Wednesday, June 25, 2014

How Twitter Can Be Useful

Throughout the school year I've used this Blog to share information about things occurring here at Belle Plaine as well as share information that can be helpful to students and parents. On most occasions after updating the Blog I will Tweet the link to the Blog to reach an even larger audience of people.  Sharing this info using Twitter has allowed me to connect with other people who can also share beneficial information with me or connect with people who may have interest in what is happening with our school.  I've spoke about Twitter with staff and we've even spent some time learning about Twitter during PD, but some still just view Twitter as an entertaining form of social media rather than a resource.  Actually, it can be used as both.  Depending upon who you follow it can provide whatever type of information you want.  I myself follow mostly educational people but I also follow ESPN, Iowa Hawkeye Sports, and a couple other more entertainment sources.  Twitter also allows individuals to exchange and share in real time.  For example every Sunday night a group of educators mostly from Iowa, but also some from across the country, join together in a conversation about many different educational topics (IAEdChat).  Basically, it becomes a group discussion people can follow along with and participate in if they choose to.  The article below is something I came across on Twitter about why it can be a benefit.  
If you'd like to follow me on Twitter I'm can be found at @ToddWerner1
By Todd Greider, Published April 19, 2014

It is my belief that fear keeps most professionals from taking advantage of all that Twitter has to offer.  For those that seek to challenge themselves and overcome fears, Twitter is the place to be.  Here are five reasons why every professional may find value in participating on Twitter.

Listening

First and foremost, the ability to stay current on breaking news, both national and local, should justify being on Twitter for everyone.  When news breaks, it typically appears on Twitter before reaching your local TV news channel.  News Correspondents are finding themselves getting the breaking news from everyday people as it happens.  I recently moved to Sacramento and experienced tornado warnings a few weeks ago.  During the broadcast of the breaking news, I was seeing pictures of the tornadoes on Twitter, then minutes later the local news channels showing the same photos from Twitter posted on the TV.

Learning

Twitter delivers a wealth of information directly to your fingertips.  Individuals and brands share the stage competing for their voice to be heard.  You can find information on virtually any topic spanning every industry.  To get the most out of the platform, I started creating lists, which enabled me to filter specific areas of interest and group the people and information for greater efficiency.  Over time, your lists will become your go-to sources for learning.  In some cases, I use this as a replacement for subscribing to blogs.  For example, my areas of interest are in learning and development (training), marketing, and financial services.  I created list of financial planners, industry organizations, marketers, and training professionals.

Marketing

Think you know marketing?  In my opinion, there is no place more difficult than Twitter to market yourself or your brand. Conveying a message and gaining interest from your target audience in less than 140 characters (actually about 110 characters because you want RTs with commentary which consume the remaining 30 characters) can be a daunting task.  Especially given that there are approximately 241 million monthly active users and 5,700 average tweets per second on the platform (Source).  Getting your message heard will be an uphill battle but is something that is possible with the right strategy, focus, and commitment.  Learning to market yourself and perhaps your company’s brand will place you ahead of your competition.  Why?  If you can build a brand or name for yourself on Twitter, you have proven the ability to deliver concise and purposeful messages that resonate with an audience (that you built for yourself) as well as demonstrated key character traits/skills of great leaders such as creativity, persistence, networking, and great communication to name a few.

Connecting

The networking opportunities are endless when it comes to Twitter.  Since I joined Twitter in May of 2009, I have been fortunate enough to connect with some amazing people from all over the world.  Through my listening, learning, connecting, and personal branding efforts I have built relationships that have evolved over the years.  How did I do it?  I gave more than I took from the platform.  I was willing to share my ideas and my experiences with others without expecting anything in return. In addition, Twitter allows you to connect directly with world-renowned authors, speakers, industry experts, and everyday people like each of us.  We get to share our wisdom gained from both successes and failures while building lasting relationships.
Word of caution:  Not all Twitter accounts are managed by the individuals being portrayed in them (i.e. celebrities, politicians, professional athletes, etc.…)

Branding

Twitter makes it easy to share your knowledge, expertise, and thoughts to a large audience.  If you’re a blogger, Twitter should be one of your primary methods of distributing your content.  Here are two examples of how someone may choose to brand himself or herself on Twitter.  Some have positioned themselves as a Thought Leader (sharing expertise relevant to a niche audience), while others have taken the stance as a Content Curator (sharing the thoughts and ideas of others on a specific topic).  In another piece, I interviewed a Personal Branding expert who has leveraged Twitter among many other resources to build his personal brand (Personal Branding Part 1 and Part 2).
In the end, you get what you put into it.  Invest your time, energy, and resources into Twitter and it will generate results for you.  Focus on building a strategy, listen first and learn how others are using it, then begin to share content.  Also, research tools such as Hootsuite, Buffer, and SocialBro to measure your results.  Figure out what works and doesn’t work, and then modify your strategy.  If all else fails, ask for help.   Twitter is a global community of sharing.   There are individuals around the world willing to share their thoughts and ideas to help each other be successful.

Author:
Todd Greider is a seasoned professional with more than 11 years of sales, marketing, as well as learning and development experience. Now as an independent consultant, he focuses on designing and implementing comprehensive learning platforms for organizations to help them reach their organizational development and revenue goals.  

Thursday, June 12, 2014

BP's Kayla Toennies Interning in Ethiopia

Since early June, Belle Plaine senior to be Kayla Toennies has been in Ethiopia as part of the Borlaug-Ruan Internship Program.  Kayla was selected from a host of applicants from across the country and is now getting the opportunity to not only learn from some of the best teachers and scientists in the world, but also immerse herself in a new culture that will no doubt be the experience of a lifetime. 

THE BORLAUG-RUAN INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP
A truly unique program inspiring high school students to embark on career paths in science, agriculture and global development.  
The prestigious Borlaug-Ruan international internship provides high school students an all-expenses-paid, eight-week hands-on experience, working with world-renowned scientists and policymakers at leading research centers around the globe.
Over the past 15 years, The World Food Prize has sent more than 200 students on Borlaug-Ruan International Internships at 31 of the top agricultural research centers and institutions around the world in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, including: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Turkey.
The Borlaug-Ruan International Internship is different from other study abroad internship programs in that students participate in original research projects with acclaimed international scientists while getting a firsthand view of pressing food security issues and nutritional problems in poverty-stricken areas of the developing world.
Through the internship program, the student becomes an integral part of her or his assigned project, spending time in the lab, as well as days or weeks at a time in the field, conducting research and gathering data.

Kayla is keeping a Blog about her experience in Ethiopia.  Click on the link below to read about her time in Africa.



Thursday, June 5, 2014

End of 2013-2014 School Year

Another school year has come to an end and as of today the building is quiet.  Looking back at the year I feel good about how the year went and excited about the direction we are going in the future.  For the most part students worked hard and made good progress this year.  I will say however that students should be prepared to give even more effort in the upcoming year.  I've always been a fan of the 4 C's in education- COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CRITICAL THINKING, CREATIVITY, and these are each skills that are going to be an emphasis within our school next year.  During multiple conversations with teachers at the end of the year, the question was asked, "Who is working harder in your classroom, the students or you?" In some cases the teacher is the one working harder and our plan is to shift this responsibility toward the student in the future.  The main message I spoke about at our opening day assembly last fall was about ACCOUNTABILITY.  We made some progress with this over the course of the year, but we still have plenty of room for improvement.  Many students still need to learn to be accountable for their learning and own their data.  Owning their data means they take responsibility for the learning and accept ownership of the grades and scores that they attain that reflect their level of understanding and ability to apply the skills or knowledge.  This level of accountability will be raised even more next year

During our finals days as a staff we spent some time reviewing school and building data about our students.  It generated some very good discussions about students and how we can get more out of them.  We discussed setting a building goal of having 80% of students be proficient and 20% of students be highly proficient in Reading, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science on the Iowa Assessment.  This is a goal that has also been discussed with Mrs. Coover for Longfellow Elementary as well.  With this as a guiding principle our future policies, practices, and decisions can be directed towards how it will support achieving this goal.  This past year we had 7 of 20 areas that met the 80% proficient and just 3 of 20 meet the 20% highly proficient goal.

Lastly, I want to thank the students, staff, parents, and community for a great year!!

Enjoy the summer!