Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oMLFVLYskis/SbZGkn-UIiI/AAAAAAAAAMI/3o3DaJPLY2Q/s400/jester_hat.jpg

Thanks to Dan McGuire for pointing to this blog entry. This blog entry–excerpts below–is too real for me.

• Leave your hat on! «
  • Wearing too many hats is often cited as problematic when you are trying to grow your business. Sometimes businesses endure unnecessary strain simply because the right people aren’t responsible for the right jobs.
  • In some cases, it can impede growth or even result in a net loss for the business.The solution recommended by most business advisors is to re-structure the workplace. Restructuring roles and responsibilities in the business and assess your company’s activities in the marketplace.
  • The too many hat syndrome is a by product of becoming an advocate for change from 20th Century to 21st Century Learning.
  • Our enthusiasm to refocus our learning and restructure pedagogy is extra-curricula professional development and invisible/misunderstood to many administrators and executives – who don’t read blogs or write them.
  • At some point you need your new hat collection to be recognised as important – both to you and your school community. Job change, career move, success, parent communication, peer engagement … there are lots of personal reasons that make it important to have a blog – and relatively few not to. Having a blog also encourages you to read blogs and makes you much more likely to go read a book. The more you read, the more you write – the more you THINK about learning.
  • Trying to convince a CEO of anything is a little like trying to convince a cop not to give you a ticket. It’s possible, but rarely worth the effort, given the odds. Seth Godin
  • To a small group, you are the ‘goto’ person for a while, but at the same time, you are also seen by other tribes (and schools are tribal) – as a serious concern.
  • I think that the 21C Teacher has certain characteristics – and a blog is the evidence of that.
  • • Uses technology to support learning in and out of the classroom
    • Undertakes self-directed professional development in learning communities
    • Provides peer coaching and support – to teachers outside of their school and within
    • Is a teacher
    • Is a learner
    • Engages in student centered learning activities, using freely available Web2.0 tools
    • Is an integrator
    • Shares experiences with others online
  • In doing this, they will talk about the following things
    • The shift from prescribed passive to authentic read/write activities
    • Collaborative Learning
    • Inquiry based Learning
    • Connected Learning
    • Media Literacy (not information literacy)
    • Creating ‘content’ not ‘copying’ content
    • Develops a sense of mystery and wonder in learning
    • Explores online communities and rethinking how to use technology in multi-modal ways

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.