Looking For Change? It Starts At The Top....

(I had the honor of guest blogging for Jason T. Bedell, the brains behind TeachMeet Nashville that you might remember I gave the closing keynote at earlier this year. I appreciate the opportunity and you should head over and check out his blog and follow him on Twitter if you aren't already.)

Change...


We hear a lot about change in education. Seems like everyday there is a new discussion popping up about something that needs to be changed. Whether it is the use (or non-use) of Interactive Whiteboards in the classroom, to the conversation swirling around what exactly 21st Century skills are to talk of even a complete overhaul of our current system in favor for something different, there always has been, and what I feel, always will be a desire for something different. We are never content with what we have. And you know that's quite alright with me. We in education should never settle for anything. There is always room for improvement and we should all have the desire to do better by our students.


But what if you are in an environment where change is unacceptable? I am sure we can think of one teacher who has crossed our paths who is comfortable with the status quo. We might be able to change the minds of those around us. Or maybe not. But what if you are in a school or district where the leadership is fearful of even the talk of change? That is a different story altogether.


Change starts at the top. Change comes from the top. It all starts and ends with school leadership.
School leaders (administrators) are responsible for a lot. There is no doubt they have a tough job. But, let not the challenges of the day-to-day cloud our judgement for the future. School leaders have to understand the culture in their school, their staff, their students and their community. They have to understand the needs of all those groups and understand the direction they are going, where they are and where they need to be. And at the very top, they should have a desire to do better for their school because it is what is best for the school community and not themselves. Ultimately, when school leaders look inward at their buildings they should see a need to do things differently; constantly seeking out new ideas and new ways of accomplishing their goals. They have to change.


But the ideal situation is a building that has leadership that thinks that way.  Are their buildings like that out there? Sure there are. I believe I am part of one. Our school leadership is always trying to do better. Even when we might be at the top of something, it is never enough, we have to do better. Not for ourselves, but for our students and our community.


The reality is there are not enough schools that have the ideal leadership out there. You might even be in or know of one of these schools, or even worse, a whole district that is missing the ideal leadership. What can you do? What do you do?


First, don't get discouraged. It is easy to give up the fight for the change your students need when no one wants to follow. You look around and realize you are all alone but sometimes trails need to be blazed and sometimes you have to blaze that trail alone. Just remember your purpose and remember who you are doing it for. 


When you are faced with the challenge of a school leadership that thinks differently than you challenge it. Challenge everything you can. Does your school have a leadership team or school improvement team or a school board? Are you going to the meetings. Are you speaking up. Be a thorn in their side. Question the why and how of everything that the school is doing. But remember, there is a line between questioning everything and being belligerent. You can push your agenda without being pushy. 


Use social media to your advantage. Did you read a great blog post? Why not send the link to the school leadership with the offer of setting up an RSS reader with other great blogs. Find an interesting resource on Twitter? Send it out to the staff and mention that you got it on Twitter. Maybe you do a workshop highlighting some of the things you have found that have helped your change process. Invite administrators to read an #edchat archive or, better yet, get them to sit and talk while you participate. Many have misconceptions about Twitter and blogs and social media in general. Help change their minds. Perhaps you don't show the how, but you show the why.


Change starts at the top. It takes a strong school leadership to be the driving force behind change. But isn't the saying you can lead a horse to water, but you...well you know the rest. The point is you can't make anyone do anything. You can present them with opportunities, suggestions, ideas. But they have to want to do it. Help them understand why the change is needed and be a model of the change you desire. 

Keeping The Door Of Learning Wide Open

This week I had the honor of guest posting over at the Microsoft Teacher Tech Blog for teacher appreciation week. Below is the post that appeared there on Thursday.


Students today depend upon paper too much. They don’t know how to write on slate without chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?”

This was a quote that appeared in a principals magazine in 1815. But I wonder? Is this the same sentiment that our educators have today?

Unfortunately, there are teachers and administrators out there that still believe that the advancement of and use of technology in the classroom is detrimental to learning. Just last week, Anthony Orsini, an Administrator in a New Jersey middle school, sent home a letter that strongly encouraged the parents to get their students out of all social media sites saying,
"Let me repeat that - there is absolutely, positively no reason for any middle school student to be a part of a social networking site! None."

Mr. Orsini, I have to disagree.

While he might not think there is a legitimate purpose in for students using Social Media I can think of several reasons why our kids should be deeply involved in using social media and more generally, technology, in the classroom.

A great friend of my, Tom Whitby, and I have traveled across the country talking to various groups about the use of Social Media in schools. Tom loves to ask people if they have or know kids between the ages of 3-10. A good majority of hands go up. Then he asks how many of them are on the website Webkinz. Not as many hands are still up but there are still several. The point of the questions are that a child's use of social media begins long before they enter our classrooms. Webkinz is one of the largest social networks for kids in that age range. They are playing games and connecting with kids across the world. So we will let them do that but ban the same thing in our classrooms?

The education community continues to stress the need to teach 21st Century Skills. Many would agree that one of those crucial skills is the ability for our students to collaborate and connect to seek out appropriate information. There is only so much collaboration and connections that kids can make in a classroom with their peers. Why limit ourselves to our 4 walls like this principal in NJ? Many of these tools that we can use to connect students are free and so very easy to use and kids can make instant contact to other kids across the globe. Instead of reading about another cultures customs in a boring textbook why not talk to someone living there and make that connection?

Remember pen pals? I was always so excited to get that letter from my pal in Germany. Of course my teacher was working on reading and writing skills but I didn’t care. I just wanted to tell him all the awesome things I was doing and hear the same from him. We can still do that. We can still teach reading and writing skills and talk about geography and history, but we can do it real-time. That can, and should change the way we educate our kids.

These kids have access to all corners of the planet. The opportunities for learning are truly limitless. Yet Mr. Orsini has decided there needs to be limits placed on learning because of an unfounded fear. Educators have a duty to understand and explain risks of the use of these tools. However, if we are teaching those skills to our students why close the door to learning and take us back 100 years when we should be advancing at record pace?

I encourage all educators, to not to dismiss Social Media in the classroom merly because of some unfounded fear. Talk to your parents and talk to your students. Explain the risks but show the benefits and open the door to the boundless opportunities this type of learning can bring into our classrooms and schools.