Comments on: A Different Kind of Gap

By: Hugh O'Donnell

Hugh O'Donnell — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 00:07:21 +0000

Hey Scott, Congrats on the ADE selection!

BTW, school’s almost out. Where are you?

By: Tierra

Tierra — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:11:32 +0000

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.

By: Steve J. Moore

Steve J. Moore — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:52:19 +0000

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!

By: Ed Allen

Ed Allen — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:06:58 +0000

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.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:24:50 +0000

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.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:28:03 +0000

@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.

By: Dave Meister

Dave Meister — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:58:06 +0000

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!

By: Ben Wildeboer

Ben Wildeboer — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:35:03 +0000

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.

By: Scott S. Floyd

Scott S. Floyd — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:09:38 +0000

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.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:26:52 +0000

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…