Professional Mentors

One of this week's reading assignments, "31 Days to Become a Better Leader", was a list of simple actions one can take to improve as an educational leader.  Many of the suggestions resonated with me, especially the idea of keeping a journal and setting up one-on-ones.  The idea of shadowing someone for a day and taking notes also sounded like it would be enlightening.  But the piece of advice I found most valuable is the idea of finding a mentor.  Throughout my career as a classroom teacher, I have been fortunate to have had a handful of mentors who have guided and inspired me.  I see the work of an administrator, although overseeing many more people than a classroom teacher, as being somewhat more isolated in ways.  The value of a good mentor would seem to be even more vital at that stage of one's career.  I have recently had the good fortune of meeting new professional from different areas of education and being exposed to their new perspectives and approaches has motivated me.  I believe the most effective leaders, educational or otherwise, have an ability to effectively lead through the current times and to see where the organization will be or should be headed.  Mentors, individual who have navigated there own way through the ups and downs, are an indispensable resource.

Here is a link the reading that sparked this blog:

Click here.

Guest Speaker: William E. Brannick

On February 11, William E. Brannick was the guest speaker for my Technology and Communications class.  Mr. Brannick is presently the principal of Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergrast Catholic High School.  Below are some points I took away from the conversation.

• More than ever, students have the ability to efficiently and effectively collaborate with one another across great distances- worldwide
• Issues and concerns regarding student misuse of technological equipment can often be managed through simple classroom management strategies
• Having a collaborative effort, drawing from all areas of the school community, is important in successfully selecting, implementing, and using technology
• There is a vast community of educators constantly communicating about technology and education and who are passionate about sharing ideas

The last point was perhaps the most impressive to me.  Mr. Brannick shared numerous anecdotes relating to the meaningful professional relationships he has developed with other professionals through online communities.  It is a unique situation to find oneself in, when meeting someone face-to-face for the first time after having shared ideas and strategies through online communication for months or years.  What stood out to me the most is that, just as with students, the resources available to educational leaders are more accessible and abundant than ever.  Traditionally, educational change has occurred slowly and gradually.  In this digital age, potential is there for change to happen at a speed and frequency not yet seen before.  I do not which direction things will move in the next 3 to 5 years, but I do know the most recent innovation that blew my mind will be deemed obsolete in not time.  Seems like the only way to truly stay current is to tap in to the online communities out there on the Web.

Below is a link to William E. Brannick's blog:

Click here.

The Technology Tool Belt

After reading this week's assignment, I couldn't get away from the idea of a figurative "technology tool belt" for educators.  What specific abilities or tools should we ask of teachers in the 21st century?  More specifically, in what ways do we require teachers to measurably demonstrate their abilities with technology.  How do we create opportunities for teachers to supply their technology tool belt and then provide space for them to "hammer and drill" to see what they can construct?  This is main idea I took from the blog.

Though I had never thought of it in the way presented in the article, it is interesting to ask why technology plans are not held to with the same discipline as athletic strategic plans or building construction plans.  My belief is that a fair amount school community members are not at the point where they view technology as gadgets used to present fancy and colorful.  This group includes everyone from principals, school boards, teachers, and even the taxpayers.  It is ironic the group most understanding of the potential that lies with technology in education, the students, are the ones who stand to suffer the most as schools continue to lack resources, randomly acquire resources, or fail to support teachers who genuinely wish to apply resources.

The blog contained a link to "23 Things", which featured a great visual conception of teachers' various options and avenues in the world of educational technology.  I think something as simple as this would be very effective in the effort to simply inform educators about all the possibilities that are out there.

Here is the link that sparked this blog post: Click

A great website relating to teaching and technology

I was introduced to this site through my grad class.  It features a huge and varied number of blog entries and resources that I find interesting and helpful to 21st century educators.
http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/

Protecting Technological Tools

An incident occurred at my school this week that made me think of an issue yet to be discussed in our course: property security.  Staying in line with to FERPA policies, I'll just say that some students were discovered stealing and re-selling other student's cell phones.  This made me realize that, with the use and distribution to new technological devices, there is a real need to create thoughtful and practical procedures to ensure that these tools are protected from theft and vandalism.  I don't mean to sound like an uptight alarmist, but with the presence of so many cutting-edge and expensive techonologies, we would be irresponsible as administrators if we did not proactively think about this issue.  Property security is not only a simple budgetary issue, but it is also a "school quality of life" issue.  Pulling back from a technological standpoint, the overall culture of a school is paramount.  As an administrator, having a safe work environment for teachers and students is among the top, if not the top, priority.