Reflection Essay #2 "Awesome ain't easy"

“With great power comes great responsibility” (Spider-man, 2002).  Entering into the digital age in education, we have the power to educate a wider range of students and community members through the use of technology.  The first step in this education is getting the message out about the great things that a school and district are doing.  In the past, we have relied on newsletters, phone calls, fax machines, and emails.  These mediums are no longer reaching all our community members and we have the responsibility to communicate with all stakeholders.  

In the book Why Social Media Matters, Porterfield and Carnes outline the way schools can adapt their current plans to reach all stakeholders.  This book points out the how and why of implementing a change in communication with all stakeholders.  In the regards to stakeholders, schools have contact with a wide array of generations.  Porterfield and Carnes point out that there are characteristics for each generation and a type of communication that would be the most effective (Porterfield & Carnes, 2012, p. 13).  For communication to be efficient and effective school administrators need to diversify their communication techniques.  Yes, we still need to make phone calls, newsletters, send emails, and everything else we have been doing the past twenty years.  However, we also need to reach community members through social media to create a quality brand in the community.  

Can we all agree that social media matters and is the no longer the platform of the future, but the platform of the now?  Once that culture has been fostered in the school, the work with social media begins.  Porterfield & Carnes do a good job of giving schools a game plan on using some of the biggest platforms.  Figure 4.1 on page 50 shows that the school website is the center for all communication with community members (Porterfield & Carnes, 2012, p. 50).  This platform needs to be up-to-date and user-friendly.  This is the new face of your school because there are thousands of visitors that will never walk through your front doors in your school.  They will explore your school through the comfort of their own home.  Secondary, are other platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.  The first steps for schools to enter the digital age is make an effective school website that can give information to all community members with the click of a mouse.  So now what?

We have set up a website, started social media sites for our schools, and we still are not communicating effectively?  What to do now?  For the use of digital media to work well, stakeholders need a reason to go to your platforms.  Educators are competing with Kim Kardashian for our community members attention and this is not an easy fix, but where the fun comes in.  One of the first steps is updating regularly and with content that matters.  Leaving up the principal’s message from August does no good to connect with the community in May.  Second, you need to be clear in your message and grab their attention.  Next, be spontaneous and add content that is not expected.  The book discussed grabbing the reader's attention, away from what Kim and Kanye will name their next baby, and holding it.  This can be accomplished by streaming the band concert, using “throwback” pictures, and demonstrating student projects.  In other words, showcase the great things in your school!  Finally, encourage staff to use social media in their own classes.  This will help to implement a culture of technology in the community and “force” users to explore.  

As educators, we have a great responsibility to educate the next generation and communicate this with the community.  There will be roadblocks and difficulties, but the results can be awesome as Porterfield and Carnes point out in the book.  There is a game plan to follow and the next step for school leaders will be to implement these changes.  “It is not going to be easy, but it is going to be awesome.  Awesome ain’t easy” (Steve Gleason).

Just a little motivation for the last two days

Reflection Essay # 1

Garth Algar summed up my own inhibitions when I started this book, “We fear change” (Wayne’s World, 1992).  Coming into a world of digital leadership, the change should not be feared and as a digital leader, we have to make others comfortable using the technology.  Sheninger echoes these ideas throughout the book and helps provide a foundation for instating change in schools.  Technology is not designed to supplant quality teaching practices, but should be used to supplement quality teachers and their practices. 

Stepping into the digital world will take a great deal of work and a leader will face many challenges.  Sheninger outlines many of the roadblocks that we will face, but also provides solutions to these problems.  For my own practices, I found chapter 3 and chapter 10 to be the most useful because it helped me think of solutions to the problems that I know we will face in implementing new digital mediums.  The challenge as an administrator is adapting methods outlined in the book to your own situation and school.  For example, some schools may have a weak infrastructure that is not capable of adapting new technologies.  Finding the solution to this problem is the first step in digital leadership.  Other schools may have to provide more training to their staff to elicit a comfort level in technology, which in turn will help teachers use the technology to aid student achievement.  Each situation will have their own challenges and as Sheninger outline, this is our challenge as digital leaders. 

The second big takeaway that I had from this book is to have answers to staff members, parents, and community members on why we need to use technology in schools.  Having data to reinforce the changes made in schools will hopefully create more buy-in from all stakeholders.  My students will be excited about the change, but have to make sure that everyone is on board for the change to be effective.  I have heard from parents and staff that “all these changes are unnecessary” and “things have worked in the past, so why are to we  change?”  I have been hesitant to take the plunge, but now have more confidence because I have answers to those questions that can be backed up by other professionals. The second chapter outlined the reasons a school administrator would follow this path towards digital leadership.  We are preparing students for the 21^st century, where advances in technology outdated materials in a matter of days.  Educators have no idea what the world will look like in 2 years, 10 years, or beyond.  Educators need to adapt their methods to give students the skills to last in an ever changing environment. 

The use of digital leadership will also allow for greater communication between families and educators.  Education is the primary responsibility of families, but educators are the gateway to the learning.  “Family involvement that supports student learning at home is linked to improve student achievement (Allen, 2009). For families to be involved, there needs to be continual communication.  The use of social media is another tool in the bag for administrators to keep all stakeholders involved.  Sheninger outlines this point very well in the book and points to the success stories that can be accomplished when using technology. 

We may fear change, but we can no longer ignore the change in our schools.  Changing a school will have roadblocks and hardships, but the end result can lead to greater student achievement. 

Allen, J.. (2009). Family engagement in anywhere, anytime learning. Family Involvement Network of Educators

(FINE) Newsletter.  Volume 1, Issue 1. Retrieved from http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources/effective-home-school-communication

Sheninger, E. C. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times.

Assignment # 5

The hardest part for myself in creating a PLN is not to try and use everything at once. I have said many times in class, that I am helping lead a new push in our school for the use of social media. Our school has been a technology-driven for many years and this is the natural next step. While my principal is very supportive of the use of technology, he has been resistant using social media because it is foreign to him. While I am not comfortable using some forms of social media, I believe this is the next step in our school. So now what? My plan is to work backwards. We have the infrastructure, technology, and every tool needed to complete this endeavor. However, I think it needs to be a slower process.

•  Step 1- create a purpose for the new social media sites. 
• Step 2- identify how and who will manage the social media 
• Step 3- Create guidelines for social media (what will be acceptable, who will monitor it, and how situations will be handled. 
• Step 4- Create the accounts Step 5- Update, update, update 

The next part of my plan to create a PLN is to include our staff. We are fully adopting the Google platforms for our school (Docs, Gmail, slides, classroom, etc.) and I know there is going to be a learning curve. I would like to dedicate 5 minutes of each staff meeting to share something “new” or a success story amongst the staff. Hopefully, this will help teachers want to integrate technology into their classroom and be on the cutting edge. Also, we will be using many professional development days for new technology this year, so we will hopefully see the benefits. My personal goal is to be active in research of new technologies. I will dedicate at least three ½ hour blocks a week to do nothing but research and explore. Hopefully, this will lead me to new systems I can share with the staff. I do not have the power to implement standard 3 a, but I can be a model, up to date, and lead effective collaboration. I am excited to use some of the approaches we are learning in this class in my own classroom and school. My final goal is to be present in one professional development day a year dedicated to new technologies. As a whole, teachers are very comfortable researching new strategies to teach in the classroom. I have found them to be hesitant in learning about technology because “I am not able to make that call if we can use that technology (as one of our teachers told me).” I want teachers to feel empowered to try new technologies and innovate. I know this is a long list, but believe it is the next step to improve our school, our community, and student learning.

Assignment # 4

Technology in itself is not an answer to quality schools. Technology collecting dust, being used solely as a word processor, or used incorrectly is not helping any of the students they are intended to reach. I see this problem in the adoptions of curriculums, new textbooks, and jumping on the newest and greatest idea. I am a firm believer in using technology in schools and giving students access to a variety of technologies to spark innovation, competence, and passion for learning. I also am a firm believer in adapting to changing times and exploring new social media outlets. I am NOT a believer in spending money to spend money for public perceptions and adding all ideas every two years because technology is outdated. A book, pencil, and calculators are all “out of date” technology that still are very valuable because educators can use them with confidence and without hesitation. This is where schools need to get to for their to be true learning with technology. What can we learn from others as we attempt 1-1 ratios? One of the best things I have seen in awhile is from the Patuz reading. “Fail” is used as an encouraging acronym- first attempt inciting learning (Pautz, Elemendorf, & Mullenax, 2015, p. 9). Giving teachers permission to explore and fail is giving them permission to innovate. When giving professionals the permission to fail, I believe we can create a culture of problem-solving. As a digital leader, I believe that leading by example will have a huge impact on teacher and student production. Giving them the tools, but then being a model of how to use them effectively will give a morale boost to the staff. This also falls under the servant leadership model that I follow. The needs for every school and staff will be different, so showing them that you are willing to invest in what “they need” to succeed, you are showing a belief in them as educators. This ties in with standard 1 because you are promoting a shared vision. Teachers are using the technology and you are helping them achieve the shared vision of the school. To implement a 1:1 ratio of technology is the first step and often the easiest. The hard part is implementing the technology into everyday life in the school and using it to create student achievement. Providing teachers with the resources and confidence to implement changes will have the largest impact on student learning.

Assignment #3

As a professional, we are in a day and age of instant judgement. To create a brand for yourself, you are putting yourself in the driver’s seat of public perception. Like it or not, everything that we do is creating our brand. In the fast company article and in class, we discussed that everything on the internet is public and is part of your brand. As a professional to start creating my own brand, I would like to start to connect with educators through twitter, facebook, and other social media sites to increase my brand. Also, to help form a professional brand, using the social media sites to connect other educators as a network. To do something “right now” I want to start working on presenting at workshops in the area. Starting with our school district and moving on to larger organizations. We are currently in the process of marketing our school, so this topic is very relevant to my current situation. We are using some media tools, brochures, and billboards. However, I think using social media can compliment these tools by allowing others to “like” and help get our name out to the public. The source of the information can be controlled by the school, but can allow others to “like” and help further our brand. This is also important to pass bonds and levies. Public or private, all schools must make their schools a positive brand. So what brand do we want as educators? We want to be progressive, effective, collaborative, and great communicators. Social media and technology can aid in creating this brand. Also, this is a positive model to community members in the use of technology and will hopefully spark a passion for technology in some students. Finally, regarding standard 2, administrators need to provide many outlets for all learners. Some technology platforms may not be appropriate for every student, but it will reach some students that would otherwise be lost. It could help motivate one student to come and stay in school to make it an effective use of time.