Last night, I happened to catch a tweet that one of our Board’s superintendents, Sue Dunlop, shared.
I really liked this idea, so I decided to share the tweet with my admin, past and present, that are on Twitter.
Today, I was thrilled to see that so many of them contributed at least one tweet to this hashtag. Tonight, I couldn’t help but read through the numerous tweets from principals and vice principals in Canada and the US, that captured and shared their day on social media.
I saw …
- principals at meetings.
- principals answering phone calls.
- principals immersed in paper work.
- principals working with students.
- principals eating with students.
- principals playing with students.
- principals celebrating their staff and the hard work that they do.
- principals solving problems — big and small.
- principals as people (interacting with their own kids at home or on the way to work) and principals as professionals (interacting with kids and staff members at school).
And while I truly do appreciate the hard work of administrators, I think that I appreciated this even more so today. Even at 7:00 tonight, there are principals still tweeting about their days that haven’t quite ended yet. So tonight, I say, “thank you,” to principals for all that you do — for schools, for staff, and most importantly, for students.
I also think about all of the people that help make up the school community, including, secretaries, caretakers, educational assistants, early childhood educators, parents, students, teachers, and numerous other support staff. Maybe each of these groups of people need a “Twitter Day” (or just a “Social Media Outlet Day”) as a way to help build a growing understanding of what each group does, and maybe give all of us, a different perspective. How do you recognize and celebrate all members of the school community? How do you “see each day” from different points of view? Thanks to Education Week for getting me to stop and consider these questions. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well!
Aviva