair to surmise that, in general, those who enter the education profession are likely to possess a giving nature and entered the profession in part to give back; this is what we love so much about the profession ourselves. Connected educators seem to possess this trait to an even more pronounced extent: the more they receive through their professional connections, the more they want to give—and the more they want to connect their colleagues to a similar network of people who are willing to support them regardless of their role in education, their location, or their current comfort level with reaching out to those beyond their immediate grasp to grow and learn.
One way that connected educators give is by promoting people they know in their learning network and the powerful ideas they come across via this network. These acts of promotion can be both small and large. The act of promoting other educators can vary depending on whether they are promoting an educator who is just starting out on their journey to become connected or is firmly established and recognized as a connected educator. Some of the most giving educators we know who are highly visible around the world as connected educators promote others simply by “following” them on Twitter or joining their Google Plus community. For every educator who embarks upon the journey to connect with other professionals and eventually finds the value in doing so, sticking with it and becoming passionately “connected,” there are probably hundreds more who start out enthusiastically committed to doing the same, but who lose interest for one reason or another along the way. One simple step we can take to increase the chances that educators dipping their toes into the realm of connectedness take a deep dive is by following them on Twitter or other social networks when we know they are just starting out.
As we mentioned in Chapter 1, a common method that connected educators employ to get started is by building a learning network through Twitter. Unfortunately, for many who get started in this way, it takes time and effort to build such a network and begin reaping the benefits of doing so. Although the purpose of joining in the educational community on Twitter is certainly not to attract followers, it is equally true that if a teacher or principal has very few followers they soon lose interest in trying to connect. We have found that the “tipping point” in terms of followers for many educators who not only start, but also stick, with Twitter as a personalized learning tool is somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred. Once you reach that number, the chances are fairly strong that you will see the benefits that can be realized by connecting in this way. Sadly, many educators give up before they get to that number of followers, disheartened by their lack of interactions with others on Twitter. Connected educators know that starting out to build a learning network can be difficult and can even be a waste of time unless you are following people who follow you back. As a result, connected educators tend to follow many of the educators who follow them, especially when they hear of someone who is just starting out and sincerely hoping to connect with others in an effort to learn.
Connected educators also promote people—and their ideas—by sharing what they learn from them with their own network. When they see that someone with whom they are connected has shared an idea that may help other educators in some way, they do whatever they can to spread the news about this idea. Often, it can be as simple as retweeting a link they saw to members of their learning network. It can be mind-boggling to learn how far, wide, and fast a tweet can travel. There are even Twitter analytic services (one example is TweetReach) to track the extent to which a tweet has “traveled.” Using such a tool to test this out, we just learned that a tweet posted by a highly connected educator at the time of this writing reached 117,989 Twitter accounts within one week. This is powerful: if we learn an idea from someone in our network that we believe will better engage our kids in learning, for example, and then retweet that out to the world, it is possible that tens of thousands of other educators will eventually see this as well and be able to take advantage of the idea in their own school or classroom. Connected educators recognize the importance of promoting people and ideas as a way of giving back to the profession.
“Connected educators also promote people—and their ideas—by sharing what they learn from them with their own network.”
Connected educators have no more time in their day than any other living person; we each have available to us 60 seconds every minute, 60 minutes every hour, and 24 hours every day to get it all done. Therefore, these educators do not find time to give back (as there is no additional time to “find” in the 24 hours we are allotted each day); they make time to give back. One small, but important, way that connected educators “make time to make a difference” in the lives of other educators is simply by responding whenever someone reaches out with a question or with a plea for help.
Obviously, there are limits for all of us on how much time we have available to us, and on the many and varied competing demands upon this time. As a result, sometimes our response is simply a quick note to let someone know we cannot help at the moment or that we have no immediate ideas about a particular topic. Still, the power of taking the time to respond at all is real and it makes a difference to the person who has reached out. Often, of course, connected educators respond by offering support of some kind: they answer a direct question, send a link to a resource they think may help with the query, they direct them to someone else in their PLN who they know is an expert in that particular area, or they even pick up the phone to call the person to have a personal conversation about the issue. The bottom line, though, is that connected educators tend to respond when they are contacted about anything relating to their profession. Whether they ultimately end up helping or not with the initial request, they make time to answer directly and swiftly.
Because connected educators often have a significant number of followers and can be perceived as experts—at least in some aspects of education—other educators often turn to them for support or advice. They reach out in a variety of ways, either by emailing, calling, direct messaging on Twitter, or by commenting on a published blog post. In each instance, connected educators respond. They not only have a keen understanding of the needs of others, but they also empathize with them, as they have likely been in the same position before—and may find themselves in the same position again in the future. This give-and-take nature of connecting with members of our learning networks is a primary component to their power and success. Responding to others directly and swiftly is particularly important when it comes to supporting those who are new to the field of education—or who may be veteran educators but are new to the world of connected education. Although an obvious goal of connecting with others at all is to become better at what we do ourselves, another goal is to assist others in becoming better in turn. If we respond when someone reaches out, we give heart to the one who made the effort to reach out, and increase the chances that this person will continue to seek out new opportunities to learn, grow, and connect. Connected educators make our world a slightly better place by responding consistently whenever they are called upon.
An important way that connected educators give and take is by connecting members of their own network to each other and expanding their own knowledge and support base in the process. There are many times when connected educators are asked a question about an issue they may not be best equipped to answer. In such instances, connected educators stand ready to find someone else in their learning network who might better answer the question or provide support.
There are many ways that connected educators make time and find the means to connect colleagues they know in their own learning network to each other so that all may benefit. Of course, at times, this is simply a matter of phoning or emailing the person and asking for help and suggesting they contact an educator in their network who they suspect will have the expertise to assist. Other times, educators seeking to give help reach out first to the person they think can help and ask if they will reach out directly to the person needing it. Whatever the method, connected educators know that two heads are usually better than one and 2,000 heads are usually better than 200. As we have stated before, no single educator can ever know all there is to know about a topic. No matter how well versed we are on any topic, together we can always know even more. The good news is that there are literally thousands of educators ready and willing to lend their expertise if asked, typically swiftly and absolutely free of charge.
“No matter how well versed we are on any topic, together we can always know even more. The good news is that there are literally thousands of educators ready and willing to lend their expertise if asked, typically swiftly and absolutely free of charge.”
As we have also stated, there are many ways that connected educators connect their learning network colleagues to each other. Currently, many do so through their Twitter PLN. As an example of the potential power of connecting educators around the world with each other, consider three members of our own learning network: Eric Sheninger (@E_Sheninger) is connected to over 64,000 Twitter followers at the time of this writing. Tom Whitby (@tomwhitby), another widely known and respected educator, is currently connected to over 49,000. George Couros (@gcouros), a highly regarded educational leader from Canada, is followed by over 55,000 members within his learning network. Although there are clearly some overlapping members within these sets of network members, it is safe to say that, in total, these three educators alone can reach out at a moment’s notice to nearly 100,000 educators from around the globe. A fifth grade teacher in Kansas may be looking for support in the area of differentiating instruction for students in her diverse classroom. She can and should explore all available resources within her own school, including drawing on the expertise of colleagues in her own building. At the same time, however, she can simply tweet out a request for assistance on Twitter, asking educators like Eric, Tom, and George to retweet the request. Within hours, if not minutes, it is possible that her request for assistance will be seen by thousands of thoughtful educators around the world, many of whom would be eager to lend their support.
A favorite way that many connected educators give is simply by connecting a fellow educator in need to another fellow educator they know who might be able to provide the support, ideas, or resources needed. Once educators catch the bug that eventually happens as a result of connecting with others, it becomes a never-ending cycle of passing it along to others as a simple and effective way to grow and learn.
After Jeff’s third year of teaching, he moved from teaching first grade in one school to teaching fourth grade in the same school. Being new to the grade level, he asked the veteran member of the fourth grade team and team leader if he could see her highly detailed lesson plan book from the previous year so he could use it to start planning his own lessons for his new grade level. To his surprise, the teacher somewhat angrily refused, telling him he needed to plan his own lessons. Times have certainly changed; back then, it was not uncommon to hoard ideas and resources, even from colleagues with whom you worked and whose friendship you valued. We believe that in most schools today, colleagues would be much more open to sharing their plan books—or anything else they have at their disposal—to help a colleague in need. To be fair to Jeff’s colleague, however, she may have actually helped him to some extent: had she simply given him her plan book, he may have merely borrowed everything in there and not really owned it for himself. Like most connected educators we know, we would certainly advocate for sharing everything we can with our colleagues who ask for help. At the same time, it is incumbent upon the person seeking support to take away something from the exchange beyond the mere act of borrowing it to make their life easier.
As we mentioned at the outset of this chapter, connected educators tend to be truly giving people who seem to thrive on giving back to the education community whenever and however they can. At the same time, connected educators certainly are not opposed to “taking” as well and are always on the prowl to “take” by learning new and better ways to do those things they are passionate about doing. We know a colleague who is fond of saying, “Good teachers borrow from each other—great teachers steal.” Although she says this as a lighthearted way to indicate how important it is to freely take ideas from others in an effort to not only get better but also to work smarter, not harder, there is a subtle, but significant difference connoted between the seemingly competing ideas of “borrowing” and “stealing.”
Let us be clear: no connected educator we know becomes connected (at least, not successfully) simply so that they can selfishly steal ideas they learn of elsewhere, never giving back in return, and perhaps even claiming these ideas as their own. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth in our experience. However, just as genuinely giving educators get excited about sharing their ideas—and become even more excited when they see these ideas take root in other schools and classrooms around the world—they may be equally excited to “steal” an idea they learn from a PLN colleague, incorporating it successfully into their own practice. When each of us first started teaching, it was not uncommon for us to “borrow” from colleagues at our school with whom we taught. However, this borrowing often started and ended with things as opposed to ideas. Perhaps we needed some extra purple construction paper one day. The next week, we needed a worksheet to go along with the first few chapters of a novel we were teaching. Later, we needed some extra books for our classroom library as we began our unit on the planets. In these times, opportunities to connect with other educators were extremely limited. First, it started and stopped within the walls of our own school building. Second, the borrowing tended to be of material things; we rarely had collaborative conversations with our colleagues about ideas they had or ideas we had for better engaging our kids in a topic, lesson, unit, project one or more of us were teaching at the same time. Finally, whenever we did “borrow” something it was truly that—a transaction. We used something they had and would happily let them use something we had in return. The original item tended to stay with the original owner, even if the borrower used it, too. Our colleague who somewhat facetiously advocates for “stealing” over “borrowing” is suggesting that the first thing we need to focus on is exchanging ideas, not just things. More importantly, she is suggesting that we cannot truly get better just by “borrowing”—even if it is a really good idea one of our colleagues has started. Instead, we need to “steal” that idea and make it our own. We have been given the gift from a colleague—in today’s world, that colleague may be either across the hall or across the world—who is willing to share with us. We honor this person not by taking what she has to share and using it exactly as designed, but by taking it, using it, strengthening it, and sharing it anew with others. We do not simply borrow; we own it for ourselves and add to it before giving it back again.
Connected educators thrive on giving—and actively seek out opportunities to do so. In addition, they are happy to take (even steal!) ideas wherever and whenever they can if it will help them do their current job better or help them add to their bag of tricks they can share with other educators at a later date when needed. When they do take ideas from others, it often becomes more than a simple give–take transaction. Instead, these events tend to be ongoing back-and-forth collaborative exchanges in which the original idea becomes improved over time through the giving and taking of not only the original giver and taker, but also an entire network of learners who in turn become exposed to the idea.
“Connected educators are happy to take (even steal!) ideas wherever and whenever they can if it will help them do their current job better or help them add to their bag of tricks they can share with other educators at a later date when needed.”
Connected educators are loyal to the organization they serve and desperately want the organization to become as successful as it can possibly become. They always start with their own classroom, school, or district in mind, asking, “How can I help to make this (classroom, school, district) even better than it already is?” They often begin by looking within their own organization, knowing that the best ideas frequently come from within and knowing that ongoing systemic school improvement must, ultimately, come from within, as Barth (2006) suggested.
At the same time, connected educators realize that it is also important to look outside the walls of their own classrooms, schools, and districts in order to capitalize on the good ideas of others and to learn what is working in other schools around the world. In today’s era of connectivity, information is at our fingertips and immediately accessible, including finding out where things are already happening in education that we may be just beginning to think about implementing in our own schools. There are times when we advocate first starting within and then looking outside. Other times, we suggest starting by looking outward, then working from within. If we are working to get better at something we are already doing, we may start by working within—but also looking beyond. As an example, if we are examining our annual data, we may start by simply working within our professional learning communities already established in our schools, analyzing the data in every way possible, identifying areas of celebration as well as areas of future focus, and creating an action plan complete with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, Time-bound) goals for improving future performance. Despite many changes in education, some things tend to remain the same and likely always will. Looking at our results and trying to achieve better results each year has become a staple of schools since the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Although NCLB is almost a thing of the past in many states, accountability for results remains—perhaps to an even more stringent extent than ever before. Owning student academic achievement results should start from within—all the while looking outside to see where others are achieving success and learning from them whenever possible.
On the other hand, when initiating something entirely new in a school or district, it sometimes makes sense to look outside the organization first and then build from within. Connected educators are more than willing to look outside their own classrooms, schools, and districts to do this. In today’s ever-changing classroom environments, the number of examples of completely new ideas being considered for implementation is vast. For example, many schools are making the commitment to a 1:1 learning environment for all students, providing a device of some sort for each student in the district in an effort to enhance teaching and learning. Other districts are taking a slightly different approach and instituting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, allowing individual students to bring their own devices to school with them to support their learning. Many teachers are trying new instructional ideas like the Flipped Classroom, Genius Hour, or Mystery Skyping sessions, to name a few. When taking on something entirely new for the very first time, connected educators know they stand a better chance of long-term success if they first look outside the organization to see where and how it is already working effectively elsewhere. Whether we are looking to implement 1:1 learning environments district-wide or incorporate Genius Hour into one fifth grade classroom, the place to start is the place where success has already been achieved. Connected educators around the globe are working in both locations; some are in a district hoping to start such an initiative, and others are in districts where the initiative has already taken root. The ones looking to start are never afraid to seek help from outside. Those outside who are having success are never hesitant to share.
Connected educators know that they must always be looking to grow and improve. They also know that neither they, nor anyone else in their own school district—no matter how stellar they might be—holds the keys to all the answers they seek. As a result, they constantly look outside their own organization to find new ways to improve.
Connected educators are passionate about giving and taking … and giving some more. Like the quote at the outset of the chapter suggests, givers sleep well each night, knowing they are contributing to the growth of others. Although they may tend to fall more on the side of giving than taking, they also enjoy “eating well” by taking ideas they learn from others in their networks and enjoying the benefits of adding to their repertoire of teaching or leadership techniques.
Grant (2013) explores the topic of giving and taking in great detail, studying highly successful people and determining the extent to which they give and take. He maintains that in addition to hard work, talent, and luck, successful people also thrive on connecting with others. Grant found that few of us are purely givers or takers and that we move from one role to the other depending on situations we face. Moreover, he found that a third role exists, one he terms “matchers,” meaning people who help others but expect reciprocity in return. Although Grant found that the lines between acting as a giver, a taker, or a matcher are not hard and fast—he suggests that we shift from one style to another as we move from one situation or relationship to another—we do tend to develop a primary style in the workplace, a style that captures how we approach others most of the time in our work relationships. In our own experiences interacting and working with connected educators around the world, we have recognized even the most giving of educators moving between the three styles, acting as matchers or takers depending upon a given situation. Still, if Grant’s findings hold true for connected educators, we would be willing to assert that the primary social interaction style for the vast majority is that of being a giver.
Interestingly, Grant found that “givers tend to sink to the bottom of the workplace success ladder, which may make us second guess our willingness to serve with a “give first” mindset” (2013, p. 6). However, before becoming too alarmed, you should also know that givers also are at the top echelon of success. In Grant’s studies, although people exhibiting all three styles can and do succeed, givers are both the worst and best performers, while takers and matchers tend to land in the middle. In contrast to the success of takers and matchers, however, when givers succeed, it tends to create a cascading or ripple effect. Their success spreads to others; they enhance the lives of others through their giving. Connected educators are like the givers Grant describes: they succeed themselves and create a ripple effect throughout the education community, empowering others to succeed as well (Grant, 2013).
According to Grant (2014), when he first wrote his book, he attributed the long-term success of givers to two primary forces: relationships and motivation. Givers forged strong relationships with others, building deeper and broader connections. Giving to others also added meaning and purpose to their lives, motivating them to continue giving, and succeeding more in the process. Beyond relationships, though, Grant found learning to be a third reason why helping others resulted in distinct benefits for givers. By helping others in a variety of ways, givers are often learning in the process. If someone asks them for assistance, they may not immediately know as much as they would like to, so they learn some more about the topic before responding, or giving. In this way, connected educators who give freely learn more in the process and become even better equipped to give more—and grow themselves in the process.
Education is a giving profession by its very nature. We enter the field to help others, in particular, our students. Connected educators take this giving to another level, working intentionally to give to others—not only to the students they serve, but also to the colleagues they meet—by promoting people and ideas, by responding when they are called, and by connecting some members of their learning network to others they know. Connected educators are also always on the lookout for any good ideas or resources they can steal. They actively reach out to those within their own learning network for support and are always increasing their network of professional colleagues so that they have access to even more people, ideas, and resources from which to take—and to whom to give.
Follow 5: These five educators from our PLN stand as models in the areas we have written about in this chapter: their willingness to share of themselves and their eagerness to learn from others. We have listed their names along with their 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 insights from these experts in the field on the value of serving as a connected educator and giving, taking … and giving some more:
1. Nancy Blair (@blairteach). Principal, Rising Starr Middle School, Fayette County, Georgia. According to Blair,
It is not an overstatement to say that developing a PLN has changed my life, both personally and professionally. Through my PLN, I can learn, grow, and share with educators around the world. I can literally see into classrooms as teachers share what they are doing via live streaming. I can ask and answer questions from strangers who share an interest or passion. Over time, I’ve met face to face many members of my PLN who have become dear friends. It is an amazingly giving and supportive network.
2. Paul Solarz (@PaulSolarz). Fifth grade teacher, Arlington Heights, Illinois. In addition to serving as a classroom teacher, Paul is a teacher-leader who shares his innovative teaching ideas with thousands of other educators around the world. According to Solarz,
By becoming active on Twitter, I have managed to connect with thousands of educators who are trying to do many of the same great things in their classrooms as I’m trying to do in mine. Through tweets, direct messages, email, and Skype, I’m able to collaborate with them directly by asking each other questions, sharing resources, and even connecting our students! In addition, weekly Twitter chats allow me to share what I’m doing in my classroom with a wide, authentic audience and they provide me an opportunity to learn about the newest trends, tech tools, and best practices from some of the most amazing minds in education. Being connected provides me with the best free, on-demand, differentiated professional development that I could hope for!
3. Marcie Faust (@mfaust). Director for Innovative Learning, Deerfield, Illinois. According to Faust,
I believe that knowledge for the connected educator is like a giant snowball, beginning with a kernel of thought that becomes larger and more powerful as it gathers up bits of learning and experience from its surrounding community of educators. Like snowballs, educators do not grow just by sitting stagnant; they grow steadily by collecting wisdom from those around them. If we want to grow ourselves, we have a responsibility to learn from others and instead of giving back, we give forward, which strengthens the educational community of today as well as that of tomorrow.
4. Erin Klein (@KleinErin). Classroom teacher, Michigan. MACUL 2014 Teacher of the Year. According to Klein,
Being a connected educator has supported me as a new teacher. Not only was I able to gain rich resources and ideas being shared, but I quickly gained a supportive network that I could turn to for questions and guidance. When I was new to teaching and new to social media, I joined #ntchat (new teacher chat) hosted by @teachingwthsoul (Lisa Dabbs). Lisa, a former principal, helped new teachers across the world to collaborate with one another and have a safe place to share their ideas and ask their questions. My insecurities began to diminish and my confidence began to grow. Having this global, connected network at my fingertips now shapes who I am as a teacher and enriches the ideas I bring into the classroom for my students.
5. Garnet Hillman (@garnet_hillman). Instructional coach, Deerfield Public Schools District 109, Deerfield, Illinois. Garnet is a nationally recognized expert on the topic of standards-based learning and grading and co-moderates a weekly Twitter chat on the topic, #sblchat, which takes place on Wednesdays at 8:00–9:00 CST. According to Hillman,
As a connected educator I have learned that what you reap from relationships is interrelated with what you give. The more I give and provide to these relationships, the more I procure from the experience. When I write and share resources, I receive a variety of feedback that either affirms my thoughts or challenges me to improve my practice. I have grown exponentially as an instructor because of the wealth of knowledge my peers are willing to contribute to the world-wide educational conversation. I am grateful to my professional learning network as it delivers support and guidance any time I need assistance to innovate in my classroom.
Find 5: We have found these five online resources/tools to be particularly useful in reflecting on the power of giving and taking through your learning network. 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 or expand our thinking:
Take 5: We conclude each chapter by recommending five action steps you can take to get started or continue on your path as a connected educator. Here are five steps we suggest you take to give to your PLN—and receive in return: