ECET2 Chicago

ECET² Chicago "Can You Hear Me Know?"

I was given the opportunity to attend ECET² Chicago, by my wonderful leader Jordan Garrett. I as able to join teacher leaders, other coaches, and administrators for this elite event. By 10am, I was already wowed by this conference themed “Can you Hear Me Now?”  The purpose was to celebrate educators and help them get their voices heard. 

After a wonderful breakfast, Christopher Bronke started as the first keynote. He inspired me to share my voice. He reminded us that blogging is an excellent way to get your words out there because if you have something to say, it is important to say it! He explained that sometimes we have to be bulldozers to lead and sometimes we have to be ballerinas, but teachers are the ones that know teaching best so our voice must be heard.  He left us with one final thought “Passion without action is wasted energy.”  This really made me think about the position I am in as an instructional coach and how I can turn my passion into action with teachers. He inspired me to share, share, share!

My breakout session was “Having Your Change Voice Heard” with Jeff Zoul.  I have followed Jeff on twitter for a little while now and was excited to meet him. He encouraged us again to get our voice heard. The focus was on Twitter and blogging to do this. This really encourage me to stick to my blog and stop making excuses.  So here I am blogging today. He shared great quotes from a few influential educators. All the quotes were inspiring, but Pernille Ripp’s ideas resinated the most with me. 

Share, listen, and encourage others. Thoughts from Penille Ripp at Jeff Zoul's session. 

Another theme of the day, other than sharing, was connecting. We were given ample time to connect. They set the appropriate setting for us to connect. We were encourage to mingle over "mocktails" and I had some great conversations with fellow instructional coaches, admins, and teachers. It was wonderful to meet some people I follow on twitter and make new connections! 

As I reflect on the day, I can summarize it into four major areas.  

• SHARE- What I have to say does matter.  It will help others, so I want to make sure I am sharing ideas I value through twitter and my blogs. I am part of some amazing things that I am proud of, so I want to share that. 

• LISTEN- Take the time to listen to what others have to say. Read blogs, follow tweets, and have conversations. Learning about all different perspectives and ideas will help me grow as an educator.

• CONNECT- See what others are doing. It was great to share and listen to others. With the power of twitter, I can continue to stay in touch with these connections and make new ones!

• TAKE ACTION-  When you have a  good idea, act on it. Have the grit to bulldoze the obstacles! 

ECET² Chicago gave me an extra boost of energy and was great to keep me motivated and driven in my role as a coach!