Module 3

MODULE THREE

Teacher Leadership for Technology Integration

       Several of the ISTE, NBPTS, and WVPTS promote teacher leadership through collaboration with students, colleagues, and the community, such as ISTE 1, 3, and 5, NBPTS 5, and WVPT standards 4 and 5.  These standards are infused with, and emphasize the necessity of having today’s teachers make it a priority, professionally and in their schools, to help better their school environment, their students’ learning, and their own profession. Each of these standards speaks to the responsibility of the professional educator to be an example of leadership by working cooperatively with others, being a model of professionalism, demonstrating commitment to the school, contributing to curriculum development, and prioritizing student growth.

       There are also standards that directly address the responsibility of the professional teacher to utilize, promote, and model the integration of technology in instruction.  ISTE 3 is specifically for that purpose, telling teachers to “model digital age work and learning.”  The need for teachers to use their knowledge of technology to develop the skills of their peers is also found in ISTE 5.  Learning from, and watching other teachers use technology effectively in the classroom is the most effective way to integrate technology that will be long lasting and well supported.

Pathways to Teacher Leadership

       According to Teacher Leaders’ Preparation: Structure and Pedagogy, “…teacher leaders may develop leadership skills through simulations or by actually doing leadership work in a school setting.”  Teacher leaders can learn how to lead in a variety of ways, but actually leading is the best learning method. If I were designing a program or professional development that would teach teachers these skills, I would include lots of opportunities for varying degrees of leadership for teachers to take part in.

Some of the ways in which teachers can learn by leading are:

·       Serve on, or chair, school leadership committees

·       Mentor new teachers

·       Mentor pre-service teachers

·       Be the pre-service teacher coordinator

·       Lead book studies or other professional development opportunities for their peers

·       Be a team leader or department head

·       Be in charge of some aspect of the school’s technology

·       Serve as an officer on the faculty senate. 

        In all of these cases, there should be a clearly defined purpose, resources, structure, and description of responsibilities so teachers can choose the leadership positions they feel they would be most effective at, and would benefit them in their pursuit of leadership skills.

       Time should also be given for teacher leaders to reflect on the job they are doing through participation in a peer leadership group, online leadership community, or mentorship with a seasoned teacher leader.  Leadership positions should also be rotated or changed fairly often to allow for this time of reflection, and to allow for adjustments to be made to the leadership structure or responsibilities, if necessary.

       Because I am the webmaster at my school, and we are launching a new website for the school district, I’m given the opportunity to do professional development with my colleagues.  During that PD time, some strategies I will use will be to have teachers fill out questionnaires asking about their level of comfort with the new design program, and what specifically they would like more training on.  I will also create an online form for teachers to ask specific questions, and make the form available on my webpage. Using that information, I’ll develop another training time that focuses on the most prevalent needs, as well as some short online tutorials that will be made available to teachers from links on my webpage.

Communication

       There are so many free resources available to schools for the purposes of communication with the public, and even promotion of events.  Businesses make use of all of these free tools to achieve brand recognition and for free advertisement, but schools rarely use them because of fear or lack of knowledge.  Tools such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are regularly used by students and parents, and could also be utilized by schools to keep the public informed of activities, events, accomplishments, and other important news.  Twitter could be used to quickly and easily update the public on sporting events, scores, academic achievements, school activities, special events, awards, theme days, meeting dates, conferences, fairs, the list goes on and on.  Facebook could provide a place for parents, teachers, and administrators to communicate about events and issues of significance to all parties involved.  School events could be recorded and made available to the public via a school YouTube channel, as well as pictures on Instagram.  Having a social networking presence would make the school system an integral part of the daily lives of most of its students and their families.

Public Relations

       Currently I am a 7th grade English teacher, as well as the yearbook advisor at my school.  I also serve as the 7th grade team leader and the school webmaster, which also includes administrative responsibilities over the online grading system used at my school. I've mentored several preservice teachers from WVU over the years, although I don't have any this semester.

     

       My school does not utilize any forms of social media.  The only online presence we have is the school website, which is utilized minimally by the teachers, and never by the administration, and the online grading system, which is utilized regularly by students, teachers, and parents.  Teachers and administrators in my school district are discouraged from communicating via social media with students and parents, mainly out of fear of possible legal action or negative repercussions.  All of these sites are blocked from our network. As far as news and events are concerned, the local newspaper and a local online news website occasionally cover events and activities at our school, and events on the school calendar are posted on the website’s home page.  There are some school friendly social media sites, such as Edmodo and Schoology that are utilized by a handful of teachers, but students and parents don't use these sites in the same way, or as often as they use public social media.

       As I read these two chapters, I was very frustrated, as I could see the obvious value in having a strong social media presence as a school, and how easily, cheaply, and efficiently it could be utilized by all of the stakeholders involved.