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Principals as Blog Leaders

Posted in Change, Professional Development, SD45, Social Media, Technology, tagged , , , on September 30, 2011| 12 Comments »

Writing a blog takes courage. I remember the hesitation and ‘queasy’ feeling I had the first time I hit the “publish” icon on my blog.   But, we have an amazing group of  school and district leaders who are putting themselves out there in new ways this fall.  While, as school and district administrators we often write for a public audience, blogging does feel different from writing a school newsletter. The content might be similar, but it is more personal than a  Principal’s Message on the front page of a newsletter.

We often talk about the many changes happening in education and how we, as leaders, need to model the change.  We want students to take the risks, own their learning, be ready to make mistakes but to learn from them as well,  and to create content for the digital world.  We can help by modelling all of this.

On so many levels, what our leaders are doing in West Vancouver is very powerful.  Our leaders are redefining how we communicate with teachers, students, parents, and the community.  The fear? It is that technology will make our world less personal, but so far, the blogs by our principals and others are having the opposite effect; the writers seem more human, the stories more real, as they share stories about their schools in their own words.

So, what are they blogging about?  Here is a sample:

Cathie Ratz, Principal at Irwin Park, recently blogged about (here) their use of appreciative inquiry and how they are using the book How Full is Your Bucket with students.

Michelle Labounty, Principal at Ridgeview Elementary, picked up on a theme we spent some time exploring last year in the district, and shared thoughts (here) around Parents as Partners.

Brad Lund, Principal at Caulfeild Elementary, is tracking the progress of the schools new iDEC (Inquiry based Digitally Enhanced Community) program in his blog.  He recently shared (here) some of the initial responses to the new venture.

Steve Rauh, Principal at West Vancouver Secondary, is a ‘veteran’ blogger, having started his blog last year. He regularly writes posts as a way to shine a light on the different programs or areas in his school, and recently wrote about the Best Buddies organization (here).

Jennifer Pardee, Principal at Bowen Island Community School, focused on place-based education and the key role the local community plays as a primary resource for learning (here).

Val Brady, Principal at Hollyburn Elementary School, shared research from People for Education on the Top 6 Secrets to Student Success (here)

Our District Leaders are also blogging . . .

Gary Kern, Director of Technology and Innovation, shared some thoughts on what parents can do to help their children with digital literacy (here).

Lynne Tomlinson, Director of Learning Services, wrote this past week about the power of professional learning teams (here).

Jody Langlois, Director of Student Services, picked up on our opening day presentation and added her thoughts to the work of Dr. Stuart Shanker (here)

Barely a month has passed, and our school leaders are modeling the way to build community in digital space.  You can access each of the blogs aggregated centrally (here) or through each school’s website.

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Some Comments About Comments

Posted in Change, SD45, Social Media, tagged , on August 28, 2011| 16 Comments »

During last week’s BCSSA conference, when I presented on Social Media:  How District Leaders Can Build Community, I shared some of my personal thoughts about blog comments and some of the rules I have around them. Some tweets about this got some traction, so I want to revisit the topic in more detail.

One of the greatest fears teachers and administrators have who are looking to enter the blog world, is what people might say in a public space and how they might respond.  We are not accustomed to being so ‘public’, and the technology and the openness are both very new.  For many, the blogs that are most familiar are those which allow people to post anonymously, or who adopt difficult-to-track pseudonyms.  One only need visit some news site blogs to see the nasty comments that can develop there.

In the education world,  we need to model how we expect students to behave and engage, and this has led to some of my guidelines:

1)  I do not allow anonymous comments on my blog.  People identify themselves by name, or by an easily trackable identity.  I realize there may be some issues people do not want to be identified with for fear of repercussions — so, a blog  may not be the right venue to put their views out there.

2)  I will also not engage in blogs that allow anonymous comments.  There are some very interesting educational blogs that are okay with this and, as much as I want to contribute to the discussion, I don’t. It’s my way of protesting against, and not condoning, some of the nastiness that can develop in these spaces.

3)  I allow more than 95 per cent of the comments on my blog to go through.  I think there have been two, maybe three comments that have not been posted over the last year.  It IS okay to disagree on an issue, but it’s not okay to use inappropriate language, or to make it personal.  If one wants to make personal attacks — again, blogs are not the venue.

4)  If someone is going to take the time to read my post and respond — and I do appreciate the time and thoughtfulness of all who do comment — I need to take the time to return a thoughtful comment.  It is often said, the comments and discussions that ensue are the best part of a blog — they are what makes them so rich.  Whether it is a compliment, question, or a challenge to an assumption, it is about the public conversation, and I make it a point to try to engage everyone who leaves a comment within 24-48 hours of the blog.

I always come back to what we want our students to do; how we want them to engage, be critical thinkers, but we also want them to be respectful, thoughtful citizens. A number of our principals are stepping into the blogosphere, and it is a great professional network, largely encouraging and supportive. So, as we all go forward into digital space and become part of that network, we will also be modelling for those who follow.

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Social Media: How District Leaders Can Build Community

Posted in Change, Personalized Learning, Professional Development, Social Media, tagged , , , , , on August 18, 2011| 9 Comments »

This Friday, I am presenting at the British Columbia School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) Summer Academy on how district leaders can use social media to build community.  I have embedded the slides below but, as always, they only tell part of the story.

This presentation is a departure from the one I gave two years ago at the same event (linked here) which focussed on Student Engagement in an Age of Distraction.  It focussed on the changes taking place inside and outside of education, while the new presentation is more about how we can use the new technology as part of how we can lead the change. In fact, if we want to have an influence and presence as education leaders, our participation in digital space is no longer optional.

There are always risks as we expose ourselves more publicly, but social media allows us to tell our own stories in our own words, to connect to new people and new ideas across roles and geography, and to model for others in our system — students, staff and parents — continuous learning.

I am closing with the quote: “don’t talk about it . . . be about it”. This is a call to all of us who lead in education because we need to model the way.

There is more content about social media, education and building community in this presentation, and in the coming weeks I will  devote a number of separate posts to share this information.

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The “How do you find the time?” Question

Posted in Personalized Learning, Social Media, tagged , , , , , on January 22, 2011| 31 Comments »

I recently wrote about transparency, and in my comments, the discussion moved to finding balance, managing work, home, and finding strategies to being more accessible, but mindful that we need to be present in our non-work lives.  In looking at many of those using social media in education, the common denominator was — we have young families — making this issue/concern even more relevant.

The question: “How do you find the time?” is one I am asked, more than any other, from educators interested in social media. I also hear more from educators worried about expanding their accessibility online, “I just don’t have the time for it.”  To be clear and upfront, it takes time to build as well as participate in the community online. There are no promises that being accessible, modelling the use of social media, and engaging with others online, will reduce your work hours. Then again, we don’t need to sell everything in life with a promise it will allow us to work less.  There are many other motivators than the “promise of less work” in our lives.

I don’ t have the answers, but as with my blog on Transparency, I do have an emerging list of beliefs and strategies to make sense of my work/non-work relationships.

Building on a response to Chris Wejr on my blog, here are some principles/strategies which guide me:

1) I have no idea what it means to have a work/home balance, so I’ve given up on talking about this notion. More and more, work is not about a place — my office is very often my phone and it can just as easily be in my den at home, or my car (hands free) as it can be my business office.  I love the ability to jump in and out of work at home.  Technology no longer forces us to stay at the office late every night.  There are times we can go home early, spend time with our families, and go back to “work” later that night.

2) I block out time on my calendar that is virtually non-negotiable as private time.  It is not a lot of time, but it is consistent every week.

3) While I play, learn and engage in social media, I limit the tools I use.  I don’t know how some people participate in so many places.  In my non-work life I participate in Facebook, and in my work-life I engage in Twitter and through my blog (and others blogs).

4)  Every way I interact digitally (not face-to-face) can be done through my mobile device.  I encourage people to call my cell or text me, and I have access to my blog and Twitter through my mobile device.  I don’t need to be in any one particular place to be working.  I can’t imagine having to come into “work” on a Sunday to do work.

5)  Sunday is my writing day.  I often post one or two times a week, but the draft posts are written on Sundays.  I don’t have time during the week to write, but there is also value in not making postings too close together — so I try to be strategic about when I write and when I publish.  I tend not to write “news” posts (except on topics like PISA), so  the timing is often not crucial.

6)  I commit to commenting on five posts for every one I write. On Sundays, I also read what others are saying, and often, my thoughts.  I tend to prioritize local (BC) bloggers, and those in similar roles.  I see this as part of being engaged with the online community, so I set time aside for it.

7)  I organize Twitter.  I am often asked, “how do you follow 400 people?”  I use TweetDeck and have a series of columns.  Right now, I am following bced and cpchat, as well as several specific lists.  I also accept I will not see everything posted from everyone.  I will often drop in to Twitter at lunch, or when I have a few minutes before a meeting, but I don’t get excited about missing something.  And, while I know the research about multi-tasking, I will usually have it on as background noise at night when I work.

8)  I don’t do things other people do. For one, I don’t write newsletters.  It is about choices.  I find the learning from Twitter, and the reach and conversations through blogging, to be extremely powerful. Conversations in social media domains can help lead the narrative in our schools and community.

9)  I define my work day online.  Unless it is urgent, I will usually not e-mail members of the community outside of extended business hours (e.g. no e-mails at noon on Saturday from my son’s soccer game).  I might write the e-mail but will delay the sending of  it. Of course, if it is urgent, I respond immediately. I just don’t want to get into a back-and-forth e-mail conversation while standing on the soccer sidelines.

10) I really see technology as largely invisible.  I don’t think of being on-line or off-line.  I tend to always be connected and, very often, being habitually online saves a lot of time longterm – solving issues before they become problems.

Finally – I signed up for busy – when I applied for my job and had a family. Work keeps me out most Monday to Thursday nights – but I try to find ways to include my family (for example, I will take my kids with me to school plays).  Like so many of us, I don’t sleep a lot – but love it. As I said in a previous post, “Hey, my choice.”

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Making Transparency Concrete

Posted in Change, SD45, Social Media, Technology, tagged , , , , , on January 12, 2011| 24 Comments »

Transparency has become a well-used (in fact, over-used) mantra in the workplace — and, in the public sector in particular, there has been an increased demand for transparency.

For me, transparency promotes accountability, accessibility, and it provides timely information for students, staff and parents about what their school district is doing — it demystifies the work of schools and school districts.  Most people in the community have a clear idea of what teachers do, but as we move farther away from that direct relationship in the class, there is much less of an understanding of what non-enrolling teachers, school administrators, district staff and Trustees do.

My goal around transparency is to help bring greater understanding to these important roles and to the full scope of the work we do in our district.

My own evolving list of strategies to increase my transparency, as well as that of our district, include:

1) Giving the Community Multiple Channels of Communication: including traditional methods like letters, telephone calls, and new methods through social media and text messaging.

2)  Giving Out My Contact Information: Many were surprised when I gave out my contact information to everyone.  It is on my business card, it is posted on my blog and on our district website.  I don’t want anyone to ever say they don’t know how to find me.

3)  Build a Relationship with Traditional and New Media: Some people are easy to contact when they have good news to share, but can’t be found when there are more difficult issues.  It is often said that education is poorly treated by the media — we can change that by not complaining and by engaging the media.  This includes both traditional print media and new media — dismissing edu-bloggers as ‘not influential’ would be a huge mistake.

4) Sharing my Cell Number: I remember, 15 years ago, when teachers were getting e-mail addresses at my school.  Some teachers were adamant about keeping their e-mail addresses private — they were private e-mail accounts and they would only share their e-mail on their terms.  This was and is ludicrous, since the district email is not a private e-mail; it was/is a work e-mail and our work is working with the community.  My cell phone is also provided by the school district, so it  is my work phone.  So, I don’t really get the idea of not giving out this number, and this is also reminiscent of the e-mail discussion from 15 years ago.  I can always choose to answer the phone, but I would much rather have people find me on a mobile number.  I look forward to my office phone completely disappearing one day.

5)  My Calendar is Not a Secret: I do have some confidential appointments on my calendar, and they will be labelled as such, but I am fine sharing my calendar with anyone who is interested.  I know most people in the school district, let alone the community, have only a limited sense of the work I do.  The more people who understand the work — the greater appreciation for the work.

6)  Creating Personal and Corporate Identities: This is subject matter for a future post about how we can balance our own personal identities in the context of our district identities.  I am mindful of the separation between my own identity and that of the one in the district — but they are also closely connected.  FYI, I don’t have access to post to district Twitter or Facebook accounts — this is done through our Communications Officer.

7) Meet at Schools: Whenever a teacher or administrator wants to meet, I do my very best to do it at their school and not in my office.  While this is not always possible, most of our schools are within 10 minutes of the board office, so, on the most part, it can be done. As well, I often use these out-of-office meetings as an excuse to visit at least a couple of classrooms — it gives me a better sense of the tone in the school.  The more I can connect “as a real person”, the better.

8)  I Share a Bit About My Life: I have four kids, the oldest two are in school.  They attend public schools — I have a personal interest in a great public school system in BC.  This is a careful balance, but we have public jobs and people appreciate knowing some of the things in life, beyond the job, that drive us.

9)  Tell My Story in My Words: There are a lot of reasons why I blog, and one of them is that I can share my messages — unfiltered.  I don’t have to worry about being misquoted, or hope that others will share ideas in a timely way.  My blog allows me to connect in real-time to the community.  It is also a place for discussion and dialogue.

10) Think Twice if it Needs to be on E-mail: Rather than sending e-mails with information to groups of people, if there is an appropriate place to post the information publicly and share the link with those who would be most interested, I prefer to do this.  One tool I am using is SlideShare to post Powerpoint presentations publicly, rather than e-mailing the presentations to those interested.  I am amazed how many times people have stumbled on information I have posted publicly, and who really appreciate the content.

I have said that transparency will be a key aspect of everything I do, as well as regularly asking questions like, “How could we do this in a more public and engaging way?”  There is a lot to do and this list will continue to evolve.

I am curious about how others promote transparency in education.

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Buy Local!

Posted in Professional Development, Social Media, tagged , , , , , on December 5, 2010| 32 Comments »

The title comes from a mantra we often hear with produce and other food products.  Wikipedia describes it:

Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services over those produced more distantly. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal ‘buy local’ to parallel the phrase think globally, act locally, common in green politics.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately in the context of our work in the digital world.  I wrote recently (here) that while I continue to be influenced by many thinkers outside of British Columbia and Canada, more and more I am connecting with local voices.

While I love the learning that is free of borders, I feel it is very important to support B.C. educators who are beginning to put themselves out there in digital space. There seems to have been an edu-blogging boom this fall in British Columbia.  I have created a rule for myself that I will try to comment on at least five blog posts for every post I write, and comment more on B.C. educators’ writing.

I am not quite sure why we have a huge increase in local educators writing on the web, but it is great for education in B.C.  We are using social media to connect around ideas, at a point in time, when there is so much discussion about learning and schooling and how a high-performing system like ours should move forward.

I listed four local bloggers in a previous post — but I want to list all the local bloggers who are adding to the conversations.  I am sure I will miss some (particularly, in the teachers’ category), so please add comments to point me toward others, and I will update the post.

The parameters of my list — blogs by active educators in the K-12 sector in British Columbia who have posted in the last 30 days.  I know many teachers have class blogs, but this list is not intended for blogs used with a class of students, or as a news site, but rather to share ideas with other educators and the larger community.

District Staff

Scott Benwell, Assistant Superintendent, Fraser-Cascade

Larry Espe, Superintendent, Peace River North

Rick Fabbro, Assistant Superintendent, Surrey

Tom Grant, Superintendent, Coquitlam

Chris Kennedy, Deputy Superintendent, West Vancouver

Brian Kuhn, Director of IT, Coquitlam

Doug Sheppard, Assistant Superintendent, Delta

Jan Unwin, Superintendent, Maple-Ridge / Pitt Meadows

Principals and Vice-Principals

Terry Ainge, Principal, Delta Secondary, Delta

Aaron Akune, Vice-Principal, Delta Secondary, Delta

Cale Birk, Principal, South Kamloops Secondary, Kamloops

Gino Bondi, Principal, John Oliver Secondary, Vancouver

Joe Campbell, Vice-Principal, Seycove Secondary, North Vancouver (ADDED)

Remi Collins, Principal, Kilmer Elementary, Port Coquitlam

Dean Eichorn, Vice-Princpal, Burnsview Secondary, Delta (ADDED)

Grant Frend, Vice-Princpal, Garibaldi Secondary, Maple Ridge (ADDED)

Cindy Gauthier, Principal, Vancouver Learning Network, Vancouver

Mark Heidebrecht, Principal, Gibsons Elementary, Gibsons (ADDED)

Gary Kern, District Principal, West Vancouver

Chris Wejr – Principal, Kent Elementary, Agassiz

Teachers

Paul Aiken, Coquitlam

Jaki Braidwood, Comox Valley

Jeremy Brown, Port Coquitlam

Moira Ekdahl, Vancouver (ADDED)

Errin Gregory, Lillooet

Starleigh Grass, Lytton (ADDED)

James Gill, Coquitlam

Bryan Jackson, Coquitlam

Phil Macoun, Nanaimo

Jacob Martens, Vancouver

James McConville, Coquitlam

Gordon Powell,  Richmond

Al Smith, Kelowna (ADDED)

Zhi Su,  Vancouver

David Wees,Vancouver

Jen Whiffin, Coquitlam (ADDED)


Others (ADDED)

I feel like I need to add another category for several blogs related to education in B.C. that are not written by currently active B.C. educators

Christina Campbell, Education Reporter, Vancouver Observer

Lesley Edwards, Retired Teacher-Librarian, North Vancouver

Heidi Hass Gable, DPAC President, Coquitlam

Janet Steffenhagen, Education Reporter, Vancouver Sun

David Truss, Princpal, Currently in China on leave from Coquitlam


Finally, a shameless plug. The Culture of Yes has been nominated for the Best New Edublog 2010.  You can click here to vote.  This site is also a great place to find other interesting blogs to follow. Thanks for all the ongoing conversations.

 

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Professional Learning Beyond Borders

Posted in Change, Personalized Learning, Professional Development, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 26, 2010| 13 Comments »

I have written quite a bit this past week on educators’ professional learning, and how we are experimenting with extending these conversations, using technology to engage more people.  I have also written, here and here, two posts on backchanneling during the recent BCSSA Fall Conference.

There are a couple of more reflections I want to pick up on before moving on:

1. School District borders matter less and less when it comes to professional learning

This really struck me on Monday night.  I came home, went on my computer at about 8:00 and saw a post on Twitter that an online session was starting at 8:15, entitled Blogging First Steps, hosted by Lesley Edwards from North Vancouver.  This is part of the LAN: Learning Is Social series that is coordinated by staff in the North Vancouver School District.  There were 12 of us who participated from a variety of districts.  I don’t know everyone on the elluminate (this tool is available free to B.C. educators) session, but I know there were participants (trustees, administrators, teachers) from North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Coquitlam.  In my just over three-year tenure in the West Vancouver District, on the North Shore, I have not attended a professional development session in North Vancouver.  That said, there was nothing that could have felt more natural than sliding into the session on a Monday night.

We still have lines on the map for School Districts, but when it comes to our professional learning, these are blurry and less, and less, important.  We are finding ways to connect and engage online that has very little to do with geography.

2.  Ideas, not roles are dictating the people I connect with

There are still many traditional structures where we gather in role-alike groups.  There are sessions for teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, the community, and sometimes we bring these groups together.  What I am finding online is that roles are almost inconsequential.  It is the ideas that matter.  I did an interview with Janet Steffenhagen on Monday, and we talked about how technology has really had a dramatic effect on realigning the power structure in education.

I find that I don’t follow topics, I follow interesting people.  I also find that while I am still attracted to voices from afar like Philadelphia Principal, Chris Lehmann, and edu blogger and presenter, Will Richardson, I am increasingly more attracted to local voices who share a somewhat familiar context.

It is always dangerous to make a list, knowing I will miss some key people, but some of those within B.C.’s education system who are influencing my thinking right now include:  David Truss (a Coquitlam principal currently working in China), Chris Wejr (an elementary principal in Aggasiz), Cale Birk (a secondary principal in Kamloops), Brian Kuhn (technology director in Coquitlam), Gino Bondi (a secondary principal in Vancouver), Gordon Powell (coordinator for library and information services in Richmond) and David Wees (a teacher in Vancouver).

I want to finish this post  by coming back to the students, and looking for guidance from my experiences as an adult learner, with how students learn.  I think what I take from this is student learning will continue to be less hierarchical, less about the teacher being the keeper of knowledge, and more about the teacher helping students make sense of content, and connecting them to other experts.  Schools will be less bound to discussions within the walls of a building, and connections will be made across schools, communities and beyond.  School will continue to look less like an activity that happens between nine and three from Monday to Friday.

This is a great time for a transition in how educational professionals learn, and it is this transition that is also changing the game for how our students learn.

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