Get Your Edugeek On: Why Every Teacher Needs a Virtual Learning Community

This is an excerpt from my latest blog post featured on ASCD’s Inservice. 

For many teacher leaders, virtual learning communities, or VLCs, are the education world’s ComicCon. They are the places where we congregate to brainstorm, problem solve, and engage in dialogue with others “like us.” They are the spaces where we feel at home using acronyms and edu-speak, where we seek affirmation and constructive feedback from colleagues we trust and admire, and where we don our metaphorical capes for other edu-geeks we may rarely (if ever) meet in person.

As I reflect on where and when I feel like my most authentic and vulnerable teacher leader self, VLCs top the list. Since entering the profession in the infancy years of NCLB, I’ve been a part of both productive and unproductive content and grade-level teams. I’ve connected with some colleagues and struggled to find common ground with others. I’ve worked at high-performing schools and schools on the state accountability clock. But the one professional constant for me has been the network of informal mentors, peers, and professionals I’ve connected with outside school walls.

To read more visit the original post here.