Sean Martinson

Teachers often speak about the feeling of isolation, that in their four walls they know what’s going on, but beyond that it’s hard to make connections. Is it so different for principals? How often do we feel disconnected from what’s going on outside our “four walls”? How often are we limited in who and where we can ask for advice, thoughts, opinions, best practices, etc.?

Although our four walls encompass more classrooms and more people, we too need an outlet to reach out and connect. One tool, or process, I leverage is the power of my Personal Learning Network (PLN). My definition of a PLN is the network of individuals and tools that I use to gain access to, and expand, my scope of knowledge. 

In this case, I wanted to talk about a tool that I leverage to access the shared knowledge and thoughts of a specific group of individuals, a group that is quite connected to my daily workings as an elementary school principal. That tool is MESPA’s Colleague to Colleague and it opens my PLN to the shared knowledge of all MESPA principals. Let me repeat that short, simple, but powerful sentence: it is a tool that connects me to ALL Minnesota Elementary School Principals.

MESPA’s Colleague to Colleague is a closed forum for just our group. Colleague to Colleague uses a free Web-based tool provided by Google called “Google Groups”.  A Google Group is a method of communication and collaboration for groups.

Many of our regional elementary principal groups and divisions utilize e-mail for communication. The power that Colleague to Colleague offers above and beyond e-mail is that the conversation is open for the entire group to view, responses are viewable by all, and it’s not time sensitive. For example, if I need advice on how others are integrating RTI and Title I, I have quite a few options. However, my needs are specific. They are specific to an elementary school, and an elementary school in Minnesota. In Colleague to Colleague, I can ask the group my question and even search through previous discussions. Even if members don’t have the answer themselves, we can quite often point each other in the right direction. Additionally, if you come along with the same question a week, month, or year later, the conversation is still there. You can hit the ground running by accessing discussions that are already in progress!

I think what often happens with a free, simple to use tool such as Colleague to Colleague is that we overlook the significance of what this closed area can do. The area is open to all MESPA members. What better venue to seek advice from other Minnesota Elementary School Principals?  If you don’t already do so, I strongly encourage you to check into Colleague to Colleague.  Please make it a regular weekly stop on your journey to expanding your Personal Learning Network. Just visit our Web at www.mespa.net and click on Colleague to Colleague.