If you find that your campus is a bootleg technology desert, take a step back and watch the staff. Poor attitudes and a lack of competency by the right (wrong) staff members will kill a technology initiative before it even gets started.
Here are the red flags.
1. Teachers and administrators that cannot navigate standard software programs.
2. Teachers and administrators that only use their PC as a post-it note display stand.
3. Teachers and administrators that have not upgraded their cell phones to smart phones.
If you notice the above red flags are all over your campus, at best you are facing an uphill climb when it comes to bootleg technology implementation. How do you change this situation (long term)? I would add a new question in the interview process, “Tell us how you typically use your cell phone during the week.”
At the very least I would want to hear, “E-mail, web-searching and texting.”
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 21, 2012.
1. Congratulations to LYSer, Ben Carson! He is the new Superintendent in Liberty-Eylau ISD. Who will be next?
2. Murdoch: Since 1940 when we started tracking, education is the single best predictor of socioeconomic outcome. (By @EquityCenter)
3. The state is trying force schools to testify they are successful. If so, they don’t need funds. If not, they are inept. (By @TeachFangs)
4. If students can show they understand at the end, then why do we penalize for the previous assessments? (By @dmiller212001)
5. Pearson has $500,000,000 contract with Texas for standardized testing Meanwhile, we’re fighting for adequate education funding. (By @tra_hall)
6. On a struggling campus where the Principal is spending the entire day jumping thru Central Office hoops that have nothing to do with his school. Priorities?
7. The problem with making “The main thing… the main thing” is that the Central Office “Main Thing” always trumps the campus “Main Thing.”
8. Success on any level requires one thing… Discipline. Be willing to put in the daily work to make it happen. (By @TheRock)
9. You can stomp your feet and get mad, but that won’t change the fact that ineffective practice + an excuse = ineffective practice.
10. Educators, do us all a favor. If you are voting for the people responsible for the cuts in education funding, OK, but quit complaining about the effects.
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/Fundamental5
- Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
- Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
- Upcoming Presentations: Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
- Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation
