Growing my Personal Learning Network (PLN) @ NAESP

I had the pleasure of attending the 2014 National Association of Elementary School Principal's @NAESP conference in Nashville this past week (#naesp14).

The best part of going to a national conference is being able to grow your Personal Learning Network (PLN) with principals from all over the country.  Some of the best conversations I had were with principals before, during and after sessions we attended.

The first part of my week I had the opportunity to be a part of the National Mentor Training and Certification Program.  I was placed in a cohort group of 26 principals from across the country with several states represented.  Through the leadership of Mrs. Galen Hoffstat from Texas and Mrs. Lori Ellis from Maryland.    Through the 2.5 days training with the Mentorship program I was able to learn best practices in mentoring through training and dialogue with some of the nation's top principals.  Principals shared their experiences and we learned through collaboration throughout the training.  Some of the principals in my PLN from this experience were: Jeromey Sheets, Aimee Lunsford, & Adam Drummond.

The next 3 days were spent going through the conference sessions learning "Best Practices for Better Schools".  One of my favorite parts of the conference was the "Social Media Lounge", which was a area in the convention center dedicated to leading school leaders like myself in our technology driven world.  Heading up the "Social Media Lounge" were school leaders like - Dan Butler, Don Jacobs, Kathy Melton, Joe Mazza, Tony Sinanis, Erin Simpson & Melinda Miller to name a few.  These school leaders helped us see the value in Twitter and other media outlets in our social world.

During the conference I had the pleasure to write "Wrap-up Sessions" for NAESP from the "Social Media Lounge".  After sessions several school leaders attending the conference would email notes from session to Kaylen Tucker & NAESP.

2 sessions I wrote on:

• Accessing, Archiving & Sharing #Hashtags (click on the link to see notes) - by Dan Butler & Joe Mazza.  
• Using Facebook: Connecting & Celebrating your School (click on the link to see notes) - by Kathy Melton & Melinda Miller

The last highlight of my trip to Nashville was having the pleasure of participating in a luncheon session with Todd Whitaker & Beth Whitaker.  Todd Whitaker has been a part of my PLN for years and I have learned so much from him and it was a pleasure to visit with his wife as well.

2 top quotes I brought back from Todd Whitaker:

Your culture exists in your mind
You have to use your vision to control your perception

It was a great week in Nashville for the NAESP convention this year.  I met a lot of new friends, colleagues, and enhanced my PLN.  It is vital we all continue to grow professionally and I look forward to growing my PLN in the future with my new network of colleagues.