STARTING OVER...outside the box

When I was an instructional technology coach I had a blog "Technology for All Teachers" to share and reflect on my learning, to highlight good things happening in classrooms. I kept up with that blog for years. I'm pretty sure half of the links are broken now. When I moved into a leadership role I stopped posting. I don't know why, maybe it was because I was learning how to be a leader and I didn't feel like I had much to share anymore (now I wish I had continued)? Maybe it is because I was in the midst of getting a second masters and I was juggling that, work, and being the mom of four kids? Whatever the reason, I have felt an urge to begin sharing my learning again. Nope, I don't have more time on my hands, I have less - I'm currently a digital learning leader of a large urban district, a doctorate of education student, and yup, I still have those four kids! 

But...

There are so many things I keep telling myself I'm going to start:

• a blog
• a podcast
• an app
• a youtube channel

The blog seems like the most doable right now... and I've really been inspired by a member of my team, Laura Cahill who shares her learning through her blog: https://engageducate.com

I'm hoping to begin sharing my experiences and learning about what I call being an "Innovative Leader", truly modeling and embracing what that means and how it is a state of mind that requires constant learning, reflection, and change. How it requires to take a step back during difficult situations and reassess, how it requires never saying "no", but asking, "let's give it a try", how it requires constantly seeking feedback, and how it actually requires doing the work, not just talking or writing about it. 

I can't promise I'll post every week, but when I do, I hope to have a good mix of interviews and guest posts of others who are also doing this work so we can share our learning with you. 

I'll also be periodically be including some of the ways I stay innovative and creative outside of work - being 'creative' is one of my core values of leadership and was ingrained in me as a child (more on that in a different post). 

Oh, and since I'm a graphic designer (or used to be), I had to come up with a logo. I chose "Lead Outside the Box" because I am constantly asking my staff to give me ideas that are "outside the box" (and they deliver!). 

Here they are, horizontal and vertical versions:

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Thanks so much for reading and I hope we can learn together!