I am a Fast Track Teacher on my final year in the programme. I am currently Faculty Leader for MFL at Westfield Community College in Watford, and aiming for my first senior leadership post.

For the past year I have been using Twitter to develop my Personal Learning Network. I have found that in combination with my blog, Twitter is a fantastic tool for engaging with other professionals around the world involved in education.

On Sunday 15^th March, an article about school reform in the Sunday Times caught my eye. I wrote a response to it on my blog, and shared the post with my followers on Twitter. Since Jim Knight, the Minister for Schools is a Twitter user; I sent him the link to my blog asking for his comments. I didn’t imagine he would respond, but that afternoon we exchanged ideas about what the English education system needed in order to move forwards. To read the article and the post, click here.

Blogging and using Twitter have flattened hierarchies for me in a fantastic way: I network every day with senior leaders, politicians, journalists and international educationalists. As an example, in the past couple of weeks, I have also been discussing digital literacy with the Principal at Berkhamsted School, after reading a really interesting post on his blog. To read the exchange, click here.

The constant drip-feed of new ideas and inspiration that Twitter provides has given me a real edge at school and means I can stay right on the pulse of educational change. I would really recommend it to any aspiring senior leaders to use this tool to access some of the great thinking and innovation that is going on in the world of education, from your doorstep to the other side of the world.

To follow me on Twitter, go to http://www.twitter.com/mrslwalker

*This post was reinstated after it got lost in the ether when my blog was updated.*

Looking for a vibrant new Wordpress.org theme? Look no further!

I have done a serious trawl for the most creative, interesting and appealing Wordpress themes I could find. My taste tends toward the bright, cheery and vibrant; so if lots of black is your thing, or you just love plain blue boxes you might want to move right along!

1. Rock-Kitty.net

This is a fantastic collection of themes. Whilst the organisation of themes is not as slick as some other sites, there is a varied collection of themes here that can easily be previewed and downloaded. The vast majority are free, but licensing does vary.

2. Wordpress themes

There is a really big collection of themes here. I think that a lot of them are pretty run-of-the-mill themes with blue boxes at the top and rounded corners. However, do a little digging and you will find some real gems!

3. Top WP Themes

This site was a great find. Themes are categorised really usefully (so you can search Adsense-ready themes, or designer) and there is some beautiful work.

4. BlogOh!Blog

This was my favourite site for really clean, simple designs. What’s more: the ‘Salient Features of this design’ detail really helps users find exactly what they are looking for.

5. Design Disease

These guys don’t have an enormous swathe of themes, but that doesn’t matter. There are eight themes here that are beautifully designed and deserve a look!

6. Six Revisions

This compilation list of 50 beautiful themes has been doing the rounds since last November, but it’s still tough to beat. It’s where I found my current theme, Notepad Chaos.

If you find a new theme that you love, or perhaps another great site for the list, why not post a link in the comments?