Not So Distant Future

One of my favorite things about learning is the serendipity of it all.    We know we need to learn something or grow in some way, and voila, as we are out in the world, and read blogs, and read books, we stumble over these things serendipitously.

That’s one of the things I love about bookstores and libraries as well–wandering to a shelf that seems pertinent and finding all sorts of connections there.

This morning my serendipitous find was this incredible post by Jan Smith, about the interconnectedness of our organizations, and the work of Margaret Wheatley on how change happens through an interconnected network, and not so much through hierarchical organizations.

Wheatley’s book has been sitting on my bookshelf for several years, unread, coincidentally, so now I will add it to my “real” reading list.

Smith quotes Elizabeth Donohoe Steinberger, writing in School Administrator, ironically from an article that is 13 years old!

“…I see the need to create organizations where people can bring their whole selves. Unless we create organizations where all of us feel we can contribute in multiple and unexpected ways, the organization cannot survive into the future. There is no way to be adaptive and resilient without having everyone engaged in the work.”

In this even faster-paced, web 2.0 environment, the idea that we all need to feel free to contribute, organize and create in order to be resilient and move the organization forward is important.  What role does leadership play in this?

Wheatley, it appears, would suggest that the leadership of all of us is important, something I alluded to in a recent post.

So rather than think of this theoretically, how can we take steps to be leaders on our own campuses, whether we are individual classroom teachers, librarians, tech coordinators?  What can we do to invite others in?

What obstacles prevent that from happening?  And how can we make this more concrete?

Even if conditions are not ideal where any of us are, how can we step forward and connect in serendipitous ways with others?

July 4 was National Leadership Day. I’ve been thinking a lot about NECC, and about leadership, and what qualities I think are most important in a leader. Though frankly, I’d like to expand the definition of leader to include all of us, because every person on a campus can provide some sort of leadership for others.

But something that both Ken Pruitt and Michael Curtin said at NECC Unplugged has stuck with me all week. They spoke about different topics, but both of them talked about the importance of building a sense of community for teachers.

And although I believe that a community is something that grows “naturally” so to speak, I think one of the most important things a leader can do is to put teachers into community with one another.  And students feel it if a building is just a building or if it is a real community that envelops them with care and nurturing.

One sense I picked up on at NECC was this sense of isolation that many of my colleagues, flung across the globe, sometimes feel. I heard a few people comment (and I’ve said myself in the past)–  that people via my learning network often know what I’m doing and what I’m passionate about and value it more than my own community that I work with daily. I think all of us have felt that way at some point in our careers.

Yet we can each be leaders in terms of bringing other teachers into community. Don’t we learn so much by talking to one another? Even if we are just one voice in a building, don’t we have a leadership role in opening a community door to others and inviting them in, and just listening and talking about our passions? Maybe we are good at technology and our neighbor isn’t all that interested–but don’t they have a passion for their subject or for teaching or for some aspect of what they do that we can learn from?

Michael Curtin talked about providing trainings that don’t just rely on one “trainer” but that put the teachers into conversation with one another–so that they learn from one another and help one another along, creating an ensemble of teachers, as I wrote about doing in our classrooms a few weeks ago.

Ken Pruitt spoke about creating a wiki space that was also a community–with roles for students or teachers, like “greeters” and “social committees” and “star of the week” committees, etc., so that not only was the site informational, but that it felt like a social space that people would want to visit.

Individual teachers can create a sense of community and leadership just by their own efforts as in these examples.

I also think school leadership has a tremendous role in building this sense of community. And it isn’t necessarily built by activities or organized events, but by providing time for teachers to work together on common goals, to sit side by side and build things together, and time to talk, read, and share. In our haste to meet AYP or test scores, or get grades done or whatever needs to happen–teachers need that time built in to build a learning community, whether formal or informal, whether departmental or across the school. In fact, I think it’s important that it happen across the school and not just across a grade level team or department, because it’s easy for us to get divided into our own little “fiefdoms” so to speak.

When I was sitting in a session by Chris Lehmann at NECC, his vision for his campus at SLA was clear and it was also very clear that it involved lots of talking and hashing things out as a faculty. Barbara Barreda, another principal who was sitting next to me turned to me and said, ‘Leadership is so important in making this happen.’

She’s so right. My challenge to you today is to recognize the way you are each leaders and bring that to your own campus. Reach out to the person next door. Find a common ground. Open your doors and find a connection and way to bring others in.

And my challenge to leaders is to bring your teachers into a community–a community filled with talk and learning. Provide teachers with the atmosphere, the space, and the time to make that happen. Put them side by side in situations where they can learn from each other, and then stand back a little bit and let that grow.  Bring teachers together into democratic communities and set them free. See what happens.

I’m sure some teachers or others wonder why I blog or don’t really understand the point of sharing what’s going on in our school. And I’ve seen recent comments around online about the proliferation of blogs–wondering if we can get overwhelmed or there be too many, etc.

But this post at the Principal’s Page blog speaks to one of my primary reasons that I think blogging is important.

The principal writes plaintively about how we hear more negative stories about schools than positive ones, and asks:

“Why don’t we have someone who specializes in publicizing what we do well? Why are we not getting our positive messages across? . . . . Why aren’t we more proactive in sharing all of the good things that happen in education on a daily basis?”

I blog because it is one way of opening the walls of one school and one library, and sharing the ideas of educators to demonstrate all the complexity that goes on in our practices.    Perhaps it’s only one window, but I think as you add all of the windows of education bloggers around the globe, it provides those interested in schools–either policymakers, parents, students, or other educators–a glimpse in through that window.

It’s fascinating how schools work and how learning in a classroom works.   It’s fascinating to watch a child think through a problem with you in a library until you both find an answer or solution.    It’s rejuvenating collaborating with a teacher on something and bringing it to fruition.   It’s exciting when students reach out to you with ideas and share their thoughts.

I realize that blogs are only one means of opening that window, but it’s important that we think about sharing the positives that go on–and not just the teams winning, or the scores being good, but sharing the day-to-day struggles and learning and growing that happens.  If we don’t want the non-school world to have a one-dimensional picture of what we do, then it’s up to us to show and share what an exciting, engaged learning environment looks like.

I often think of the model set by former principal Tim Tyson at Mabry Middle School–the masthead of their website, as I’ve mentioned before, proclaims “Making Learning Irresistible for 25 Years.”    What a powerful way to begin telling that positive story, even in the design of the campus website.

Maybe this is a new tool we need to add to teacher training toolkits–how to share what exciting learning is going on in their classrooms?   And to principal toolkits as well?    We do have a responsibility to our own campus and classrooms and getting things done there, but I believe we also have a larger mission to serve education well.    And part of that must mean telling about the complex and amazing living organisms that are our schools.    We will help to inspire support, inspire one another, and help create a community that better understands what we do.

Kim Cofino twittered a link for her excellent presentations for the TeachIt! conference this morning, which reminded me that I hadn’t ever shared my presentation from the Internet Librarian session I did on Web 2.0 tools that librarians could share with their administrators.

So in the interest of sharing resources, here are my slides:

[slideshare id=144623&doc=il2007-1193251903222853-4&w=425]

Several administrators, including one of our own, as well as Patrick Higgins and Dennis Richards, sent greetings for the participants in VoiceThread to open the session.

Other things I shared which aren’t in the slides–

• The Podcasting principal’s two part podcast series on tools administrators could use effectively (this is so effective since it’s a principal speaking to principals)
• A still classic conversation among administrators about blogging from G-Town talks
• A pageflakes site I set up for our campus and administrators on 21st century learning
• link to CASTLE site for school leadership

Administrators often hold the “key” to resources–financial resources, filtering rules, student guidelines for web 2.0 use, etc.   By showing administrators how these tools can be used to make their campus more efficient, and to create better communication and transparency with the learning community, we can move the discussion forward.

Why do librarians have a role in that?  We want our students to be able to use the tools effectively, to be information literate.  Administrators don’t need to understand every tool’s capability, but for the school to have a supportive climate for thinking outside of the box and bringing innovative practices to the classroom, administrative support is a critical component.

Too often, we discover innovative tools, only to find them blocked or deemed not appropriate after the fact.  If we are “on the same page” with our administrative team about the possibilities and curricular uses of technology, then it smooths the way for using these tools.  

As a curricular leader, the librarian has a strong role in working with administrators both at the campus and district levels to share awareness of how these tools support instruction.   Sharing our successes, meeting with administrators to share new tools with them particularly related to library instruction, setting up sites for the administrator, inviting administrators to attend key conferences, and initiating meetings to better communicate about obstacles are all ways that librarians can work hand in hand with technology departments and administrators.

I also think another responsibility we have is to go to where administrators are: presenting at administrative conferences, writing articles for administrative periodicals, or posting on administrative blogs are all ways we can help further a deeper mutual understanding of our roles on a campus.

  I’ve been following a number of posts the last couple of weeks about internet filtering and the erratic application of it in schools, and the frustrations of teachers just wanting to share fascinating new ways of learning with their students.

Karl Fisch did an excellent job of pulling some of those threads together in his post, “More Thoughts on Filtering.”   I’ve been really thinking about this issue and how we can all develop better practices regarding internet filters, and what that might look like.

As a librarian, the idea of intellectual freedom for students and staff is ingrained in my nature.   The American Library Association has a strong policy on intellectual freedom, which incidentally was passed in 1953 (hardly a time when this idea was popular).

ALA quotes the  National Research Council whose report insightfully points out:

“Swimming pools can be dangerous for children. To protect them, one can install locks, put up fences, and deploy pool alarms. All these measures are helpful, but by far the most important thing that one can do for one’s children is to teach them to swim.”

 So, what can we do?  Some ideas(feel free to add to these):

1.  Create a committee to collaborate on the filtering decision-making process.  While the day-to-day decisions will probably have to be made by one person, the general policy decisions can be reviewed quarterly to make sure that the responsibility for the decision making is shared.  This removes pressure from one individual, as well as taking into account differing philosophies and experience in the district.   (I think such a committee should include teachers, tech directors, librarians, an administrator, IT people, etc.)   Gathering all the parties also has the added benefit of starting a shared conversation about technology use.

2.  Develop a quick and timely process for responding to teacher requests for unfiltering sites.  If the process is not timely, teachers will “give up,” thus essentially “censoring” the site.

3.  Advocate a professional approach for staff.  It is likely to be appropriate to provide less filtering to staff than to students.  Most filters allow for this.  No more than we would penalize an entire class for 2 misbehaving students should we penalize an entire staff or student body for a few who do not observe the AUP policies.

4.  Understand that there is a difference between classroom management and filtering. (This is part of the purpose of having a committee approach or a process for unfiltering sites.)   If students are misusing computer resources, this is a discipline problem, not cause to discipline all students by filtering a site.   If students are giggling and hiding a book on sex education in each other’s backpacks as a joke, I don’t remove it for the whole campus.   I deal with those students.

5.  Develop a policy and atmosphere that treats students and staff with respect.  Again, the majority of your students and staff deserve that.

6.  Become very familiar with the laws involved.  For example, the law does allow for the filter  to be unblocked so teachers can use sites for bona fide research.  In how many districts is this policy not being followed?   or is so time consuming and slow that the point of need passes? 

7.  Promote the idea of intellectual freedom on your campus.   Your librarian can be an ally in that.

If we want to be sure that students are protected by “learning how to swim,” rather than by us putting up fences (that they can climb), then it is up to all of us to help our campuses seek out best practices regarding internet filtering.

Other ideas?

image credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/sis/410523571/

School started in earnest for me on Friday, and I’ve felt a little dispirited.  On the one hand, I have learned so much this summer that I am enthused and eager about implementing.  But the tasks at hand right now aren’t necessarily those that will even get me there, but things I have to get done.  It’s reminded me of feelings reflected in a post that Chris Lehmann wrote about his own sense of disconnection as he started inservice.)

I’ve been aware that I’ve felt somewhat muddled the last week or so, but have learned in my semi-old age to be patient, because usually the muddle clears up and my thinking gels if I can give it time.  (Wish we could always do that for our students.)

I turned to my Bloglines account this morning for a little renewal, having not been doing much reading for the last week, and as I so often do, found inspiration, support, and creative thinking there that spur me on as we enter a couple of weeks of software training, and inservice.

Doug Johnson describes his use of Stephen Covey’s time management matrix and how it can be used administratively, and it struck me while reading his post that part of why I feel stressed and overwhelmed is that almost all the tasks I am charged with during the next week are in Quadrant IV.  But most of these are required, imperative(personal items) or imposed, which is crowding out the time for my own goals and mission.    So his post made me realize that before I get completely caught up in the rush, I need to carve out a little time for reflection.  (Maybe this is that time!)

I browsed over to the always inspiring LeaderTalk to reread a post I saw there a few days ago, regarding motivation and inservice, and as always found five more posts that were motivating and thought-provoking.

Tracy Rosen reminds me in her post “Motivation and change: Values and Passion” that motivation must be intrinsic for our students (and our staff), and asks, “What is it about teaching that touches your soul?” 

An excellent question this time of year, and the one I most need to focus on. 

Kelly Christopherson from one of my favorite blogs, Educational Discourse, writes an insightful post about beginning of the year “motivational workshops”, (something I struggle with a little and conversed with him about, I admit ;))  and asks “What motivates you?”    He writes about teacher motivation, what sorts of inservices could be provided to do that, and whether teachers need motivating in traditional ways in the first place.  Very interesting piece.

And after reading through these three posts, I realize that I have to be able to bring my motivation even to these tasks that seem tangential to my real passion–I need to bring my full self and full creativity to bear on them so that they all become opportunities, because as Tracy writes, “Values and passion are powerful stuff.”

I want to be able to take that “powerful stuff” into our school community every day.

Thanks to my colleagues from afar for the clarity and motivation this morning.  It is the network of professional support, this network that doesn’t even know it is there some mornings, that is enriching what I do so much, and I am very thankful for that.

Scott McLeod at Dangerously Irrelevant designated July 4 as School Leadership Day, and has invited bloggers to write about how to support innovative school leadership.

I’d like to share some ideas but also compliment the leadership in our district and at our high school, because there have been some great strides towards innovative leadership both at our campus and at the district level.

One of the most transformative elements of that has been our campus Vision committee.

Our principal established it upon arriving a year ago, and gathered together parents, students and staff who were interested in future planning.   But our mission wasn’t addressing current problems or putting out fires, as is so often the case in schools–our  mission was to look at what we needed to be thinking about to plan for the graduate of 2020.   What would be required of our high school when today’s kindergardener’s get here?   This mission created the incentive to look ahead, instead of looking back, and to have  a much broader and more philosophical discussion about education, and that has been enlightening.

Four subcommittees have studied the research, taken a site visit to California schools, planned a technology initiative for our campus, and created a bureau of speakers to extend our connection to the community.   But all of this has grown out of our conversations about 21st century learning, out of reading Whole New Mind, World Is Flat, Marc Prensky articles, etc.    And all of that happened because our principal allowed the committee to grow organically, to follow leads that were interesting, and also to implement some of the things that we discussed.

One of the issues with schools and change has often been that change occurs slowly, and as things in our culture begin to change more rapidly, school entities have a hard time keeping up.     Part of the change at our campus is that things have begun to alter more rapidly, which can be very disconcerting at times.   But in balance, it also feels that if we do valuable work on a committee or project,  it will see fruition, and see fruition very quickly.  

Adapting our institution to that model will be an interesting process.   Can we learn to problem solve on the fly better?   Can we be more solution oriented?  Are there areas where we need to take things more slowly or troubleshoot more ahead of time?  What staff supports do we need to move more quickly?  Are there “sacred cows” or should nothing be sacred?  

One way that our principal has really assisted in this area is by being inclusive of many players, and by supporting professional development beyond our campus.  When a group attends a conference like Model Schools, she asks for different participants than have attended before.   Inviting more people into the conversation builds a team that shares a similar mission.

As I’ve followed Scott McLeod’s discussions over the last year, I’ve also realized we all have a role to play in helping support administrators regarding “School 2.0.”   Many school districts have trouble with access to blogging, wikis, Ning, etc., because there is concern at the administrative level.

If you are interested in moving the web 2.0/school reform conversation forward, then each of us has to help make that happen.  We can’t only “preach to the choir.”

So one thing I decided that I could do since I’m a total web 2.0 geek ;), was to offer to present a few sessions either for administrators or about administrators and web 2.0 tools.   So I’m happy to say I’m presenting a session at Internet School Librarian West in October on how librarians can support their administrator’s understanding and use of web 2.0 tools.   

I also presented recently at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals conference on technology that could be helpful to principals.  What I discovered in that session is that almost every administrator there was eager to learn about these tools and how they could save them time, improve instruction on their campus, or help keep them informed.   They just weren’t aware of them yet.  That convinced me further that opening up the conversation and sharing what we know with administrators is vitally important.

Like librarians and counselors, principals hold a unique and sometimes isolated position on a campus.  No one else on campus has their exact job.   There may be 100 teachers whose jobs are somewhat similar, but one principal.    So trying to be empathetic to their role and see the larger picture behind decision making, whether you are a teacher, librarian, or counselor, is an important part of community.  

I think that is why blogging can be an important support for a principal in the community
–because then all the players involved in “school” can see the thinking process, efforts,  and sincerity of the campus leadership.   G-Town Talks and Educational Discourse are good examples of that transparency.

Ways each of us could help further the conversation with our own principals or at other administrative levels:

1.  Share something specific, rather than something general.   Show how a particular project at another school which uses web 2.0 tools has provided benefits for students and could provide benefits for your campus.

2.  Pass along articles of interest to your administrator.   Email them when you read something that they might be interested in or inspired by.   Same with books.  They may not have time to read the book, but it is helpful to them to be aware of the title and its premise.

3.  Invite your administrator to see you using a web 2.0 tool in the classroom or library.  All of us find it easier to support something that we understand.

4.  Show your administrators how to use RSS feeds or better yet, set up one on Pageflakes for them.   Select feeds that deal with web 2.0, technology leadership, their own school in the news, etc.

5.  If you are a librarian, order books on leadership, innovation, or web 2.0 as you find them.   Share them with your principal as soon as they arrive.

6.  Help troubleshoot problems.  Rather than get frustrated by them or cynical, try to help your administrators find solutions to problems like filtering issues, or technology issues.  Take a broader perspective than your own needs, and support seeing the needs of the entire campus, while voicing your own needs as well.   Every teacher has valuable input into problem solving, but too often we share the input only in the lounge, not with our campus leadership.

7.  If you think a particular tool will help solve a leadership issue or problem, set up an account, and model for your administrator how it could help. 

8. Share your enthusiasm.  It’s infectious.

Scott McLeod has an excellent list of philosophical strategies for professional development for administrators at Dangerously Irrelevant, some of which I am sure I have repeated. (which I think actually have a lot of application for any kind of staff development.)

I think as we begin to approach problems in education as a collaborative team, we will get much more accomplished.  We all have our roles to play, yes.  But how can we support each other’s roles better? 

Technorati Tags: schooltechleadership, Technorati Tags: administrators

Images:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zacharyparadis/380855698/in/set-72157594514587416/ ;  http://www.flickr.com/photos/mn_francis/69890031/