We'll be starting a free month-long Virtual Cohort studying the book, Renegade Leadership: Creating Innovative Schools for Digital-Age Students. Our cohort will officially begin on May 1st, and it is open to all educators.
This is a self-paced course that can be completed in as little as 15 minutes per week. You can work ahead and do not need to feel bad if you fall behind. The most valuable part of this cohort will be the people that you connect and exchange ideas with.
The structure of the cohort is surprisingly simple. Read a chapter or two a week according to your schedule, and the outline below. We've created an online forum for each chapter. The chapter forums are designed to help participants share thoughts in a safer (smaller) setting.
I'm really looking forward to participating and connecting on a deeper level with everyone!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A couple weeks ago, NAESP sponsored a 60 minute Renegade Leadership book talk on EdWeb. We had over 500 people register, and the feedback was really inspiring. (Not to mention that we had participants from all over the world.) We sent a short survey out and over 97% of respondents were interested in a #RenLead Virtual Cohort.
We created the Virtual Cohort schedule below to be responsive to your interests and busy schedule. It is highly personalized. You will be able to invest more time and focus on chapter topics that impact your work, and feel guilt-free about skipping over content that doesn't meet your needs at this time! Joining the cohort is simple.
HOW TO JOIN
If you do not have a copy of Renegade Leadership, you should purchase one HERE.
After your book arrives, take a picture (a.k.a. "Shelfie") with the book and post it to #RenLead on Twitter.
VIRTUAL COHORT SCHEDULE
April 1st - April 30th: Getting Connected
Order your book and post a picture to #RenLead on Twitter and/or Instagram.
Be sure to "follow" other cohort members who share to the #RenLead hashtag.
Go to the book's companion website, and review the Introduction video and resources.
Share your "why" in the Introduction forum.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Invite a co-worker who may not be connected to Twitter (or this blog) to join our Virtual Cohort.
Week of May 1st: Let the Journey Begin
Review the Chapter 1 video along with any resources that interest you.
Read the Introduction and Chapter 1.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 1.
Respond to two other Cohort Member's forum posts. This interaction and follow-up questions (including respectful push-back) is important.
Complete the Renegade Leadership Scale found in Chapter 1.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Watch the #30SecondTake video in the resource section on the website, and create your own 30-second video response to share on #RenLead. (I typically use TouchCast to create my short videos.)
Week of May 8th: Purpose and Pedagogy
Review the videos for Chapter 2 & Chapter 3 along with any resources that interest you.
Read Chapters 2 and 3.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 2 or Chapter 3 (no need to do both).
Respond to at least two cohort members' reflections in Chapter 2 or Chapter 3.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Review the pedagogy resources (e.g. blogs, video, and meme) and create your own photo meme about pedagogy. You could use a quote from the book or write your own. (I use Wordswag, but many people also use PicCollage or Adobe Spark to create posters with quotes.) Be sure to share your creation on #RenLead and encourage other cohort members who have shared.
Week of May 15th: Collaboration is Key
Review the videos for Chapter 4 & Chapter 5 along with any resources that interest you.
Read Chapters 4 and 5.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 4 or Chapter 5 (no need to do both).
Respond to at least two cohort members' reflections in Chapter 4 or Chapter 5.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Listen to the "Audio Outtake" for Chapter 4. Then reach out to somebody in our cohort to create a collaborative project (e.g. blog, podcast, etc.) about your experience with collaboration. Be sure to share and tag your post with #RenLead.
Week of May 22nd: Beyond Comfortable
Review the videos for Chapter 6 & Chapter 7 along with any resources that interest you.
Read Chapters 6 and 7.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 6 or Chapter 7 (no need to do both).
Respond to at least two cohort members' reflections in Chapter 6 or Chapter 7.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Get out of your comfort zone! Model digital leadership and experiential learning by creating a live-stream reflection about digital connectivity. (I typically use the Periscope app, but there are countless others.) Be sure to share your live-stream video feed by tagging it with #RenLead.
Week of May 29th: Instructional Leadership in Action
Review the videos for Chapter 8 & Chapter 9 along with any resources that interest you.
Read Chapters 8 and 9.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 8 or Chapter 9 (no need to do both).
Respond to at least two cohort members' reflections in Chapter 8 or Chapter 9.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: Checkout the "Double-Down Challenges" for Chapter 8. Select one of these challenges and share an artifact or reflection (e.g. photo, blog post, etc.) about it on #RenLead.
Week of June 5th: Call to Action
Review the videos for Chapter 10 along with any resources that interest you.
Read Chapter 10.
Pick one "Water Cooler Question" to respond to in the forum for Chapter 10.
Respond to two other Cohort Member's forum posts for Chapter 10.
Revisit your completed Renegade Leadership Scale from Chapter 1. Identify any areas you’ve grown over the course of this cohort.
Optional Challenge for Die-Hard Change Agents: How will you respond to what you've read? Which of the six subtle shifts might you implement tomorrow? Write a final blog post that includes your own personal "call to action." Be sure to share your post with #RenLead.
