Two of the presenters who rotated through were Pernille Ripp and Peter Dewitt. While speaking of ways to build a culture of sharing in schools, I posed a question to Pernille via twitter. I also tagged another blogging hero of mine, Tom Whitby. The response I got made me do the Homer Simpson style 'Doh'...
Initially, I was looking for a quick answer. This response, though caused me to pull together all the tidbits of knowledge that I have gleaned from a myriad of sessions here at ISTE. Well, played Pernille, well played. So here goes a few of the ideas I have to foster a culture of sharing at our school this coming year.
Call out the elephant in the room:
Admit that sharing is hard and scary, and even more scary in front of your peers that you respect. Start there are then move on.Modeling
Model sharing and living your passion for those around you. Starr Sackstein (@mssackstein) may have said it best 'None of us start as experts' Couple this with quote attributed to Angela Maiers (@AngelaMaiers) 'The smartest person in the room, is the room'Shout out sessions in traditional and virtual meetings
Take the time to stand and recognize the genius and skill of those around you and encourage them to be recognized and share with the group in that moment the great things they are doing.Create a brand and write your own story
I don't remember where I heard this one from or who I am stealing it from, but 'Tweetable Moments'. I hope to make it a habit to find tweetable moments everyday. I hope to inspire my peers to do the same share out 1 tweet a day with our school hashtag and use the already existing hardware in our commons area to showcase the awesomeness that is taking place in our school everyday.Speed Geeking
This idea is one that a colleague of mine, Patty Wolfe (@wolfep). Speed geeking, or organizing a regularly scheduled time for our staff to share 3 minutes of genius with other staff members in a rotating speed dating style session. I see some potential for this to fit into our weekly breakfast club meetings we have on Fridays.Walkthrough Wednesdays
This idea is inspired by Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent) while he was walking through the poster sessions at ISTE. I am hoping to use the Periscope app to record videos of students every Wednesday as they are answering the question 'What is the greatest experience you have had this week in school'. I then plan to upload these to YouTube and curate these experiences over the course of the year and give teachers some 'lift' as they hear the joy kids are experiencing in their classrooms.Start a Blogging Clan
This is an idea I had a little over a year ago. One of the obstacles most people find when blogging, is not having a dedicated time to get it done. Life happens, right? This idea is to create a blogging clan that meets regularly to blog, and help others who are wanting to start blogging. I know we have several people who want to blog but just need the input of activation energy!Mini Ignite Sessions
This is an idea that I am going to bring to our administration for the kickoff to our school year. Have our fellow teachers get up and share 5 minutes of passion with the rest of the staff. It is time to drop the self consciousness and self defeating talk. We wouldn't tolerate it from our students, so why do we tolerate it from ourselves. Lets share our talents and passion with the world. You never know the impact you will have.
So, this was my list of ideas. The challenge I give to you if have read this far: What ideas do you have to build a culture of sharing?
These are awesome ideas! I have been thinking about this very topic this summer and how I can get more professional development to my teachers. Sharing IS difficult and I have found it is a step not easily taken toward excellence. One idea i heard about recently is to"gamify" the professional learning where teachers work in teams to gain points as they meet goals. Sharing might be automatic points! Thanks for sharing these and I can't wait to read more about your ideas!
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