Sharing ideas on Education, Leadership and Life



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Growing and Learning

picture: pinterest.com

This will be the seventh post as part of the TeachThought blog challenge. I want to take a moment and just thank those at TeachThought for putting together these amazing prompts. it has been a truly great learning experience and I am happy that I became connected to this amazing group.

I am also amazed how so many ideas, and topics come back to similar themes. It seems  like I am repeating myself by when reinvent the wheel or why fix it if its not broken.

When I think of professional development I would rather call it professionally learning. So when I think of professional learning a few common ideas ( which I have mentioned a number of times already) come to mind

Those ideas are

  • Lifelong learning 
  • Collaborating
  • Social media 
  • Reading 
Below are two blog posts about these topics and I think it was worthy to re post them here as it relates to this topic. 



 Reposted from Archives:

The name of my blog is Views of a Lifelong Learner. Well what is it to be lifelong learner? Today I came across the following article.

"Six Ways to Be a Lifelong Learner " Here are the six points  the author makes


  • Read daily.
  • Seek out experts
  • Make connections
  • Turn off the TV
  • Find the time
  • Invest in yourself
I highly recommend reading the entire article as the author expands on each of the six points. 
I will like to add my own and in some cases agree with the ones listed above with my own commentary. 



  1. YES! READ READ and READ One needs to be current on the latest trend in what ever field they are in and they need to be gaining more knowledge all the time. Imagine if the skill set you are using now was the same one you used in high  school. 
  2. Develop a PLN - This is similar to the second and third points above. No one person can know it all and they need to rely on others for help. Why reinvent the wheel when you don't have to. It says in "Ethics of Our Fathers"; "who is truly wise, one who is willing to learn from anyone 
  3. Related to number two is that we need to try new things and take risks. We don't know everything and the only way we can learn is by trial and error. 
  4. Be willing to adapt to change. To learn means to grow and change and we need to willing to embrace that. 
  5. Be a lifelong learner is journey it never ends. It is the ultimate marathon. So you need to ready for the long haul. 

Originally written in Jan 2012

This past Wednesday night's #JEDCHAT was devoted to takeaways from the recent #NAJDS Conference. 
One of main ideas shared was the importance of meeting people sharing ideas and seeing what is done in other schools and just networking with other educators. 
While nothing can replace face to face interaction but i believe the sharing of ideas, learning from others and just developing a Network or in other words a PLN could be developed through ones interactions and use of Twitter. 
Recently Lyn Hilt, an amazing Educational leader and a personal inspiration to me wrote the following blog post;Battling skepticism.At the end she asked the following question;"So what I’m looking for in the comments section below are ways that administrators who are new to social media and professional learning networks can get started. Help their fears subside… help them battle the skepticism and preconceived notions they may have about the tools and the connections made.

Here is an part of the comment I left on the blog; 
"Lyn,
Another great post!
Yes I am fairly new to Twitter. This summer will be two years. I never imagined myself on twitter let alone blogging and starting a Chat for Jewish educators. I think people need to “dip their toe in the water” and try it. Take it slow and at first just lurk follow the #edchat and #cpchat streams using TweetDeck or Hootsuite. Follow some blogs and then once the water is right jump in.
One thing that I have personally found is that Twitter is a very safe environment and people want to hear what you have to say. Otherwise how do explain an Orthodox Rabbi from Memphis TN. with over 2200 followers.
My only regret is that I have only met a handful of my amazing PLN in person.
Lyn, Thanks again for sharing and for being an inspiration to me."
My point is that we all want to connect and learn form others and that is often what is the highlight of any conference. So when the question is how can we keep that feeling we got at the conference going or how can we build on it and sustain it through out the year? My answer is develop a PLN, join twitter follow #edchat, #cpchat and of course #jedchat. Twitter is that 24/7 365 Conference.
Akevy 

2 comments:

  1. Akevy,
    The collaborating facet you mention is such an important departure from where education has been. We may find the need to systematically educate current educators on the value of collaboration; I fear some generations view it as "cheating". We know that it is valuable skill to be developed however and must help some current educators integrate this idea in to their classrooms.

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  2. Thank you for your comment.
    Another thingI have noticed is this idea of certain teachers being territorial and not wanting to share.That also needs to change

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