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Key Connector 1
Invest in a Personal and Professional Learning Network (P2LN)
The best minute I spend is the one I invest in people.
Kenneth Blanchard
The jubilation that she had felt during the welcome back to school week had worn off. Gone was the energy of connecting with new faces and interacting with her peers and preparing for the arrival of students who were eager to get back to school after a long summer. She was now alone, in her classroom, removed from the rest of her peers. She was feeling isolated, less effective, and thirsting for some adult personal and professional interaction.
(Graziano, 2005, para. 6)
The scenario described above is all too common in our profession, especially for new teachers who have not had the benefit of establishing a community of support. According to a recent article (Graziano, 2005), nearly half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years. Schools hire more than 200,000 new teachers every year and by the end of the first year, at least 22,000 quit (Graziano, 2005). Moreover, the research shows that of those who do make it beyond year one, 45% leave by the end of their fifth year.
Teaching has often been described as a lonely profession. In many schools, teachers walk into a classroom 180 days each year, shut their door, and do the best they can. They spend 90% of their day every day with students, deprived of any significant adult interaction. Over time, this lack of connectivity with other professionals like themselves leads to low efficacy, less risk-taking, low performance, burnout, and high turnover. Sadly, we begin to question whether we can even make a difference. Educators, like any other professionals, need peer-to-peer interactions and reciprocal investments in order to grow and develop. Why is this so critical? Because effective educators recognize the importance and value of making the time to connect with others both personally and professionally in order to avoid these islands of isolation. They know that students who feel connected to a school are more likely to succeed and realize that the same holds true for them as professionals.
âEducators, like any other professionals, need peer-to-peer interactions and reciprocal investments in order to grow and develop.â
It was our intention to include the word âinvestâ as part of the heading of this chapter. Ultimately, we recognized that the success and impact of any personal learning network depends on the investment of time and effort that each individual is willing to commit not only to others, but to themselves as well. Creating a personal learning network is a collective effort, but unless each of us is willing to give of ourselves, the likelihood of that investment paying off any amount of positive dividends is dubious. Let us be clear: giving of ourselves does not only imply that we are restricted to giving to others, but, equally important, taking time to pause so that we benefit from our own reflection on what we receive in return. These âreturns,â or fundamental learnings, are part of building and investing in a personal and professional learning network. As we explained in our introduction, Getting Connected, this is often referred to as a âPLN,â with the âPâ sometimes representing âPersonalâ and sometimes representing âProfessional.â We believe that both are equally important and think about this as âP to the Power of 2,â or as we sometimes like to call itâa P2LN, so that, collectively, we continue to grow not only personally, but also professionally, in our learning network.
ⶠInvesting with a Purpose
Connected educators do not invest in others with the goal of getting something in return. That would be selfish. On the contrary, we aim to encourage others to approach it first from a service mindset, knowing that the key to growing a personal learning network begins and ends with a genuine and sincere effort to connect in order to serve a cause greater than ourselves. In other words, we must be prepared to give of ourselves when we are called to action. We can attest to this point from personal experience as shared below by a member of our P2LN.
What this author and member of my P2LN taught me in a 10-minute conversation about servant leadership is an experience that I draw from on a regular basis.
I blew it. I had a golden opportunity to earn an assistant principal position in a strong school district, with high academic standards. There was no internal candidate in the running. But, I was also running on empty and Iâd been interviewing all week in other places. So, what did I do? I let my emotions get the best of me. You make me wait an additional 45 minutes past my interview time in a room with no air conditioning after I hauled butt to get down there? No apology or reason given when I do get in the room? Is this where I want to be right now? No. And I let them know it through my verbal and nonverbal communication. I wasted my opportunity.
But my P2LN friend wouldnât let me do that. I had another interview the following week. My P2LN colleague believed in me, regardless of the rejections Iâd received after previous interviews. I sent him a direct message on Twitter and asked him to call me. He did, from San Antonio, Texas. He was at a conference. I would later learn he was presenting there. I needed a support system and the most important thing for him in that moment was to support me. He invested in me during that conversation; it wasnât so much what he said, but what he did. He called; he listened. And Iâll never forget that as I explained how I felt and used an analogy, he replied, âYou taught me something.â I went out the next day and killed it. I didnât get the position. It went internal. But, I owned that room. The principal called me the following week to tell me how well I did. And, when Iâm supporting someone who is struggling through something, I make sure to find a moment to tell them that they taught me something, too.
Today, this person has become an integral part of our P2LN after first connecting somewhat by chance via Twitter. In fact, we made it a point to meet face to face, and we were fortunate to be able to do so a few months later. For fear of sounding over-dramatic, it was close to being a life-changing moment in the sense it brought us even closer together. There is no better feeling than watching someone you connect with grow and develop a sense of confidence that pushes them to be better than they ever thought they could be. Truthfully, investing in others is hard work. It takes energy, time, effort, patience, and a sincere commitment and understanding on our part to recognize that it is not about us, but about what we are able to do for others at any given time. We must be present and intentional with our time so we do not miss opportunities to impact others when they most need our support. Although their goal is not to receive any reward for investing in others, inevitably, connected educators gain as much as they give when they commit to investing in others. These rewards are out there for educators everywhere to reap as soon as we make the conscious decision to take a risk and invest in others. Connected educators know that it all starts with building their own personal and professional learning network.
ⶠThe Power of Twitter
As connected educators, it is not uncommon for us to be engaged in a conversation with other educators in which the topic of Twitter comes up. With educators not connected professionally on Twitter, this often elicits comments like, âI donât get it,â âWhat is it for?â or âI donât care what Ashton Kutcher or Justin Bieber have to say.â We hear stories of how people opened up Twitter accounts, did not see the purpose, and soon after lost interest altogether and gave up on it as a professional learning vehicle. But for many other educators who manage to stay the course, Twitter becomes their âgo toâ tool for connectivity. In essence, they discovered the power of Twitter, stuck with it, and over time began to see the value and understand the impact that Twitter could eventually have on their own personal and professional growth. So what was the tipping point for these Twitter users? How were they able to do what so many others were unable to do? How were they able to take control of their own learning and begin to cultivate, maintain, and grow a P2LN that made them different from other educators?
ⶠGrowing a P2LN Through Twitter
In order to begin to grow your network through Twitter, it is important that you understand the purpose of your profile. Begin by choosing a Twitter name; we strongly urge you to choose your actual name or something that is very close to your actual name. All Twitter names begin with the @ symbol, so we suggest trying @JohnSmith for your Twitter name (that is, of course, only if your name is âJohn Smithâ). Your goal is not to hide who you are or be clever with your name; instead, you are promoting who you are and what you are interested in professionally in the hope you can connect with other ârealâ people looking for similar support. The next step is selecting a photograph that best represents you. Once again, it is important to understand you do not want to hide who you are, including what you look like. If you want others to take you seriously, you need to stop being a Twitter âegghead.â Users who do not upload a photo of some sort to their profile have, by default, an egg-like image representing themselves instead. Trust us on this: you will not gain a loyal following of learning network members as long as you are a Twitter âeggheadâ! Connected educators, on the other hand, are anxious to show the world who they are, confident in their professional profile and hoping to connect with other educators who are equally willing to show the world who they are. Educators who grow a strong network on Twitter know it is important to show their face to the world. In addition to a profile picture, Twitter users can add a header, or background picture, which allows you to get creative and share an image that showcases your school, your students, your family, your organization, or anything else you choose to project the professional image you want to share with the world. Almost anything goes when it comes to your header. Have some fun with it.
The next step in creating an effective Twitter profile is to create a short biography. This may be the most important component of your Twitter profile. This is the place to share your story, to tell the world who you are, where you are from, and what you stand for. It is also the place to share a link in order to connect your followers to your blog, Facebook page, or website so they can learn more about you and your personal and professional interests.
Once you establish your profile, it is time to begin building your network. There are many ways to begin the critically important step of learning who to follow and getting others to follow you back. Understand that everyone has something to share that others find profound or valuable. It is imperative that you begin to shift your mindset beyond negative thoughts of âWhy would anyone care what I have to say?â and begin to take pride in the fact that you do have unique talents and exper- iences, and others not only can, but will, learn from you. Use the search key to find other educators who are active on Twitter and begin to view their lists of who they follow as suggested resources. Do not feel strange about reading their bios, viewing their tweets, and scrutinizing their list of who they follow and who follows them. This is how we all get started growing our learning network. Your purpose is to grow a network of professional colleagues with whom you can interact: conversing, gathering information, learning from, sharing your own ideas, and exchanging resources. Tweet to others using their Twitter name, which always begins with the @ symbol, and ask specific questions. However, do not feel as though you have to tweet constantly. Start slow. We recommend starting with, perhaps, something as simple as four tweets a day: ask a question, share a resource, respond to a comment tweeted out by someone else, and, lastly, tweet out something personal that speaks to who you are. Eventually, this can create your personal niche with others connected on Twitter. Also, it is perfectly acceptable to âlurkâ (a term used for simply following the Twitter stream and not tweeting back in return). You can learn a lot merely by watching all the amazing resources and ideas shared by others. As your network grows and your comfort level of being connected improves, you may catch yourself not wanting to miss the flow of tweets. This may happen. If so, keep perspective that it is called a Twitter stream for a reason. Just a like a stream of water, your Twitter stream will flow all day and night and that is okay. When you are ready to dive back in, you can just pick up where you left off. There will always be a new flow of tweets ready for you to view, mark as favorite, and/or retweet.
âIt is imperative that you begin to shift your mindset beyond negative thoughts of âWhy would anyone care what I have to say?â and begin to take pride in the fact that you do have unique talents and experiences.â
There is no timeline or mandatory minimum regarding when and how often you should begin tweeting. Go at your own pace, but do not let fear drive your timeline, rather embrace your vulnerability. Once you begin to interact with others via Twitter, you slowly see your confidence rise and your number of followers begin to increase. Be prepared to eventually hit a plat- eau of followers. It will happen until you are ready to expand your participation. Do not let this deter you. Keep at it. Push yourself to take risks and take part in a chat (this is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 2). Taking part in Twitter chats will expand your audience and allow you to interact with others who share a similar interest in a specific topic. By doing so, you will continue to increase the number of people with similar interests you follow as well as gain your own additional followers; in other words, you will begin to firmly establish your P2LN!
On occasion, we hear others share how they do not want any followers or they do not care about their number of followers. Well, they should and so should you. Not because connecting via Twitter is a popularity contest or having a large following is some sort of status symbol, but because in order to make the greatest possible impact you can, you will want the greatest audience possible with whom to connect. This is one way that connected educators think differently. As we discuss in Chapter 4, they want to give, take, and then give some more to as many people as possible. By doing so, they begin to grow and expand their network to a global scale. Some educators we know are comfortable doing what they have always done and learning only from people with whom they interact at their own school. Connected educators strive for more; they feel obliged to expand their professional learning network in order to become better at what they do and, ultimately, better meet the needs of the students and/or colleagues they serve.
By connecting with other educators on Twitter, you have access to a plethora of resources and a host of other educators eager to learn and share their knowledge with you. Our experience, not unlike many of our networked colleagues, has been that participating in the educational community via Twitter has rekindled a strong sense of renewal to our profession. We urge you to join the growing legion of connected educators on Twitterânot only will you learn from others, but you can also contribute by giving back of your time and resources, which in turn helps our profession as a whole. Your presence on the âTwitterverseâ gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge, which leads to more opportunities to teach others what you have learned and allow you to make an even greater impact on others than you ever thought possible. Moreover, getting connected inspires you to expand your circle of professional colleagues outside your own organization to include others around the world who also desire to develop meaningful professional relationships in an effort to better serve their students, parents, and colleagues. In short, you become encouraged and professionally challenged to strive for greatness!
âYour presence on the âTwitterverseâ gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge, which leads to more opportunities to teach others what you have learned and allow you to make an even greater impact on others than you ever thought possible.â
ⶠMaking, Not Marking, Time
For years, educators everywhere have lived their professional lives on islands of isolation. Our roles as educators are somewhat of a paradoxâwe are surrounded daily by scores of students and colleagues and have hundreds of personal interactions a day, yet we often find ourselves feeling alone. From a professional standpoint, our days and evenings can be spent on lesson preparation, searching online resources, collecting materials, responding to emails, interacting with students, providing feedback on homework assignments, or completing the multitude of other daily tasks our work requires us to do. However, much of what we do is ...
