Post # 12

 

Section I:

#edleaders

 

I chose this hashtag because I am seeking to get my degree as a Principal. Therefore, I am interested in any piece of advise that will help me become a principal that is an advocate for the students, the teachers, and the school community. I found a tweet by Wolfgang Soeldner that caught my attention.  It says that, “Education is a team sport.”  This quote is telling us that everyone in the school is responsible for their job, if someone doesn’t do their part, then we all look bad. Every person who works in a school is responsible for creating that safe environment for our students, we have the power to make it magical and unforgettable or we can make it horrible. Therefore, it is important that we take responsibility for every student that sets foot in the school. In order for us to work together as a team, a principal needs to have the staff and faculty believe in the school’s vision and goals. This was another article I found that states the roles and responsibilities of a principal in integrating technology.  Technology is the present and future, and principals need to not only support the use of technology but also model it. Just like we need to model for our students, principals need to model for the faculty and staff. Faculty and staff need to feel that the principal believes strongly in the use of technology and is not just using it to compete with other schools. Another interesting article, “The 5 Behaviors that Derail Executive Careers,” can be tied up to the first article about education being a team sport. The first mistake that many leaders make is being oblivious to an employee who creates havoc. The employee will look deficient but the executive will be blamed for keeping him there. The other type of behavior that derails executives is arrogance. In education there is no room for this behavior because as was mentioned before we need to work as a team in order to have students succeed. An arrogant leader will cause employees to hesitate in giving opinions or ideas because the leader is always right. Therefore, being aware of our own weaknesses and strengths allows a leader to develop and grow. The hashtag #edleaders gave me advice on what is expected of a leader. It goes to show that being a leader isn’t about always believing one is right but about supporting and advocating for your team in order to accomplish a goal. 

Education is a Team Sport  

Roles & Responsibilities of a School Leader in Technology Integration

The 5 Behaviors that Derail Executives

Section II

There are many ways in which Twitter can be used in the classroom. In my case, I would use it with 5^th grade students for Science or Social Studies. I would have the students create a Twitter account. Then depending on the topic we were covering that week or in a unit, I would have the students do some research and do a small presentation on Prezi explaining their findings. In their presentation, they would have to include at least one link. Since Twitter is a social media that allows communication between people all over the world, I would have my students use it to communicate with others. This activity would be for students in 4^th grade and they would use it in Social Studies. Students would have their own Twitter accounts and they would be asked to communicate with people from different cultures in order to learn the different life styles of other students. I think this would be better than just doing research because it would be information coming from an actual person who can explain how things work in their culture. The third way I would use Twitter would be to do research for the sake of learning. Now that I’ve used Twitter and searched hashtags, I would be able to look for different topics that are of interest for me. I could look for activities for students, or new research on technology. Using Twitter for research would also let me share interesting links, or videos that I found.

            Twitter is about sharing and expressing thoughts in 140 characters or less, to make an impact. A few years ago, I attended a training where it was demonstrated how important the choice of our words was in creating an impact. I would have my students in 4^th grade us Twitter in Language Arts. After reading a story or poem, I would ask a question and have my students choose their words wisely in order to answer the question and make the greatest impact. This could be done weekly and one student could be chosen each week as a winner. I think this would engage students and help them look for better words to express themselves. I think Twitter can be used in many ways to help teachers and students learn. I’m sure there are many other ideas on utilizing this social media. These are just some ways in which I would use it in my classroom.