Sharing - It's Not Just for Kids

Sharing. It’s something we’ve all been taught to do from the earliest years of our lives. Share your toys with your friends. Share the crayons at preschool. Share the backseat of the car with your brother. But then we move into adulthood and things change. Too often we get tunnel vision, consumed with our own day-to-day tasks, forgetting the power of sharing.

Last March at the annual CUE conference, I attended an excellent session on LiveBinders. At the conclusion of the session, I felt compelled to do a better job of sharing resources with the educators with whom I work. So, when I returned to school the following Monday, I resolved to begin sending to my staff a series of emails I called Tuesday’s Tech Tips. Since March, I have been sending short emails to teachers containing brief technology tips or suggestions. The tips are typically basic in nature and have included things like keyboard shortcuts, how to take a screenshot, and app/resource suggestions like Jing, Dropbox, and Remind101. I realize many of those who receive these tips are already aware of what I’m sharing, but I also know that not every teacher possesses the same level of proficiency in the use of technology. Bottom line, just because I know how to do something with technology doesn’t mean everybody else does. The response from teachers has been very positive, and sending out these tips has given teachers an opportunity to share back some tips of they’re own. It hasn’t been a one-way street, as I’ve learned a bunch from my staff in the process of sending out my tips.

I've previously written about the importance of collaboration (see my post "Paying It Forward"), but I believe this is a topic worthy of repeated discussion. My challenge to readers is this – if you’re not already doing so, start sharing with your staff. No matter who you are or what your position, you have something to share. It may be a lesson plan with a grade-level colleague. It may be an instructional strategy you’ve found to be particularly effective. It may be a tech tip of your own. Whatever you’ve found to work well for you, share it, for as a poster in my classroom used to read, "TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More."

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