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