21st Century Influencer: A Plethora of Slides

I promised my new friends from the BOCES keynote last week in White Plains, New York that I'd post these slides. I hate to say “you had to be there” but many of these slides won't make a lot of sense if you weren't there.  Early on is my introduction to the projects.  Then, I have backchannel netiquette rules.  Then starting at around slides 65/66 I have the beginning core of my presentation.

I use the Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen method which means LOTS of slides and fast click times (often I'll do 10-18 per minute.)

After the Influencer material are the 7 steps to Flatten your Classroom and then some other notes on trends for influencing.  I'll be in Arkansas at TICAL talking about many of these things on February 17th and then at MACUL in Michigan on March 11th with several spotlight sessions as well of course, co-leading the Flat Classroom mini-conference strand at ASB Unplugged in Mumbai the end of February.

I've been thinking about it a lot.  Really, I have the best of both worlds — I can spend time with my students and helping them.  I can be here for my children (they need me.)  AND I can get out every once in a while to share what we're doing, what I'm learning personally, and the vision for what it means to be a part of transformational change TODAY – not last year, five years a go, ten years a go.  It is sort of like a scuba diver who dives every day in the most amazing reefs around the world and takes an opportunity every so often to share with people the state of the reefs.  He knows because he saw it right then.

It is truly an exciting time for those in the classroom and those in schools to also share and speak. It takes a lot of hard work, studying, and self discipline, but it is a fresh way to live and enjoy life!  This is not to say that there are not just amazing people who do the speakers circuit full time – THERE ARE. 

We each have our mission and purpose – I just think that we now have the ability to have practicioners included in the mix and that is a good thing for education because it gives balance between reality and academia and I hope more of you can get out there and do it too! (Though some will cringe when I say that as this is a competitive field.  Competition is a good thing!)

Am working on an “official” website for me, but for now, people just have to do the old fashioned way of emailing me about coming to spend time with them.

Gotta run!  To those in White Plains — remember the only person you have 100% control over?  Change starts there!  Also remember that change is often unique to the school or district as you include those in your group in plans and enacting change.