Ditch that Textbook Book Study Review

I read “Ditch that Textbook” by Matt Miller early in 2016. It was among several of the “Dave Burgess Consulting” titles that I had on my nightstand. It only took me a short time to finish the book, mark up the pages with post-its and notes and knew I had to share this book with my staff.

With our professional learning days accounted for and the end of the year approaching, I decided to launch a twitter based summer book study that teachers participated in on a voluntary basis. I sent out an email and was floored that the majority of my staff wanted in! We extended the invite to several other teachers and before we knew it we had our staff collaborating with teachers across the country on the topic of revolutionizing their classrooms!

The first week was simply introductions. Teachers shared their position and a selfie of themselves with the book. It was an easy way to get acquainted with the hashtag, meet the educators participating, and dip our toes into the twitter book study waters. The teachers below are just some of those that participated!

The remaining weeks of the book study focused on each chapter of the book. There were opportunities for goal setting, resource sharing, and celebration of success. Teachers shared their favorite educational book titles, hashtags, digital resources, and more. Staff set goals for integrating technology in meaningful ways in the fall. Mystery Skype Sessions, Twitter Chats with authors, Hyperdocs and digital badges were all shared as goals for teachers. It was uplifting to see many ‘likes’ and “retweets” of their posts as others validated their tweets and learned from their posts!

I embedded some digital badges in the study to recognize those that participated as well. A the conclusion of the study, they were awarded a participation certificate (linked below).

[embeddoc url=”https://dunlapgradeschool.edublogs.org/files/2016/12/Ditch-that-textbook-certificate-qi4rx8.docx” download=”all” viewer=”microsoft”]

It was empowering to see how many educators sought to be connected and learn through the summer months. In Matt’s book he indicates the importance of being connected for so many positive reasons: inspiration, motivation, challenge, camaraderie, apps, humor, and collaboration (pages 97-98). Each of those elements was evident during the book study. As teachers used their time on vacation to learn and grow, they were filling their teacher tool belts and making their classrooms better places to teach and learn!

Book Review: What Connected Educators Do Differently

What Connected Educators Do Differently

Getting Connected: What it Means and Why it Matters

On a given weekday evening, after my girls are tucked into bed, lunches are packed for the next day, and dishes from that night’s dinner are washed, it is time for me to ‘unwind’ from the day. This can mean watching a little television with my husband in the basement, reading a book in bed, or opening up my laptop at the kitchen island and logging on to twitter and connecting and learning from other educational leaders throughout the world! Frequently, I choose twitter because it serves as a wealth of knowledge, insight, and inspiration that motivate me to be a better “lead learner” in my role as an elementary school principal.

I recently tweeted out one of my favorite quotes from the book as I saw a direct connection to our mission at Dunlap Grade School and our role as modeling lifelong learners for our students. This quote reminded me that it is not simply enough to put the mission on our data centers or repeat it at morning meeting, but to live it. For me, that means reading and developing as a professional using twitter and other outlets to grow my PLN.

Capture

I hear frequently that individuals aren’t interested in social media or don’t want to share their personal lives on a public platform. I have a Facebook account and I see that platform fulfilling the role of posting personal pictures of family vacations, gymnastics meets, and evenings at the park. Twitter does not serve that same role for me. Twitter connects me to my personal (and professional) learning network (PLN) of individuals I have connected with that post relevant and current information, articles and resources regarding topics that are interesting and pertinent to my field. Where Facebook connects me to friends and family, Twitter connects me to leading professionals in ways that give me the tools and network to be a better leader.

“What Connected Educators Do Differently” was written by three educators that embrace the use of social media, specifically Twitter, to connect and engage with other professionals. Todd Whittaker, Jeff Zoul and Jimmy Casas wrote the book to give insight into the importance of connectedness and how Twitter is used as a means to connect. Their book provides rationale for the use of Twitter in addition to walking novice users through the tricky terminology and logistics that turn some people away after initial encounters. Hashtags, Twitter Handles, and EdCamps are all explained and resources are provided to expand the readers’ understanding of the concepts (I’ve listed some of their suggested educators to follow at the end of this review). If you are new to Twitter, it is a fabulous resource to help you navigate the unfamiliar waters. If you are “fluent” with Twitter, the book still offers ideas, recommendations, and resources to help make your experience even more powerful!

So, Why Twitter to develop and grow professionally? The authors of the book would indicate:

  1. Improved Effectiveness
  2. Connectivity on a global platform
  3. Expansive collaboration
  4. Encouragement and tools for continuous improvement
  5. Individualized and current professional learning
  6. Means of support by reducing teacher/administrator isolation
  7. Models the use of social media in meaningful and effective ways

“Connected educators see lifelong learning as their mission: to not only serve as lifelong learners, but also to model lifelong learning for their students”

The authors do acknowledge that Twitter is not the only social media platform that can connect educators and that face-to-face collaboration still plays a vital role in our work as educators. They stress that regardless of what platform collaboration occurs that it is done with passion and pride.

Other modes for connectedness could include:

  1. Blogs
  2. Facebook
  3. Instagram
  4. Pinterest
  5. Voxer
  6. GoodReads
  7. Google

Some tips from the authors for moving forward with twitter:

  1. Grow a PLN by following professionals and organizations in the field of education. This may mean ‘lurking’ on pages and reading information without formulating your own tweets initially and that is ok. Some professionals to follow initially include:
  • @joesanfelippofc
  • @cristinazimmer4
  • @plugusin
  • @techintatodd
  • @Teachbaltshaw
  • @toddwhittiker
  • @casas_jimmy
  • @jeff_Zoul
  • @Thomascmurray
  • @mariagalanis
  • @LTaylorELA
  • @joe_Mazza
  • @DaisyDyerDuerr
  1. Use twitter to engage in the Three C’s: Communication, Collaboration, and Community. At Dunlap Grade, that may mean participating in weekly #royalreflection discussions, posting your PLC thoughts and insights at #dgslearns, or sharing your own reading reflections at #dgsreads.
  2. Participate in a Twitter Chat! These are typically held in the evenings and revolve around a particular topic or concept. I’ve been able to meet people from across the country and garnish their ideas to inspire me and use at DGS.

I’d love to support you in your journey in developing your own personal/professional learning community. If I can help you in any way, please let me know. If you have other ideas for how we can better function as connected educators at DGS, I’d love to hear those as well!