One of the topics of #etmooc has been Digital Storytelling. Telling stories through the use of pictures is a powerful way to share. One of the Digital Storytelling assignments for #etmooc is to do a Five Card Flickr story.
For this story, you are given 5 photos to choose from. You must pic one photo to be a representation of the beginning of your story. Each time you choose a photo, you are presented with 5 other photos from which to choose for the remainder of your story. You choose 5 photos to represent your story. Then, after choosing all your photos, you have the opportunity to share your story in words.
This would be a powerful activity (and fun) for students to be involved in sharing themselves and/or their learning. If you want to learn more about the 5-Card Story, click here. If you want to find out more about #etmooc, click here.
My Leadership Journey is below.
Five Card Story: My Leadership Journey
a Five Card Flickr story created by @TiaHenriksen
flickr photo by bionicteaching
My leadership journey started with being very excited when I heard I was accepted as a Vice Principal in my district. What you don’t see here though, is that I was very nervous as well.
flickr photo by Intrepidteacher
My first year of my leadership journey started with teacher job-action which made me realize that I was no longer the “teacher” I had been for years. I was now an “administrator” and I had mixed feelings about that.
flickr photo by pepe.meneu
Over the next few years, I climbed many stairs, but I always seemed to be at the bottom, climbing up, always learning. Sometimes, those stairs seemed pretty steep and never-ending, but I keep on climbing.
flickr photo by dwtno
Even though I have gone through some tough times in my leadership journey, I have always maintained a positive attitude and a sunny disposition. I strongly believe that we must be optimistic about the future of education. We must lead the way with our optimism and positive attitude.
flickr photo by Rachel Smith
Right now, in education, I often feel as though I am trying to drink from a firehose, not really being able to take in a lot from the overwhelming spray of all that is coming at us in education. It would be like standing at the bottom of a waterfall and being overcome by the water that I am continuously being overcome by. I need to learn to stand on the outskirts of the waterfall, so I can be gently sprayed by the water every once in a while.
I look forward to my continuing my leadership journey.
I’d love to hear about your journey in education.
It's All About Learning 
Thanks for sharing, Tia! Your post brought me to this question in my head:
How many of us believe that our leadership journey did not begin until we were placed in a formal leadership position?
I am not sure where mine would begin… And which 5 photos I would choose and this is the power of blogging and story telling – you have me thinking.
Hi Chris,
I should retitle that post “My Formal Leadership Journey” because, yes, my leadership journey started well before I became an administrator. I was an Early Literacy Teacher Leader in the district before I became an administrator. But, even before that, in my own school, I led the primary staff in implementing Guided Reading and Family Literacy sessions.
Thanks for making me think about that because you’re right, our leadership journey begins far before the formal journey of administration begins. There are so many great leaders in our district who are not administrators at all. Those leaders are even more influencial than many of their administrators could ever be – that’s one of the most challenging lessons I learned over the years. People just look at you differently when you become an administrator and you have to work hard so they see that you are just a passionate educator who wants the best for kids.
Thanks for the comment. I look forward to seeing your 5-card-flickr story!
Tia
🙂