This post is sponsored by Maryland Society for Educational Technology.
As teaching environments shift and grow, leaders need to have knowledge, tools, and most importantly, a growth mindset, in order to continue to move the vision for their buildings and districts forward. Whether thinking about how to differentiate professional development or introduce digital text into classroom instruction, leaders need opportunities to improve their craft. Leading in digital environments is a much different experience and requires fresh vision.
It can be challenging as a leader to think about continuing to stretch. If we aren’t uncomfortable, however, we aren’t growing and as we want our teachers to continue to grow professionally, we need to model the same types of behaviors we expect to see in classrooms. While it may be intimidating to lead a meeting using a new digital tool, when we show that we are willing to take professional risks, we show our colleagues and teachers what we value. When we model continuous learning and risk taking, we show our teachers that we want them to push themselves to try new approaches to most effectively meet the diverse needs of their students.
Are you a leader looking for inspiring ideas to move your school or district forward? Consider attending Common Ground 2016 in Ocean City, Maryland on April 28th and 29th to engage with over 1,000 education colleagues from around the mid-east to engage in opportunities to learn, grow, and share focused on Digital Teaching & Learning, Leadership, and Systems, Processes, and Programs for Quality Schools. Register now at www.commongroundmd.org.