Last Thursday night (March 7, 2019) was the absolute highlight of my many years in education leadership.
As my friend and colleague Stephen Hurley phrased it, “the rock lit up“.
The VoicEd Radio map was full of listeners from Newfoundland and Labrador. We were glued to our devices, listening to the voice of Allison Tucker, K-12 Reading Specialist, in conversation with Regie Routman, well-known expert on literacy in K-12 and author of Literacy Essentials: Engagement Equity and Excellence for ALL Learners. Stephen Hurley weaved the thread of the story through the passionate sharing of experience and understanding.
Behind the scenes, Program Specialists like Jill Handrigan and Nicole Kelly managed the Twitter chat using the @NLESDLit account, and shared questions with those on live radio. On Twitter, educators far and wide captured the learning, commented, had digital conversations, asked questions using the hashtag #essentialconversations
Educators owned their learning.
The geographic privilege of ACCESS was flattened.
The positional privilege of ACCESS was flattened.
A Reading Specialist in Port Hope-Simpson, Labrador could participate with a Library Resource Teacher on the Port Au Port Peninsula. Principals in urban St. John’s chatted with teachers in Maine, USA. A parent in Spokane, Washington was as welcome as a Superintendent in Whitehorse, Yukon.
This work is about owning your professional learning.
This work is about creating professional networks of learners.
This work is about changing the way we see ourselves as education leaders.
This work is about continuing to learn together.
This work is about helping educators experience their “coming out of the cave” moments.
This work is about changing the trajectories of the lives of our children.
And this is only just the beginning.
Join in by following @NLESDLit and visiting the site here
Learn more about why you should join in here.
Listen to the first podcast here.
Featured Image by Chase Moyer on Unsplash
Exciting to build networks without the need to travel long distances!
It is so amazing to hear from you! The POWER of connection!
I love that I can learn with colleagues from around the world. Even the voices on the “radio” span 5.5 hours of time zones!
I hope you are doing well and thank you for joining in the learning.
(Oh, and that baby I was about to have last time you saw me – is about to have her second baby in a few weeks. It’s time for a reunion!)
Donna, you are so right. Flattening the landscape, the connecting with other learners regardless of how they engage with education, to make things better. Thank you for opening up this kind of learning to me. I have learned much from you, but the thing that stands out? Innovation is key; just because it hasn’t been done a certain way YET doesn’t mean it can’t be. There are so many ways to learn, we just have to connect the dots. Keep pioneering.
Donna, I am inviting myself to join in as well. I love the idea that teachers with a common interest and connect so easily through online learning opportunities. I am really looking forward to conversations about this book. What a cool opportunity – to have a book club that includes the author herself! (Just like The Math Pod!)
Wonderful for you and your family. I did my EdD online and that was a fantastic experience. My international advisors and classmates enriched the experience. My final oral conference call spanned six hours through multiple time zones. Best wishes ahead!