Keep Learning

As a building leader, I firmly believe that I must keep learning and growing, not only as a leader, but as an educator. Several ways that I keep growing professionally include reading, taking courses, attending conferences, and being involved with social media. All of these provide me with different ways to grow and learn, which in turn can help my staff and students. After all, this job always comes back to growing children, academically and more.

Typically, I have one professional book that I am reading. Most recently I finished Teach Like Finland by Timothy Walker, which offered insight about having more joy in the classroom. The author offers a unique perspective since he taught in the USA and Finland. You may have seen my recent book recommendation for Grit by Angela Duckworth. If you don’t feel like you have time to read the book at least please take time to watch her TED talk on Grit. It is well worth your time. Of course, books by Ruby Payne, John Hattie, David Sousa, Dave Burgess, and topics such as neuroscience expand our knowledge as leaders and learners. If you have book recommendations, please share. I am always looking for a new one.

Another way to continue growing professionally is to take courses. In all honesty, I do get questioned as to why I am taking another class. Usually the conversation goes something like this:

Me: I have to get some class work done.

Other person: Don’t you have a PhD? Aren’t you done with courses?

Me: Yes I have a PhD, but I have areas I want to know more about.

Other person: Oh, okay.

Currently, I am enrolled at the local university in a graduate level special education course, which I chose because it is a growth area for me. While I understand many aspects of special education as a school leader, I wanted to learn more about it from a teacher’s perspective. This course is providing me with valuable insight into the assessment components of special education. Last school year, I took two courses on Teaching and Assessing Children of Poverty offered through a blended model, and loved them. Both courses were offered by the district that I was working in and were taught by a professor from an in-state university. From these two courses, I gained a much better understanding of how to reach all students. One key take away for me was that poverty is not only financial, but also emotional, cognitive, physical,etc. The courses provided best practices for all students. I am contemplating what type of course to take next year, or if I should try my hand at teaching a course.

Attending conferences is something I do not do very often, mainly due to cost effectiveness. If there is a one day conference or workshop, I am more likely to go. I recently attended my state’s Title I conference, which proved to be helpful to me. I learned quite a bit about federal programs, how money can or can not be spent, creative ways other schools were using funds, etc. Over the summer, I will present at my state’s leadership conference. I am quite excited for my first opportunity to present to other school leaders at this level. I will share my presentation here after the conference.

A final way I continue to grow as a professional is through social media. I follow people or organizations such Ron Clark, Jay McTighe, Michael Fullan, Ruby Payne, FMU Center of Excellence, etc. on multiple social media outlets. There is a constant sharing of ideas, success, and celebrations. They share tips, things that have worked, new book releases, and so much more that can be used in any school setting. Social media, blogs, TED talks, can all be growth tools if we choose to use them as such.

As a building leader, I plan to continue learning and growing as a way to help my students and staff. Continuous growth is an expectation for educators, and as the building leader, I like to set a positive example for my staff.