Losing that “tech edge” feeling

We just finished parent/student/teacher conferences and the school is now quiet. Everyone else has gone home to rest and get ready for more conferences tomorrow morning. We then have the afternoon “off” - I’ll be here getting ready for early dismissal on Monday and doing other things while the students are away. In the quiet solitude of the school, I have a few moments to do some real reflecting and thinking. It’s here where I do some of my best work as I don’t have my own children to break my concentration and I feel more “in tune” with how I”m thinking and feeling about what is going on around and what and where my focus and priorities need to be for the school.

So why am I still here?

Monday after school the teachers, myself included, gathered to discuss the morale of the building. It was a productive meeting and gave me much insight into what, why, where, when and how people are thinking about what is going on and my role in the whole thing. Now, my last post was a general discussion/question about school morale and thanks for the feedback. I appreciate all that was said and it gave me much food for thought. The one that really resonated with me was from Glenn. Now Glenn is a first year vice-principal and his comment:

Kelly - the responsibility sits right in the chair that I’m writing this from and if you’re at work the chair you’re reading this from. I’m failing miserably at it. Hope your rocking the house.

Why did this grab me? Because it is filled with the frustration and the angst of someone I know is working his butt off to do good things and, for whatever reason, is banging his head and feeling overwhelmed. I often read Glenn’s blog just to keep up with what he’s doing and how things are going. Every now and then, I catch a tweet from him and exchange a few words. Lately, that’s about all that I have time to do. I can almost see him sitting in his chair typing that post. Short, to the point but, to me, very powerful.

So What? 

So exactly what does that have to do with the “tech edge” feeling? For me, it sums up how I’m beginning to see this whole educational technology thing. As Iwork towards finding some type of balance in what is going on around me, I’m feeling less compelled to say that technology is really important. Not that it doesn’t have it’s place and shouldn’t be something that is used within the classrooms as a tool but I’m not sure that the energy expended will bring the dividends that are forecast. As I work with the teachers in my building, looking for ways to involve students, I’m wondering if the time being put into technology wouldn’t be better used working WITH THE STUDENTS.

Never mind that the students are texting each other and that they like the technology. Even with all that, there is still a piece that is missing - the human contact. Someone who will listen to them, right next to them. Someone who is in the building that they know really cares whether they are successful or stumbling and helps to provide the means necessary for the them to pick themselves up. Yeah, I know all about embedding technology in the learning and capturing the students but it just seems to be missing something. Once the “Wow” factor is over, what do you have? Really, for the most part besides the minority of tech savvy teachers who are doing some pretty incredible projects, what do we have?

I’ve heard that we need to teach them how to leverage the technologies for their own learning. That they can use these technologies but we need to be helping them develop literacies so they are more internet savvy, can protect themselves and be prepared for what is going on in the world around them. Great goals, I agree. But as I delve into what these kids are feeling and wanting, it has nothing to do with reaching out to the world or getting to know students from all over or working with students in other places. It has to do with them and another caring human. Someone who will guide them and set limits for them and demonstrate that they are interested. It has less to do with “the tools” and more to do with the relationships.

And you know what? I can appreciate that so very much. Being an administrator in a small rural community with no other administrators around, I thought technology would be a way for me to be in touch with other administrator type people. I started a Ning, Ed Adminstrators2.0, as a place for people in this same position to gather and discuss and talk and share ideas. I worked to develop a network within twitter and pownce, looking to connect with others to share and talk. Now, don’t get me wrong, it has been an incredible learning experience but, and this is the kicker, the people I notice on twitter who have the greatest connection are those who have met f2f. Those who haven’t are so looking forward to a time when they will meet f2f at a conference or someplace else. It’s those meetings that really bring people together and then their conversations and interactions via things like twitter really take off. For me, I have some good contacts and like exchanging 140 character bites but the nuances that a f2f meeting give to a conversation are missing.

This year has seen many stress storms for people in our building which, ultimately, touches me as the administrator. Our meeting was the beginning of our rebuilding the joy and wonder and excitement that comes with learning. By acknowledging that, indeed, we need to work on this and grow it and nurture it, we’ve eliminated the elephant in the room. It was just a first step but what an incredible first step it was. We have much work to do and it won’t be easy. In fact, it may be difficult as there is a need to have some conversations that will be hard. Some will require people to rethink what and how they are doing things, some will require me to address concerns that my staff identified and some will require us, as a staff, to really focus and decide what standards we want and how we will achieve them.

So Glenn, I’m not rockin’ the house. More like I’ve been rocked but, I’ve learned a great deal about myself, staff and students. I come to see that, although technology is great and wonderful and allows us to do so much more and ….. the number one thing we do in schools is human relations, building students to become the best learners they can be, guiding them in making decisions and helping them to see things from a variety of perspectives and, yes, setting limits and boundaries and sticking to them. It isn’t how much curriculum we get through or what we cover or the tools we use. Yes, they have an impact, some more profound than others. It’s the human factor, the angst that I feel in what Glenn says, that isn’t part of the discussions I hear about technology.

In the technology discussions, I don’t hear about the students who are hungry or the students who are messed up because of substance abuse or those who live in terrible conditions. I don’t hear discussions about building relationships with the student who feels like no one cares or or or or……

Yes, I’m losing that “tech edge” feeling realizing that I need to be out with the students and staff, listening and cheering them on; drawing lines for them and helping them to overcome barriers. I cannot do that if I’m spending time working on the technology, finding new technology, learning how to use the technology. I know that technology has a place and will need to be addressed but it’s like all the other tools, just a tool. With the way things are changing and the manner in which the “tech junkies” jump from wagon to wagon trying out new tools, it’s impossible to really keep up because people in my face are filling my hours. I haven’t found that “place” in the net world that I was hoping I’d find. I’ve discoverd many great places like the Fireside Learning Ning and other such places but, like the people in our school, the f2f contact becomes so very important.

This doesn’t mean I’ll quit trying to bring technology into our school or help teachers with technology use or quit looking and trying out new technology. It will mean that much of what I blog about might just change as I reflect on what I’m reading, doing, learning and seeing going on around me. It will mean less time with twitter - it’s good to see what’s going on but it just hasn’t done for me what it does for those who can spend hours on it or who are conversing with others they’ve met f2f. In fact, my writing might just increase as I scrape away the “tools” and get back to what is really necessary, what really works and get rid of what is, like so many of these things, a passing fad that someone on top has happened to mention on their blog.

So Glenn, as I sit in this chair listening to whirr of the server fan, the flush of the automatic toilets and the sound of the empty hallway know that you are not alone. I, like many others, are with you and I, for one, am realizing that there is more that I must do and less of it has to do with technology. Keep strong, Glenn, keep strong!

Who’s responsible for school morale?

School morale - the ambiance and atmosphere that permeates a building when you enter. It’s reflected in the way the students greet one another and how teachers interact with the students, teachers and parents. It’s part of how visitors feel when they enter the building and staff feel when they exit on Friday afternoon. It consists of thousands of interactions and reactions between individuals as they spend their days together. It’s elusive but tangible. You know when the morale in a building is good and when it isn’t.

It’s been my pleasure to work in a number of schools with great morale. They were places where, no matter what was happening or what was coming at the teachers, they looked to the positive, and to each other, to work towards creating a great school. It was our desire to do the best we could for our students, working and sharing our school lives, that helped us to live, love and laugh. Each of these staffs suffered through tragedies but we supported and helped one another.

At present, as an educational leader, I can see that the school where I am is not what it could be. There is a tenseness in the air - a sense of foreboding, almost like people are giving in to the pressures that surround them. It was brought to me that, ultimately, the morale of the school is my responsibility (and fault if it is negative). Now, as educational leader, I see that I have a part in creating the atmosphere in the school but am I solely responsible? If so, what are ways of looking to improve the morale of the people in the building? If not, what suggestions do you have for looking at the problem and coming up with a solution? Any feedback is very welcome.

Helping others to help themselves

Years back, my wife use to hate when she had a technology problem or couldn’t remember how to do something. In fact, when we (read I) first bought our imac, she wasn’t very happy with the whole thing because everything was “backwards” and she couldn’t find anything. She would avoid asking me to show how to do something AGAIN because of my “attitude” and how I did things. That was 8 years ago. Today is much different. I have learned to be patient, not sigh heavily (that use to drive her crazy) and take my time. If I don’t have the time at the moment, I say so, help out and then, when there is time, get her to show me what is frustrating her. It works the same for my children (well, most of the time. I still use the timeout to keep them alive!)

Over time I’ve been able to transfer this to school and what I do as a principal. In my capacity as administrator, there are many times when people come to me for information, advice or assistance. I use to react in a way that reflected my particular mood at the moment. Now, with all that goes on in a day, that was usually somewhere between stressed and freakin’ stressed. This caused all kinds of misunderstandings and miscommunication which eventually led to problems which led to more miscommunication and misunderstandings and so on (cue Faberge commercial with Farrah.) I knew that it wasn’t how I wanted things to go but I couldn’t understand how to change it. Thank goodness for my wife. She cleared a few things up for me after a particularly difficult day. She explained to me how she felt at times and then transferred it to the situation. The road to change had begun (well, after I stopped pouting!) 

Having worked on this for some time, I really thought I’d mastered the whole thing. Seems I was wrong and I was in need of a reminder. Being reminded about something like that isn’t always easy but I realize that, as a leader, I need to be able to accept when someone gives me advice, even if it’s hard to take at the moment. It made me reflect on what I was doing and the impact it was having on those around me. To be an effective leader, one must be willing to ask trusted people to be honest with you and then take their words seriously.

Personal Impact 

This past week I was asked to describe the characteristics of an educational leader. For me, listening is one of the most important characteristics. Being able to “be in the room” when someone is with you is vitally important. No clock watching or doing other work. When someone is talking to you, you need to make it obvious that you are listening - 100%. Unfortunately, I stopped my description there. Now, listening is important but there are some other important characteristics that I didn’t mention.

Empowering Others

Of all other characteristics, I believe this is the most important. This can be done in a number of ways. Listening is one of them. So is supporting them, seeking their opinion, seeing their strengths and allowing them to use them and allowing them to help themselves.  As an administrator, I’ve come to learn that the best way to help others is to empower them to help themselves. Whether it is helping students to work through a problem, supporting a parent who is having difficulty, making a decision that moves things along, keeping the vision in front of others, cheering on the team or helping someone learn new skills so they can be independent, I’ve come to see myself as more as someone who is there to help empower others rather than having power over others. True, sometimes in my role I need to make decisions that may not make everyone happy or be involved in some form of discipline but in each instance there is an opportunity for empowerment of other individuals. 

We can’t have winners and losers

I often find that this is one of the greatest obstacles to getting to a solution. In so many cases, people want there to be winner (usually them) and a loser (usually the other party.) Instead of looking to see how things might be done to create a solution for the problem, they come in with a predetermined solution and campaign for it. Now, it may be a bit easier to do the “you’re right, you’re wrong” decision but it doesn’t usually bring about a lasting solution. Like my wife who didn’t like my solution to her technical problems because, although it solved the immediate problem, it created a further problem that became much bigger than the original. Helping others to get past that initial campaigning is one of the most difficult things that I have to do and, unfortunately, I’m not always successful.

Helping Learners help themselves

As teachers, one of our goals is to have students become independent of us. We want to help them learn how to do things without us being there. Kind of like parenting, it’s not how your children act when you’re around that demonstrates what they have learned and value, it’s what they do when you’re NOT there. Eventually, all these students will venture out on their own and it will be how they function on their own that will be the true test of how well we’ve done. This is why it is so important to empower them to be learners - to give them the ability to trust themselves to make good decisions. 

What does this have to do with technology?

Well, everything. Today as I was working with another administrator, it was clear that she was frustrated with how things were going and not just with the work we were doing. She was feeling overwhelmed in many different areas. Now, I could have gone the easy route and done the technology part for her but that would have solved nothing. Instead, we sat at the computer and I helped her (forced her at times) to continue doing things, trying things and retrying things. Was she frustrated? Yep. Will she remember it all? Nope but she will remember some of the basics that will get her moving on her own. Over time, she won’t need to call or email me as much. Hopefully she’ll become comfortable enough not to call me at all. While doing this, she was able to talk about other things that were on her mind, not something we get to do very often. We were able to share ideas and solutions about various difficulties we were both having. 

This experience is a snapshot of something I’m seeing more and more in schools. People who are being overwhelmed by all the “things” that need to get done, being frustrated because they can’t learn some things as fast as they want which keeps them from doing other things that they want to do. Whether it’s kids or adults, it is becoming more and more common for people to stop trying once they can’t get something after a try or two. For those of us in the empowering role, it is important to acknowledge that frustration is part of learning and assist them to do the best they can at whatever level. Not everyone will be able to use technology in a seamless manner just like I’ll never play the piano (or any other musical instrument) at the same level as my children but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate what they do or try it myself.  

As a leader, one of my goals is to recognize those gifted in particular areas and get them to go further in that area while helping them to struggle along with something that is more difficult for them. Part of it is to listen to them but a greater part is to empower them and that is where our learning must always continue so that we can help them to help themselves. It was an eye opener for me when my wife first told me how I acted and reacted but it was one of the greatest gifts she has given me. Truly, she is a great part of my success - she empowered me. 

Effective and Progressive

This week I was asked the question “What are some characteristics of an effective and progressive high school?”

Now, being in a K - 12 school, I took some time and talked to a few of the students in the senior grades. They were a great help, as were the 4 people who answered my twitter call for help. Through their suggestions and ideas I was able to come up with 4 characteristics that seemed to capture the essence of an effective and progressive high school.

Relevant Curriculum

From my discussions, it was clear that students want to learn and know that learning is important. Their biggest issue was that at times what they were doing didn’t seem relevant. It wasn’t that they wanted things to be always “today’s headlines” kind of stuff but they wanted to be able to find connections between what they were doing and what was going on around them. If it was detached or just some facts about things, they found it hard to follow or care about. They wanted to be involved in things that were going on in their lives and were linked to their world. They gave some examples like the problems in the Middle East - it was linked to history in many ways and they were interested in how this came about and why so many problems. They had some ideas but weren’t sure if what they knew was right or not.

Connections

The whole idea of being connected came through, not as one important idea but from how they talked about being connected to other students and other people. This leads me to think that we need to really work on helping students build networks with other students. This is happening in a few cases but they are not the norm. In most cases, students continue to work in classrooms limited to connecting with those in the room. With the tools available to teachers, it seems that this should be something that can be achieved without too much trouble. I think it will require the will of teachers to stretch and try new things but, for our students, these are the things they are already doing outside of school. Maybe it’s time we brought some of these things into the school and examined, in more detail, how we can provide opportunities for students to network.

Transitioning

This was something that the high school students were concerned about. Although they didn’t call it this, they talked about having the skills and knowledge to move from school into the world beyond and be successful. They discussed more than just academic skills. Things like living on their own, budgeting, food and clothing, working, banking and other daily activities were tossed around whether they were thinking about furthering their education or going into the work force. As things change rapidly in our society, maybe we need to spend more time looking at some of these aspects and discussing with students the various parts of living on one’s own.

Engaging

Engaging students. Whether in how the school runs or the classes that are offered, students want to be active participants in what is going on. They want to be part of the process and be part of what is going on in the school. They want a say in how they will spend their day and what they will be doing and, connected with the relevant curriculum, they want to know how and why some things are the way they are. Mostly, they weren’t looking to get rid of anything but just wanted to understand more about how things worked and ran.

We have all seen a change in the students that come into the schools. I would say that most of this change has been positive. They are much more aware of the surrounding world and what is going on. They are curious about how things work and how things happened to get to where they are today. They are very environmentally aware and have a social connectedness that is much greater than a few years ago. As educators, one of our biggest challenges is to tap that curiosity and have students expand their knowledge and understanding and then demonstrate what it is that they have come to understand.

The one thing that wasn’t mentioned was the physical environment. They talked about being able to connect and find information, have access to information and use new technologies but they talked about classrooms have wifi and internet access and being able to use the tools to do different things in the classroom setting but they didn’t seem at all to be put out by the physical design of schools. Or maybe I just didn’t ask the question:)

So what’s your take? What are the important points that you would consider in an effective and progressive high school?

Go to the source

It has been a very busy week and it will only intensify from now until the end of June. I’ve been working on several projects and just haven’t had the time to get involved in conversations via twitter or read too many blogs. However, as I was working tonight, I’ve been reading a few as they cross my screen. The following tweet by byjudeonline caught my eye:

the thing about twitter. regular teachers can’t sit and tweet all day. we’re missing the most important conversations of all

This response followed:

dmcordell @heyjudeonline I agree, and there’s also the extreme time differences to contend with. Wish we could go back more than 10 pages in updates.

Followed by:

MetaWeb20 @heyjudeonline many of my teachers don’t even use email, let alone tweet!

heyjudeonline @MetaWeb20  my thinking too. It’s to easy to create ‘parochial tweet camp’

kolson29 @heyjudeonline but aren’t the resources you find here valuable enough as is? Just b/c all tchrs not here, doesn’t diminish value IMO

heyjudeonline @kolson29  oh yeah, love what I learn via twitter. just worry too many tweeters are not representative of teaching possibilities. Silly me!

 The idea brought up by heyjudeonline  is a core part of the whole web2.0/21st century learning discussion . As I work frantically to meet deadlines, get ready for meetings, meet with parents, visit classrooms and all the rest, there isn’t time for me to be on twitter or keep up with the conversations and discussions and I just don’t have the desire to go back too far in the discussions to see if I’m missing anything. My edge has about 2 frayed nerves left and someone keeps tapping one or the other.  There just isn’t the time to partake in the discussions that are going on. As someone who has a bit of understanding about technology in schools, I’d like to be part of the discussions. Thing is, there isn’t time and any time I do scratch out of the day, I am becoming more and more stingy about because time demands due to my job have been increasing over time regardless of the technology I or others are using.

Missing a crucial voice?

We are missing a crucial voice in all the discussions that are taking place. I’ve heard many people who are using technology who just don’t get why others cannot see how great it is or they don’t want to keep showing people only to have them not use it or they are “told off” by frustrated teachers or become defensive about what they are doing or…. Sometimes, when someone makes a negative remark about what we do or the time we take up doing what we do, the tendency is to become defensive and react. Over the past few years, I’ve learned that remarks like that have a grain of truth in them even if we don’t agree with the entire remark or with the accusation being made or we don’t want there to be. As a principal, I’ve had more than a few people say things about me that I could just brush off as being of no use. However, to learn and grow, I’ve really looked at what has been said and learned to see the grain of truth that is hidden there. I then take it and let what could be an irritant become something that I use to grow and turn into a pearl.

I believe we miss out on some great insights because we’re offended or dismissed or whathaveyou. There is a tone of superiority that does come across when discussing those who use tech in teaching and “the others.” For many teachers, technology integration and use is the last thing they are thinking about as they prepare to meet the demands of the students in their classroom. Heck, I’m beginning to question this whole twitter craze and really wondering if there isn’t a better way to spend my time than trying to reduce all my discussion into 140 characters (including spaces)! I don’t have the time to surf looking at url’s for this or that or to try out this or that. It just isn’t happening because of the pace. I’ve even tried giving away paperwork but no one would take it! When part of your job isn’t related to technology use, it is very hard to find time to do these above mentioned things even if, like me, you are really interested in them.

The comment by kolson29  but aren’t the resources you find here valuable enough as is? Just b/c all tchrs not here, doesn’t diminish value  makes me fret. I worry that the gap between the “users” and “non-users” will widen because teachers who are full-time classroom teachers don’t have the time to work with these resources. Even tech-savvy educators find it difficult to keep up with the conversations and the tool-sharing because they don’t have time to take in all that is happening or become part of the constant conversation that takes place. Being a follower, the exchange of information is wonderful but it is very fast, always constant, without form and too large to backtrack. Those who have the time are building the networks, others who are being introduced are trying but, I’ve noticed, many fall away because they don’t have the time to keep up with the conversations. I follow about 250 people but, realistically, there are about 25 people who dominate the conversations and who are discussing issues, looking at various tools, building their teaching repetoire and so on. As heyjudeonline says “we’re missing the most important conversations of all” - the other 225 or so who aren’t part of the conversations.

Go to the Source

I know that many people who use technology and want to share it with the masses have been turned down when bringing it to other teachers. Maybe we need to change the tactic a bit. Instead of bringing the knowledge, ask teachers what they want to do. Go to these people who are busy with full days, families, extra-curricular and have some other life outside school and ask them “What would you like to be able to do a bit differently?” “What is it about your teaching you’d like to tweak?” “What part of the actual teaching do you find overwhelming?” Ask questions. Find out what would make their lives easier, better, funner(?), ….. and see if it can be delivered. If they start out a bit negative, find that grain of sand and grow that pearl. I know that I’ve been amazed at what happens when I’ve taken something that came to me in a very negative manner and found that one piece I could use to help myself grow and created a pearl in some way. Sometimes being direct and acknowledging how they feel

I sense that you aren’t happy with certain technology uses that have been tried before and you’re a bit frustrated by___________________ and you feel you don’t have time with all the other demands on your desk and …… I just want to let you know that there are things that will help you if, like you ask your kids, give it your best effort and try. There is something everyone can do.

We are missing a piece of the conversation - in fact I would suggest we’re missing out on the conversation as we’ve moved to another room apart from what most other educators are discussing. I guess the challenge is to decide whether we wait for some of them to ask us if they can join or if we go to them and join in their conversation, bringing with us the ideas we have for improvement.

Note - while doing this post, there were approximately 75 tweets that passed back and forth between people. Interestingly enough, the number of people involved isn’t that large. What are other teachers doing?

Wrestling the invisible

I took some time to do some reading last week during our February break. There were many great posts and ideas that are circulating via my RSS Reader but three posts really caught my attention. The first was Linda’s post about the difference she sees between “front line teachers” and those who are contributing to the edublogosphere discussions. The second is a set of posts by Nancy McKeand and a take on an artcile about teaching. The third is a post by Dave Sherman which looks at good teaching.

Each of these, in their own way, reflects on how technology and new tools impact what makes a good teacher. Linda’s view is very personal, something that I really appreciate. It gives me something to reflect upon as someone who is working toward building the skills of the teachers with whom I work. I like her comment that

My day has enough ‘must know, must do, must respond, must quantify’ in it that I look at my PLN to create humor in some difficult, stressful situations.

Her post is honest and forward which I appreciate. She expresses her thoughts about the use of technology from the perspective of a full-time teacher who is working at capacity. She is much like many of the teachers that I know and with whom I associate. The comments on the post reflect more of the same. It is vital that people outside the daily teaching arena listen closely to these voices. My friend Susan has expressed some similar thoughts after returning to the classroom this year. Her post looks at how she is trying to bring different aspects together and how difficult it is to do now that she is in the classroom full-time.

For now, my classroom is completely wireless, yes, no wires at all. Unplugged. Oh, I have the one computer in the corner. I try to keep up the school website and my class site but it is not what I was dreaming of last year. I’m not sure how to do it. The lab is in a state of disrepair and the six computers in the library might make stations possible but they are down the hall and around the bend so it’s a struggle to get all of us there and purposeful at the same time. I need… I need time to think it out, plan for it, find a small chunk that I think might work.

I continue to read what Susan has to say because she is someone who I know has the desire and knowledge to merge web2.0 tools and the classroom. Her posts, not all are this subject, allow me to better appreciate someone who, although not in my building, is close to home and has similar demands as do the teachers in my school. With Linda, they really highlight what many teachers are feeling. As someone who is looking to be a champion of Web2.0 tools, it is this type of insight that gives me food for thought.

Nancy’s posts are great for the original discussion on What makes a good teacher?, the comments and then the following post that stretches this a bit further. In this day and age of fast and furious change, we really need to watch what we expect of teachers and how we begin to evaluate what they do. The two big questions at the end:

  The big question now is whether - after 20 years of being told exactly what and how to teach - there are enough teachers ready to be “creatively subversive”?

Also, after years of being told in precise detail how to teach, will teachers feel ready both to devise their own way of teaching and engaging students and also constantly to evaluate and adapt their own teaching methods.

These two questions are really at the heart of what we are asking teachers to do no matter what it is we are asking them to do and without the proper amount of time for teachers to reflect - in the bathroom between classes is not adequate time by the way - the outcomes will not match what we know is possible. Now, there are some teachers that are doing great things and are great examples of what can be achieved but, unless we listen to the teachers like Linda and Susan, we will be doomed to follow the path of previous school change ideas.

Finally, Dave Sherman’s post. Dave’s post really focuses on what is paramount in good teaching.

 Good teaching in the 21st century is not about technology. High quality teaching is not just about blogging, creating wikis, or podcasting. Yes, those are a few of the tools or options available to teachers, but there are so many more. Real teaching is about creating opportunities for students to become involved in critical thinking, questioning, problem solving, inquiring, researching, and authentic learning.

I couldn’t of said it any better. Thanks Dave! In a time of constant change and increasing responsiblilities on teachers, how do we expect them to bring about changes through refelction if we don’t somehow give them the time? To be a teacher during this time is to step forward and take the whole of the social fabric of society on your back. The public expectation of teachers has grown while the amount of time for reflection and professional growth has not. We have students with a myraid of challenges in the classroom, expect teachers to differentiate for students and now begin to use a host of new tools without giving them more time to do so.

Yes, I know that using the tools will help with time and it’s use within schools and the classroom. But time has become this invisible combatant against whom the various levels of education are all trying to battle but from different sides with no one really making any progress. Because no can agree howor what  this time opponent looks like, we end up in a match against each other without gaining any ground. What is the old adage “To go fast, first you have to go slow.” Yes there are many educators adopting the tools but there are many good teachers who are able to reach their students through other means. If one of the greatests tools for helping teachers improve their teaching is self-relflection, are we giving them the necessary tools to do this?

Opening the door and building a network

My it’s been a busy week. We’ve had all kinds of things going on - a winter storm Friday made it a busy afternoon as our busses were canceled for after school. This meant we were phoning parents and arranging for students to go to their billets in town. For the most part, things went smoothly. Of course, there were some of our older students who just had to make life interesting and a few of the billets we had listed weren’t home or had moved so we needed to make other arrangements. However, despite these small bumps, the whole thing went smoothly and in a matter of about 45 minutes we were able to take care of things.

As I watched our staff work together to make phone calls, talk with students and take care of business, I realized how lucky I was to be the principal of such a great group of people. Everyone who was free pitched into making calls and talking to students. The secretary, the hub of our school, was answering phones, taking down notes and coordinating efforts of organization of students. Good principal that I am, I let people use their talents and do what they were best at while I made sure that parents who were arriving were assisted and students who left with their parents were noted.

A strong network

Our school is an example of a strong network. People work together, each person using their talents to help others, strengthening the whole. Now, we are working on our PLT’s and looking at how we can continue to improve the learning of the children in our building. The teachers continue to try new things, although not as open to technology as I had hoped, but still willing to try new ideas and ways of doing things. They share information they’re reading and new ideas about what they are doing. They look to go to conferences and bring back information that they share.

PLN’s

Personally, as an administrator, I don’t get to do as much sharing with staff as I did when I was a teacher. This is where my online PLN comes in. I first started blogging in January of 2007. Since that time, I have been able to meet a whole host of new people whom help me in my learning and professional development. Like many others, my introduction into this began with reading other blogs, commenting and looking for new ideas and ways of doing things. With the introduction of twitter, jaiku and pownce, I’ve expanded my network to include so many more people with a vast array of experiences and talents. This, however, has made me take a step back and look at my network and what exactly I want from it.

When I first began to blog, it was to get in touch with others in education and network and share with them. I enjoyed the sharing of information and the discussions that took place as I read through blog posts and commented on most of those in my RSS feeder. However, over time, I realized that most of the people with whom I had contact were discussing technology from the perspective of a tech coordinator, tech teacher or tech somethingorother position. There were few administrators with whom I could connect and few teachers who were not technology teachers of some sort. The discussions followed a pattern where an issue arose and then many of the blogs would comment on it in some way or another. This was the pattern that would be followed with a few people writing about personal events or how events with technology were panning out for them.

Those who are now joining into the different networks are bypassing, for some part, the blogging portion of networking to some degree. They are entering into the networking using twitter, pownce or jaiku, getting to know other people on the network and sharing with them. These relationships are usually rather loosely held together by subjects, interests, proximity or something else. This continues as different people interact, sharing and discussing on the network, adding new people to their friends as they see the names mentioned in discussions or from visiting other people’s friends. This is how my network grows. I continue to add people to my various friends lists, watching what they say, commenting to them when I have something to say or something to share. I haven’t developed, it seems, as close of a connection as others have but that’s to come. I also notice that anyone who has had a f2f connection has a different dimension to their relationships than those who haven’t. I also like to visit the blogs of those people in my friends list and add them to my RSS. That way, I can read their thoughts and ideas and continue conversations via the blogs. I try to comment and am working on making sure that I do this more regularly.

Different tools give you different networks

I use two main tools for my instant chatting with other educators. Twitter is much more active with many more users who are doing a vast array of things. When I first started, I was amazed at all that was going on, wondering how people were able to spend that much time online and still teach. Again, I came to find that many of them were in computer labs or dealing with computers all day and therefore were able to be online almost all day. This really made me wonder how I was going to keep up with all that was going on. Thankfully, summer came along and I realized that, despite what I had thought, I could live without being online all the time. In fact, I realized that being “connected” had its limitations. I needed to make sure that there was some balance to what I did.

This is what led me to look into a few other networks that I now use. The first is ning. I was introduced to Classroom20 through Leadertalk. This introduction has led to a great set of networking nings where I interact with other teachers and administrators, discussing using technology in classrooms, the implications and the frustrations. These networks are very different from the blog networks I first started using and the conversational networks that I had recently began to use. In fact, I even started one of my own with the focus being administrators as a place for those who are in that type of leadership role to gather, talk and share. I like the interaction on these networks. Some of the people are the same ones that I have on twitter but many are not. The conversations range from practical “how to” to more philosophical ones. One of my favourites is Fireside Learning started by Connie Weber. Many of the discussions are ones you would have beside a fireplace; very casual but very deep and I’d like to thank Connie for asking me to join. (I haven’t left town, I’m just really busy;)

My other major network is Pownce. Now Pownce is a chat-like network a bit like twitter. However, as twitter relies on short brief 140 character bursts of chatter, pownce doesn’t have those limits. The discussions range in length but there are longer, more developed discussions that take place. The main things I like about pownce conversations are that they can vary from private one-to-one, to all your friends to public. This can be very handy especially when you are looking for feedback about an issue. And because it’s not limited by 140 characters, the conversation is more relaxed. Personally, I find it to have fewer “Look what I found, did, shot, podcast, ustreamed, ….” and more about input and discussion. I find that each has a place but I’ve never had anyone on pownce say “I don’t want to be away because I think I’ll miss something.” That, I believe, is one of the biggest “problems” with some of the networks that are developing. Having been there myself, I can understand how that thinking develops but it sin’t necessarily a postive one.

In fact, I believe that our idea of what a network does and can do for us will continue to evolve and change. In my previous post, I stated that we needed to help those who were entering this edusphere become acquainted with what was going on. I believe that it is now more true than ever. With all the available tools, it becomes overwhelming knowing where to start. With that said, it might be easier to help someone get started since the different networks are so much easier to join. Now I don’t know where the blogging all fits as not all people who join these new networks blog. They’ve become quite the mixture of different personalities, sharing, growing and adding new tools and exchanging ideas all with the idea of wanting to help students.

As these networks grow and change and more educators begin to use the tools that are available, our networks will continue to grow and change. Some, like twitter, I believe will continue to be used for fast paced discussions and up-to-the-minute new tools and ideas. Others, like ning and pownce, will be less fast paced, more discussion oriented, as is their nature. All these will, of course, be affected by the introduction and use of video discussions and other tools that have yet to hit the streets or become mainstream. The main thing is that, while networking has always been a part of what teachers have done, the opportunity to do so has increased. In fact, some may say that not being involved in some sort of online network as an educator may be cause for some concern given the proliferation of these networks online. I’m not sure that it has reached that point, yet, but it may soon become an expectation that teachers be involved in online PD of some sort and definitely involved in district/division wide online groups. We’ve reached the point where distance is not a concern. What is the concern/stumbling block is the failure of many within education to use the tools that are available to do the work they were designed to do. As networks continue to shrink the distance between people, educators will need to open the door and begin building their own network outside of their schools and that’s where many of us who have been using the different networks can help them in choosing something that will fit with what they are wanting to do.

Stay tuned as I will once again be reintroducing the New Faces posts where I highlight a blog of someone that I’ve just discovered.

Let’s meet them at the door

I’ve been really busy of late with all the things that go on in the life of a parent, principal, coach and community member. My senior boys basketball team is showing signs of becoming a real contender - which means that we have to play more - with more nights away. I’ve also been working very hard on getting some of the policies for our school ready - reworking areas that just don’t seem to fit. I’ve been expanding my use of various web2.0 tools including such things as Jing, VoiceThread, Animoto and other tools. Now this is because I’m hoping to do a session at the upcoming Tlt Conference in Saskatoon in May. I am focusing on tools that can help administrators to become more familiar with what is available and begin to use the tools in their own lives. I’m hoping to use Jing to create a Jingcast of some of the tools I hope to use plus add to my admin wiki some of the things that I am learning and working on during this time.

Tonight, after reffing and coaching a bball game, I was able to sit in on Alec Couros university class using Ustream. During this time, one of the participants, nnoakes, asked a really good question about the whole networking idea. George Siemens, who was guest presenting on Connectivism, had just mentioned some of the major educational bloggers in his presentation. The question posed was something like:

How does the network open up for new people as most of the people mentioned refer to one another in their writing and their own network includes one another.

I also wonder this. I recall a commment that once directed me to some advice on becoming more widely read. It included commenting on other bogs, writing regularly, keeping the topics current, referring to what you’ve read and so on. Well, I must say that it’s a lie, as far as I’m concerned. Many of the big names were there at the start and continue to grow their readerships because they were there at the start - and rightly so. Some have done some great work with connecting classrooms and including technology in their teaching and this has grown their readership. Some have interesting comments and make controversial comments which brings them readership. The rest, well, we write on, sometimes having a good post that draws attention from readers or we manage to be noticed by a blogger with a large reader list which brings in readers.

As the number of teachers who enter different networks grows, it will be interesting to see how things pan out. I know that I’ve seen the frustration in a number of bloggers who find it very disappointing that it is so hard to get comments or interaction. Having commented on a number of blogs, I know that it takes a great deal of time to do this. Some say it pays off in attracting readers. I’m not convinced. I’m not convinced that, like all other areas of our society, there won’t be just a few major players whose writing is followed by many while many of rest will continue with a very small readership, occasionally attracting readers because of this or that.

My reasons vary but mostly come down to this:  most of the big name bloggers are not full-time teachers or school building administrators and are outside looking in. There, I said it. There is only so much time in a day, there is only so much time to do reading and commenting and many are finding that to be committed to a network requires time that many teachers do not have. So, if you are a well known figure, you can pop in and out of twitter and leave a few posts and then not appear for a day or two and people will respond to you. The rest need to build and nuture our networks - commenting and building, building and discussing, discussing and sharing. Any time away and our network moves on - not really leaving us but not allowing us to just drop in.

Now, we do make some personal connections, especially if we can meet f2f with people from our network. This really adds to the relationships, strengthening the bonds but, like most teachers, the chance of attending a major national conference and meeting these people is, well, not that likely. Those who do get this chance, appear to build and strengthen their network in ways that are different than others. With many of well known names, they meet one another at these conferences to get reaquainted and reconnected. Their conversations have references and such that those not attending cannot share. It may not create an exclusive network but it does affect those who are involved. So for others trying to get involved, it becomes even more difficult as they try to make sense of it all.

Maybe we need to really go out of our way to help those just joining the community and network. Mentor them and introduce them to different educators. Really share ourselves with them instead of allowing them to find their own way. The idea similar to what happens with new teachers. Those who have mentors tend to develop in a much different way than those who learn by trial-by-fire. Education, unfortunately, is know for the latter and not the former. For so long, we have not opened the doors to new people but instead allowed them to make it on their own. Maybe, as we explore these new venues and tools, we need to toss open the doors and do more than just invite them in. We need to meet them at the door and help them find their way. We need to check in on them and see how they are doing and share cool ideas or tools with them. Those of us who have some experience, need to share that with others and maybe go beyond just our blog sharing. Maybe we need to meet them at the door, welcome them and help them with what they are doing. It’s one thing that does work in school.

Do I have the passion?

First off, let me congratulate Chris Lehmann for a very successful conference at SLA. From all that I have seen and heard, the Educon2.0 was an incredible success. It is obvious that Chris had done a tremendous job of facilitating this learning experience for all who attended.  As Tim, 0ver at Assorted Stuff  posts,

I’ve never seen a school, where there is such a sense of community and collaboration. Students and staff at SLA really seem to be equal partners in the learning.

Indeed, this is a goal that schools all over are trying to achieve. With the focus on improving student learning being at the core of what schools are about, it seems that Chris and the teachers at SLA are on to something. It is obvious from the various reading that I’ve done, that those who attended were swept away. I mean, even ijohnpedersen commented that Once a year I get serious on my blog. Today felt right. Reflections on Educon Philly. http://snipurl.com/1yk4b 

As someone who couldn’t attend the conference, I am grateful to all those people who are sharing their notes and their links to the different sessions. It will take me time to sift through all these and digest the information. I agree with Tim about

However, more than anything else we need to continue and expand the discussions that began this weekend.

Improving education from the outside has never worked, not in my lifetime. The only way anything is going to change is by working from the inside.

We need to continue to expand the community of educators that was in Philadelphia this past weekend.

Exactly. We need to reach out to teachers and help them to begin using the tools.

However, this post is not about that. This post is about one administrator, who has for the last 15 years or so, has been working to bring technology into schools. This post is about how one administrator wants to reach out to other administrators and help them to understand how education can change, needs to change, as technology becomes a part of everyday life. It is about how one administrator continues to look for ways to network and make connections but, living the life of an administrator, doesn’t have the hours needed to do much more. You see, one other thing struck me in Tim’s post.

Another thing great schools need is a strong leader as principal -so I’m thinking maybe we could clone Chris.

Ok, so that’s not very practical. Instead we need to work to help our administrators understand that more trust in our kids and giving them more control over their own education can actually improve their learning. Test scores, too.

Then one of the commentors left this comment-

I couldn’t agree more, and it became painfully clear today as we held the second of three faculty interviews for a new lower division principal at my school. I left thinking, “where’s the passion?” Chris definitely holds the patent on passion in administrators.

First, I have no doubt that this wasn’t aimed at all administrators  but it did grate me some.  Oh well. Move on and I probably would have but I kept on reading through my RSS feed and came across Scott McLeod’s post over at Dangerously Irrevevant that was a follow-up to an earlier post. Now, Scott links to his earlier post, a follow-up post by Pete Reilly and Others who have commented. He finishes by saying:

We need to teach administrators about this stuff. Take a post like mine that gets some play (and also is of interest to school leaders) and show them how this works. Show them that the learning is in the dialogue and the interplay of ideas and that it’s not difficult to do. They need help seeing the power and potential. Lend a hand, won’t you?

As one administrator who’s working his tale off and trying to make a difference, I’m kind of deflated at the moment, to be honest. I don’t have a hope of being able to hold a conference or be able to do national presentations about technology and the power it holds for administrators. Heck, I don’t even get the chance with the administrators in my own division.  I might get a crack to actually do a small presentation at a small conference later this year, if my proposal is approved. I work pretty much in isolation, trying to gain insights and support from my small network. I’m trying to change things in my own school to make technology more accessible but am not always able to make headway. I’ve shared my own teaching experiences using technology, everything from using gliffy and bubbl.us to creating podcasts using audacity and trying out some of the online video editing software to sharing the use of social bookmarking tools, blogging and RSS readers. I worked to try to begin a ning group specifically geared to administrators and technology use but it’s not getting the response that I expected even once I threw it out to my twitter network.

Do I have the passion? I think so. But right now my passion is really burning wondering what a guy has to do to get someone to listen. Okay, maybe that isn’t passion but it’s still burning.  Most administrators I know are working in a situation where they have way too much on their desks. They are trying to do things that are being dictated from above while being pushed by the teachers within their own buildings, often with more than one competing agenda. Heck, I think technology is extremely important but I don’t have the time to always be up on what’s happening on Twitter or seeing who’s leading on twitdir. In fact, I’ve grown to really like Pownce because I can see it having some real use for my staff and even for students in particular instances.

All-in-all, I’m pretty frustrated with all this talk about administrators being the ones who are highlighted for needing help. In my experience, they are only a part of the puzzle. In fact, it is just as important to bring all the stakeholders online with this need for change. Policy and focus need to support the actions of technology use so that schools can move from casual use to assimilation where the technology no longer has that “wow” factor but is just part of the learning environment. This requires more than just getting administrators on board. It requires a reshaping of culture in order to see that learning does not span certain a period of time but is, in fact, a lifelong pursuit that begins at birth and continues until death.

Yes, I have a passion - for doing what is best for the students that come into the school each day. Sometimes, I have no time to even think about technology with all the meetings or dealings with students who are struggling or who are mad or bullied or …. and never mind those who don’t want to be in the building. Then there are parents who don’t agree with how we do things or how I do things. Like most public school administrators, I deal with whomever comes through the doors and whatever baggage they are carrying and try to make things work for them. If passion was all it took to get things done, I’d have accomplished much more in my time as principal. But it takes much, much more.

For those who are serious about wanting to have their administrators become better engaged with technology, send them over to the ning. I’m hoping it’s a place to share and grow as learners. My experience is that, like teachers, administrators listen to other administrators. They don’t have to do more than just look around but I’m hoping to bring together a collection of what I’ve gleaned over the past few years in regards to technology, learning and leading. Actually, I’m hoping to have others contribute - my stuff won’t take much space.  

Finding a balance - mentoring an online life?

This evening I was spending time do other things besides being online - parent things like going to hockey practice, reading stories, playing mini-sticks and yucking it up with my teenage daughters. It was one of those evenings of which I’ve spent plenty just being “home”. I didn’t have to rush off to a meeting or feel the need to check in with the online world.

Later on, once children were in bed and studying, I sat down to check in and see what was happening. Now dropping in on Twitter can be a bit of a shock as you may have to search to see what the conversations are all about. Because there are so many different things happening on mine, it sometimes takes me a little bit to familiarize myself with what is happening. As I was looking at the conversations, this one from jepcke jumped out at me:

How do you balance an insanely busy day/week & keeping up with Twitter?

I’m not sure. I know that there is part of me that wants to stay “up-to-date” with what is happening in the Twitterverse. Just like when I first began with my RSS reader. I was reading and reading, trying to stay caught up with all the things that were going on, trying to write on my blog and trying to do all the other things. I finally realized that keeping caught up wasn’t going to happen, not for a person like myself with children, community commitments, coaching commitments plus all the things that are related to be an administrator at a school.

The same thing started to happen with Twitter. I wanted to keep caught up with all that was happening, all the new ideas and tools that people were using and the things that were going on. It was the whole RSS reader thing over again. Fortunately, it has taken me much less time this go around to realize that I’m can’t be one of those people who seems to be on twitter and the internet all the time. In fact, I’m not sure that is the kind of impression that I want to give. As kolson29 twitted:

have to come to terms with my addiction to online world vs not wanting my kids there.

This isn’t the first time I’ve run across this. Seems it happens to many of us who are trying to find a balance between online and inlife. This can be very difficult for many of us. As we build our networks and PLN’s, we are seeing how important such things are for us and our growth. We are dedicated to what the net and the networks have to offer and are seeking out new experiences and new ideas. (Sounds like StarTrek should be playing in the background!)

There comes a time, however, that we run into the problem of balance. Late nights tweeting with cross-continent colleagues, early mornings trying to get things together for a podcast, a quick check-in on twitter to see who’s on and what’s happening. Evenings are full of all kinds of happenings with some new tool being shared, tried and discussed. All this time eventually affects other parts of our lives. Well, it did my life. Like many new things, I became distracted with the one while not paying attention to the many.

For the first time in weeks, I went for a run today during my son’s hockey practice. It felt great. Sure, I listened to a podcast but I was just listening to it, allowing the information to be part of my run (treadmill of course! It’s like -38C with a wind here!) Like I mentioned earlier, I spent time doing different things with my children. When I’m done this, I’ll be doing a bit of reading and then off to an early bed - a habit that I would really like to continue! I find that it is good to have regular sleep.

For so many of us, the work we do each day is not just a job; it’s a passion. We believe what we do is important and we are dedicated professionals. That’s why so many of us eat lunch while catching up on email or twits, spend a great amount of time online and search within our network for ways to improve what is we are doing. Because things are changing at a break-neck speed, many are working at a break-neck speed. But is this good for us? Is this a good example? If we were mentoring someone, would this be good mentorship? I’m not sure. I do know that I’ve noticed that my children need to given an example regarding appropriate use of many things and I’m not sure that, in my overzealous pursuit of “keeping up” I haven’t really applied the “walk the walk”. Yes my online PLN is important and I really do enjoy the discussions with other educators. However, it needs to be in balance with the other areas of life. If it begins taking time that should be used to keep that balance, then it’s time to take stock, reflect and shift accordingly.

And maybe, by doing this, I can be better at discussing various tools with my colleagues. Because I know the time it takes to find and learn and incorporate, I can provide an example of balance for them. Now, I know that many people comment that we need to “work with the willing.” Well, I don’t always get the willing with which to work. In fact, as a middle years teacher, most of my students fell in the “un” category. I didn’t give up on them - couldn’t. As a teacher leader - administrator - my role is work with all. So, somehow, someway I need to find ways to draw all people in. The willing are always so nice with which to work - I liked them as a teacher too! It was the students with whom I spend recesses and after school that, eventually, I really got to know and whom developed in ways beyond what we were studying.

As I search for that balance, I realize that I am a mentor - to my children, my colleagues and the other administrators with whom I work - as well as the people in my PLN. I’d like to spend more time online but my RSS experience has taught me that it will come with a cost in many parts of my life. My wife may not need a WOW widow t-shirt but she was thinking of getting a RSS widow badge and I don’t want her to go looking for a Twitter widow hat.

These are times of enormous and rapid change for educators and students.  As a teacher, I still don’t want to give up on the ones who aren’t easy. While being an administrator in a Catholic school, one of the teachers I worked with commented about the number of students  we were receiving that needed extra help and adaptations. The teacher, jokingly, wanted to know if I had put an add in the paper asking for all students with problems to apply. If so, could I stop running the ad. I laughed. Then, somewhat seriously I said “The ad we have is the cross on our front entrance - it symbolizes what we stand for and who we are. So, no, I’m not going to take down the ad. And it should remind us of what we are called to do.” I often reflect on that conversation when I meet up with a difficult student or family or … If I had wanted to work with only the willing, I guess I wouldn’t have decided to become a teacher and, if I had wanted to work with only the willing staff, I definitely wouldn’t have become a principal. But they all deserve my best - which means that having balance and being a mentor is very important - especially during times of change.

Time for something else.