Reflective Essay #2- Why Social Media Matters

In Why Social Media Matters, Porterfield and Carnes discuss the many opportunities provided to schools through social media. They discuss the ways that schools can use social media to their advantage and the guidelines that must be in place to use social media appropriately and effectively.

One of the key ideas shared was the ability of social media to be used as a platform to build relationships with the students, parents, and community you serve. Along with this, Porterfield and Carnes addressed the ability for social media to bridge to gap between families and the school system and provide a way for schools to bring parent and community voice into the conversation. Drawing in the voices of your stakeholders provides schools the advantage of being able to listen to the conversations and ideas and adjust accordingly. After all, as the book reminds us, they are our customers. As an administrator, having a line of communication that meets the needs of the community, parents, and families we serve is a key component of the type of leader I hope to be. It is my hope that if we provide a way to draw out the comments, questions, and concerns of these stakeholders, we can address their needs in a proactive way in the future. Through doing this, I hope that we can build a relationship between the families and our school that is viewed as more of a partnership and shared vision; helping students discover their passion and supporting them in the pursuit of that passion.

The book also addresses the idea that social media provides schools the ability to tell their story and control, to some extent, the messaging of their actions and decisions. As leaders in today’s culture, it is imperative that we recognize that our story, our view, and our reasoning, will be told- correctly or not- by someone else if we do not tell it. That is why we have a responsibility to use social media as a way to control the messaging of our decisions and work to brand and promote our school, staff, and students. As we work at fulfilling this responsibility I believe we have to make sure that we do so in a sustainable fashion and avoid going through unnatural spikes where we post and share lots of information and then lulls where we share next to nothing; if we intend to share we need to be consistent in our social media presence of it will seem disingenuous to our community. I believe we also need to ensure that we are representing our school and our students in an equitable fashion- posting about the football team on Friday night means we also need to post about the band concert on Wednesday night and the debate tournament on Saturday.

The last two key ideas that this book addressed were the idea that we need to make sure we have policies and guidelines in place for social media and have a clear plan for how we will use social media in moments of a crisis. I believe that as leaders in schools, the idea of guidelines applies to both our staff and our students, particularly as it relates to digital citizenship. Ensuring that both of these two groups understands their own digital footprint directly supports our mission of building the capacity of our students to thrive in the 21^st century. Ensuring that we have a plan for our social media use in times of crisis will ensure that we use the capabilities of social media to spread needed information quickly and efficiently without causing panic.

As I look at social media use through the lens of Why Social Media Matters I realize the potential of this entity in schools today- either for good or for bad. In the end, it comes down to the leadership of the district and building to determine if social media will be a success, or struggle, in a particular school. 

Reflective Essay #1- Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times

In his book, Eric Sheninger discusses the need for teachers, administrators, and schools as a system to change and adapt to meet the needs of learners in the 21^st century and use the resources available in the 21^st century. Sheninger very directly addresses the notion that we cannot simply ignore technology. I believe that there is still quite a bit of fear in relation to technology and its implementation.  As a leader in schools, it is our job to combat this fear by using our resources or time, relationships, and ability to model the use of and embrace the development of technology in our schools and more specifically in the learning opportunities we provide our students.

Sheninger also addresses his seven pillars of digital leadership; communication, public relations, branding, student engagement and learning, professional growth, learning spaces and environments, and opportunity. All of these pillars have a major impact on the digital culture, or lack thereof, that a principal creates within a building. More specifically I feel that there are particular pillars that can be done by the principal and their leadership team and certain pillars (student engagement and learning, professional growth, and learning spaces) that need to be a school wide focus. As a future principal, I think that the investment in time and resources, along with my personal digital practice, will either support innovation and technology in our building or discourage technology. I believe that as I strive to be a digital leader it is important to remember that, as Sheninger states, “as important as technology is to digital leadership, human interaction remains the key component of changing education now and in the future.” I believe that this is the caution that we, as leaders, have the responsibility to exercise when making decisions to make sure that we are choosing technology with a purpose.

The other big idea that stood out to me from this reading was the notion of teaching our students, and sometimes our staff, about digital citizenship. I believe that, in the world we live in now and the world we will live in 10 years from now, we have a responsibility to educate our students on their digital footprint and the impact that can have on their relationships, their opportunities, and their life. I believe that teaching students to accept one another digitally is as important today as teaching students to listen and share ideas in class was 10 years ago. Teaching students to consider who they connect with online is as important as teaching students not to get into a stranger’s car. Teaching students that what they put online can be accessed by future employers, significant others, and their families is as important as teaching students to think before they speak. Digital citizenship and censorship (at least the ability to filter some things) is a major responsibility that is shared by administrators and their staff’s everywhere across our nation.  

I believe that overall, the idea that Digital Leadership tries to instill in us is the notion that we have many responsibilities and that we set the tone for technology in our building. We must be digital leaders- growing our own capacity, supporting innovation, and developing the digital capacity of our staff and students- in order to ensure that the education we are providing students is meeting the needs and demands of our world today. 

Assignment #5- PLN

Maintaining and developing our professional learning networks is a practice that, as leaders, we have a responsibility to sustain over the course of our career. I believe that in doing this, we allow ourselves to not only support our staff, but also connect with our community.

When I think of the continual development of my own PLN, I believe that it will be imperative that I allot time for my development and use of new technology and education innovation. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout this program, it is that, as a principal, if I do not structure a time for this, I will never take time to do this. As a leader, I hope to build a habit of taking time either at the end of the day on Friday or Monday morning before our staff arrives at school to read through the various blogs, websites, etc. and search out some of the newest happenings in education. I believe that this will fill two needs for me. First, I believe that it will help me stay current in my practices and allow me to better connect and support my staff and students, and also fill my bucket and refresh my perspective so that I can always bring the energy and passion to my position that this field (and any leadership role) calls for daily.

I also want to develop my own PLN through collaboration with my peers. I hope that, as I want my teachers to have PLCs, that I will maintain a PLC of my own that is made up of people I went through my administrative program with, mentors of mine, and other leaders in education who I meet along the way. My goal in this would be that we would be able to share ideas and amongst one another. If possible, even a monthly blog reflection (possibly more as one of us were to see something) by one of us followed by some sort of informal meeting to discuss and collaborate around the reflection is something I would like to develop. This would allow learning to take place from one another and would continue our development as instructional, digital, and societal leaders.

In influencing others in my building, I believe that modeling (NETS A Standard 3.C) being a digital learner and supporting innovation will be very important to the development of my staff. I also believe that, as we (district and building leadership teams) do attempt to implement new technology, we are thoughtful about ensuring we have the platform to support the technology, ensuring that we select technology with a specific purpose and not “just for the sake of technology”, and ensuring we provide the time to for teachers to both be trained on this and develop this as a tool for their classroom (NETS A Standard 3.A). If we can ensure these things, we have a much better chance of integrating technology efficiently and effectively in our building. 

http://wsu521.blogspot.com/2015/06/assignment-5-pln.html

Assignment #4

One to one devices are a challenge and opportunity that almost all school districts are currently faced with. The attempt to integrate technology into classrooms is perceived as the best way to provide students a 21^st century education, however many teachers still use paper pencil resources, or, as stated in the “Cuban Part 2” article, misrepresent how often technology is used in their classrooms.

As a digital leader, it is important to recognize and learn from past attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, in regards to 1:1 or BYOD policies and practices in schools. When I first think about this technology I am immediately struck by the potential inequity in this system- particularly as many students from low-income families go home to work without internet access and thus would not always have access to internet based platforms that often accompany this approach to learning. This inequity is something that I witnessed first-hand two years ago when I implemented a flipped classroom approach. During that year, it became apparent to me that (1) not all of my students had access to a device at home and (2) even those students who did have a device did not necessarily have internet. My teaching partner and I even informed all of our students about the promotional deals from Comcast and similar providers to give internet access to families of poverty, however the restrictions placed on this type of “deal” eliminated many of the families we worked with for issues that directly relate to their lack of income. While I believe that 1:1 devices/BYOD can be a successful model, I still fear that it opens the door to widening the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.

This being said, knowing what we know about the potential for good that is found in 1:1 devices or a BYOD policy, I believe it IS something to explore in schools today. I believe that as a leader, pushing for this access is important for our students. This includes searching out grants, allocating funding from the year to year building budget, and making the access to technology a priority within your building’s SIP plan.

In doing this, as stated in the articles, it is important to learn from the past success and struggles of others. I believe that, when implementing policies like this, there needs to be money set aside to provide teachers training and time to truly develop a plan to integrate the technology into their classrooms. I believe that the misrepresentation of use discussed is a direct product of a lack of time to plan for that use. When I reflect on my experience with the flipped classroom, there was a tremendous amount of work that had to go into using the technology within our classroom. I believe that often times we provide the technology to use in classrooms, but we lack the time to allow teachers to develop a concrete plan for integration. I believe that this time is an invaluable resource if we desire effective instructional practices that incorporate technology in this way.

As I read Standard 1 of the NETS A I am drawn to the ideas of an “ongoing process to develop, implement, and communicate technology infused strategic plans” and the idea of advocating for funding. As an administrator who wishes to be a digital leader, it is my responsibility to support the staff I serve in developing ways to implement this technology into their classrooms and reaching out and advocating for funding to support this technology integration. It is also my responsibility to consider the needs and circumstances of each of my students and ensure that the implementation of technology does not disadvantage and of the students we serve. 

http://wsu521.blogspot.com/2015/06/assignment-4-connectedness.html

Assignment #3

What can you do now to begin your personal, professional brand?   How do you want others to view you as a professional?  What tools will you use to advance a positive school brand? How do the Forbes & Fast Company readings contribute to your thinking on this topic?  Connect your response to NETS A Standard 2.

Branding yourself as a leader is an essential first step in developing a culture that you can bring to new leadership roles and new buildings with you. As a leader, who you are said to be, or in today’s society who your social media footprint says you are, provides a first impression to districts and buildings when you are applying for a new position. This impression and culture are two components that can either jumps tart, or trip you, your work as a leader.

Like the Forbes article stated, social media is a way for administrators to brand both themselves and the building and community they serve. It provides us, as leaders, a platform to show off the positive things that are happening to the students and staff we work with. It also allows us to have an influence on the public perception of our organization and the ‘product’ that we are putting out.

In a day in age where the local media outlets tend to look for any and all negative stories about schools and cover them with fidelity, social media provides a way for schools to tell the stories that often go untold. Facebook, twitter, Instagram, blogs, etc. allow for schools to promote their core values and beliefs.

I believe that as a new principal, it is important that you create some form of a social media presence for your building and your leadership team (including yourself). I believe that in doing this, you need to consider which social media outlet is most appropriate for your intended audience and then consider what core values you hope to begin instilling in your staff, students, and community. I believe that based on the articles, photos, messages you ‘share’ and the organizations you connect yourself through via social media, you begin the process of defining what you stand for and what your organization stands for. I believe that once you have created this presence, you have a responsibility to be consistent and equitable as it regards to your continued presence. If you are going to post scores for your football team, you had better give some credit to the orchestra when they have a concert or the debate team when they have a tournament. I also believe that YOU must be the filter for all posts on this page. You can delegate the responsibility for compiling and writing posts, etc., but at the end of the day YOU must filter this information and make sure it aligns with your core values and beliefs (and your CBA, district policies and procedures, FERPA, and other rights of students and staff).

Similar to what is stated in the NETS A Standard 2 part b, it is important as a leader that you “model and promote the frequent and effective use of technology for learning” which can mean simply educating parents and your community of resources that could help their child, promoting a growth mindset, or connecting your community to post-secondary academic and career options. If this is done with mindfulness and fidelity, schools and administrators can create a brand that, in your small area of the world, can truly impact the culture of a community and the children raised by that community. 

http://wsu521.blogspot.com/2015/06/assignment-3-culture.html

Article on Schools Starting Later

http://www.edudemic.com/case-starting-schools-later/

Assignment #2

When I think of digital leadership in the perspective addressed by our book, The Pillars of Digital Leadership, and the Secrets of Change, I think of the impact that social media can have for schools, districts, organizations, communities, and our students.

I believe that principals who are digital leaders embrace and use social media to provide their staff with professional development by connecting them with educators outside of their own district and comfort zone. The ability to link your staff to resources, other educators, and educational organizations both local and national is a viable and affordable way to provide the staff you serve with consistent professional development regardless of what your budget may allow.

I also believe that social media allows principals the opportunity to put their stamp and brand on their school. Particularly if you happen to serve in a school where you are trying to change the public perception and culture surrounding your school, social media provides great digital leaders a platform to control the messaging and have a say in determining the public perception of their school.

When thinking about the use of social media, one caution that I believe would be essential for a principal to consider is ensuring that you are not over indulging in an unsustainable way with social media. In this sense, my belief is that less is more and consistency is the key. I also believe that ensuring that there is a clear boundary for yourself as a leader to ensure that you can take time for yourself and maintain a professional relationship with the families and students you serve.

In regards to the NETS-A standards, particularly with respect to standard 4, I feel like social media hits on part (d) in that you are working as a digital leader to establish strategic partnerships in your work. These partnerships can help you gain community support for your school, district bond and levy initiatives, athletics, and other community partnerships.

Overall, social media is a great way to share with your community many of the great things that the students and staff in your building are doing along with keeping your community informed and making your practices transparent.