Module 3-Sophie

Describe how leaders can harness the power of free resources to improve communication and ultimately improve their overall effectiveness and efficiency. 

Just getting information out there is not enough anymore. Having a two-way street of communication with the stakeholders is key; If you can achieve this with free technology, then that is a plus! Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and blogs are just a few ways you can get connected with the stakeholders and have communication going in both directions. Communications shouldn't just be about school delays and cancellations; it should also include individual student, teacher and sport achievements and upcoming events/activities that are going on at the school. 

Getting parent involvement in schools can be difficult, especially the older the kids get. If they can still participate while still being at home, then let’s do it. Teachers also have lives outside of school and may not be able to stay after for hours just to be present during a presentation. Using free Web 2.0 tools such as Skype and Google Hangout is an easy way to get parents and teachers there. Not all parents can drive to the school for whatever reason, if they have a mobile smart phone or a computer with Internet, they can still be a part of the school and they can still be informed and involved.

Describe your current position (workplace, student, etc…) and how social media efforts are used to promote transparency and engage stakeholders.

I work in a middle school on the lower social economic side of the county. There are two middle schools in the county and my school is a third the size of the other school. I teach computer technology education. I have just recently lost many of my computers because of water damage that happened in the building to computers in other places in the building. They took mine to replace those.

This is my first year at this school, but for as much as I know, there is no use of social media. Some teachers have tried to use some behavior apps to get parents involved and informed about their child's behavior in class, but most parents don't access it. Each parent and student has an account that can access their grades and communicate with the teacher. However, the same thing applies there; parents and students don't really access it or use it. I have tried to keep my grade book not only updated but ahead of the game so if they do check it, they can see what is planned. Other teachers send out messages each day or week to inform their students and parents about missing assignments and what they have covered that week or day. But again, not many others access it. We do not have a Facebook or Twitter account. They have a school website but it gets updated once a year to update staff and that is about it. They have a message thing that you can hear when you call the school. It informs you of all the sporting and after school events happening at the school for that week. I think that device gets updated weekly (but that is only giving information).

I don't think there is a whole lot of two way communication unless they come to the school during one of the assemblies or after school events.

In fact, they are removing my job at the school, so I don't see the use of technology getting any better any time soon. It’s just not in the principal's plan or vision for the school.

Standards

Many of the teaching standards now have technology integrated into them; the ISTE Standards even more so than the others. I am not surprised at how much importance has been placed on technology integration in the classroom. It would be crazy for use to not use it and teach it and teach with it because that is the kind of world that we live in, a technological one. I work with the “21st CENTURY LEARNING SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGY TOOLS CONTENT STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES FOR WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOLS” every day in all my classes this year. However, I think I might be the one of the few who does even though these standards are supposed to be taught at every grade level integrated into regular class instruction. I find that teachers are intimidated by them; they think that it will take time to create lessons and integrate the technology. What they don’t see is that it will eventually save time and make their jobs easier because the students are more engaged.

Three Pathways

I think teachers should be treated like we say we should treat our students. If a student is interested in trucks, then we create problems and activities around trucks. If a student is new to the school, then we make sure they s/he understands all of the rules at the school before we serve harsh punishments. (and so on…) If a teacher is interested in becoming an administrator, before s/he spends thousands of dollars on a degree, let them have a peak behind the curtain of the life of an administrator. Let them shadow for a day or even a week. I think exploration should not only be allowed but encouraged! How will we know if we like something or not if we never try it?! At my old job, my principal placed many of her responsibilities onto the teachers so she could free up some of her time. I found out quickly that, not only was she not a very good principal, but there was so much paperwork that went with being a principal (and I wasn’t one she was shoving work onto, I just saw what other teachers were doing). I learned in my first year of teaching that I never wanted to be a principal. However, not all teachers get to see that in their first year and some principals are so good that they make it look easy.

I guess what I’m saying is, that all teachers should have every opportunity to grow and explore if they want to. Just because they are not students anymore, doesn’t mean that they can’t learn new things and grow to become a better person and teacher. I think every district should have a program for those teachers interested in becoming more, and I think it should be seen as an honor to complete it.

Social Media I Use/Plan to Use

In the past, I have used a separate Facebook account for my students and parents. I would love to start using that again to gain more parent involvement in my classroom and more transparency. I am also thinking about starting a blog/schoology/Edmodo for my position that I am starting next year. I want it to be something that the students and parents can access for information and can interact with and give ideas. I think my new job will be better prepared for this because the home Internet usage is much higher at my new school than it is at the school I am at right now.