I can’t believe it has been a year since DBC Consulting (aka the amazing Dave and Shelley Burgess) published Social LEADia!
I am most proud of how the book is changing conversations around our need to use social media in our schools and most surprisingly, that it has inspired actual change in classroom practice. I have received dozens and dozens of messages and links over this past year that have made my heart melt and sometimes even cry!
To celebrate, I had a 5-day birthday wishes campaign with the intent of crowd-sourcing resources which mesh with the spirit of Social LEADia:
#socialLEADia #birthday1 –> Lots of inspiring folks to follow
#socialLEADia #birthday2 –> Some great digital citizenship and social media in education resources shared
#socialLEADia #birthday3 –> Lots of great organizations (some student-led) that kids around the world are passionate about
#socialLEADia #birthday4 –> Inspiring quotes you can use in your context or which can be used for a pick me up
#socialLEADia #DBC50 –> Book snaps from the book and/or other DBC books. See what resonates with others!
What’s next?
I often say, the problem with writing a book is that you have to finish writing the book. Social LEADia is unique in that it shines a light on the voices and projects of teachers and students for digital leadership–to improve the lives, well-being & circumstances of others (Couros, 2013) and who are using technology and social media to learn and share learning, promote causes that are important to them, and to be a more positive influence on others. The stories and examples are just as relevant today than they were a year ago, but every day, I meet more and more students and educators who are simply awesome. Although I continue to update the resources at socialleadia.org, I feel like so many more stories and students need to be highlighted and shared!
And so, I decided to start a podcast, Social LEADia: Making a difference on and offline. It will be a short 15 minute conversation highlighting students and/or teachers; many of whom you may not know about at all. Their ideas and projects will hopefully inspire you to try something similar in your context. It will run for 15 minutes and will run bi-weekly. It will be hosted here on my blog as well as on possibly on VoiceEDCanada Radio.
I literally don’t know what I’m doing here! I have learned Garageband, Zencastr, and Anchor–thank goodness for Youtube and friends like Matt Miller, Coach Ben, Stephen Hurley, Brian Costello, Jennifer Gonzalez, my husband, and many others who have helped me try to figure out this podcast thing (I am still working on transitions obviously!!) Here is my WHY!
Thank you to George Couros for inspiring the book, for my many friends and family who critiqued, shared, and supported Social LEADia this past year.
Thank you to everyone who has read the book, are thinking of reading it, and have supported me on this wild and amazing journey!
I hope you will join me on this new journey! Are you and your students making a positive difference in the world? Please connect with me.
🙂 Jen
