For school and district leaders, social media can be a powerful platform.
It鈥檚 a way to directly connect with your K-12 community where they are, share the good work you鈥檙e doing, and even set the record straight about potential misconceptions.
It can also be a scary place, where everything you post is subject to public scrutiny.
To get insight into how education leaders can successfully leverage social media, Education Week spoke with Joe Sanfelippo, the superintendent of the Fall Creek school district in Wisconsin, and Stephanie McConnell, the assistant superintendent of Hawkins Independent school district in Texas.
In addition to being a superintendent, Joe Sanfelippo is an adjunct professor who teaches educational leadership and is the author of two books on the topic. He boasts over 66,000 followers on and over 4,000 followers on . You might recognize him from one of his popular videos where he shares leadership advice on his one-minute commute to school.
Stephanie McConnell got her start as an award-winning elementary school principal. Pulling from her background, she started the blog to give school leaders advice on how to make lasting positive changes in their schools. She also offers leadership consulting and has co-authored two books. is her favorite platform to use in her work, and she has over 10,000 followers who engage with her account for inspiration and laughs.
Here are their top three tips for district leaders looking to get started on social media.
Be transparent
Leaders are expected to have a vision of what success looks like and what steps should be taken to reach their goals. Conveying their plans on social media can help get community buy-in and build trust.
Being transparent 鈥渉elps us be able to communicate exactly where we鈥檙e going with our staff and with our community so that there鈥檚 no uneasiness,鈥� said McConnell. After all, people can鈥檛 see what you don鈥檛 show them.
McConnell got her start on social media because she wanted to 鈥渃ommunicate our vision, our goals, all those things that all the stakeholders could hear and see.鈥�
When I had to make some really tough decisions, people knew that I wasn鈥檛 making those decisions from behind my desk.
Some education leaders still might be hesitant to put themselves out there on social media for fear of potential professional backlash, but Sanfelippo had a different experience. 鈥淚 actually started social media because I was afraid to lose my job. The reason that people get moved on a lot is that nobody knows what they do so they start making up what they do. So I started documenting my travels everywhere I went.鈥�
鈥淚 started utilizing social media to show people, the community that I was invested and that I was staying and that I was going to be there as much as I possibly could.鈥�
Sanfelippo says showcasing his work on social media helped him build social capital. 鈥淲hen I had to make some really tough decisions, people knew that I wasn鈥檛 making those decisions from behind my desk.鈥�
Throw out the script
It鈥檚 only human to be worried about slipping up, especially if your message is going to be publicly broadcast all over social media. Sometimes, in an effort to minimize the room for error, one can script out too much of what they want to say. According to Sanfelippo, one of the biggest mistakes education leaders make on social media is sounding too rehearsed. 鈥淚f everything has to be scripted, you can never truly be real with your group.鈥�
One way to inject authenticity into your messaging is by speaking directly to your audience using video.
Both Sanfelippo and McConnell are big fans of sharing self-shot videos of their experiences.
McConnell reassures those nervous about going on camera that your audience is likely not going to be hyperfocused on your missteps the way you might be. 鈥淲e鈥檙e focused on what the person is saying, not how they鈥檙e saying anything,鈥� she explained.
You have a message inside you, a story that somebody wants to hear, and I say go for it.
Take control of the narrative
As Sanfelippo sees it, 鈥淧eople are making a judgment no matter what, so I want to make sure they鈥檙e judging me for the things I鈥檓 actually doing, not the things that they think that I鈥檓 doing.鈥�
Utilizing social media to pull the curtain back on your work in your district allows you to focus the conversation on your contributions.
And to those who aren鈥檛 convinced they have anything worthwhile to share on social media, McConnell has some words of encouragement. 鈥淵ou have a message inside you, a story that somebody wants to hear, and I say go for it.鈥�
