Reflection Essay #2

In my preparation for this essay I’m finding that many of my thoughts on digital leadership are starting to blur together, so if I repeat myself, I apologize. The first piece that I really took away from this text was the initial writings on generational differences. I specifically enjoyed the comparison of thought processes and the best ways to connect with each generation. Before reading this chapter I hadn’t thought about how inundated we are with new stories every day, and when looking forward to leading schools, our parents will expect to be updated not daily or weekly but hourly or even less when events are unfolding. I also thought the idea of generations today wanting choice in their educational options for not only themselves but their kids was insightful. I was then left wondering how do we provide this aspect of choice while still working within the confines of district, state, and federal regulations?

In the Facebook 101 chapter I was really interested in the logistical aspects of running a Facebook page for your school or group. As I’ve talked about before, I intend to create an orchestra Facebook page and use it to reach our students, parents, and community. I thought the insight of creating a page as opposed to a group was helpful, it provided much more privacy options along with better management options.

One of the major areas of concern in creating a Facebook page for a school group is the damage that can be done from one comment or post. I thought this book did a nice job of explaining different philosophies of restriction on pages. I particularly liked the less restrictive approach, that lets your members come to your defense when negative things are said. Ultimately, I think a balance of a restrictive approach and a less restrictive approach will need to be found.

In the chapter about Twitter, the piece I found most beneficial was the section highlighting good tweets versus bad tweets. This reminded me of the “hooks” I hear on the radio all the time that keep you listening through the commercials. I have already started experimenting with different ways to create “click-bait” with my posts. I’m sure as I continue to practice this, I will find some strategies more effective than others but my guess would be that a good blend is necessary.

Finally, I will be adjusting my utilization of blogs. Prior to reading this book and taking this class, I had viewed blogs as a vessel for people to rant about various topics. However, after reading this book and after the work that we have done in class, I have found huge value in blogs’ ability to share new ideas. I am truly dedicated to having a set time to search blogs to stay current on what is happening in education. All in all I thought it was a good book that provided some excellent strategies for utilizing social media today.

Assignment 5: Professional Learning Network

After taking inventory of my PLN my conclusion is that I am in desperate need of expansion. I have some great connections locally, but in terms of branching across the state and even the country, I have some work to do. I think as a part of this class I have already begun to expand my PLN across the state. This has been one of the pieces I have really enjoyed about these AMS classes, the connections state-wide that doesn’t seem to happen in similar programs.

In terms of expanding my PLN across the nation, my steps are going to include more activity on social media and blogging, and looking into different conference opportunities where professional connections could be made. Looking forward, my goal is to check twitter and Feedly daily. This will help me stay in touch not only with what is happening in the world of education but keep me current on new ideas. Secondly, I am looking into professional organizations that would help me network with educational leaders at the state and national levels.

As NETS standard 3 states, we have a duty as educational leaders to then pass on our learning to our staff in a way that empowers them. This could be as simple as sending out a helpful or inspiring article that we came across, or as complex as organizing a professional development session on a new strategy. Other options include providing time at staff meetings for staff to share ideas, or even promoting technological leaders in your building to help staff discover new ways of doing things. Whatever it is we do, we have to, again, ensure that we are empowering educators so that they can enhance student learning.

Assignment #4 Connectedness

I think in terms of 1:1 initiatives and BYOD initiatives we need to treat it like anything else implemented in education. The success of these programs is not going to be determined by merely possessing these pieces of technology, but instead the extent to which they are implemented. We are seeing this in education with similar programs, like PBIS where some schools really struggle to utilize PBIS as a program, but others seem like magical places with little to no discipline issues. Technology initiatives are no different. Once the initiatives are put in place, the focus needs to shift over to development and implementation.

Professional development will partially fall on the shoulders of the school district, but a vast majority of development will need to be implemented by the building principals. I think it is also important to mention that as buildings are working on teaching staff how these devices can be used in the classroom, it is just as important for staff to understand how these devices can be utilized within a subject area. As a leader I plan to utilize PLCs as a space where ideas about how to use these devices can be shared. Ideas can then be presented to the whole staff followed by more reflection time to see if there are common techniques that can be used in multiple subject areas.

As a leader I think I need to become much more versed in the common core state standards, so that I can better help teachers in the different ways they can incorporate technology in their classroom. I think I can also be up to date and model current tech tools so that staff can see the use and hopefully apply that use to their classroom. Finally, I need to ensure that my strategies for teaching adults are sound. I don’t think I’ll have very much success if I teach staff members like I teach my current students. However, if I take into account how most adults learn, I will not only be more effective with my teaching but there’s a better chance that I’ll spark a few ideas.

Reflective Essay #1

Eric Sheninger’s book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times provides some phenomenal insights as to how technology and social media can be utilized in public schools. My initial thoughts were that the first three and a half chapters came across as preachy and provided little insight as to how schools could specifically implement change. However, in chapter 4, once they said, if you don’t share your story, someone else will, and it will most likely not have the positive spin you want, I was hooked.

Since I’m not a building principal yet, I started using this book to find ways that I could enhance how I lead our orchestra programs in Bethel. This way, when I am interviewed I will be able to talk about how I previously used technology to make the programs I led more effective and how I could apply that the building level.

Shenninger writes about the importance of a clear vision for technology in your system. I started reflecting on my community and the technology they utilize most. Being apart of several neighborhood news groups on Facebook, I decided that Facebook would be the best platform for connecting to my community. Our high school orchestra already has a Facebook page, but when I assessed it, it became clear it was not being utilized very effectively. This is probably because I have provided little to no guidance as to how I want this page used.

As I continued reading through the book, chapter 5 and 6 focused on communication and public relations, which made me reflect on my main forms of communication in school. I use e-mail, our Skyward messaging system, and rely heavily on word of mouth to get information home. Needless to say, the effectiveness of my communication has been hit and miss. I decided that Facebook would be an excellent way to get information home to parents. A vast majority of my students’ parents are on Facebook daily, so to not utilize that method of communication seems ignorant to me now. My students on the other hand, seem to access Twitter more than Facebook, so next year I will be using two different platforms to communicate with two different subgroups of my stakeholders.

Chapter 7 of this book focused mostly on branding, which made me assess not only how my program is viewed as a brand, but how I am viewed as a brand. The idea is presented in the book that every time someone sees or hears your name, they have several labels that immediately and subconsciously go through their head. After reading this, I began taking inventory of what classifications people were putting me in. I then decided that not only did I need to be more active on Facebook and Twitter, but that my posts needed to be aligned with what I wanted people to associate me with. Using this as a guide, I am now slowly but surely molding my brand into what I want it to be.

In conclusion, Sheninger ended up providing some extremely useful insights to digital leadership. I can say that as a reader I will be making some immediate changes to how I connect with my stakeholders. How effective these changes will be remains to be seen, but I think a vast majority of them will yield some pretty stellar results. 

Assignment 3: Culture

As mentioned in previous assignments, one of the biggest things I need to do to better brand myself is to become more active on social media. I’ve had a Facebook account since college, but I maybe make 3 or 4 posts a year. I rely too heavily on other people to report my news and projects, which has resulted in many events not getting shared. This year I have set the goal to make at least one Facebook and Twitter post a week in order to take control of my branding. This will help me with NETS Standard 2b in modeling and promoting frequent and effective use of technology for learning.

Getting to the personal branding, I want others to view my professional self as kind and compassionate, empathetic, graceful, loyal, tenacious, hard-working, intelligent, and level headed. The work then becomes how do I communicate those characteristics with the platforms available to me? I think more than anything these characteristics will be guiding elements when I’m crafting my personal marketing, constantly asking myself “Does this represent the characteristics I want to be viewed as?”

In terms of tools that could be utilized to create a brand for your school, the obvious choices are social media such as Facebook or Twitter. The lesser-used platforms for promoting a positive school brand are at band, orchestra, and choir concerts. Places like sporting events, and drama productions are excellent places to make sure that your school is marketing the amazing projects happening inside its walls. Any opportunity where parents and community members are gathered provide an excellent time to share building news. In our world of digital everything it can be easy to overlook the value of face-to-face interactions.

The other shift I think I need to make is viewing my life happenings as projects rather than life events. This came from the Forbes & Fast Company readings. I have struggled with sharing on social media at the risk of sounding conceded or narcissistic, but I think approaching social media with the purpose of sharing your projects sits differently with me. The truth is, I do have stakeholders and they are interested to see what I’m working on, (I know this because they ask about it every time I see them) and now I have a platform to communicate more efficiently.