Who did you just hire?

8 Replies


cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Dita Margarita

Parkland School Division just hosted all the new teachers to our school division in an orientation that is both informative and welcoming.  I am really proud of how our school division prides itself on connecting with people so quickly.  Our superintendent meets all the new teachers before they even start in a school.  I know of divisions that teachers have not even met their superintendent. Culture is everything and I am proud to be where I am.

As I talked with teachers, and reflected on my own experiences this past summer, I talked with many about how important it is to share your learning online and start to create a digital footprint, as it is important to model this for our kids, and will also help us in the future for applying for other positions.  As I reflected after, I thought back to a conversation that I overheard from my brother who was talking about how a “network” changes everything. We often look for people that are knowledgeable and have the skills to be great teachers, but what Alec had mentioned took it one step further.  He had mentioned that when we hire someone, we do not only hire them, but we often hire their connections as well.  A teacher may have a certain level of aptitude on their own, but does the opportunity for innovative teaching and learning increase when that teacher is tapped into a large network of passionate and intelligent educators?  My answer is that it obviously does.

I don’t want to disregard the power of having some very close, face-to-face mentors as they are extremely important, but why not have that and a personal learning network?  I know from experience that teachers have the ability to learn from amazing teachers both in and out of their school; why would we limit it to one or the other?

As Alec reminded me about what my dad used to say to us, “It is not what you know, but who you know.”  When you hire a teacher with a personal learning network that continuously taps into it, it is very probable that there will be massive amounts of growth in their learning.  That impact will trickle down to their students.

So as new teachers join us this year, my hope is that “who they know” will expand exponentially, along with their learning.

 

  • http://creativeteacherette.blogspot.com/ Creative Teacherette

    I totally get what you are saying. It would be great to establish some kind of a network for all the teachers to make those connections and improve in their skills.

    • Carrie Hill

      I was among the new teachers and am a novice convert to twitter. As a language arts major with a speech/language background, it felt a little like a sucker punch to be told that if you don't know hash-tags, you're becoming illiterate. I don't want to be illiterate, I want to be amazing. I don't want to be good at my job, I want to be great. A Twitter community, it turns out, can help me get there. It is for more than "keeping up with the Karsashians".

  • http://www.dalecope.com Dale Cope

    As an education student, I would greatly enjoy that. As for now, I just sneak along the blogs and forums that I stumble across in attempting to build my own small network.

  • theStephi91

    I really enjoyed listening to you explain why a digital portfolio and network can be way more useful. Your example of a person showing a video of them doing an oil change is much more valuable than the person just saying.
    I completely agree that we need to continue educating ourselves so that our students can succeed as the world does become more technology based!

  • http://plaman.com/their_future Jeff Plaman

    Absolutely spot on. Being a networked educator is one of those attitudes which I think are essential for anyone seeking employment to have in their pocket. This is one of a growing list in my head of things that I'm noticing now in the 50+ new staff I'm working with this year as a Digital Literacy Coach.
    Other things to look for: understanding of hypertext, knowing how to troubleshoot via Google and YouTube.

  • Kris Mitzner

    I totally agree! I love my network and I am glad that Connected Principals and George Couros along with so may others are part of mine! And most of them I have never met face to face!

  • wferriter

    George wrote:

    We often look for people that are knowledgeable and have the skills to be great teachers, but what Alec had mentioned took it one step further. He had mentioned that when we hire someone, we do not only hire them, but we often hire their connections as well.

    - – - – - – -

    That settles it, then. Alec is the smartest Couros.

    (Or did we know that all along?)

    #evilgrin

    But seriously — this is SUCH an important point. People constantly think I'm some kind of wonder kid simply because I know what I know about teaching and learning.

    And I hate to burst their bubble, but I only know what I know because I'm tapped into a network that I can turn to any time for ideas and information. It may be true that I learn more efficiently than most of my peers, but there's not a CHANCE that I'm more talented or capable than they are.

    If principals thought more about that when they were hiring, they'd have WAY more accomplished faculties than just leafing through resumes looking for magna cum laude graduates.

    Hope you're well….been awhile!
    Bill

  • Colleen Yoshida

    This, exactly, is why I try to get every first year teacher to join their specialist council and go to their conference in the first year. That network of informed, experienced educators who are so willing to share ideas, materials and techniques just isn't found in a school building. Great post!