Here’s my letter to my PLN – from my first year online on Twitter.
Nearing the end of a year, a semester or term, we often turn our attention to goal-setting, thinking what we’d like to achieve in the period ahead.
Here’s another idea though.
- How about looking back and thinking what worked for you this year – this semester….?
- How about remembering when you soared – when you felt ‘in the zone’ – when you felt like you were bringing you A-Game, and being true to you.
In so doing, you can compile a grab bag of practices, inspirations, and mindsets that FUEL YOUR DRIVE.
And you can take those FUELS with you to power your DRIVE in the new year or new semester.
In that spirit, here’s some FUELS that have fired me up and kept me going.
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My PLN have Fuelled my Drive This Year
To my awesome PLN
I’ve been thinking for a while about how to thank you all for your support and inspiration in 2014.
Somehow ‘thanks’ just didn’t convey the depth of what you have meant to me this year.
And so I’m writing this letter –
It’s about a year now since I first dipped my toes into the surf of Twitter. It was so quiet at first, I was tentative. I was hesitant. Who’d want to hear what I had to say?
I had NO idea how to find my people – people who’d recognise me and get me.
Somehow I found out about Twitter chats – that was the AHA moment – it’s been a cacophony of inspiration that hasn’t waned since.
Here were inviting spaces where I had something to bring to the table. I put my two cents worth in AND
… YOU responded
The spirit of giving, support & encouragement continually astounds me. It is an incredibly validating space – that has been especially important that has been to me.
Upon finishing a twitter chat, I’m fired up – fuelled for the drive ahead. I can’t wait to go back.
Previously when I’d mentioned Twitter to educators previously, there were comments about how negative a space it was. That couldn’t be further from the truth – based on my experiences in 2014.
And so I gained more confidence in my voice. I dared the darkness and started to blog. While some people saw it as a sideline – a ‘hobby’ not taking it terribly seriously, It was a means of making sense of the issues that mattered to me and finding my people.
And you responded…commented…and shared my Posts. I felt like I was making a difference. I felt like I was home.
PLN (Personal Learning Network) wasn’t an acronym I was familiar with before – yet it’s etched in my mind now – as I started to build connections with educators like you.
- You have encouraged me to keep pushing forward – when I begin to doubt myself.
- You reaffirm daily my faith in humanity in the way that you give, support and value others.
- I can’t wait to wake up each day – to see what’s happening in your worlds – to tap into your insights, your warmth & whackiness.
- I continue to be overwhelmed in the positive messages you send – validating what I do in my posts and podcasts – sharing & re-sharing (even when I’m on promotion overload!! Sorry about that!)
- You have been instrumental in my growth – in my preparedness to be more vulnerable and take more risks.
And so in the latter part of the year, my podcast – PushingTheEdge with Greg Curran was born. I wanted to spotlight my PLN – Educators like you who take risks and step outside their comfort zone, again and again.
While some people saw it as a sideline – a ‘hobby’ not taking it terribly serious – You my PLN didn’t. Far from it.
You championed Pushing The Edge – in so many ways. You showed how it resonated for you.
I feel incredibly honored. Thank You.
Know that you my PLN have made a tremendous impact on me and I look forward to continuing the journey with you in 2015.
Greg Curran
PS: To Jason Borton, Samantha Bates, Erin Stevenson, Rachael Lehr, Doug Robertson, Jenny Moes and Laura Hill – My first Guests on #PushingTheEdge – ALONG WITH Rusul Alrubail, Craig Kemp, Tom Snyder, Ashley Zatt and Ashley Hurley who’ll be #PushingTheEdge with many more Innovators in 2015:
- How lucky am I to get to talk to, and learn from educators like you and then share it with the world. At the end of each interview, I often stop in wonder, in disbelief that I’ve just spoken to you.
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THANK YOU for trusting me – for giving my New Podcast Show ‘a go’, and for being such consistently fierce advocates of it.
Top Resources to Fuel Your Drive
Here’s some of my favourite Posts of 2014. It’s a grab-bag of Tips, Insights, & Inspiring Chat. Dig in and Enjoy.
Pushing The Edge Podcast – Disruptive Conversations to Inspire You
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Embrace your weirdness – Doug Robertson
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Disrupt your normal – Erin Stevenson
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Disrupt what’s expected of students & Watch Them Soar – Laura Hill
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Keep Pushing Past your Comfort Zone – Rachael Lehr
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Live Your Voice – Dare to Face Prejudice – Jenny Moes
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Take Care of You – Jason Borton
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Reach Out & build an Awesome PLN – Samantha Bates
Revitalise & Inspire You
What Inspires and Ignites You? Reconnect and Thrive
- An isolated landscape in far north Queensland. It’s mid morn but the temperature is already nudging 35 celcius. The sky is the bluest of blue, the earth the reddest of red. All around the widest of vistas – stretching out forever in front of us – carpeted in the greenest of green bush.
Empower You 101
- Build Your Confidence. Power up your Skills. Here’s some Empowering Self-Help Resources.
Thrive Instead of Survive
- Disrupt Survival – Embrace Thriving – 7 Inspiring Educator share their Top Tips
- Rock Thriving with my Resource Page
- Disrupt Your Comfort Zone with my Resource Page
Take Risks
Facing Fear & Doing it Anyway
- Nervous and tense – facing fear on a multitude of levels. Me – my bike – two daredevil cyclists, and an idyllic course from #$!!X%. This was going to be ‘interesting’.
Navigating Fear: The Battle Within and Steps Outside
- Rock hopping – sounds like a fun thing to do, right? Memories of leaping across rocks in streams came to mind – ah freedom – ah abandon. Not Quite!!
Stand Up for You & What You Believe In
6 Ways to Overcome the Obstacles to your Daring Ideas
- I wanted to teach about sexual diversity. “You can’t do that,” they said. Here’s how to overcome the obstacles to your innovative ideas.
Being True To You: Sometimes it’s not so easy
- Sometimes it’s not so easy to Thrive – to TURN UP our volume –to be true to ourselves as teachers. It seems easier to hide who we are so we can survive.
5 Ways to get from Survive to Thrive if you’re hiding who you are
- Sometimes living our truth, truly being who we are at work, can cost us. Learn 5 ways to get from Survive to Thrive – if you’re hiding who you are.
