Reflective Essay #2

The main point I was able to take away from this book was that it is more of a guide or tool rather than just a book. This book does a great job with showing educational leaders multiple ways to connect to other leaders, staff members, parents/guardians, media, and community representatives. Within the pages of the book, they give you multiple tools to use to effectively communicate with all of the aforementioned stakeholders. The book examines social media tools such as Facebook, twitter, and blogs. Along with providing these useful insights, the book also offers suggestions and instructions on how to utilize these tools in a positive and safe environment. By showing readers how to use these types of technology they set readers up to be successful from the onset and they also provide some problem solving strategies and potential roadblocks that one may encounter along the way while trying to implement these new technologies into the school and the community as well. One of the biggest takeaways I have from this book was the utilization of how to successfully use social media in the event of a crises situation. I truly believe that so many in education today view social media as a large distraction of the daily sit and get, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. In a situation where the school may be in lock down or without power, cell phones and social media may be the only way to keep the district office, parents, community members, and staff in the loop. Being able to communicate with emergency services or the district office during such a crises could potentially be the difference between a horrible outcome, and an outcome that is much less tragic. The biggest challenge with technology in education that I still see on a daily basis is the reluctance of teachers to change what they are comfortable with. Don't we as educators want our students to think outside of the box and push out of their comfort zone from time to time? How can we ask this of our students, yet not be willing to take the leap ourselves? Again, I believe that with the proper introduction and training, the amount of reluctance toward introducing this technology into the schools would be exponentially less. As a future leader in education, I plan on pushing the use of technology within whatever building I am in, and not let any excuses block the way. From teacher complaints to fiscal deficiencies, I will tackle each situation head on know that my decision is always going to be based on what is best for kids. I would probably use this book as a staff development or try to get a book study approved from the district for my teachers to use to receive clock hours. Doing this would easily bridge the gap between some veteran teachers who are reluctant to try new things and hopefully open their eyes to the benefits of implementing this technology into our classrooms. The ultimate thing that I need to remember is that I can not just tell my staff to implement technology or use building money to buy something because it is the latest and greatest, but to be very purposeful in what I choose to incorporate into my school and then track any necessary data to ensure that the technology is actually paying off with student learning.

Technology in Math Prezi

Assignment #5

Prior to this week I had never thought of having a network that consisted of mainly online connections. At this point however, I truly believe that the connections we are building, especially through is an ever growing and evolving network that I will use from here on out. Whether I need to reach out to a cohort member for advice on a certain situation, or to reach out and research a district or individual where I will be having a potential job interview, the site has endless possibilities. LinkedIn will also help me stay connected with people who I have already established relationships with, and through those same people, I can grow my own network which will only help me in the future. After learning everything up to this point, I now feel confident that I am going to take back a few select items (blogging for sure) to share with my staff and to also use it as one of my projects so I will be essentially leading a professional development activity. Getting teachers to engage in creating their own blog where assignments can be updated daily, students can comment and ask questions on, will eliminate student emails to teachers, eliminate the need for a classroom website which can be very clunky at times for people to navigate. With a quick sentence or two, you can have almost instant access to your students and the students can have real time help for those teachers who are willing to reply to a quick blog post after dinner for a student who is struggling with something that was assigned on their homework. I will be pushing blogs to staff members by showing them how simple they are to set up and maintain. Teachers can even set up videos or links to certain websites or resources for the kids to assist them in homework or class concepts as well. This entire post relates to standard 3 simply because I am trying to empower teachers to think outside the box and use "newer" technology to empower their students to further their learning with those new resources. Another way that this connects to standard 3 is that I can use some of my resources within my PLN as potential "professionals" who could also do some professional development with my staff on technologies that we as a building are trying to implement. The PLN has literally endless uses for professionals in many facets of their day to day work.

Assignment #4

I think one of the main things that we can learn from others before us regarding the implementation of technology is simply to have a purpose before the actual implementation. Too often we are told to do something because it will benefit our kids, but we are not told how or why. According to the first Cuban article, "These devices will motivate students to work harder, gain more knowledge and skills, and be engaged in schooling, engaged students will achieve higher grades, students will be prepared for an information-driven labor market, high-tech devices will erase the gap in access to knowledge that exists between poor and wealthy, and using laptops and tablets will transform traditional teaching." These are the hard facts that educational leaders can use to explain why technology is changing the way that their students learn when asked by parents, school board members, or staff/students. As for implementing technology into the classroom to meet the CCSS, many schools are simply challenged from a fiscal standpoint. To combat this however there are grants and other avenues to pursue if one is willing to put in the work. With the CCSS indirectly implementing some types of curriculum into each building whether it be for common assessment or state assessments, teachers and administrators alike should embrace this opportunity to make the movement toward a more technological school/district. Again, when an administrator or district office figure starts the process of implementation of these technologies into the building, they NEED to make sure that proper training comes along with it or it will end up causing more headaches than its worth. Teachers will not have the same type of buy in, and the students will inevitably sense that as well and the motivation and excitement from the student end will now be minimized. The CCSS has opened the door for technology implementation into our public schools, now we as future leaders in education, need to push that door wide open and provide our students and staff with the necessary tools to ensure success on all levels by all individuals involved. The biggest takeaway from NETS A standard 1 is the "shared vision" piece. As an educational leader when you want to head in a new or different direction, there needs to be buy in from your staff. This buy in will increase productivity and give the staff a sense of investment into this new movement for the school. Staff can assist in finding and scheduling appropriate PD opportunities and trainings and can even become leaders and experts themselves when they get the information and they present to the rest of the staff. It is a great way to have a teacher build capacity within a building as well! The shared leadership approach makes the entire process of implementing the technology into the building so much easier all the way around.

Real world application of System of equations

Systems in the Real World! from Genny Phillips

Assignment #2

     Before I can become an advocate for any new technology being introduced to our school, I first need to make sure that the necessary stake holders have the proper training and resources in order for this technology to move forward. For staff proper training needs to be in place along with a roll out plan for how we intent to use this new technology.  When educators hold an understanding of technological strategies, they can be effective in guiding their teams. For parents and caregivers to our students, they also need to be aware of the changes that will be occurring so they can prepare as well, and if necessary try to provide them with any assistance necessary to ensure students can be successful outside of school if the technology requires them to do so. The following quote from Sheninger supports the idea of involving all stakeholders; "Successful growth in general takes place when the administrators, teachers, students and parents work together to support  schools and the learning process because Learning is Work." By involving all stakeholders  administrators are already incorporating the first two Pillars of Digital Leadership. At this point when you have all involved parties aware and properly prepared, the other pillars fall into place. Branding can be done by teachers and administrators who are comfortable with the technology and use it on a regular basis. When students see that teachers are bought in to the new technology, most will follow suit, hence pillar #4. From this point forward, there will need to be continuing education and follow up to ensure that the technology is being used to its fullest extent. Those last few steps are incorporating the final pillars, and when done well, the results of incorporating those technologies will hopefully pay off. 
      NETS-A Standard 4 - Systemic Improvement, suggests that administrators provide leadership and management to continuously improve the organization through the effective use of IT. By providing the appropriate PD for staff members and possibly parents and proper modeling the administrator meets the criteria of of the standard.

Reflective Essay #1

In Sheninger's book "Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times, he does not spend much time defining what or how to be a digital leader, but what he does do is to show the importance of the technological shift that we are in the middle of. Those of us who are becoming leaders in our school districts, we are the ones that will be leading the charge for this enormous change. Within the book there are several suggestions and ideas to assist in how to move forward with this new type of leadership. One very important part of the book discusses the "7 Pillars of Digital Leadership which includes communication, public relations, branding, student engagement/learning, professional growth/student development, re-envisioning learning spaces and environment, and finally opportunity. These seven pillars are great stepping stones for school administrators to try and impart change in their buildings where technology falls short.

The book also takes the lessons learned by other various leaders to try and show us future leaders different ways and the reasonings behind the technological change that these students are accustomed to and how to get the teachers that are resistant to change on board with where the future is going. Sheninger states that leaders and schooling have not changed much, but how students and staff are getting their information could not be more different, and to combat this a school leader needs to be proficient in the world of technology.

Having grown up and watching the evolve in front of my eyes makes me think back to the 5th grade when I had to do a state report on Florida so I went and found the F encyclopedia and gathered all of my research information from that book. If I were to tell my students today that they could not use the internet, but instead had to find an encyclopedia and gather their information from that, I would have 30 students looking at me like deer in headlights. I would be willing to be that less than 5 of those 30 students would even know what an encyclopedia is or even how to use it. Kids and adults alike are accustomed to instant information at the click of a button. As wonderful as this is in terms of turnaround time, there is still something to be said about digging through the information "the old way."

With technology advancing so much over the last 5-10 years it seems like a constant game of cat and mouse trying to get caught up with the latest technology. One question I do have is how do districts catch up and STAY caught up, especially with the funding issues surrounding education? This will be answered in time I'm sure, but for now all we can do is try our best to introduce new technology to our schools and provide the appropriate training/education for all stakeholders involved, and with more education regarding the technology, the apprehension to use it in the buildings will slowly fade away.