Publicity

I talked about mobile devices and BYOD with a representative from Cisco earlier this week. It was a great chat. Cisco will publish it in October/November. Exciting!

BYOD first story!

We have started a BYOD system here in Katy, and we are so very excited about the transition to students having the ability to access and utilize knowledge when they need it most! Quick story: We do announcements on video (just started two days ago). I made mention to my news anchors of an app for the iPad in which the iPad acted as a teleprompter. Yesterday one of the students brought in the iPad and the kids used it as a teleprompter for afternoon announcements. They were able to look at the camera and interact with the audience!
How cool!!!

Holy Moly!

It's been a while.

This summer I got the opportunity to jump to junior high, and I took it! I am thrilled to be able to discuss education and life with pre-teens! They have been amazing, just as the staff has. I have been working on building background knowledge in technology in education. Friday I got to help 7th grade kids use storyjumper to create books about Native American tribes. I am super excited to start our staff Book Club and meet with my first Student Roundtable group this coming Friday! Exciting Stuff!

Mobile Learning Paradigm Shift

We have a long way to go in shifting teacher and administrator thinking to gain the acceptance of mobile learning devices in each classroom. Teachers want to hold on to the control of information in the classroom and principals don't want to deal with the additional (and sometimes unknown) issues which arise from having technology in the classroom.

I am excited about the possibilities we have in giving kids power over their learning. What an amazing gift we can give!

Philosophical Differences

How do you settle differences between 52 principals on philosophy of education? G/T pullout or push in? 9-week vs. 6-week grading periods? Professional development vision?

Change

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking."
~Albert Einstein

Positive Daily Parent Report = Checkbook

We are experimenting with and kicking around the idea of having a checkbook as our daily parent report. At this time we have a "mark" system where students receive marks for making poor choices. The emphasis is on negative behaviors.

• 2nd-5th grade will have an individual checkbook register and will record deposits (for doing positive things) and withdrawals (for making poor choices) in their register. Each teacher will have a classroom chart so the teacher may have a record of the poor choices in order to report these on the report card under behavior.
• 1st grade will use pennies and will transition to nickels, dimes, quarters as they are ready.
• Kindergarten will have a class penny jar and will earn money and give back money as a class until the 4th six weeks when they will transition to an individual plan

Made to Stick

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath is an incredible book! I love how they have placed numerous keywords per chapter in the table of contents so you don't have to freaking tab everything. The way they tell stories is easy and humerous. Such a great read.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." --Mark Twain

What if . . .

What if . . .

• We could have wi-fi on the school buses like a district in South Carolina?
• We ran a report of all taxpayers over 60 and asked their opinion on things. They have been a "forgotten" stakeholder who have time on their hands for assistance such as volunteering, mentoring, or tutoring.
• A class made an app together. It is a way of writing and critically thinking about a real world situation.
• We had a "Napsterfication of learning" --Graham Brown-Martin
• We used QR codes on district announcements, mailouts, and things going home from campuses?
• We had a New Tech High School like Coppell ISD?
• We had an app for iOS and Andriod like Comal ISD?
• We looked at a different system like the FB page or app or twitter for disseminating information?

Mobile 2011 Conference

I am currently at the Mobile 2011 Conference in Phoenix. Interesting content. Really good keynote speakers who make you think. Ready to present tomorrow! We have our 5th graders and teachers ready to answer questions from participants via Edmodo.

Making kids WANT to do homework

Listen to Alan November's TEDxNYC video. About halfway through, you will get to a part where he talks about how students, actually everyone, need to have purpose in their lives.

Connections

I am so excited to have a connection across Texas with my colleague from the Principals' Institute, Charis. She gave us a great idea for helping kids explore their passions by creating a K-5 integrated experience with teachers and students having fun in "clubs" during the school day. We are excited to kick off on April 15. Lots more to do and plan, but I have a fabulous team with me!

Charis and I also discussed our teachers using Skype to have our teachers communicate. Yay!

Interesting Conversation

One of my teachers who is an administrative intern this year came to me today after school and lamented on the fact that after reading books like Disrupting Class, and Teaching Digital Natives and Outliers there is nothing he can do to fix the issues being just one teacher.

This is why we are striving to do things we have never done before. We are trying to connect with students in new ways and trying to make teaching so much more than standing in the front of the room.

You know, the issue he pointed out was a problem to me as well because you can't go back to the way things were before you learned about the way things could be. It makes you strive forward and try new things.

Systemic Change

We are on the journey of systemic change. It requires two groups of people. There's the group who are willing to confront what is wrong, put everything on the table, and consider solutions that are very different and sometimes way outside the box. Then there's the people who cannot see that there is an issue or cannot visualize that there should be a different way. It is very hard to be the former when there are many of the latter around you.

Nowadays, if you have done something one way for a long time, it is probably time to take a look at what you are doing. Things don't have to be bad to need a change. They can be pretty effective and still be tweaked to uncover the true potential.