The Compelled Educator: When is the Last Time You Took a Risk?

Monday, March 11, 2013

When is the Last Time You Took a Risk?

Every Monday night another assistant principal at our school, Holly Sutherland, and I co-moderate a Twitter Chat that uses the hashtag #ALedchat. It’s a chat for Alabama educators as well as educators all over the country, and it's a terrific opportunity for professional learning.

Today, I emailed several school superintendents in the state that I know personally or who are in our “over the mountain” school classification.

I decided to put myself (and her, ha!) out there. Many thoughts crossed my mind.... Are the superintendents even on Twitter? Do they value Twitter? Will they see this as insignificant? Will they forward the message to their educators?

I felt vulnerable at taking the risk, but I know that without risk there is no reward.

Here’s the email I sent:

Holly Sutherland and I, both administrators at Hoover High and co-moderators of the weekly state Twitter Chats, would like to invite you and other educators in your school system to join us tomorrow (Monday) night from 9pm-10pm as we discuss topics with other educators in Alabama and across the country.

Tomorrow's topic is "Learning First, Tools Second," inspired from the article "Students First, Not Stuff" from the March issue of Educational Leadership (ASCD).

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar13/vol70/num06/Students-First,-Not-Stuff.aspx

www.tweetchat.com is your best option if you are going to participate. Just go to the website, sign in with your Twitter account and then enter the #ALedchat hash tag in the top box. This will allow you to follow the chat, reply, retweet, and favorite tweets more effectively. Once you follow the chat with the hash tag in the box, the hash tag is automatically added to the tweet. Please join us and feel free to share this email with other educators in your school system who use Twitter for their personal learning and networking.