Risky Business

This summer I joined the Principal Principles Leadership Group by Stephanie McConnell. I was excited to become part of this group to share ideas. I did not know that this would be the first step in growing what would become my PLN.  Through this group, I followed a recommendation (probably several endorsements) to read “Lead Like A Pirate” by Beth Houf and Shelley Burgess.  I was so eager to read the book, I downloaded it on my Kindle so I could start reading it right away.  The benefit of the kindle edition, was being able to click on the links.  Many of these links brought me to Twitter posts.  The more and more I began to see what was happening on Twitter (a platform I had avoided until this point)- I decided to DIVE in Headfirst!  I created my Twitter handle…. (note my first choice @PrincipalFrench was obviously taken…which would become my first connection to someone in my new PLN) and @BobbieFrench became my PLN persona.  I began following people that I knew and before I knew it people were following me.  I have to be honest, I felt overwhelmed and intimidated.  People who began following me were ‘famous’ authors and wrote books… BOOKS!  There was pressure to post ‘important and relevant’ educational information and school happenings.

Fast forward two months and I’m now connecting with my PLN on Twitter almost daily, participating in chats (wow there can be a lot of them and we need some East Coast chats at reasonable times!). I’ve been reading more and more books. One leads to another and want to read them all at once.  And let’s not forget my newly created Voxer account!

This blog post is the result of a challenge to take a risk from the #PIAChat this past week and a little tweet from @sheehyrw (Ryan Sheehy)… “You can do it! We all have a story to tell”.  I don’t consider myself a writer, but I wanted to become a better reflector to become an even better Principal.  This blog is the perfect opportunity and vehicle for my weekly reflections.  If only I had started it years ago,  before blogs were a thing- with all the things we hear, see, do in the world of education. I would surely be one of the published authors I’d want to follow!

I am excited to continue on this journey. I have already made lasting connections with other principals and no longer feel like I’m on an island. I love the ideas I get from these different groups and my morning commute goes by much quicker with Voxer chats to energize me for the day ahead. My staff may think differently and threaten to take my technology away… but they are growing too and have begun using @Flipgrid & @Kahoot in their classrooms, we did a @Goosechase for our back to school staff meeting, and many of them have began their Google Classrooms.  I am excited for our new groove (and avoiding the rut… thanks Jay)… 

Thank you Ryan, Jay, Mark and Kelley for the “Risky Business” #PIAChat on Tuesday that launched this blog… wow.. I think that also accounts for my #LeadLAP challenge to thank someone in my PLN this week!