Assignment #5

Developing my own PLN is going to be about branding.  I have a feeling that once I can develop my brand I will be able to better connect with people with similar branding.  As I am working on branding I know I will be connecting with multiple people and groups that will exponentially grow as I continue my pursuit of developing me.  Not until this class have I really taken it seriously or given it time that I hold the key to unlocking the PLN and name for myself.  I also need to think about not just focusing in one direction or topic.  I need to be aware of being diverse in my approach to developing my PLN and brand.  Staying true to myself and my core values is something I will continue to assess as I move along in this leadership this journey.  Finally, to develop my PLN I will have to post more to blogs, follow more blogs and news, read more articles and research journals, invest more, knowledge and create more shared resources in order to build my brand in hopes of others wanting me to be a part of their PLN.  

To influence others in the district/building I plan to be ahead of the trends.  Taking risks to and being an innovator are great ways to start to show others you are a digital leader.  Once staff observe the principal taking risks and innovating, they'll begin believing they too can do the same.  Many a conversation I've had with teachers that they're too scared to fail in front of the students or staff and are unwilling to get past that.  Instead of showing staff a new technology tool, I plan to work with level 1 staff on learning a new tech tool with them to show empathy.  Many times that is all some staff needs.  Another way to influence others in the district is to continually look for barriers to implementation and integration of the technology.  Sometimes it is the little things that need to be arranged to make the technology that much more functional.  In our school it was a matter of 5 feet more of an HDMI cable that made the difference in a teacher's ability to implement the tech.  Another situation was developing online resources with our social emotional curriculum because CDs and disk drives took too long to load.  Also, creating this resource helped the district because everyone had access in one location anytime, anywhere.  Because the curriculum was online the collaboration increased with the teachers and students.

Looking for new ideas and celebrating change is something I've spent the last two years pushing in regards to implementing technology.  Teachers have an amazing way of thinking people will think their idea is dumb or not that impressive.  Teacher are so very humble!  At any rate, I set up a schedule for teachers to share new tips or tricks they used with their technology either personally or professionally.  The first 3 meetings we shared nothing but Instagram, Twitter, and fFacebook tips, but then we started in on class dojo, google docs, and forms.  By blending the sharing with the personal and professional teachers became more comfortable with the process of sharing and began opening up their minds.  The process was awesome.  I hope they continue with the atmosphere we created at DVE.