I’ve been getting questions on how to deal with the policy issues that relate to the use of Bootleg Technology. Here’s my quick advice.1. Remove the district policy barriers to the use of bootleg technology. It’s time that districts address these policies, since most of them were adopted back when pagers and cell phones were new and the only people who could afford to use them were drug dealers, lawyers and doctors. The world has changed; it is time for district policy to reflect this fact.2. Give campuses the flexibility to make and amend procedures that best meet the needs of the individual campus. Yes, this may mean that what is allowed on one campus isn’t allowed on another. But during the early stages of implementation, I’m ok with that. What I don’t like are district mandates that are designed to protect laggards and the un-informed. Free up the forward thinkers.3. Don’t overreact when your students make predictable stupid mistakes. Teach and coach (more than once) before you punish.4. Use common sense!!!5. Quit fretting and do something. A number of you in the LYS Nation are now using your own bootleg technology devices to follow Twitter. If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us. To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of October 16, 2011, as tabulated by the accountants at Price Waterhouse. 1. The only schedule worse than the 8 period day is… The 9 period day. 2. Constant announcements and classroom interruptions during an 8 or 9 period day is darn near educational malpractice. 3. I have yet to meet a classroom interruption compliance monitor. Leadership either protects instruction or it doesn’t. 4. Texas school districts requested class-size waivers for more than 6,000 classrooms this year, up from 2,238 last year. (@e_mellon) 5. The lack of actual engagement between adults and students on secondary campuses continues to amaze me. 6. Pick any secondary campus anywhere and I will argue that 99% of student discipline and behavior is self-managed. 7. Run Thought: Hard work doesn’t guarantee success, but the lack of it almost always guarantees failure. 8. Ms. Heyward was 5 for 5 with the Fundamental 5! She teaches in a Juvenile Facility. Expert instruction can occur in any setting. 9. How can we use Technology to innovate? We don’t necessarily have to use the tool as it was originally intended. (@lthumann) 10. While 70% of people in the developing world now have mobile phones, only one in four have bank accounts. (@FareedZakaria Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn… Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t Attend the LYS presentations at the Texas School Improvement Conference on 10/27/11