Skretta's Scintillating Salutations

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...

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...

As we wrap up the 2014 calendar year, we are also halfway through the 14-15 school year. With a sense of anticipation, our thoughts turn to the year ahead and we refine and revise our individual and collective goals for 2015. Before we allow the sense of excitement for the impending year take over, however, we should pause and reflect on the many good things that transpired in 2014. 50 years strong! The 2014 year was a special one for the Norris District as we celebrated the 50 year anniversary of the district . The Norris story is one of successful consolidation. The vision and the foresight of the district's founders in creating a unified campus that, while centrally located geographically, is not in any one district municipality, has fostered a sense of unity and cohesiveness that is tremendously beneficial for the school culture. Many school consolidation stories chronicle a contentious and bitterly divisive process; the Norris District has become a model for successful con...

Today I'm giving thanks for the great school leadership that surrounds us at Norris 160! I'm taking a moment from the nonstop turkey and football feast to share some gratitude to the leaders who make so much of what we do possible. Brian Maschmann, Assistant Superintendent: the trusted voice of reason in every initiative we take, Brian brings a calm voice and practical insights to every situation. Dr. Brenda Tracy, Special Ed and Curriculum Director: She is making an impact in teachers' growth and professional learning daily. We now have a comprehensive design for professional development that is instilling a common language for instruction and ensuring our teachers' learning targets are clear and explicit for all students at all levels. HS Principal Ryan Ruhl: This is the man who has not only helped to sustain a culture of positive sportsmanship and student participation in our HS, he's taken it to the next level. 4 years in a row with a state tourney sp...

September 5, 2014 I was honored to present at the State Board of Education meeting today as a panelist representing the NePAS Task Force to bring forth recommendations on the evolving state accountability system. This was an informal exchange with the State Board to update them, and was conversational and informative. I was privileged to be among several speakers, including lead presenter and psychometrician Dr. Chad Buckendahl , State of Nebraska Director of Assessment Valorie Foy, and Dr. Leslie Lukin, LPS Director of Assessment and Evaluation . While I did not provide the comments below verbatim, I shared the gist of it and these are my thoughts on the evolution of the state's model: "Good morning, I am here today as one of the delegates representing the NePAS Task Force and the collaborative effort the group has undertaken with assessment experts and under the guidance of Dr. Foy and NDE Assessment personnel to offer recommendations for the accountability model for the ...

You are talented. You would not be here if you did not have the capacity to be great. Our selection process is very rigorous. We are looking for professionals whose commitment to the vocation and compassion for students drive your decision-making and we picked you because you possess that fundamental student-centered value. So long as you remain mindful of that, and base your decisions on what is best for kids and what is in the interest of furthering student learning, you will seldom go wrong. You are never not a Norris teacher. You're always representing not just yourself but your team, your building, your school district, and your community. Remember that and conduct yourself accordingly, because in all circumstances you are an ambassador for the district and someone who incarnates the values of the profession. We don't expect pedagogical perfection, but we do have an expectation of continuous professional growth. You must commit yourself to learning, because that is the mos...

Barbara Byrd-Bennett is the Chicago Schools CEO and oversees the daily education of hundreds of thousands of PK-12 Chicago children. Talk about a demanding gig! But she came well prepared as a former Sup of the Cleveland and New York City metropolitan districts. Dr. Byrd-Bennett spoke to a Superintendents' meeting I attended recently, addressing our group on connecting health and achievement. She said that "We won't have children who are truly ready to learn and becoming college and career-ready and all those things that superintendents and school boards like to talk about unless we prioritize their health." She added, "You can just go around saying your mission statement, but you must actually force the issue." Don't be afraid to ask: Are we doing what we profess to be doing for kids? Put another way, are we actualizing the mission? Dr. Byrd-Bennett knows "People respect what you inspect." What is happening on a daily basis at the class...