A Different Kind of Gap
I had an amazing weekend. We had no school on Friday (payback for two grueling nights of parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday), but I opened my email that morning to learn that I was selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator. For those who know me, that’s a little bit like the mother ship calling me home.
I’ll be in Florida in July for a week of hands-on learning with the good people at Apple. To say that I can’t wait would be an understatement.
On Saturday I gave a talk on “Leadership 2.0” which I really enjoyed. It was my first time speaking at this kind of event and I think I did OK. I know I could have done better, but I got a lot out of my session — probably more than some of the attendees! — including a great experience that I will be able to take with me as I continue to learn and share.
A Missing Link
Where are all the school administrators? I mean, I know we’re out there. We blog, we tweet, but beyond that it feels like we are underrepresented. I might be missing something, but follow me on this…
Of the 52 ADEs that were selected this year, there are teachers, school technology coordinators, college professors, and district-level tech folks. But as far as I can tell, I’m the only school administrator. What’s up with that?
We’ve got amazing teachers doing great things in the classroom and we’ve got district people with good intentions. But if there is no one in the middle, who’s going to be the liaison between these groups?
A big part of my job is clearing away the big boulders from my teachers’ paths so that they can worry about the little pebbles. If the web filter is blocking a legit site that was working yesterday, I can make the call to IT. If you want to make something happen but need more time or resources, I’m there to help you pull it together.
Building administrators are the vital link in this chain. How can we get more of them thinking about change? How can we expect our teachers to think ahead if so few administrators do?
I’ve come to love following your blog – it seems like we are thinking the same thing alot of times! I think the answer to your question is TIME! I feel so overwhelmed on a day to day basis trying to run a school of only 900 elementary kids with one assistant, that doing much more beyond walk-throughs, testing, discipline, parent conferences, ARDs, district level meetings, appraisals, lunchroom duty, bus duty, etc. etc. etc…. that this technology thing sometimes takes the third row seat! Maybe there is a way to combine the two?
Congratulations, by the way on the award! What an amazing honor!
I agree. For any of this to be effective the “sell” is critical. The first time it’s perceived as “one more thing,” it’s done. It’s an unfortunate truth…
Congrats on the ADE acceptance! Care to share your video from the application? It is always interesting to see the different takes folks use with those.
Building administrators do seem a little (further) behind the curve than the teachers they supervise. This disconnect between their understanding of things like social media, cell phones, and other technology tools is often evidenced by school policies that ban these tools outright.
Perhaps I need to send all my administrators a link to this blog. Of course, your blog is blocked by our school filters…
Congrats on being selected as an ADE. I’m jealous.
Priorities. Priorities. Priorities. As building administrators we have to make quality 21st Century education the priority. It has to be part of the evaluation process. We have to make it the focus of our school improvement plan(to heck with AYP)! Congrats on the award….ENJOY!
@Ben – I’ve been in a few meetings of school-based admins where the entire topic of the meeting has degenerated into, “What are we going to do about these kids and their cell phones?”
@Dave – I agree. Another priority for me is to reduce paperwork and meeting times as much as possible.
Scott,
I am a building administrator myself and am making an effort to stay on top of the technology piece. I feel I have done a nice job in getting myself updated and even trained on the latest and greatest in ed tech. What I would like is a blog or sounding board like this where I can go and bounce ideas off of fellow admins so that we can do what it best for staff. Currently, one staff meeting a month is set a side for technology integration. Thus far we have had trainings on Smartboards, ipods/podcasting, SOLO, and video streaming. I would love to hear from others as to what other districts are doing and how I can learn even more about ed tech.
Scott, first big congratulations on becoming and ADE. Have fun on the mother ship!
As an Asst. Principal, we have evaluations, walk throughs, meetings, meetings, paperwork, and on and on.
But I am finding time to embrace the shift in curriculum, teaching and learning. But has been pointed out not all admins feel they can do this. The outright ban of devices and the over use of filtering make it possible to ensure good order, which we all one, but they prevent growth and change, which we need.
It is not just technology that needs to be embraced, but a bold new vision needs to be set in motion.
I don’t have the answers, but your post is on target as without the support of building administrators, how can a new vision even begin.
I wish we had your kind of administration support in my school. That’s what schools need if they want their computers to be more than expensive paperweights!
I agree, many times we hear of teachers getting recognition and going to seminars to learn how to improve the school but many times not only do we need teachers to go but also administrators because they are the middle man. Without administrators many times teachers and others would have problems making changes to their curriculum. Also in order for long term effects at a school the administrators need to personally experience what the teacher did at a seminar and not just get feedback because many times important things can be left out that maybe the administrator would find important.
Hey Scott, Congrats on the ADE selection!
BTW, school’s almost out. Where are you?