October is truly flying by.  It has been a month of full of excitement as my October conference schedule began. Last weekend, I was truly honored and excited to be attend the ASCD Emerging Leader's Orientation. I truly loved getting to know my fellow Emerging Leaders and learning more about this amazing program. It was a day that I will always remember! 

This upcoming weekend, I will be a featured speaker at TCCA 2023 in Houston, TX. I am super excited to share 3 sessions at this amazing free conference on Saturday, October 28th! If you live near Houston, TX, definitely check out this FREE event.

TransformED: Amplifying Learning Using Tech Tools

Two weeks ago, I shared a blog post called TransformED Networking. Much like we can use technology to help us with goal setting, we can also use technology tools can help us to better connect with local, state, and national networks. As educators, it is easy to feel siloed, but you don't need to be. There are so many ways that you can use technology tools to transform your professional networks.

This week, I will focus on TransformED Reflection and how we can not only learn new things to improve our craft but also share this new learning with our network.  In today's schools, it can seem easier to stick with what you already know, but it is essential that all of us not only set goals, but pursue learning to meet these goals.  

How can technology tools help us  transform our  learning and reflection?

In today's world, there are so many amazing ways to learn and grow the skills necessary to meet our goals. We need to leverage these ways and using technology tools is a great way to build our professional capacity. Today's learners can use podcasts, videos, online books, conferences, and much more in this pursuit. But that is only part of the transformation- after we build our capacity, we can have an even larger impact if we reflect on our learning and share it with others.

Learn something new 

As I have shared in previous posts, I have been working on adding to my coaching toolbox this year. I have been working with my teachers on coaching cycles and right now, we are finishing up Round 1 and starting Round 2.  So I knew that I needed to build my coaching toolbox and so far this year, I have engaged in a variety of ways to do so.

One of those ways is by attending conferences.  This past month, I presented at and attended two conferences that have helped me build my coaching capacity. The first one was TCEA's Conference for Educational Coaches.  This conference's focus was solely on building the capacity of educational coaches, rather than covering all roles like most conferences. 


I attended many amazing sessions while there. One of the highlights was Alison Jalufa's Building High Performing Professional Learning Communities.  Alison shared practices that have made an impact at her school in Liberty ISD and one of my favorite resources was the PLC Handbook she shared. 

I also presented at and attended the ASCD Leadership Summit.  While there, one of my favorite coaching sessions was Amp Up Your Impact. In this hands-on session,  Tamarra Osborne and Angela Bell Julien  had us act out scenarios and provided us with strategies from their book, "The Instructional Coaching Handbook" to select from as we acted out these scenarios. It was powerful getting to role play situations that we often find ourselves, as coaches, in.  

But attending conferences is not the only way that we, as educators, can learn. 


  The possibilities are endless. So how are you going to add to your educator toolbox?

Share Your New Learning with your Network

After you learn something new, what are your next steps? 


After, do you go further?

Sharing your learning with others is a very personal decision.  This is a decision that I made four years ago when I published my first blog post.  I remember how difficult sharing that first post was and how proud I felt afterwards. Now over four years later, I know that embracing that fear was absolutely one of the best decisions I have ever made. Blogging has truly been a transformational process for me- one that led to so many other opportunities like writing my books and presenting.


But blogging isn't the only way to share your learning. Consider what calls at your heart. Recently, podcasting has been calling at mine and I look forward to exploring this way of sharing learning in the upcoming year. Maybe you love creating videos or maybe you love sketchnoting or creating infographics. You are the author of your story, as Lindsay Titus often shares, so decide how you want to share it.

Consider how you use technology tools to transform your learning reflections. What technology tools do you use? Are there any that I should add to my toolbox or maybe I shared one that sparked your interest?  I would love for you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Next Steps

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