Em's Ever Evolving Erudition

Exploring Audrey Watters website and blog has taken me down many rabbit holes.  Her work is layered with connected ideas that it is easy to spend a whole week exploring it.  I appreciate her skepticism.  I feel that I am often consumed with the same concerns about how technology is influencing education and our society.  The EdTech industry is a capitalistic enterprise that deserves to be scrutinized for their motives and end results.    I see people jump on board the next big thing in technology without thinking about the downsides or hidden costs associated with it.  We forget that if something is free of monetary costs, there is still a different kind of cost.  Companies are not giving away their product with no benefit to themselves.  And regardless of the inventor/investors intent in developing a new technology, there are always unintended consequences.  Youtube's algorithms were trying to find videos that best fit the viewer but th...

There is an educator whom I admire.  It is her heart that wants me to follow her as a leader.  She cares deeply about her students.  Not just care that they learn specific curricula and skills, but care about the whole student.  She cultivates them as she would a garden.  Carefully tending to them, watching them grow, and celebrating them for who they are.  She is filled with and models empathy.  She sends kindness out into the world.  She is a safe place for her students.  It is her passion for her students that drives her to take risks, problem solve, and speak out.  She is brave.  Her leadership style is driven by integrity.  She stands up for what she believes.  She models the behavior she requests of others.  She is the first to tackle the problem or try a new plan.  She asks questions.  She tries to find answers for them.  She actively involves others and listens to what they have to say....

About 8 years ago, I read a book that kinda changed my life.  Well it changed how I look at myself as a leader and that is what has made all the difference.  The book is Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking  by Susan Cain. If you can't tell by this book selection, I'm an introvert.  It is very much a part of my identity.  If you talk to my friends and family, they will immediately identify that being an introvert is one of my top defining qualities.  I will sit and listen to people who converse with ease and charm with wonder.  Easy conversation and charm (with unknown companions) just takes so much energy from me that I only do it when I've psyched myself up for it or find it necessary for my goals.  Before reading Susan Cain's book, I had the mindset that leaders were extroverts.  They were loquacious and easy to get along with and the life of the party.  As an introvert, I would be more suitabl...