Leadership

At Morning Meeting and/or other opportunities throughout the day, consider how classes can connect with others via Twitter, Skype, etc. to share what they’re learning and/or pose questions. ||
 * **Instead of:** || **Try: source: Dwight Carter** ||
 * The principal makes morning announcements || Create videos featuring principal’s messages and share with students, staff, and the school community. ||
 * Send daily staff emails || Use a staff blog to highlight resources, ideas, and post important informational items; help staff subscribe via RSS to be notified of blog updates. Send out weekly “must-reads” posts to inspire your staff. Create a Diigo group for your school to fluidly share resources – all staff can contribute. ||
 * Hold monthly faculty meetings || Meet only when there are opportunities for true learning. Share informational items via blog updates. Allow teachers to create agendas for meetings, which should include sharing/teaching/learning. ||
 * Traditional PLC meetings || Enhance the experience by infusing technology into communications and data-analysis; encourage teachers to use Google docs to save and track student learning data and anecdotal notes; provide electronic templates for team leaders to submit PLC logs/notes to administration; encourage teachers to “meet” regularly through online means and to collaboratively plan with Google docs; maintain a shared space such as on a wiki or blog where all PLC information is shared. ||
 * Read and reflect privately || In addition to reading texts of interest, subscribe to the blogs of other educational leaders and business leaders that inspire you. Use Google Reader or another RSS service to manage your feeds. Begin your own blog, and share your ideas with your PLN and school community. ||
 * Establish meeting norms that include “banning the use of computers or phones during meetings” (p. 37) || Encourage //relevant// use of technology during meetings. Establish backchannels for discussions during meetings. Consider the use of Today’s Meet or the chat features of Google Docs to capture the flow of ideas. Empower your teachers as part of the conversation. ||
 * Using meeting exit slips for faculty to provide feedback || Use Google Forms to survey teachers following meetings and professional development days, making it easier to compile responses and survey data. In addition: the use of backchannels allows instantaneous feedback that a meeting facilitator can use to change focus mid-session if necessary. ||
 * Speak at regional, professional organization conferences and write for print publications || Broaden your audience! Join Twitter; develop a professional learning network; seek out “unconference” opportunities where leaders can be more self-directed in their own learning; engage in daily learning by interacting with other educators around the world. Write daily on a blog- a personal blog for reflection, and/or a blog where you can share your school’s progress and happenings with the school community. Be transparent and share with an authentic audience. ||
 * Recognize student success through a “bulletin board wall of fame” (p. 55) || Benefits/negatives of “awards” debate aside, displaying student work in classrooms and hallways is always a wonderful way to recognize student learning efforts. But who gets to see this work? Give students a more authentic audience by sharing student work on a school blog/website, and considering the use of student blogs and online portfolios to showcase their learning. ||
 * Use Morning Meetings to ensure students’ voices contribute to the learning process. || Teachers can use a variety of tools and methods to engage students in providing feedback. Here are some examples of student reflections that help the teacher assess her effectiveness.
 * Monthly newsletters for community-building and communication || Develop a blog or other space on your school website to regularly share school happenings and information. Those who don’t have the chance to visit the school often will have a more clear idea about what’s happening in classrooms and will get to know faculty and students through your sharing. Create school Facebook and Twitter accounts; go to the online spaces that parents and community members frequent – don’t make them try to find you. ||