Whether you’re an experienced educator or just getting started, you will always have moments of self-doubt that may leave you confused or unable to make the important decisions we as educational leaders must make. I will admit, when I first started out in administration, self-doubt happened more often than I desired. As I began to expand my Personal Learning Network (PLN), my doubts as a leader began to diminish. One of the ways my PLN helped me was by sharing a wealth of digital resources that guided me through a variety of daily situations that principals encounter.

Let’s take a look at some digital resources to use as an educational leader to save time, foster your professional growth, and lessen those pesky self-doubts:

Pinterest

With Pinterest, you “pin” your interests and read other pins from people who share the same interests. The site and app are user-friendly, and creating your own board to organize your pins and share with others is easy. Click here for my video instructions on how to use Pinterest. This is a great tool for teachers and leaders to use with thousands of ideas for instruction and a variety of classroom resources.

Cybrary Man’s Educational Websites

Educator Jerry Blumengarten is the Cybrary Man, and his user-friendly website is one of the top resources for educators around the world. The site is well organized with a variety of topics not only for educators, but also for parents and students. One of my favorite topics is the professional development page for administrators. Here you’ll find an abundance of ways to help improve professional development for teachers and administrators.

GettingSmart.com

From professional learning to blended and personalized learning, you can explore a number of topics on Getting Smart, a learning design firm that works with foundations, learning organizations, and schools to develop and curate educational content. I use the Leadership topic the most and have discovered helpful articles and resources about culture, family engagement, and early learning.

EducatorsTechnology.com

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is a must-have resource for any schools using Google Suites, Chromebooks, or iPads. This terrific site houses daily blogs on topics ranging from iPads, how to get the most out of Google Drive, and infographics—to name a few. I enjoy reading this site daily to find resources to share with teachers in different subject areas. This helpful categories section brings up over 100 topics to search and discover articles about all things EdTech and mobile learning.

DitchThatTextbook.com

Not only is Matt Miller’s Ditch That Textbook a great book, his website is also very useful. School leaders can find creative teaching ideas and ways to use technology in the classroom at all content areas and levels of instruction. I enjoy accessing the teacher link under the articles tab. The site has many resources, including one of my favorites: “15 go-to resources for teachers short on time.”

Inc.com

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about business, sports, or education. Leaders lead, plain and simple. Don’t underestimate the power of a traditional business site with excellent leadership resources. Inc.com is packed with leadership stories that are short and to the point. My favorite is the Lead page which contains leadership tips from around the world.

Harvard Business Review

Harvard Business Review is another great business site that is traditionally known for its business research and articles. I enjoy accessing their education page, which contains a number of articles ranging from artificial intelligence to what makes a great educational leader. Similar to Inc.com, the articles are short, and many include external links for even more resources.

Right Relevance

Right Relevance allows you to search and discover relevant topics related to your search query. The articles are then identified, ranked, and sent to you via email once a day. This is an excellent way to get quick and targeted professional development resources delivered to you.

Flipboard

The Flipboard app and site allow the user to create magazines that are based on your specific interests. The name Flipboard comes from the app itself: You literally flip the pages like a magazine to read different articles based on your interest. If it sounds confusing, watch my video instructions on how to use Flipboard.

It’s human nature to question yourself at times. As leaders, when we have resources to assist our growth, we need to use them to help others and enable our own self-growth. Take a deep dive into one or two of these resources to find out how they can help you grow as a leader. You will be surprised at how those episodes of self-doubt will decrease while you become a better leader each day.

Don’t see a resource that you use? Share the resource you like to use that provides quick, effective professional development.

Bobby Dodd is the principal at William Mason High School in Mason, OH. He is a 2016 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year winner and hosts his website, The Educational Leaders, which contains a variety of resources for educators. You can find him on Twitter @bobby__dodd.

 

About the Author

Bobby Dodd is the principal at William Mason High School in Mason, OH. He is a 2016 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year winner and hosts his website, The Educational Leaders, which contains a variety of resources for educators. You can find him on Twitter @bobby__dodd.

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