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One of my favourite places to visit (besides Pinterest) to be inspired and build my professional learning network is Twitter. I joined Twitter back in September 2012. \u00a0One of my jobs in 2012 \u00a0was working as an Instructional Services Teacher in the School Board Office. As part of my role, I would work one on one with teachers or conduct workshops on the use of technology and how to incorporate its use seamlessly into teaching practice and classrooms. \u00a0Twitter was where I turned to for tips and ideas! \u00a0Over the years, I have been able to connect with and follow people that I have found inspirational and who have shared the same philosophy of teaching. \u00a0If you’re on Twitter as well, I would love to connect with you! You can find me\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\nOne person that I follow (who I don’t know at all on a personal level and have never even spoken to online) is Danny Steele. \u00a0His Twitter link can be found here.<\/a>\u00a0 Danny is a Principal from Birmingham, AL. \u00a0He also has a blog entitled Steele Thoughts<\/em><\/strong> which can be found here<\/a>. \u00a0Since joining in April 2016, he has posted 16.1K times and has amassed 35.3K followers! A social rockstar in educational world terms!<\/p>\n Danny’s values, ethics and leadership principles align with my own (and tie in nicely with Northouse, 2019) as he addresses topics such as empathy, integrity, moral stewardship, healing, awareness, building community and working towards common goals. \u00a0Some of the titles of his latest blog posts include;<\/p>\n Like I mentioned already, I don’t personally know Danny Steele. He works in another country, within a different school system. Yet, there are so many things that make him not just an assigned leader (Principal) but an emerging one, well beyond the four walls of his school on the world stage of education. \u00a0I wouldn’t have even known of his existence, if he wasn’t willing to be vulnerable and share his stories (the good, the bad and the ugly). \u00a0It’s what makes him real and appealing to follow. It’s what makes me aspire to be more like him and to remember some of his examples when I’m faced with similar issues. He’s the sage on the Twitter stage, a guide who has walked the path before and has the insight to share areas of continued development.<\/p>\n If I could give Danny some advice on how to better motivate followers or use the capabilities of the medium to influence people toward a common goal, it would be; to share more of his journey and how he got to where he is today. I would love for him to start at the beginning of his story before he was well established. I would also like to know more about how he builds community on a daily basis within his school and to learn more about the types of activities that he incorporates during staff meetings or collaboration days. How does he help empower his team to further their professional development? How did he overcome negativity and go from an emerging leader to a leader with a powerful, far reaching voice that over 30 thousand people around the world listen to on a daily basis?<\/p>\n I have never told Danny Steele, how much I enjoy following him or what his willingness to be vulnerable has meant to me or how I try and emulate his leadership style. I think I should!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Follow the Leader One of my favourite places to visit (besides Pinterest) to be inspired and build my professional learning network is Twitter. I joined Twitter back in September 2012. \u00a0One of my jobs in 2012 \u00a0was working as an Instructional Services Teacher in the School Board Office. As part of my role, I would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4,1,11],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-follow-the-leader","category-ldrs500","category-twu-online","category-unit-1","tag-follow-the-leader","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/files\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-05-at-11.12.02-AM-300x109.png\")
What is it about this man and his posts that has attracted so many followers? \u00a0He has a common goal with the rest of us, he truly wants to make a difference! His banner on Twitter reads “I want to do something that MEANS something”, and isn’t that what it’s all about? What makes him stand out from others who spout the same language, is that Danny Steele shares how he tries to make a difference both in his blog and Twitter posts. \u00a0He goes beyond just words and demonstrates his words through actions. He is willing to be vulnerable and has the courage to share not just his successes but also his failures and how he has learned from them. \u00a0People appreciate his willingness to put himself out there and to express what so many of us are thinking or wanting in ourselves, our community and in our leaders. \u00a0He tackles those difficult conversations and asks thought provoking questions that promote self reflection and change. He’s not afraid to share his vision and is quick to acknowledge and give credit where credit is due. He puts his students and his staff above himself and his own needs.<\/p>\n\n
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“Letter to a Discouraged Student”<\/em><\/span> – he demonstrates that he believes in a student’s capabilities that go far beyond a grade. He recognizes that the system when it comes to grades can be flawed and doesn’t allow for grading beyond what is on a rubric. Through his letter, \u00a0he shows that he genuinely wants his students to grow and succeed<\/strong>.<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/create.twu.ca\/awalkinthewoods\/files\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-05-at-11.19.43-AM-197x300.png\")
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