Skip to main content

Why be a connected admin?

I'm at #NETA15, on Twitter at @yourNETA. Or as the morning keynote said, "We are with our fellow nerds."

I am excited today to have the opportunity later this morning  to speak with @Mandery, @dougkittle, @bmowinkel, @mrbadura, @catlett11 and @chlor13 on being a connected administrator. (For the uninitiated, these are their Twitter handles.)

Why connect, anyway?
1. It is where are our kids live.
2. It is where our parents have gone.
3. It is important for administrators to model tech use, not merely give lip service to it. We must project what we expect.
4. When we model tech use, we demonstrate the fundamentally important learner behavior of risk taking and we ensure our teachers know they are in a supportive tech environment that encourages pedagogical risk-taking to enhance learner engagement.
5. The less you use digital communication tools and the more you continue an over reliance on traditional communication platforms like hard copy mailings to parents, the more market share you surrender to other voices that are out there. If you want to manage your message, you must get connected, and utilize multiple platforms both for your professional development as well as your district's profile.

How do I connect as an administrator? Where can I leverage the greatest impact as a school administrator in connecting?

1. Use connected presentation modes like MoveNote. Incorporate YouTube content in meaningful ways in your own professional development presentations to staff.
3. Get your admin team on Google Hangouts. Start meeting periodically via Hangouts and scrap the monotony of a traditional sit down meeting for this video conference mode.
4. Do your part to build digital infrastructure! Drive wider and more accessible wi-fi in your district.
5. Get on Twitter for fast and easily accessible content through a personal learning network of connected educators. You don't have to take my word for it, though. Just get on Twitter and start by searching the Twitter feeds (above) of the amazing connected Ed Leaders on the panel I am joining this morning. You'll find there's an abundant wealth of great learning being shared by these folks and their connected colleagues.

Let's do this!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Marathon Training Nutrition Commitment

I had a two-bag-a-week habit...Bazooka Joe himself had to stage an intervention for me. I have been training for the Lincoln marathon, which goes off  a week from now. A month ago, I decided I would get aggressive with my nutrition because I figure an old runner like me (43) needs every possible advantage if I want to crawl across the finish line in under four hours much less 3 1/2. So I set out to eliminate empty cards and refined sugars from my diet about five weeks ago.  I thought that this would be a good means of enhancing my nutrition while also improving my chances of turning in a good performance on race day.  I said goodbye to the chips and candy, and mourned the loss of my fries and popcorn... There definitely is a connection between intake and output.  How you eat, how you sleep, and whether you're drinking enough water- all those things contribute to outcomes on race day, not just miles and pace. ...
2 comments
Read more

Tech Integration Tips from Coachella Valley USD

Coachella Valley USD is presenting on their mobile learning initiative at the National School Boards Association convention (March, 2015).  They have spearheaded one of the largest iPad rollouts in our nation at the  PK-12 level with over 20,000 students receiving iPads. Key recommendations from the CVUSD team that I heard: Devices don't matter if you don't have the right attitude. Mindset is essential and enthusiasm is vital. There has to be a paradigm shift in schools from "IT" to Ed Tech. T3s are Teachers Training Teachers. Coachella is leveraging the power of peer modeling and teacher expertise to help tech integration become a reality. The tech team must be decentralized. If you want your tech personnel to really impact teaching, they have to be out in buildings, reaching out to teachers. Fixing technology (keeping network up and on and repairing devices) alone will never fulfill technology's promise. Transformational use requires committed tech inte...
Post a Comment
Read more

Difficult discussions are opportunities for growth: let's grow together!

Here's some advice for helping ourselves through crucial conversations which we must have, every day, with many others. . . . sometimes planned, often unplanned - and deep in the fourth quarter of a school year, staff tensions, parental conflict or dissatisfaction from a stakeholder may be the impetus for these school-based conversations. They offer great opportunities for personal growth and organizational improvement, so embrace them as such! Here are some reminders to educators for positive and productive outcomes from difficult discussions: Remember that if someone is talking to you - that is good! They value you, they believe you can help, they believe you have the power to positively assist them.  Listen first, then talk Rehearse empathy statements (sometimes that's only a "thank you for sharing that" but often it can be more meaningful than that) If you are mad or defensive because you feel accused, count down before responding or wait it out until you real...
Post a Comment
Read more