education | Over the TechEDge

The Power of Passion and Edcamps

This weekend I attended my 7th Edcamp. I think. To be honest I have stopped keeping track of annual professional learning experiences because it makes me feel old. Edcamps, Educon, Teachmeet, Online K-12, all began before Twitter, before Facebook, and before the iPhone and iPad became mainstream. Teachers have been sharing and teaching each other…

Why We Do What We Do

Lately I have been struggling with the concept of mindset and resilience as it relates to adapting to and adopting change. As a former classroom teacher and education technology administrator I was surrounded by change. Over 10 years I taught at different grade levels, in two different buildings; I taught in a new classroom almost…

Recognition and Leadership: You get what you give

It is hard being an innovator. Some people just don’t get it. For years I worked in traditional public school systems for administrators who were more worried about their own jobs than they were about supporting teachers and students. I would show up each day to be the best teacher I could be for the…

All Hands on Deck

I am glad I waited until this quiet, dark Saturday morning to read Chapter 7 Creating a Shared Vision in George Couros’s The Innovator’s Mindset (2015); saving my co-workers from my animated summation. THIS is what I mean; THIS is what I want for us too, I am not crazy. The future belongs to those who…

Walk the Talk: Building a Collaborative Leadership Culture

I just finished watching #IMMOOC Live Episode 3 with @8amber8 and @matthew_arend hosted by @gcouros and thought I would share my thoughts on building a collaborative leadership culture. First of all, I echo Amber and Matt’s sentiments about the power of Twitter to connect people and ideas. Like George, I connected with Amber after discovering…

Building a Culture of Care

It all starts by creating an environment where people feel cared for,supported,and nurtured- p.79 I just returned from a long weekend spent with my daughter and her family, including my 2 year old granddaughter. Spending time with a toddler always puts things in perspective. As a long distance grandparent traveling to a different region of…

Timing is Everything: Readiness to Learn

We all know the cliche: You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. Last night George Couros posed the question to the Innovator’s Mindset Facebook Group: I am curious to your thoughts on why this group has exploded compared to the last one. We had great participation in the first…

Passion, Perseverence, and Singular Goals

Every two years we have the opportunity to be inspired by stories of passion, perseverance and dreams of Olympic gold-and this year in Sochi is no different. The media tries to help spin those stories, but sometimes they get it wrong. Every athlete has a unique story to tell, but all seem to share a…

Look Back to Learn, Move Forward to Grow

The other day my husband asked me what my goals were for 2014. The question came out of nowhere, but it got me thinking. At work it is that time of year to reflect on goals and learning, and following my first year of running and racing, I have been thinking about personal fitness goals…

Connected Educators

Having dinner with my former middle school teaching colleagues/friends last night reminded me how much fun I used to have thinking about, talking about, planning for and discussing curriculum and student needs. As we sat around the table engaged in talk about math, social studies and science (I was the ELA teacher) and the differing…

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