In November, I was notified that I was selected to be part of the inaugural cohort of the NC Digital Leaders Coaching Network. Being that this is the inaugural cohort, I went in with no expectations because there was no one who has been through it to tell me what to expect. Having finished our first meet-up, I still can't articulate well what it's about but I can say that I feel more passionate and enthusiastic about being an educator and technology leader than I have in a long time. So here is what I can tell you I did take away from it.
INTJ 4EVER!!!1!!1!
Before the 50+ members of the NCDLCN from across the state arrived at the Friday Institute on Thursday, we were told to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Personality Index. I took this 20 some odd years ago and remember being an INTJ at that time. Apparently nothing has changed (though I don't remember the degrees to which I was any of those characteristics so I imagine there has been a shift as my role on this planet has evolved). We received a copy of the scores from everyone else in the network and it was interesting to talk with people who were both similar to mine and opposite from mine and we spent the rest of the two days looking for behaviors in each other that either fit or contradicted our types. As a tech leader at my school, I would love to have similar information for my colleagues. Knowing that someone is an F or a P or an E would help me figure out how to support them better. This is a bit personal but I was once in a marriage with an addict. I attended Al-Anon meetings to get support for the difficulties I was experiencing. While the relationship didn't last, I took away a few lessons from Al-Anon, the biggest being that you cannot change the other person or their behavior. You can only change yourself and how you respond to their behavior. I would never hope to change a person who is a P to a J (even though being a J is far superior and why wouldn't everyone want to be a J?) but knowing that person is a P and I am a J would help me accept that they are approaching a project differently than I am and that's okay.
INTJ 4EVER!!!1!!1!
Before the 50+ members of the NCDLCN from across the state arrived at the Friday Institute on Thursday, we were told to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Personality Index. I took this 20 some odd years ago and remember being an INTJ at that time. Apparently nothing has changed (though I don't remember the degrees to which I was any of those characteristics so I imagine there has been a shift as my role on this planet has evolved). We received a copy of the scores from everyone else in the network and it was interesting to talk with people who were both similar to mine and opposite from mine and we spent the rest of the two days looking for behaviors in each other that either fit or contradicted our types. As a tech leader at my school, I would love to have similar information for my colleagues. Knowing that someone is an F or a P or an E would help me figure out how to support them better. This is a bit personal but I was once in a marriage with an addict. I attended Al-Anon meetings to get support for the difficulties I was experiencing. While the relationship didn't last, I took away a few lessons from Al-Anon, the biggest being that you cannot change the other person or their behavior. You can only change yourself and how you respond to their behavior. I would never hope to change a person who is a P to a J (even though being a J is far superior and why wouldn't everyone want to be a J?) but knowing that person is a P and I am a J would help me accept that they are approaching a project differently than I am and that's okay.
A Network is Like a Garden
This idea came from presenter, Bud Hunt. I have used social media for several years now as a networking tool and I get a lot of great ideas from it but at the end of the day after teaching 7-8 classes, picking up kids, cooking dinner, cleaning up, getting them to bed, I often have one hour or so before I need to get to sleep to start all over again the next day. Could I be putting in more to my network? Yes. Could I be getting out more? Yes. Short of finding a balance or stealing a 25th hour to my day, I did do some pruning and organizing to my list of people I follow from my various accounts. I love you Zach Braff and Sarah Silverman and I will follow you from my personal Twitter account but I'm pruning you from this one.
This idea came from presenter, Bud Hunt. I have used social media for several years now as a networking tool and I get a lot of great ideas from it but at the end of the day after teaching 7-8 classes, picking up kids, cooking dinner, cleaning up, getting them to bed, I often have one hour or so before I need to get to sleep to start all over again the next day. Could I be putting in more to my network? Yes. Could I be getting out more? Yes. Short of finding a balance or stealing a 25th hour to my day, I did do some pruning and organizing to my list of people I follow from my various accounts. I love you Zach Braff and Sarah Silverman and I will follow you from my personal Twitter account but I'm pruning you from this one.
Makerspaces
My social network hasn't been so lacking that I haven't heard of a Makerspace. And I know the trend of late is to have this in the media center. What has perplexed me for a while now is how this concept works within the confines of a fixed schedule in an elementary school. In one breakout session, I was able to talk with others about makerspaces and heard from someone whose school is doing this. I'm delighted to have this resource. While my mind still has much thinking to do on how to implement this successfully, I will be tapping this source and exploring it more for the 2015-2016 school year.
My social network hasn't been so lacking that I haven't heard of a Makerspace. And I know the trend of late is to have this in the media center. What has perplexed me for a while now is how this concept works within the confines of a fixed schedule in an elementary school. In one breakout session, I was able to talk with others about makerspaces and heard from someone whose school is doing this. I'm delighted to have this resource. While my mind still has much thinking to do on how to implement this successfully, I will be tapping this source and exploring it more for the 2015-2016 school year.
Coaching: Ur Doing It Wrong
So, pretty much all of this. This is what I expected to get out of this meet-up. More tech tools. More people who can teach me more tech tools. (And don't get me wrong, I did learn a few new ones). But I learned that coaching is not knowing all of the cool new apps! Imagine! It's simply helping to make instruction better. More meaningful. More engaging. More like play (Right, Bud?). And maybe all of that involves technology and maybe it doesn't.
(Credit: Mark Samberg)
So, pretty much all of this. This is what I expected to get out of this meet-up. More tech tools. More people who can teach me more tech tools. (And don't get me wrong, I did learn a few new ones). But I learned that coaching is not knowing all of the cool new apps! Imagine! It's simply helping to make instruction better. More meaningful. More engaging. More like play (Right, Bud?). And maybe all of that involves technology and maybe it doesn't.
(Credit: Mark Samberg)
This is just a snapshot. I could go on. And on and on. But my 4-year-old wants to play and my house is a mess. If you want to know more about the network (or be a part of it vicariously), follow #NCDLCN on Twitter. Stay tuned!
PS: Thank you to my admin team and PTO at Cornelius who are supporting my participation in this program through travel funding and substitute coverage.
PS: Thank you to my admin team and PTO at Cornelius who are supporting my participation in this program through travel funding and substitute coverage.