Today, I was perusing the March issue of eSchool News and found an article citing new research from Boston College suggesting that “1 to 1 laptop programs are only effective as the teachers who apply them”.  My response?  Obviously!!

I don’t know when it happened that we thought that laptops and IWB’s were going to magically educate all of our children, but it seems as though that’s the attitude by many.  I’m glad that there’s research out there to support this (I guess), but we have to realize that technology is still just a tool.  It’s kind of exciting and I, personally, love to play with the toys as much as the next person, but we must remember the most important piece of this puzzle, the teachers. Giving them a tool and walking away expecting them to use it will never be the answer. The first time I received a laptop from a school district was many years ago.  I remember going into a little room with boxes stacked everywhere and checking my laptop out. I was given a computer, a case and a cord and sent on my merry way.  There was no training, no instruction, nothing to show me how to use it effectively with my students.  I checked it out and was on my own. Luckily, I already knew my way around a computer and had been using them with students in my classroom for a number of years.  This was not the case for many of my colleagues who struggled, became frustrated and walked away from it only indulging in the frustration to take attendance.  While the district successfully checked out laptops, I considered the launch a failure because of a lack of support.

I have the privilege of spending every day supporting teachers in their endeavors.  We work through problems and find solutions. We collaborate and explore. Most importantly, they have someone who they know will support them.  I readily admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I also refuse to leave them alone to “figure it out”. There is a certain point at which professional responsibility kicks in, but for the most part, when new equipment comes in, I know that I need to make an appointment to walk through some things.

Marzano and Boston College say that teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement yet budget cuts, new initiatives and time constraints continue to impede on professional learning.  Maybe these studies will bring new light to teacher needs. But in the meantime, it’s important to remember that there is support out there by way of Nings, twitter and other online professional development groups.  Find a podcast in iTunes, read a blog, find an article that speaks to you and run with it. We don’t have time to wait for research studies to prove that teachers are important for student achievement, we know that. We don’t have time for federal, state and districts to see the need for professional learning, we need to act with a sense of urgency and take that learning upon ourselves and utilize these tools in spite of the obstacles, too much is at stake.

In my district we have a web-based, website authoring tool that we has been developed by our technology department for the purpose of providing teachers with a tool to make classroom websites that are hosted on district servers.  It’s not perfect, it’s still a work in progress. Sure, there are lots of tools out there that do the same thing, but the district provides this as a free place to keep parents and students updated on assignments and the daily classroom events. Teachers can even embed video from another in-house video hosting service as well as include all the embeddable tools that litter the internet these days. Basically, it’s a pretty good system.

I recognize that this is not really the norm. Many districts don’t have these resources for teachers and I’m glad that I can provide instruction on the best use of these sites so they are not simply document repositories, but that they also include instructional components.  What bothers me is that so many times, technology people (and this is not unique to my district), because they have more technical skills, create sites and structures using tools that are not available to the teachers that they are supporting. I’ve been guilty of this in the past and will probably do it again in the future, but I’m working on making sure that, as someone who supports teachers, the tools that I demo and the sites that I create can be used by them. It’s great that I know how to program Flash and HTML, but because I support teachers, I need to use tools to support them that they can actually use. Everything I make, demo or talk about is potentially something that a teacher in my district will want to use as a tool in their classroom and with their kids. Just because I have the technical ability, doesn’t mean that I should be free to create things that are unreachable for my teachers. By doing that I’m setting an an undoable example. Those of us who work with teachers need to be mindful of what our role is in our schools and districts.

It’s fun and easy to say “look what I can do” with a piece of software. Yes, it’s fun to make pretty pictures, but when teachers ask me to help them create the kinds of opportunities for their students and their classrooms using tools that they’ve seen me use, I need to be ready to help them make their goals into a reality. I don’t want to have to tell them that a higher end tool isn’t available to them because “they’re just a teacher” and it isn’t in the budget for you.

All of us who are involved in instructional technology and supporting teachers either at the building or district levels need to be cognizant of the tools that we use. We do set and example that is in fact doable.

There, rant over.

“The Art of Public Speaking” is the title of chapter 13.  Being well spoken is a very important part of getting people to follow any given leader.  I listen to podcasts on a daily basis.  Many of these podcasts contain interviews of various people.  While I don’t claim to be a public speaking expert, I do understand the need for eliminating verbal cues, such as “you know” and “um” from your speech.  Whenever I record myself, I do go back in and edit these verbal cues out of the recording.  However, whenever I speak in public, I always have this in the back of my mind.  I try to be succinct in my speech, and, rather than resorting to verbal “filler,” I try to simply pause.  I’ve heard that the sound of silence is the most difficult sound when speaking in front of others.  This is something that, early in my teaching career, I made a concerted effort to learn.  When an educator asks a question and no one answers, it’s hard to let the silence linger.  However, it’s necessary.  My 10th graders were waiting for me to answer for them, it became an game between us, who could wait the longest.

While Lincoln was probably aware of his verbal cues, he was even more concerned with the message that he was giving.  He knew that everything he said would be scrutinized and that everything he said, not only represented himself, but the United States as a whole.  This is true of educators as well.  As we talk to our students (and as those in my position talk to teachers) we are representing our districts and departments.  We are all a part of something bigger.  When we speak, whether we want to or not, we represent that larger group.  Sometimes that’s a department, other times it’s a school or district.  Regardless, we must choose our words wisely, because, regardless of the context, only in rare circumstances do we only represent ourselves.

According to Phillips, storytelling was one of the techniques that Lincoln used regularly.  In chapter 14, “Influence People Through Storytelling and Conversation,” Phillips outlines Lincolns prolific storytelling ability and his ability to connect with those who could be considered “the common man.”  I’ve always known that telling story can make a point even better than if it were brought up outright.  As a teacher, telling story would often draw the interest of my students.  (Funny though, they liked to hear stories, but reading stories was not of great interest to them.)

One lesson that this chapter illustrates is that of using humor to create loyalty in “followers.” Lincoln is said to have used humor to create levity in situations that were especially grave.  He found that humor was a major component in persuading others.

The final chapter of the book, “Preach A Vision and Continually Reaffirm It,” restates the importance of setting goals from Chapter 10.  Lincoln continually went back to the goals and vision that he had when he took office.  Districts and buildings who have developed a mission and continually put it before the teachers will continually come out ahead when they look at whether their goals have been achieved.

Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times gave me a look into the world of Abraham Lincoln and his struggles as President during the Civil War.  When I was a college student, I read a poem by Walt Whitman dedicated to Lincoln that has always stayed with me.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass

Phillip’s next chapter, “Lead by Being Led”, describes Lincoln’s attitude towards his subordinates.  His was focused on goals and let his people make decision to that end.  When all was said and done, he wanted then to say, “We did this ourselves.”  I remember a number of years ago a Modern Media class that I had just taken over from another teacher.  I had equipment and a very outdated curriculum (the text book was published in 1992 and the year was 2000). So we ditched the textbook and I attempted a more authentic learning environment.  As the projects went on, students wanted to do more and more complex projects that pushed the boundaries of my knowledge and the abilities of our equipment.  I learned a lot, but more importantly, I gave them the ability to try different things and worked with them to find solutions rather than giving them solutions that may or may not have worked.  In many cases, the solutions that they came up with were beyond what I would have come up with.  They were innovative and driven.  The project very quickly became their’s.  I was simply along for the ride.  Every now and then there were ideas that were outside the realm of reality and had to be altered to fit our needs.  What it comes down to is that my student’s led me through this project.  They were the creators of their own knowledge.  It was all very exciting and when they were done, they could absolutely say… “We did this ourselves.”

In chapter 10, “Set Goals and Be Results-Oriented”, Phillips writes of Lincoln’s drive for success.  His goal was to always keep a fire lit under his people.  Being a results-oriented person myself, I understand his desire.  However, what I find amazing for many of the great leaders out there is the stamina it takes to keep that up.  Maybe my focus is in too many places.  Maybe I’m not as driven.  Bottom line, I get tired.  Now, I feel as though I come through on my commitments, but I also have to think about (and get better about) recognizing where my attention goes.  Whenever my attention gets pulled away from a task, I need to ask myself, “Is this the best use of my time?”

Another point from this chapter has to do with a “corporate mission” for a group.  At the beginning of last year the team to which I belong created a mission statement and business plan.  We’re trying to develop a brand of which we can be proud.  I think we’re on the way.  So many organizations (schools) have a mission statement that may or may not have buy-in by all of its members.  I think that many times that’s because the mission is not revisited on a regular basis.  Lincoln continually reminded his people of the overall goal and what it took to get there.  I wonder if a simple regular reminder would increase buy-in of school mission statements.

Chapter 11 is a little more specific to industries outside of education.  Entitled, “Keep Searching Until You Find Your “Grant”,” the chapter outlines the long line of generals that Lincoln gave charge of the Army before finally getting to Grant who eventually won the war for him.  Lincoln didn’t have any predisposition to removing someone who he felt was not working out and not realizing results.  It seems that his decisions were based on results rather than emotion.  In my experience, keeping emotion out of decisions is tremendously difficult to do.  There are always biases and experiences that can cloud judgment.  Lincoln was no different, but he had the courage to take action when he felt he needed to.  This is not to say that he didn’t provide ample opportunities for improvement and support, but time needs to be given to make improvements.  Unfortunately, in the world of education and testing, time is not something that we often have.  Teachers who are new to the profession are put in classrooms and expected to perform immediately because their students must be able to have the same opportunities that students in other classes do.  I haven’t completely focused my thoughts on this (as is probably very evident) so this is a little rambling, but I think there’s a tie in there with the support that teachers in classrooms need to teach their students.

The final chapter in this section is “Encourage Innovation.”  Innovation is abundant in education.  Every day I see classes that are working on new things and solving problems with a completely different outlook.  It’s an exciting time for education with all the possibilities that are out there.  At his METC keynote, Will Richardson said that “We are doing a great job preparing our children for their current reality.”  His point was that we’re not doing a great job preparing them for their future.  He asked whether we teach our kids to write using hypertext and linking to sources around the web.  The answer from the audience was basically, “no, we are not.” But, for the most part, everyone agreed that they will probably write using hypertext at some point in their future.   How will they know how to use hypertext in their writing?  If we’re not teaching them these skills, do they just figure them out for themselves?  Lincoln looked for leaders he could learn from and who would find innovative solutions to problems.  Can we teach innovation to our students?  Maybe, can we give them opportunities to be innovative and to solve problems? Absolutely, but only if we allow them to move beyond the five-paragraph essay and give them some control over the criteria of assignments.

My second presentation, “Instructional Strategies for a Digital World,” was one that I’ve presented in the past about my time in the classroom and my efforts to create a “paperless classroom.”  I changed the presentation considerably this time because I wanted to tell a story about my experience rather than just explain the concept and how “I” did it.  I wanted my audience to understand “why” I did it that way.  I think it went well and I enjoyed the session. I ended my day in another of Will Richardson’s sessions and then a brief sharing session with Meg Ormiston.  After dinner and drinks with DEN and some new Twitter friends, I finally braved the snowy roads and made my way home.  School is canceled for tomorrow so after dropping off the kids at childcare, it’s back to another day of METC with one final presentation.

Part 2 – Character

In my first post I wrote about Phillips description of Lincoln’s dealings with people. The second part of the book addresses Lincoln’s character. Since I first heard about Lincoln in elementary school his nickname, “Honest Abe”, has been one of the first things that I think about when I hear his name. This part of the book is broken up into three chapters:

• Honesty and Integrity Are the Best Policies
• Never Act Out of Vengeance or Spite
• Have the Courage to Handle Unjust Criticism
• Be a Master of Paradox

The first section, Honesty and Integrity Are the Best Policies, was an interesting and one that could be used to help students as they struggle to find themselves and determine what they actually believe. One of the principles that I continue to struggle with has to do with who you stand by and when you stand by them. According to Phillips, Lincoln believed that you should “stand with anybody who stands right. Stand with him with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.” For so many of the kids that I have taught in the past, loyalty is everything. It’s not a matter of whether one’s actions are right, it’s a matter of standing up for someone rather than for a cause. Truly, I find this one to be tough. Loyalty is important, but shouldn’t what’s right still come first as we leave the realm of adolescence.

The other principle from this section that I really liked was, “When you make it to the top, turn and reach down for the person behind you.” In education the top is different for everyone, but the principle remains the same. When a “level” is reached, it’s your responsibility to help the person behind you to reach that same level. As teachers, we strive to help our students. However, could we teach this principle to our students? What if, when they reached a level, they helped those around them until everyone came up to that level? What a community you would have. My Personal Learning Network (PLN) works that way for me. When someone learns something, typically they will share their learning. If it’s something that I need or want to know or be familiar with, there has not been a single time that I’ve asked that I wasn’t pleasantly rewarded with assistance. Usually, they go above and beyond. I, in turn, try to do the same thing. If students took on this attitude, education might look completely different.

The next chapter of the book, “Never Act Out of Vengeance or Spite” is one that should really hit home with educators. I remember a day in my classroom in which there all students were taking a quiz when suddenly a fight broke out between two boys without, to my knowledge, any provocation from either one. I was shocked, amazed and in awe that this was actually happening in my room. With the help of some other students we broke up the fight (which ended up being over a girl) and I marched them down to the principal’s office. I didn’t ask what caused it. I didn’t care at that point. I was angry, disappointed and embarrassed.

How many times have I graded a paper and been tempted to grade that essay just a little bit harder based on the behavior of a student. Yes, it’s wrong. Yes, it’s vengeful. Yes, I’m a professional and am pleased to say that I worked very hard to not let those feelings affect the grades my students earned. The key here is that students are earning these grades and I have no right to impose my will on those grades based on their behaviors. Educators are human and it’s hard to leave that frustration behind, but if we don’t, there are two problems – our actions are wrong and we’re modeling behaviors the same behaviors that we’re trying to keep our student’s from displaying.

“Have the Courage to Handle Unjust Criticism” is the title of chapter three. Not surprisingly, this should ring true for the entire education community. It seems that as teachers we are being criticized from nearly all sides these days. Obviously this is an extreme generalization, but we all have days that we feel that way. When Lincoln felt that he was unjustly criticized and he felt that he must respond, he would write a letter to the person or persons being critical and express his side of the story. However, rarely, if ever, were these letters sent. It was therapeutic for him. In his mind, his actions and reputation spoke for themselves and by responding to criticism that was unjust he was just perpetuating the misunderstanding. He had faith in his values and allowed them to guide his actions. Hopefully I’ll be able to remember that the next time I feel as though educators are being criticized by those who aren’t part of our world. I’m sure I’ll have that opportunity very soon.

The last chapter of the “Character” section is entitled “Be a Master of Paradox”. There are lessons in this chapter for the educator too but I think they are a little more cryptic. So many times I feel as though I’m walking a tightrope in which I can see the big picture in my district while at the same time I can see how that big picture gets interpreted by individuals. There’s always a little disconnect between administration and teachers, but, the biggest thing I’ve learned since I’ve been out of the classroom is that the principal is truly the educational leader in each building. They set the tone and interpret that big picture. I guess I always kind of knew that, but until I traveled between schools and saw the way different administrators ran their schools, I didn’t really understand how true that was.

Thus far, my experience with Lincoln On Leadership has been a good one. I’ve learned a little about Lincoln a little about leadership and have gotten a lot to think about.

Every year in many school districts around the country teachers are asked to create a goals for themselves. They vary in titles, sequence, and scope but when all is said and done, goals are made for the upcoming year. In my district, these are called Professional Growth Plans or PGP (we love our acronyms). Last year I chose to look at mentoring and try to expand my ability to help teachers and their ability to use technology. I did my PGP and as the year passed I thought about it, but to be honest, it was kind of lost on me. Basically, life got in the way and pushed my little plan to the back burner. I completed it and learned a lot about mentoring, but it wasn’t part of my regular thought process. My focus became working with teachers and students… you know… my job.

This year, I’m making a more concerted effort to think about my chosen topic and try to put it into practice. I know it’s early in the year, but if I continue to remind myself about the purpose of creating a plan and the benefit that both my teachers (and in turn their students) and I can get from it, I have found many opportunities to use what I’ve learned.

I have chosen to look at leadership skills and strategies this year as my PGP. My plan is to share my thoughts and readings here as I reflect on this personal professional development. My first step in this process is the reading of the book Diamond Quality Leadership by Mark Hinderliter. Mark is a consultant from St. Louis and is known by an administrator in my district so brining this book into my PGP seemed to be a natural fit.

Diamond Quality Leadership, like many leadership books, is organized with an initial story outlining and illustrating the leadership concepts and skills that the character “learns” through the course of the book. At the end of the book the author discusses the implications and theoretical context presented through the story. In my limited experience with these kinds of books, this seems to be a fairly common approach. The story is fictional, but brings the concepts up in a fairly transparent way.

In the Diamond Leadership Model, Hinderliter outlines six different points:

· Create clarity

· Build trust

· Work with passion

· Serve others

· Fully engage people

· Act with courage

Each point can be expanded upon and they all have a place in both leadership and education. Many of the aspects of the book were not really new to me, but it has reminded me of some of these techniques.

There are many lessons that can be taken away from this book. Hinderliter’s discussion of his fourth point, “serve others” struck me because it changes the focus from the “leader” to the “follower”. Leaders are those who insist on giving those who follow them the responsibility and support to (in this case) do their jobs. I couldn’t help but put this into the perspective of the classroom. In today’s classrooms, teachers must hand the learning over to their students. We are there to support our students and give them what they need to be successful. In doing this, we must trust them to take responsibility of their own education. Rather than being the purveyors of knowledge and holding the responsibility for “educating” our students, we must guide and coach them in their endeavors. This means that we must relinquish some of our control and let them explore and work through posing problems and solutions for each other. I think that too often we want our students to “serve” us by completing assignments that we give them, write papers on topics that we determine and assess grades from our perspective. By making a conscious effort to “serve” our students and giving them responsibility for their own learning, we are not only educating our students but modeling leadership skills that will serve them in the future.

The second point that Hinderliter brings up in his book is one that I’ve been thinking about for a number of years. I haven’t acted upon it yet, but the more I come across the concept on the web or in books, the more I think that it’s a good idea. In the book, the main character asks 4 of his professional friends to meet once a month to discuss various aspects of their careers and personal lives. The idea is to bounce ideas off each other and spend some time helping each other. To do this, there must be a great deal of trust between members of the group as well as a strong desire to help each other. They meet for 1 hour in an informal setting and simply talk. If there are specific topics that a member would like to discuss, an email is sent out in advance so that all members have time to reflect and are prepared to help. I have thought of bringing this idea to some of my friends but I have yet to do so. I do have a network which I trust and will talk to, but the idea of getting together in a planned way and with an implicit reason intrigues me. I haven’t decided if this is something I want to pursue, but the more I read about it, the more I think it’s a good idea. In the world of IM and video, the geographical limitations of this are less important. However, I think this is one activity that I’d like to do face to face.

While there are many points from Diamond Quality Leadership that are valid for education and the classroom, these are the two that stick out for me. I write this as a reflection but also to help me think about and remained focused on my plan. Now to determine what action to take.

Stephen Heppell – Pre-Conference Keynote: “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Anymore Is It?: So Why Would We Teach As Though It Was?”

1. One thing that I’ve been dealing with a lot lately has to do with student’s prior knowledge regarding the use of technology. As adults, we see that students use technology in a variety of different ways and they seem to move through and use it seamlessly. This was the basis of Marc Prensky’s work in defining “digital immigrants” and “digital natives”. Through my work with students, I see that there is a comfort level with technology, however, there is also a very surface level understanding of how it works and what it can be used for.
2. Stephen Heppel brought up the point, “Content is NOT King”, essentially stating that in the past so many websites were set up as content portals and expected users to come simply because of the content they were linking to. I think this has changed significantly with the dawn of social networking sites. Heppel’s point is to focus on the community aspects of the web. His presentation reminded me of my early graduate work when my class joined a Yahoo! Group. My instructor encouraged us to see the value of collaboration, group interaction and the social side of the web. It makes me think about the students that I observe in my travels around the district. So many of these sites are simply for them to get information and be comsumers of the web rather than creators. The experience is much different when they have the ability to interact with a site in a social setting.
3. Heppel ends his presentation with the phrase that he sees this as the “Death of education, but the dawn of learning.” This struck me as very familiar but I put it out of my mind. Then, as I was looking at by RSS reader, I came across a blog post by the same title posted by my friend Dawn Hogue.

Starting next week I will be offering a salary credit class (1 full credit will be earned through this class) based on the K12 Online Conference, a virtual conference with presenters from across the world.  The class will meet 3 times from 4-6.  The other sessions will be on your own with participation in a Moodle discussion forum.  Finally, participants will create their own virtual “presentation” in response to or inspired by one of the sessions that they watched.  These presentations will then be posted to NotK12OnlineConference.org to be viewed by others.  I will be available to help with the technical side of the presentations as well as working on generating ideas for them.  The idea behind the class is to engage in the greater conversation about education and look outside Parkway for teaching strategies and instructional practices.  Many of the sessions will focus on using technology in the classroom but they are not limited to that

Each participant will write reflection and keep a log of the sessions attended. The final face-to-face session will be a facilitated discussion about what was learned, the benefits of the conference, and the next steps for those involved in terms of taking their learning back into their classrooms. Additionally, participants will create their own digital presentation in response to or sparked from one they saw on the K12 Online Conference. These presentations will be submitted to the NotK12OnlineConference (http://notk12onlineconference.org) for use by others.

I’m looking forward to the conversations around this.  I’ll keep you posted.

In this post, I don’t want to write about the presentation itself, I really want to share a direction that I’m trying to take in all the classes I lead with teachers.  So many times in technology, I think we tell people what to click on and tell them how to use a specific tool.  This is sometimes appropriate, but I also think that we are missing an opportunity to show how these tools can be used for instructional purposes.  Today I wanted to show them Google Sites and Docs, however, I didn’t want this to be the focus of my presentation. Rather, I wanted them to see how these tools could be used for instructional purposes while at the same time keeping my focus on feedback.  By using the tools and telling them why I chose that tool as I was focusing on the content, I was able to capture and hold participants attention at 2:30 on a Friday afternoon.  They were exposed to the tools and shown where to find them and my focus stayed on the content I wanted to cover.

Not that this is a groundbreaking strategy, but it’s something that I’m working on so I can better help the teachers I work with. I know there are times that I will need to show what to click on, but in situations like today, my goal is to focus on the content and use the tools to help me.