The best thing about summer for educators is that we get a chance to recharge our batteries and recalibrate our focus for the next school year. Summer affords us greater opportunities than any other season, to gobble up as much research and reading as we can input into our brains. However, if you’re like me you might not follow through with fidelity in the output stage of your learning. Over the past couple of months I’ve been intentionally reflecting on my own processes for making meaning out of my learning and really delving into doing something with what I’m learning. Here’s where I am at this point in thinking about my own thinking:
- Annotate what I’m reading with post-its
- Journal my takeaways and moments of inspiration
- Tweet big ideas and ask questions of experts
- Blog about my inspiration and passion for learning
First, I keep a small post-it pad and pen with me as I’m reading so that I can jot notes in the margins, star or underline quotes, and write a key word on the post-it that sticks out at the top of the book. This helps me to later come back to the book for reference and quickly see the big ideas I bookmarked for future use.
Additionally, I started a journal that is solely dedicated to the takeaways and moments of inspiration that come from professional reading, research, workshops and conferences. I often find myself at a workshop or conference recording notes for future reference, but then when I return to the office I have to thumb through all the handouts and notebooks in search of that one elusive note. Knowing that I have a dedicated journal for all of these important thoughts makes the process much more streamlined and has helped me to focus my ideas on a daily basis as I quickly read back through the notes I have recently written.
I’ve been dabbling in the Twitterverse for a few years now, but have really been intentional this year in establishing myself as a learner with the multitude of professional learning forums available via Twitter. I’m connecting with other educators, school leaders, authors, and thinkers in the world of education on a daily basis. I frequently run across ideas or articles that others share and then retweet or respond to them so that I can easily refer back to them in the future. Professional learning chats such as #satchat have been highly beneficial for me as I expand my learning network with school leaders. There are so many possibilities for learning through Twitter… more on that in a future blog post.
Thus, we’ve arrived at the final avenue I’m taking to catapult my learning to the next level: blogging. Educational leader George Couros has inspired me to take a leap into the world of blogging my thoughts on education in the Age of Innovation. Couros advocates for empowered learners who are driven by their passions for learning and approaching the world with a lens of critical thinking and creativity. (more on my inspiration from Couros’ work in a future post) I firmly believe in the power of talking about and writing about what we are learning. This is how our students make meaning out of their learning and it’s likewise how we as educators learn best and become innovators in our field. So here I am, taking a great leap into the world of blogging. I hope you will join me on this journey as I chronicle my passion for education and highlight the inspirational learning I’m seeing every day with our students and teachers.
-Beth
Leading to Learn 