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I have been extremely blessed to be invited to speak and work with administrators all over the country.  There is nothing more exhilarating than sharing the work of my students and teachers as it has radically changed how I lead.  Especially during keynote presentations, I talk about the need for school leaders to take calculated risks to initiate meaningful change. However, I rarely demonstrate this in action.

Well, that all changed recently at the Leadership 3.0 Conference in Irvine, CA.  As I was going through my slide deck one final time, a crazy thought crept into my head.  As I looked at my slide on how the learner has changed, I felt that someone else could make a stronger point than I.  During this part of my presentation I typically relay stories of how learners are extremely creative with technology outside of school.  They construct their own knowledge, solve problems, and employ critical thinking skills through many of the games they play.  Thus, the perfect person to make my point was my own son, Nicholas. He is currently a second grade student at PS 3 in Staten Island, NY.


I immediately texted my mother-in-law as I knew there was not much time to act.  Nicholas was about to get picked up at the bus stop and I needed to know at that very minute if he would agree to Facetime with hundreds of strangers and answer a few simple questions.  Once I received the go ahead from him, I tested out Facetime using his sister’s iPad mini as his iTouch was not working.  During this test I told him that I was going to ask him a few questions about Minecraft and that it would be a piece of cake.

Now I am never nervous when I speak, but this time I was a wreck.  In my mind Nick’s performance was going to be the highlight of my keynote.  About ten minutes into my presentation it was time to call him.  The first attempt failed and I had to actually call my wife on my cell phone to work out the small issue.  The second attempt worked and I could not be prouder of my son.  He told the audience that his favorite game was Minecraft and went on to explain all of the amazing things he has created on his own.  He spoke about creating his own McDonald’s that serves food, a racetrack for his pigs, new buildings, and a pool with a slide.  

His little words and cheerful demeanor conveyed a powerful message.  Learning should be fun, creative, collaborative, and self-directed.  Creativity is an essential skill that drives learning, especially that of our younger students. Schools must recognize this fact and work with students at all levels to implement outside experiences that authentically engage students in learning and construction of new knowledge.  Everyone in the audience saw firsthand the profound impact games such as Minecraft are having on my son's learning.  Thank you Nicholas Sheninger for being the best keynote speaker ever!

P.S. I plan on videoconferencing my son into future talks as long as his schedule permits it.
  

As I reflect on my continuous evolution as an educational leader I am constantly amazed at how things have changed over the course of three years.  It was in March of 2009 that I decided to give this social networking tool Twitter a try.  At the time I was skeptical about whether my time was going to be well spent posting updates in 140 characters and whether or not people would actually care or be interested in what I was doing.  Obviously my perception of Twitter early on was completely wrong as it has radically molded me into the leader and educator that I am today.


After nearly a year of using Twitter from an educational perspective I had begun to find and read blogs on a daily basis around February 2010.  I often marveled at the creative thought and passion that so many educators put into their writing.  Envious would be a more appropriate word.  As I became active on Twitter members of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) began to suggest that I start a blog.  Well let me be the first one to tell you that I am NOT a writer and always struggled with expressing my thoughts in words.  My mind was set in concrete that I would NEVER under any circumstances begin to blog (wait, I said the same thing about joining Facebook up until 2010).

So what changed?  The most important factor that influenced me to begin a blog was my PLN.  Had it not been the modeling by and support of so many unbelievable educators I would NEVER, and I mean NEVER, started blogging.  The support I received gave me the courage to share my thoughts, experiences, and ideas with others who have a stake in the noblest profession.  My reflections led to a belief that I actually had useful information to share that might be utilized to help other educators grow, think, take-risks, and eventually share their success stories.

I absolutely relish the fact that I now utilize my blog as a vehicle to share the successes of my students and staff.  Sharing is the key word here.  The concept of a PLN and immersion in the educational world of Web 2.0 has shown me the unselfish nature of educators as they constantly strive to help each other day in day out.  Why do we do this? The answer is simple, we want to ensure that students succeed!  No one person or group has all of the answers.  Each and every educator has something to share.  Blogs now provide a valuable set of services to educators in a time when our profession desperately needs it.  These include mentoring, professional development, encouragement, ideas to reform the profession, and most importantly inspiration.  They also show students, parents, and community members how passionate we are about what we do!  For me blogging has also become a portal to discuss strategies and ideas that have not only helped to transform my school, but also my leadership style.

Why do I blog? I do so to give back to those people that have helped me break free from a traditional mindset and hopefully inspire others to do the same.  I blog in the hopes of challenging my own thinking in order to continually grow into a transformational leader.  Finally, I blog to be transparent.  I want to brag about my students and staff while providing examples of innovation.  My blog, at times, illustrates that sustainable change can and is occurring in schools.  There might not be a better conduit for learning from practitioners or medium for public relations than blogs. If it wasn't for Twitter, my PLN, or the support of my family and NMHS community, this post along with all the others would never have been written. THANK YOU!