Module 4 Connected Themes

After reviewing Module 4 discussion posts and replies, I've detected a recurring theme in regards to the type of professional learning/development the members of the class would like to implement:
Personalized, time to practice the skill, motivating, timely, support, improve professionally, impact student success, ongoing practice and authentic.  

You have made meaningful connections to this module and helped others synthesize the resources and readings. My hope is this: Go and advocate for the type of PL or PD teachers really need! You know what needs to be done, take a step or two and suggest your research-based ideas and needs to your administrative team.  Create a PLN and use the research and evidence to support your thoughts and experiences. Looking forward to Module 5.  

Also, I forgot to mention something we are really pushing in my school. I've been trying to establish consistent peer to peer observations as professional learning - it's powerful! It takes time to work-out a schedule, but it is well worth it!                    

Module 4 Brandon Haggerty

Professional development should be what we as educators strive toward in our careers. For me personally I receive a lot of my professional development at yearly music educator conferences where speakers and program leaders give sessions on everything from new innovative techniques and ideas for the classroom, to going into detail for education resources. One of the most useful things I learned at these conferences was on the computer program Smart Music, a program that allows students to explore a wide range of musical literature as well as improve their musicianship.

I find these music conferences to be an excellent professional development courses, especially for music educators such as myself, primarily because it is run by other music educators from a variety of schools, leadership positions, and backgrounds, giving us conferences goers a wealth of experience to learn from and absorb.

My PD strategy for my TI Initiative I plan on using establishing a “community of practice” where educators are engaged in learning through technology together to improve technology integration into the curriculum. It is my belief that using this “community of practice” is key in maintaining professional development. I think the biggest challenge facing me is actually being a manager. I am by nature not by inspiration, but realizing people’s natural strengths.

“Brand-ed” School Leadership is the showcasing of a schools positive features, as well as what sets it apart from other schools. This can come in the form of the schools professional brand, or a school leader’s personal brand. Branding as a form a leadership has come into prominence with the popularity of social media, where it is becoming increasingly easy for school leaders to establish their schools brand, as well as keeping the public aware of developments within the school.  

I have very little actual experience with PLN’s in an online way, with the exception of these courses. Off-line even though I am not part of the school system my current employment at a local music store that provides to all the most schools in North Central West Virginia has allowed me to for close ties and relationships with many of the state’s music educators, in all levels of the school system. That being said, I think that using PLN’s in the workplace to promote professional growth and development is a great idea, and one that I am open to using in the future. 

Module 4: Brianna Jones

•What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or leadership practices.       
I think that an effective professional development strategy is making sessions that teachers can relate to with their students or with their content. If professional development meetings are meaningful to educators then they will feel like it was effective and that they were taking something away from it that they could implement or utilize in their classrooms. Last year we had professional development sessions that were broken into 30minute classes. Teachers were given 6 different classes that were offered and we chose 6 different sessions that we wanted to go to. It was great because it led to me wanting to teach a session this school year about the library and how students and teachers can use online sources that coordinate with our collection. Going to those courses last year helped me understand what I needed to do and what teachers were looking for when it came to choosing the sessions that they wanted to attend.

•What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?
The professional development opportunity that I just talked about above was very effective because I was able to attend different sessions that I could use and bring back into the classroom. The professional development sessions that we were able to choose from were very beneficial and each teacher was able to take different aspects away from him or her. I really liked that we were able to choose the ones that we wanted to attend. We had a say with what we wanted to get from the different sessions.

•What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative? How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative?
I would like to have a lecture type session but have teachers come down during their content area time. I want to be able to have teachers have a hands on approach and by having them come in during their department time there will be less teachers and more time to actually use the technology and get a feel on what they want to use it for. At my school we are divided into our content area, so to have teachers utilize the technology in the best way possible for them, I think that by having different sessions to go to would help them. I would work with math content first, then English, etc. That way I can see what they are wanting from the given technology and how they can best utilize it in their classes. By having a leader come in and display the software would be the best way to do it.

•What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment and/or the resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?
To provide a successful professional development for our teachers, I am going to research what the teachers will need and collaborate with my administrators on what they think. I want to make it a positive environment and have teachers open to trying and learning about new technology sources that they can implement in their classrooms.
           
•Please also share any literature or resources you are using to refine your focus and develop your plan.
Right now I have been talking to the administrators, technology teacher, and other teachers that use technology at my school to gain information to help with my plan.

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 7-8)

Chapter 7 Branding
What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?
In chapter 7 it says, “ a brand-ed leader expands relationships with business and education partners for better schools. Leaders make their own brand and use it in everything that they do. They make it known in and out of school about their brand. Reading this made me think about name brands that are very well known to teachers and students. I know that when I want to purchase anything for the library then to always look at a Demco source. By knowing that brand you are making it popular and are always utilizing what they have to offer.

Chapter 8 Professional Growth and Development
After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks?  Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development?
Yammer is something that I use and it is provided by Microsoft Office 365. It is an online discussion page that educators can access with their 365 accounts. Yammer is a great resource when I want to discuss different topics or issues with fellow teachers or even fellow librarians.

Module 4- Amanda Smith

I just want to start by saying that I don't work in the public school setting like a lot of you do, and so my ideas are strictly based on 4 semesters of teaching math here at FSU and the cloud that surrounds that. As I read through everyone else's posts, I feel like my "ideas" lack the right type of teaching experience. Overall, I really enjoy reading your first hand experiences and what you have learned from them. 

1) What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or leadership practices.

My thoughts are that you people need to have a hands on learning experience and in order to do that, they need to be given the chance to learn from others who are in that current position. I don't think that just reading or listening to a lecture is the best way. Everyone learns differently, and in my opinion, hands on, engaging discussions and activities are the best approach.

Over the summer, the Math department brought in two different speakers to discuss with us the changes that they had made in their curriculum, which were very closely related to what we are currently working on. The first speaker was amazing! Her school in PA had a few semesters under their belts with this new math support system. She presented us with an interactive power point, we asked her questions, and overall it felt more just like an informal meeting among friends rather than a speaker that we all just met. She gave us great ideas and some examples of what did and didn't work for her school.

Unfortunately, the second speaker wasn't as helpful, but only because her information and experience was just too different than what we were looking for. She was slightly informative and gave a few ideas, but being honest, overall, I was disappointed because I walked away having no new outlook on my teaching ability and no ideas that I knew I wanted to use.



2) What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?

I think what made it so effective for me was that I had the change to be an active participant. I wasn't just bombarded with a bunch of boring information. We had a blended crowd...there were a lot of actual professors there who have years of experience, some students workers, people with only bachelor's degree, and people with master's degree. I liked hearing different point of views from people who are currently in the position that I want to be in on day.



3) What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative? How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to be doing just yet. I do know for sure that I will meet with Beth Thompson, coordinator of math support. In passing, I mentioned this to her and she said "Oh we will have lots to talk about!" This has to be my first step and all strategies will stem from this meeting. 

4) What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment and/or the resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?

According to Mary Beth Hertz's blog, "schools need to ensure that they have a network of mentors and can provide an adequate number of coaches to support teachers' technology integration efforts". I couldn't agree more. For example, the room that I teach in underwent a makeover this summer and is now equipped with all new computers, a document camera, and a computer that allows you to write on the screen with a special pen and it be displayed to the students (I don't know what that's called!). Since day one of the semester, this special pen has been broken. I really don't know how to use this new technology, and the best I can do with it is to get the document camera to work, and that is even still sometimes a fight.

The point I'm trying to make here is that if I am going to be providing some type of new technology, or upgraded even, then I firmly believe that I need to provide correct training on how to use it. It's no good to me if I don't know how to use it, and therefore I can't and I'm not implementing it in my everyday classroom. This is an injustice for the people who worked to get it in there, the students who don't get a chance to see/use it, and to myself because I am unable to add this new technology to my repertoire.



Chapter 7:  Branding

What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?


To me, brand-ed school leadership is simply how you represent your school. Obviously, it's not just that simple, but it's a good start. Just like the reputations of the brands that we know and love, brand-ed is a way to build a "fan base" for your school. You can market your school and get the word out telling the community about your school: it's values, it's culture, student achievements, funding, resources, create and share content, have two-way conversations, and just be an overall connector or your school, students, parents, and the whole community.

I think this line from chapter 7 sums it up nicely: "The creation and maintenance of a brand presence rely on the consistent and targeted use of social media for school communications and public relations. When combined with traditional methods, a leader's and school's brand will be established and resonate throughout the school and education community" (p.113-114)

Chapter 8: Professional Growth and Development

After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks? Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development?

I don't have much experience with PLN at all; only the blogs that I use for this class and EDUC 6810. I personally have a Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram account, none of which I use for school related reasons.

I do think that using a PLN could be an option in my current workplace setting. I could use some of the tools mentioned in the text to establish my own PLN and just go from there. I did create a Twitter account waaay back in the day, however, I've never used it and have long forgotten the password. I also took a business class during undergrad and was required to create a LinkedIn account. Again, I made it and that was it. Th tanks to this class, I have and use frequently a Google+ account. So it seems that I am already familiar with and connected through several online tools. Now, all I would need to do, is actually put these tools to work in the right area so that I could utilize them to their potential and create my PLN.

Also, I recently learned trough a comment on someone else's post that FSU has an online presence on many of these social media sites. It could be possible for me to somehow connect to that as well. To my knowledge, the Math department doesn't have anything in place that I could piggyback off of.

Branded or Otherwise Marked?

When I think of branding I’m immediately transported back to the days on the farm when we put our mark on our animals. While these marks were designed to discourage thieves it also started me thinking about all the other reasons we made these marks. The best example for comparison comes from the mark we used to identify spayed heifers. Since we did our own spaying we developed our own mark (before all the ohhhs and aaahs it served a vital purpose) to quickly identify those heifers. Here’s the connection… branding according to Rubin (paraphrased) is to recognize the speaker or leadership based on what and how the communication is being communicated. This was the very exact thing our mark did, by visibly identifying a dovetail crop in the middle bottom of the left ear (on the right as you looked at the heifer) you instantly knew several pieces of information… Open (not pregnant), vaccinated, Ral-grow…. I know this seems like a stretch, but in my experience this is how connect learning. Students are always asking or wanting to know how the things they learn are going to be used in adult life and if you cannot help them make those connections then it’s not relevant and therefore rendered Not valuable or worth remembering.

Brand-ed leadership, to me, is a way for others to recognize a style or theory before you spend a great deal of time researching or reading more about what is being communicated. For instance, I consider myself a Constructivist and my teaching style causes me to design lessons that seek to activate prior knowledge, struggle with new concepts, scaffold understanding, and then demonstrate understanding (not necessarily a test).  Brand-ed leadership / communication lead me directly to the style and ideology… like the product branding example Band-Aid… nobody says, “I need an adhesive bandage strip” they say, “I need a Band-Aid.” There is no doubt or ambiguity about what they want or need. Good leaders begin to “brand” their style of leadership and communication so others can and will recognize exactly where they are headed. When you are known as the teacher / leader that is always focused on student achievement through relevant engagement, how do others know that? Branding… just like the example in the reading… Volvo purportedly sells safety or safest cars, not just a car manufacturer.  The Brand-ed school has really caught on in the most recent past as a way for schools to lay a foundation of desired behaviors… like the “The 7 Habits” or “The Leader in Me”, which link positive behavior to student achievement. My county is building on the PBIS model in each of the schools and each school creates what that looks like or means to them. We adopted the Phoenix as the ALC (Alternative Learning Center) Mascot, which led to ARISE… Attendance Respect Integrity Safety Excellence. In a word, this acronym addresses the most critical issues that face the students of the 5 different schools in the same building. By communicating effectively the message and modeling the attributes of these words within the word the students and stakeholders can easily recognize the goals and mission of the school.

PLNs like PD 360 and others offer the consumer a way to select interest driven professional development as it attempts to address individual needs vs. the “one size fits all” model. We had PLN opportunity on the standard opening day policies that many seasoned veterans could recite forward and backward as a way to offer other PD / CE opportunities in content specific areas. In some way PLNs are similar to some online classes in that they present the material the consumer answers a few questions you get credit… the learning or understanding may be questionable??? This gives me a great Segway into my ideal PD… First some things are just necessary whether you like it not, like washing the dishes… understanding certain policies is Not optional. That said; treat those policies like a teacher teaching a subject… It’s no secret that everyone that teaches generally teaches the subject they like the most…IE math teachers love math… does every student love math???? NOOOOOOOO, but do they have to learn math? YESSSSSSSSS. So, it goes with PD… does anyone like policy training? NOOOOOOOOOO, but does everyone need to know policy? YESSSSSSSSS.  The tricks of the trade are finding ways to make the subject interesting, authentic, and relevant. Good teachers do just that every day in the classroom and good leaders / administrators need to find a way to do that with PD. Interactive technology and PBLs are a good place to start. Example: McKinney – Vento: you could go through the state and county policy or you could assign groups to develop an action plan for newly identified students that find themselves homeless for whatever reason… this type of PD would go far beyond the minimum understanding of the PL100-77 (1987). If attendance is the dominate issue plaguing your school then just understanding the “attendance policy” does nothing to address or fix the problem, but assigning independent groups to define the problem… and submit possible solutions does multiple things… provides a better understanding of the policy (defining the problem forces you to know what the policy states), offers a variety of possible solutions because you have created multiple groups to address the same problem, and lastly you build instant ownership into the solution you implement because of how it was defined. Why would we as teachers and leaders subject ourselves the very things we do NOT like when we are the students and furthermore why would we as teachers and leaders subject our students to those same things? Are you kidding me? “Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That!”(Brand-ed)

Module 4 - Laura Funk

1.    What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or leadership practices.  

I think professional development is essential to a well-oiled team of teachers in a school.  Professional development opportunities engage teachers in brainstorming outside of the classroom environment where we can be “re-inspired, re-energized, and generally revved up!”  I have been to several professional development opportunities, all of which have been offered during the summer for some type of compensation.  Usually a stipend, which gives a bit of extra motivation for some to attend during our “off-season.”  Anyway, these professional developments have been offered as a one-shot workshop to introduce the information and services available for us (the teachers) to utilize.  I like the idea of one-shot workshops because then teachers have the knowledge to take from it and adapt and integrate it into our classrooms as we see fit.  I think this type of workshop does wonders to help teachers mix things up and add some flavor to their curriculum.  However, I do like the idea of having follow up workshops for teachers to collaborate and bring back their integration methods of the said material to share with others.  OR possibly have a public blog forum to post their reflections after some time has passed from the workshop.  I think this type of sharing and reflection is essential for us as teachers to glean from it what we find most valuable and teachable for our students and our subject.  An example of this is when I attended a “Physical Activity Training” in the spring.  I learned how to add physical activity and movement into my classroom to improve students’ health and to encourage them to pursue healthy lifestyles.  I took the key strategies I found the most beneficial, and have slowly integrated them into my weekly routine.  My goal is to include movement in my classes twice a week.  I can’t use all of the presented strategies, but I’ve adapted what will work for me and feel confident in my path of encouraging students to be healthy and physically active.  I am trying to spread the movement in my school, so have signed my school up for the 100 mile club movement challenge online.  Our goal is to get to 100 miles by walking or running that distance during the school year within the school day.  I have asked the physical education teachers to join me and will encourage the rest of the staff gradually throughout the year.  We will see if we make the challenge by June 1^st 2016! 

       

2.    What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?

In reference to the Physical Activity Training, I feel the most effective part of this professional development was that any teacher, regardless of subject could walk away from the day with something to take back to their school and classroom.  The workshop itself had hands-on methods demonstrated throughout.  I obviously could not utilize every strategy presented because of my lack of space and equipment.  BUT – I also plan to move locations throughout the year and utilize the outdoors, the cafeteria, or the commons if needed.  One must change the environment to suit the specific need.  The classes were structured to be guidelines and give us general strategies to use among a variety of methods and settings.  I found it to be the most effective professional development I have ever attended.  PLUS (BONUS***), the head of the workshop continues to send us emails with links to push ideas further in our classrooms and to give us additional resources to check out on our own.   It is a simple thing to send an email, but it serves as a way of reminding us of our commitment to movement and re-energizes us with new things to try.  This is his way of following up with us and checking in – so helpful and encouraging!

3.    What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative? How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative.

I think a workshop method is effective for a professional development.  It could be organized into various youtube video clips to get information across if I wanted to go digital instead of face-to-face interactions.  I do think if it were a workshop strategy I would need a follow-up forum where participants can get assistance and ask specific questions.  Ideally pairing participants off with mentors to assist smaller group concerns would be ideal.  I haven’t figured it out entirely yet, but I would like more than just a one-shot experience.  I want it to be a developing experience where the group learns from each other and grows as a collective.  I think any collaborative strategy is effective and as long as the participants’ feel confident and supportive the work will show that hard work and enthusiasm.

4.    What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment and/or the resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?

To provide leadership to successful professional development one needs to be organized and have a well thought out plan of attack.  The professional development needs to address specific needs of the participants and have clear-cut developmental outcomes.  I scored high on self-confidence, positive attitude and outlook, providing a compelling vision for the future and emotional intelligence.  I think I could successfully deal with the issues needed in professional development administration.  The ever-present challenges would be addressing each specific need of the participants and gaining a large enough team to be able to knowledgably mentor the participants as they attempt to integrate the new knowledge and methods into their own classrooms.  This equals out to be a large amount of time invested for all involved, so the team would need to be proactive and have can-do attitudes throughout.

5.    Please also share any literature or resources you are using to refine your focus and develop your plan.

I am looking at Edutopia’s “Technology Integration” resources.  For example, “The LAUSD iPad Initiative: 5 Critical Technology Integration Lessons” (Linked below).

Ipad Initiative

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 7-8)

Chapter 7  Branding

6.    What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?  

To me, “Brand-ed” school leadership is collectively deciding what you want to represent your school?  Like our school has adopted a brand we call “Keys to Success.”  These “keys” we live and breathe are 3 components of our all-encompassing attitude.  We want to promote respect, responsibility, and volunteerism.  We as a group all try to demonstrate these 3 “keys” regularly.  We also give students actual key rewards at the end of each week.  Teachers write on a slip of paper the student’s name and what key they demonstrated and a small summary of what the student did to demonstrate that key.  It works well as a system of recognition because it is something that motivates, encourages and inspires others through proof of action and results that come from specific behaviors.  We branded our school with this key mentality and everyone establishes their behavioral structure around these main principles.  I think it works and has proven to be a positive re-structuring of our school brand in the last 2 years.  Branding happens in different ways, but for now this is my primary example of my understanding of the term. 

Chapter 8 Professional Growth and Development

7.    After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks?  Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development?

I don’t think my county has much personalized learning networks.  We do have our professional development site page where teachers can log on and sign up for available professional development opportunities, but that is it as far as I know.  Most of our networks are set up to get information out to the public. 

This class and our blog is a personal learning network of sorts.  I know it has been established for a grade, but we do build on each other and help expand our understanding of our readings and experiences. 

Personally, I am working on expanding my worldly experience through travel, so I have been working on a travel blog with my husband to share our experiences with certain cruise companies or travel excursions so that others may learn and structure their vacations based on what we have shared.  I also trained for the Morgantown half marathon (completed it last month) and am beginning training for a full marathon, which could also be an avenue subject where I share my training schedule, gear, tips, etc.  It is all still in its infancy stages though, but I am personally working on a learning network of some kind, just not one in a professional capacity at the moment. 

Module 4: Things are heating up!

What are your thoughts about effective professional development strategies? Describe a professional development opportunity that led to your adoption of new teaching or    leadership practices.      

I think that professional development is effective when the presenters walk the teacher through what they the teacher would need to do or see the strategy in action. At the last WVSTA conference I saw someone from FSU do a workshop for the Solar Army and I saw it as an opportunity for my HSTA club students to do cutting edge research close to home. I did not only that, but also got involved with the program. I have been helping with some research, but doing mostly outreach to get their word out and having more people know about this wonderful program they are offering. solararmy.org for those that are interested.

   

What made this professional development opportunity effective from your perspective?

It made it effective because they brought in the equipment they use for the experiments and let us use them. They explained everything they do in a presentation, but also gave us some hands on opportunities. The friendliness of the presenters was also a large factor because they made me feel wanted in this project.

What is the PD strategy or strategies you plan to use in your Technology Integration Initiative?

I really do think that a workshop style and I think that if I was able to make an online workshop (sort of like a teleconference) it would be great. Since the technology component will more than likely an online entity I can include instructions to download the program and just guide the participants through it will a live streaming system.

How will this strategy or strategies help you achieve the outcomes for your TI Initiative

What will you need to do to provide leadership to successful professional development (here you might think back on the results and your analysis of your Leadership Assessment  and/or the  resources/challenges present in the context for delivering professional development)?

I’m not exactly sure what this question is asking, but here we go. In my leadership assessment I struggled in emotional intelligence and being a good role model. I am not sure if emotional intelligence comes into play that much with an online workshop, but I think that planning out what I need to say and how I say it will help me reach my audience better. Being a good role model will come out in the form of the online workshop because the live stream will be an example of me leading by example. This online workshop will help me reach teachers everywhere and show them how great the product or strategy is in real time.

Please also share any literature or resources you are using to refine your focus and develop your plan.

I guess the only resource I have found helpful is the FSU online library and I ask Dr. Deb Hemler a lot of questions lol.

Chapter 7  Branding

What is "Brand-ed" School Leadership?  (Post to blog)

From what I understand it sounds like a Brand-ed school leadership is equivalent to a salesman. The company hires professionals in the field to advocate for their product and probably provided a monetary reward for such services. I think of these as the people you see at conferences that were once school teachers, but now tour around to different conferences attempting to get educators into their company's product. It’s like working for the man, man!

Chapter 8 Professional Growth and Development

After reading Chapter 8, what experience do you have with PLN – Personal Learning Networks?  Do you think using PLN would be an option in your workplace setting to promote professional growth and development? (Post to blog)

Well I guess I just have experience with local PLN. I have the people I work with at FSU and the others in my classes. I have participated in some webinars that branch out from just the local group I typically work with. THat is about the extent of my experience, I think. I am 100% sure that a PLN would be great at FSU. At least one that is sort of like a website where other educators can post and share ideas to everyone else at the college. We do it a lot now through emails or showing them off during meetings. Emails are still important to communicating in the 21st century, but we need more 24 hour access options to materials and I think a dedicated PLN would be an amazing tool for the college.

Module 3

In the reading it talks about how school leaders can use the power of different social media sites and their ability to complement one another, such as Twitter and Facebook, in order to improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency. In this opening section it talks about how social media can be used to inform “stakeholders” to everything from athletic team updates, weather, and emergencies. The reading also has the four key principles that lay the foundation for communicating effectively with parents: transparency, honesty, accessibility, and flexibility.  Another thing that is discussed is eFACE (Electronic Family and Community Engagement). eFACE is just another method that leaders can use in order to improve the relationship between school leaders, educators, students, and parents, along with the whole community.

I am currently a student finishing up my undergrad degree in Music Education as well as starting on the road to obtain my master’s degree. I am also currently working as an instrument repair tech at a local music store while I am finishing up my degree. The closest thing to social media in relation to those things would be the blog postings that we do in the digital media program. In this format I have found that after some time it has become easier to communicate my thoughts, where I have always personally struggled in this regard.    

Setting Goals for Professional Learning

I tried something new this year in my school for professional learning goals. Instead of administering the "usual" professional learning survey, I decided to put the ownership of goal setting on the teachers' "plates".  My teachers set goals, and now I will help support, promote and document their achievements toward their goals. Part of being a leader/teacher is setting goals, getting feedback and figuring out how to continue growing professionally.  I'm anxious to see how this unfolds throughout the year.

I was recently asked by an administrator:  What do you think the differences are between an instructional coach and a leader?  Anyone want to guess my answer.... :)

In Response to Rafe's Visual: Building Student Relationships

A must watch...

https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en#t-6437

While reading Rafe's Module 3 post, it brought to mind this TedTalk by Rita Pierson. Ms. Pierson passed away in 2013.

I presented this TedTalk to a large group of teachers, some clapped, some cried, and many were speechless. Most of us sat in silent reflection.

Module 3: Leaders are Learners Too

This module asks for my thoughts on leadership. I'll start with WVPTS and ISTE because Standard #1 in both of these is the one that speaks the most to me: It may seem an odd choice to begin with because both standards deal with curriculum design and planning, but this is where leadership and pioneering new technology and learning strategies can and are modeled. My philosophy can be best explain using a standard 12 inch rule as a visual representation... to me the ruler looks like this...

 This is Not to imply that content knowledge is not important it is vitally important, but rather the idea that content knowledge is useless without the other two components. Leaders find ways to create learning opportunities that focus on student achievement by integrating technology and engaging lessons to me this speaks more to the qualities of leadership. The ISTE standard 3 speaks to modeling and I would agree that this was a very close second to the creativity and inspiration talked about in ISTE standard 1... because to me the ideas of inspiring students through well thought out and creative lessons and activities seek to engage the student beyond learning or mimicking to thinking and rethinking, even innovating something new. Piaget said, “The principle goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done....” which speaks to the shift from learning how to learn... to learning how to think. The Five Core Principles were a little harder to find the leadership ideology that suits my way of thinking, in fact I am always a little disappointed whenever I read these core principles because the principles are what every teacher should be doing. Number 5 says, "teachers are members of learning communities" doesn't really speak to leadership unless you add... teachers are always helping teachers be better teachers... teachers are always learning from other teachers... teachers can learn from students... If that's what they mean then yes #5 speaks to me about leadership.

Pathways (Ironic maybe... However, I teach in the Option Pathway Program) and there are many (see the previous use of the TEAM acronym) for teachers to choose when thoughts of leadership come to mind. The traditional role of school administrator is probably the one most talked about, yet many of those were leader teachers before they became the leader of the school... team leader, department chair, class sponsor, club sponsor...etc. Some teachers are even cultivated by current leaders to become a future leader or dare I say... replacement. This lay the foundation to answer the question: What does my leadership development program entail... if its generic or one size fits all (like what the system currently models) then it is by pure luck (the leader was already in the person) to produce good leaders. I think the leadership development must target the position: example Principal... elementary, middle, or secondary? rural, suburban, or urban? cultural diversity demographics, ethnicity, ESL? private or public? affluent or low SES?  The answers to these questions would drive the types of experiences and curriculum for future administrators. I would offer a book study as the first assignment to assess potential candidates; Please Read, Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner "Teaching as a Subversive Activity"  (complete pdf) lively debate should ensue. Of course, other positions would fall under a similar type of candidate selection... should the department chairperson simply be the teacher with the most seniority? highest degree? most popular? It should be the person determined to help all students achieve. 

My technology needs exist around something I have very little control over... internet reliability. I'm very fortunate in my position, we have 1 to 1 26" desktops, 1 to 1 iPads, Elmo document camera, 2-Elmo remote projection tablets, USB microscope eye piece, Mac Airbook, HP laptop,  Elmo projector w/ dvd player, 2 - 65" TVs, 1 - 32" TV, external speakers, Xbox 360, Wii, and dvd/vhs player. I am trying to access more online tools and resources.

Many innovative administrators are utilizing social media sites and tools as a way to engage the changing community, with virtual classrooms and telecommuting meetings can be more accessible. Because many social media websites are offered free there seems to be few reasons not to be using them to engage the community, it also offers a way for the school system to model positive uses of the social media networks.

While the program I work in is housed at the Harrison County ALC (Alternative Learning Center) it is not technically part of the ALC, but we still participate in the school's mission and initiatives. The ALC has a link on the HARCOBOE website: ALC, which provides information about the staff and programs offered as well as Parent resources located in school. The school also uses "LiveGrades" as a tool to communicate with students and parents.

Module 3: Brianna Jones

 ◦Where do the ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS "speak" to or promote teacher leadership, particularly leadership for technology integration?

ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS all promote teacher leadership for technology integration by using standards that teachers should follow in their classrooms.

ISTE is geared toward providing teachers, administrators, coaches, and etc. standards to help them become better leaders in the 21^st century. Right on the front page it says that the standards are helping “transform education with the guidance of the global standards for learning, teaching, and leasing in the digital age.” The website provides resources for teacher that can help them become leaders in the digital age.

NBPTS is national board certification standards for teachers that are national board certified. Teachers are aware of their students learning patterns and have multiple ways of teaching the same concept. They are leaders by collaborating with their fellow teachers and working together with the community. Teachers are finding new and creative ways to teach students today and that goes along with using technology. They are able to reflect on their lessons and make changes when needed.

WVPTS gives teachers standards that are using when being evaluated by the administration. These standards are what teachers should go by when reflecting on their teaching and finding new ways to engage their students in the classroom.  There are five different standards that are in the WVPTS. Standard 4A is the best example of teachers being digital leaders. The standard states that” the teacher engages in professional learning to critically examine his/her professional practice and to engage in a continuous cycle of self-improvement focused on how to learn, teacher and work in a global, digital society.”

◦There are typically three pathways to teacher leadership for practicing teachers: a pathway for teachers who leave their classrooms to move into formal administrative positions as school leaders, a pathway for teachers who remain in their classrooms to develop and share a deeper knowledge base about teaching with their students and colleagues, and a pathway that bridges the two previously mentioned paths, that is for teachers who spend part of their time in a classroom and part of their time taking on additional administrative and professional development responsibilities. If you were designing a program or professional development intended to prepare teacher leaders to take advantage of these multiple pathways, what would it look like? What learning experiences would you include?

I would have a professional development session that included past and present administrators. They would be the guest speakers and would talk to the teachers about their jobs and what they should be aware of when they are going into that pathway. The administrators would be able to work independently with an educator and enlighten them on various topics that they cover throughout their day on the job. The educators would be able to ask them questions and get some helpful tips and information on becoming an administrator and what to expect in the responsibility department.  Administrators would also talk, in depth, about the responsibilities of decision-making and how there are a lot of decisions that need to be made on the run. The topics that would be covered would also serve as an understanding as to what administrators go through throughout the course of a day, week, and year and this will allow teachers to understand just how tedious the job could be. The difference between being a classroom teacher and administrator can prove to be extremely different and those in the teaching profession may want to understand that before making that move.

◦Share at least one strategy you will use/are using to assess the technology needs of your context (how will you document needs, what kind of data will you use, etc.).

I think that the best way to actually see the needs of technology in our school is to take a survey like Amanda said. In order to see what our school needs when it comes to accessing technology what better way than to ask those that need to use it?  By having teachers in my building take a survey to see what needs to improve and what our school needs in the technology department. I take responsibility in my school for helping get teachers and students more resources and that includes technology. We have been working on getting more iPads or Macs, but the board is yet to approve them.

 

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (Chapters 5-6)

Chapter 5 Communication

Describe how leaders can harness the power of free resources to improve communication and ultimately improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency.

There are so many resources available to us and a lot of them are free. Our county has made an app for apple and android cell phones. This app is for students, parents, teachers, and community members. Once you have installed the app on your phone you are able to choose which schools you need to view. You can also choose more than one, which is great for parents that have kids at different schools. Each school is responsible for updating their school page and making sure that everything is on there for parents and everyone to view for that week. It has helped a lot of people become more involved with our school and our students. Our school also has a webpage online, which is ran by our technology teacher.  Our school also has several Facebook pages for different sports and clubs that are active in our school. By utilizing all of these free resources our leaders have the power to enlighten our parents, students, and community members on what is happening at our school.  On our school webpage each teacher has their own page as well and they must keep it updated throughout the school year. We include office hours and a phone number where a parent can always reach us. Implementing all of these resources has really helped everyone that is involved with our school. It is also improving participation in our school when it comes to parent volunteers and needing help for sporting events or anything academic.

Chapter 6 Public Relations

Describe your current position (workplace, student, etc…) and how social media efforts are used to promote transparency and engage stakeholders.

I am the library media specialist for Robert C. Byrd High School. I not only keep our library updated and get students and classes to utilize our wonderful collection, but I also am responsible for two laptop carts, an iPad cart, and a computer lab that is located in the library.  At RCB we have a news channel and it’s called Byrd’s Eye View. On this new channel our students are the reporters and report different types of news and events for our school. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to promote our library for our students to be able to come down and utilize all of the resources that it has to offer. There was a newsletter sent to the parents about our Back to School Bash, which had a tour of the library for parents and students. I also went on Byrd’s Eye View to show our students what our library has to offer. When I need to make an announcement I can send an email that gets forwarded to all of the staff in our building or I can put it on the School App page that everyone can see. Eventually, I would really like to create a blog for students and parents to view and post different events and new happenings that are going on in the library. Since this is my first year in the media center I am trying to get use to my new surroundings and work on getting more students to use the library more than they have before. I talk to teachers and students on what they would like to see. I would also like to create an online book club that way students and parents could join. Students and parents are busy when it comes to working and extracurricular activities. I think that if the book club were online then more people would be interested in participating.