Top Ten Technology Tips for Administrators from a Tech Trendy Teacher

August is Connected Educator Month and today is Leadership Day 2012, where educational bloggers write about the importance of school technology leadership.

In my experience, most school leaders are not the technology leaders of the school. More experienced principals and district-level administrators did not grow up with technology and are unfamiliar with hardware and applications that can produce a more effective and efficient educational environment.

Educational leaders must make an effort to become versed in technological innovations that may impact student learning. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has developed guidelines for how administrators can become technology leaders in their schools. The National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A) outline five areas that will encourage the use of digital technology throughout the school culture.

In addition, I've listed my top ten technology tips for school administrators from the perspective of a tech trendy teacher.

1. Utilize technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency of the school as an organization. How can technology decrease the amount of time that teachers are in faculty meeting or  professional development that may not apply to an entire faculty? Explore applications, like Google docs and Twitter, that can maximize teacher time. The gift of time is an amazing way to build trust and value teachers.
2. Model technology for students, parents, and teachers. Just as principals expect teachers to model skills for their students, school leaders should show the utilization of technology in their job. How can a principal ask students to become digital, global citizens, when they do not rely on technology themselves?
3. Learn to speak the language of social media. Students and their families use social media to connect and communicate. School leaders must tap into this resource for information proliferation and stakeholder collaboration. 
4. Provide hardware and resources. For students to become digital citizens in our global society, they must utilize current technology. Many of my elementary school students have operated computers that are older than they are. School leaders must make it a priority to provide the relevant technology tools for students and teachers.  
5. Differentiate professional development. Each teacher has different needs for professional development and learns at varying speeds and in different ways. Just as we differentiate for our students, professional development for teachers should be differentiated. Personal learning networks (PLNs) are a great technological tool for learning that allow teachers to determine their interests and needs in the most relevant manner.
6. Give teachers time to explore. Author Annie Dillard said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we live our lives." If teachers aren't given the opportunity to investigate technology, they are not going to utilize technology in the classroom. Give learning goals or let teachers determine their course during this time. Exploration is an incredibly valuable method of professional development.
7. Trust teachers as professionals. Teachers should be trusted to do what is best for students. If a teacher believes that the best way to reach his students is through Edmodo, he should be given that freedom. Let teachers utilize the technology that they have discovered through exploration and celebrate mistakes as learning experiences.
8. Challenge the faculty. When spending time in classrooms, notice how technology could impact a lesson or student interaction. Push the faculty to utilize technology tools, while offering support when needed. Develop ambitious technology goals with your teachers that will ensure student success in a technological world. 
9. Ensure digital safety. With the increased use of technology in a school, comes additional possibilities for trouble in the digital playground. Incidence involving predators, cyberbullying, and access to personal information are problems that administrators must address through teacher, student, and parent education.
10. Dream of possibilities. What is an area that needs improvement in your school organization? Could you perform teacher observations in a better way? How do you stay current in professional publications? Technology is a tool that can make a school organization, as well as the administration, faculty, students, and stakeholders, more effective and efficient. Whatever you can dream for your school, technology can take you there.

Waiting

I've always had a problem with patience. The problem is that I don't have any. I know, I know. I'm working on it. The proverb, "Good things come to those who wait," has been promoted to instill the value of patience, but I believe more in the value of hard work as espoused by Abraham Lincoln, "Good things come to those who wait, but only the things leftover by those who hustle." 

I guess that's where I have issues in the process to finding an assistant principal position. I've been diligent and dedicated in learning about educational leadership and I expect to be able to put all that I've learned to good use in an administrative job. So far, all I've gotten is waiting. Waiting for a job posting, waiting for an interview, waiting for a callback, waiting for an offer. I hate waiting. I understand that I'll end up where I'm supposed to be, but that doesn't make the waiting any easier. 

I'm not the only one that hates waiting. Waiting has been a theme in countless songs throughout the years. The Kinks sang about the hopelessness in waiting in their song, "Tired of Waiting for You." I can particularly relate to the line, "But you keep-a me waiting, all of the time, what can I do?" When waiting, there's nothing that I can do to improve the desired outcome. I can't study any more or work any harder than I already have. That's frustrating.

In "The Waiting," Tom Petty professes, "The waiting is the hardest part." That's completely true. Again, I think waiting is so difficult, because I have no control. Once I've followed hiring protocol, there is nothing more for me to do, but wait and wait.

I mostly relate to the feelings of John Mayer in "Waiting on the World to Change." I've got a lot to offer if just given the chance for a younger generation of leaders to share their knowledge and innovations. "One day our generation is gonna rule the population, so we keep on waiting. Waiting for the world to change."

E-Portfolios for Prospective Assistant Principals

Many products and ideas have bled from the business world into education. The first videoconference took place at the World's Fair in 1964 and began to flourish in corporations through the 1990s. Today, students and teachers regularly Skype with experts from around the world. Last year, our art teacher took a yearlong sabatical to work with a communications contractor in Iraq. After learning about her situation, our students developed questions and conducted multiple Skype sessions with her. These sessions provided insight into the Iraqi conflict and culture for our students. Another example is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, which was first written to help people solve personal and professional problems. Now, schools across the nation are utilzing his practices with students to improve character. The Leader in Me outlines steps for children to become more creative, responsible, and tolerant. Schools can even become Lighthouse Schools, which exemplify the common language and culture of leadership.

Portfolios have been utilized in schools as a valid tool for student assessment and have also served as a snapshot of skills and abilities for jobseekers. But in today's technologically-based world, where cutting edge expertise is valued, e-portfolios have been utilized as a way to evaluate student performance, as well as a way for jobseekers to promote themselves to prospective employers. E-portoflios have been widely popular in the business world, but in education, this method of self-promotion is just beginning to flourish.

Part of the culminating assessments for my educational leadership program was a portfolio containing artifacts from my classes, as well as my residency activities. The portfolio was a 2" binder that contained page after page of writing, charts, and presentation handouts. It's organized by standard, but if a principal was looking through my portfolio, it might be difficult to find evidence of how I can organize a master schedule or develop a school budget.

I thought that an e-portfolio might be a good way to showcase my skills and abilities in school leadership. In my e-portfolio, which I developed on wikispaces, I included my mission statement, leadership platform, supervisory beliefs, and resume, as well as work samples from my classes, residency, and teaching career. Now, I can send a principal a link to my e-portfolio instead of just emailing or faxing my resume. I'm hoping that my e-portfolio will inspire a principal to ask me for an interview! It has definitely prepared me for an interview by offering a chance to self-evaluate my skills.

Check out my e-portfolio! What do you think?

Interview for Assistant Principal Opening

One of the final components of my degree program in educational leadership is a mock interview with two practicing principals for a job as an assistant principal. As candidates, we are also required to compile a portfolio of our work completed during our courses and residency, which demonstrates each of the 8 Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders, to use during the interview. In addition to the mock interview, I'm preparing to interview for assistant principal openings in the coming school year.

While doing my homework for the interviews, I did an obligatory Google search of tips for assistant principal interviews. Here are some of the best resources that I found.

• Interview Questions from the Principal's Page by Michael Smith
• Interviewing for the Principal's Job from the National Association of Elementary School Principals
• Interview Sample Questions 
• My 10 Goals as a 1st Year Administrator from Life of an Educator by Justin Tarte
• Assistant Principal Interview Forum from the ProTeacher Community
• The Questions I Wished I'd Asked When Interviewing for the Principalship from Education World

The thought that I need to remember during this stressful time of applications, interviews, and callbacks is that I'll end up where I'm supposed to be. I've learned valuable lessons at each school that I've taught in. I may not have particularly enjoyed being at that school at that time, but when I look back on my professional history, I wouldn't change anything about where I've spent my time. Things always work out for the best! Music is a great reminder, so here's the Kooks performing their song "Always Where I Need to Be."

Educational Leadership Library

Through the course of my classes in educational leadership and by reading the blogs and tweets of current administrators, like Chris Wejr, Dwight Carter, and Justin Tarte, I have developed a long list of required reading for aspiring principals. Just as I have grown my music education library for the past 15 years, it is now time for me to begin my educational leadership library. The list is continually growing and I don't know where to start, but I'm sure that one text will lead to the next. 


My evolving list of books to read is below. What other required reading do you have for aspiring leaders? What sequence of reading do you suggest?

Technology

• Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns - Clayton Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, and Michael B. Horn
• The World is Open: How Web Technology Is Revolutionizing Education - Curtis J. Bonk
• Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead - Charlene Li
• Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools - Milton Chen
• Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives - John Palfrey and Urs Gasser
• Young World Rising: How Youth Technology and Entrepreneurship Are Changing the World from the Bottom Up - Rob Salkowitz
• Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America - Allan Collins and Richard Halverson
• Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning - Marc Prensky
• Communicating and Connecting with Social Media - William M. Ferriter, Jason T. Ramsden, and Eric C. Sheninger

Teacher Resources

• Teaching As Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher's Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap - Steven Farr
• The Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson - Harvey F. Silver, Richard W. Strong, and Matthew J. Perini
• Tools for Promoting Active, In-Depth Learning - Harvey F. Silver
• The Passionate Learner: How Teachers and Parents Can Help Children Reclaim the Joy of Discovery - Robert L. Fried
• Qualities of Effective Teachers - James H. Stronge
• What Great Teachers Do Differently: 14 Things That Matter Most - Todd Whitaker

Educational Theory/Future of Education

• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future - Daniel H. Pink
• Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
• Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative - Ken Robinson
• The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work - Shawn Achor
• A Place Called School - John I. Goodlad
• Creativity Now: Get Inspired, Create Ideas, and Make Them Happen Now! - Jurgen Wolff
• The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need and What We Can Do About It - Tony Wagner
• Five Minds for the Future - Howard Gardner
• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 - Travis Bradberry
• Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
• The Water Is Wide - Pat Conroy
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us - Daniel H. Pink
• The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything - Ken Robinson
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Carol S. Dweck
• Schools Cannot Do It Alone - Jamie Robert Vollmer
• Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time - Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
• The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education - Diane Ravitch
• The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology - Ray Kurzweil
• College and Career Ready: Helping All Students Succeed Beyond High School - David T. Conley
• What Works in Schools: Translating Research into Action - Robert J. Marzano
• Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution - Richard A. DeLorenzo, Wendy J. Battino, Rick M. Schreiber, and Barbara B. Goddy Carrio
• Results Now: How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Improvements in Teaching and Learning - Michael J. Schmoker
• Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning - Mike Schmoker
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference - Malcolm Gladwell

Professional Development for Teachers/PLCs

• Designs for Learning: A New Architecture for Professional Development in Schools - Paul V. Bredeson
• Whatever It Takes: How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don't Learn - Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker, Gayle Karhanek, and Richard DuFour
• Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement - Richard DuFour
• Leaders of Learning: How District, School, and Classroom Leaders Improve Student Achievement - Richard DuFour and Robert J. Marzano
• On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communities - Roland Barth, Barbara Eason-Watkins, Michael Fullan, and Lawrence Lezotte
• Personal Learning Networks: Using the Power of Connections to Transform Education - Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli

Assessment

• What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? And Other Essays on Standards, Grading, and Other Follies - Alfie Kohn
• Ahead of the Curve: The Power of Assessment to Transform Teaching and Learning - Larry Ainsworth, Lisa Almeida, Anne Davies, and Richard DuFour
• The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing - Alfie Kohn
• The Principal as Assessment Leader - Cassandra Erkens, William Ferriter, Tammy Heflebower, and Tom Hierck

Organization

• The 5th Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization - Peter M. Senge
• Get Organized: Time Management for School Leaders - Frank Buck

Leadership

• Left on Red: How to Ignite, Leverage, and Build Visionary Organizations - Bill Glynn
• Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division - Anthony Muhammad
• Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation - Tim Brown
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High - Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard - Chip Heath and Dan Heath
• The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization - John C. Maxwell
• Opposable Mind: Winning Through Integrative Thinking - Roger L. Martin
• Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers - Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo
• Dealing with Difficult Parents and with Parents in Difficult Situations - Todd Whitaker and Douglas Fiore
• Now, Discover Your Strengths - Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton
• Strengths-Based Leadership - Tom Rath and Barry Conchie
• Strengths Finder 2.0 - Tom Rath
• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? - Seth Godin
• The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness - Stephen R. Covey
• You're in Charge - Now What?: The 8 Point Plan - Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You - John C. Maxwell
• Qualities of Effective Principals - James H. Stronge
• The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life - Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
• Balanced Leadership: How Effective Principals Manage Their Work - Sheryl Boris-Schacter
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable - Patrick Lencioni
• Winning with People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time - John C. Maxwell
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - Seth Godin
• Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School - John Medina
• If You Don't Feed the Teachers They Eat the Students: Guide to Success for Administrators and Teachers - Neila A. Connors
• How Full Is Your Bucket?: Positive Strategies for Work and Life - Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton
• The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary - Mark Sanborn and John C. Maxwell
• The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your LIfe, Work, and Team with Positive Energy - Jon Gordon
• The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership - Steve Farber
• The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion - John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison
• The Power of Appreciative Inquiry: A Practical Guide to Positive Change - Diana Whitney, Amanda Troston-Bloom, and David Cooperrider

Discipline

• Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community - Alfie Kohn
• Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges Are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them - Ross W. Greene

Most Informative Interview Questions

I'm currently in the process of earning a master's degree in educational leadership. One of the instructors asked us to gather interview questions from each of our mentor principals and compile a list of our favorite interview questions that we could use in future interviews. I was particularly excited about the questions that had a hidden meaning. For example, candidates could answer the question, but how they answered the questions would reveal more about their teaching style or personality. The thought of having the opportunity to better the faculty, as a whole, each time an opening in the school is posted is very interesting to me!

Here's the list that our cohort of educators developed.

1. What are your favorite teaching methods?
2. What character traits will you offer to our school?
3. Tell me what you do when a student does not complete their assignment?
4. Given all necessary supplies and materials for the first day of school, what would your classroom look like? What is something in your classroom that you couldn't live without?
5. How would you ensure all students achieve high academic success regardless of their circumstances? 
6. On your best day of teaching, what would I see, hear, and experience in your room? And on your worst day of teaching? 
7. Provide scenarios about a topic. Then, ask the applicant what he/she would do in the situation or how the situation could be re-directed in a positive manner.
8. Propose a set of parameters for a class, for example, an honors class, an inclusion class, or a freshman class, and ask the applicant to talk through how he/she would prepare to meet the needs of the students.
9. Tell me some differentiated instructional methods you use in your classroom.
10. What should I expect to see happening if I dropped into your classroom on a random day? 
11. How do you plan for daily instruction and describe a typical class that you would teach from beginning to end? Include what you would do during the first 10 minutes, how you present new information, teaching techniques/strategies you would use, and how you would end class.
12. What methods do you use to evaluate/assess students?  What are some alternative methods of assessment that you have used?  How do you use assessments to plan for instruction and for monitoring student progress and effective teaching practices?
13. What do you do to grab and keep your students attention?
14. With the practice of inclusion, does a child with Down Syndrome belong in the general education classroom?

Do you have any great interview questions to add to the list?