A Beginning...

So here it is, my first ever blog post! I've sat down at this computer a hundred times over the past week, only to be "distracted" by some other banal task that allows me to avoid doing this. What allowed me to finally begin was the realization that no one will probably ever read this thing! That said, however, it is important for me to establish the purpose of this blog in the first place.

As I enter my third year as associate principal of Oconomowoc High School (second year, according to the state of Wisconsin, but that's a story for another time), I must begin work on my Professional Development Plan. For those of you unfamiliar with licensing laws in the Dairy State, educators must complete a five year plan of professional growth, centered on a goal for improving student achievement, and that is tied to the standards of our vocation. If you're interested, my plan can be found here:
PDP 2010

Essentially, the main thrust of my plan is to harness the power of technology to foster a professional learning community at my school. We have a highly talented staff at OHS; the best professional development we can offer them is to connect educators with each other to share ideas. Time is often the limiting factor, however. Technology, more specifically Web 2.0 applications, offer a way around this obstacle. By leveraging the power of Twitter, NING, social bookmarking, Google Apps, etc, I hope to assist teachers in developing meaningful professional networks that grow their instructional capacity. As a secondary effect, I also hope that as teachers gain fluency in these technologies for the their professional life, they begin using them in their classroom as instructional tools. Some part of my plan will be dedicated to this, as well.

So, where does this blog come into play? I plan to use it as documentation of my professional growth; in addition, it will be a reflective tool for me to evaluate my work. In the rare event that someone actually reads this blog, I hope that they can provide me feedback and ideas to improve my efforts.

Look for the next several posts to concern the training and implementation of Twitter as a tool for professional development and student engagement at OHS. From there, who knows where this will go?