The Value of Being a Connected Educator in Today’s World

Often times I am asked why do you feel that it is important to be a connected educator.  As a connected educator I gain new ideas, inspiration and insightful information from my my PLN daily.  I have a group of people that I can reach out to 24/7 for anything I need.  New worlds and opportunities have opened up to me. I have been able to participate at the live event of Digital Learning Day and become an author of three educational books.  I have grown myself as a teacher leader and become an integral part of several leading educational organizations. Being connected has enabled me to present at leading educational and technology conferences.


Bammy Awards: a result of my being a connected educator

A connected educator in my mind is the way of life in a world that is changing ever so fast.  I have the honor of being nominated for three Bammy Awards through my PLN members who believe in what I do.  The Bammy Awards honor outstanding educators and those involved in education: http://www.bammyawards.com/index.php/about


My nomination for School Technology http://www.bammyawards.org/nominations/index.php/component/content/article/79-school-technology-support/1653-billy-krakower.html Feel free to also cast a vote for me.  I was also nominated for two other awards with my co-moderators of #Satchat and #Satchat Radio.  #Satchat was the first nomination in a new category titled: Twitter Communities: http://www.bammyawards.org/nominations/index.php/component/content/article/96-twitter-chat-comunity/1659-satchat.html.


#Satchat connects leaders

The beauty of being a connected educator is the ability to have online discussions at any time. #Satchat takes place Saturday mornings at 7:30 AM EST for current and emerging leaders.  These leaders do not have to be administrative leaders but teacher leaders as well. The conversations are rich and thoughtful.  Brad Currie (a Vice Principal), Scott Rocco (School Superintendent) and myself continue this conversation on our weekly radio show on the BamRadio Network: http://www.bamradionetwork.com/satchat-radio/


Connect an Educator Day is on May 2nd

There are so many educators who are still not connected.  Scott Rocco had an idea that we should take one #Satchat and bring a friend who is not connected to participate in a #Satchat and show them the world of being a connected educator:  http://www.evolvingeducators.com/connect-an-educator-day.html.



Being connected leads to collaboration:


Recently, I have had the pleasure of writing a book with two people who I have connected with on a weekly basis.  I met Paula Naugle at the International Society for Technology Education Conference (ISTE 2011) and Jerry Blumengarten in 2012 at edcampSocialStudies.  These two connections are probably life changing for me as I have been able to connect my students to the world through various projects that have come out of weekly discussion we have with each other and other educators.  Paula, Jerry and myself decided this past summer to put in for a book proposal after presenting at ISTE2014.  We had it accepted and we connected through Google Docs and Google Hangouts to write the book.  We are looking forward to the book Connecting Your Students with the World: Tools and Projects to Make Global Collaboration Come Alive, K-8

being published this Fall: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9781138902961/


All of the opportunities that I have had are all because I became a connected educator.  Make sure to bring an educator on May 2, 2015 to #satchat to show them the world of being a connected educator.