Two things happened on the bootleg technology front this past week that makes me optimistic.  The first is a study by Dell (do consider the source) that found that 63% of teachers surveyed reported that students know how to use technology better than they do.  Why does that make me optimistic?  Because it seems that teachers are honestly assessing their skills.  With that honest assessment, the next step is to empower students to use their personal tech skills in the classroom.

And then I watched that in action on a campus I was visiting.  At this traditional high school, students (in multiple classrooms) had their smart phones out, taking notes, responding to queries, and using education apps.  In a science class that was using a celestial mapping app, the teacher was having difficulty making the app work. Without missing a beat, he let a student take over the bootleg technology component of the lesson so he could focus on explaining what the class was observing.  It was beautiful to watch.  And for the “bootleg technology is a distraction” crowd, as I looked over the shoulders of students as they worked (in multiple classrooms), not one was off task. 

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 September 9, 2012.

1. If you are yelling at kids to hurry up and get to class, and then get mad because they start to run, you have a poor grasp of stimulus and response.

2. If principals are instructional leaders, why don’t we discuss instruction with greater frequency at Principals’ meetings?

3. Finding a principal who talks about instruction at all is rare, much less in faculty meetings. (By @txschoolsupe)

4. Of course, I do have to wonder if the perceived need for teacher unions would be necessary if politicians stopped using education as a pawn. (By @txschoolsupe)

5. 132 PowerWalks in the last 10 instructional days. Getting great insight and data from this tool. Fundamental 5 is driving instruction. (By @blitzkrieg607)

6. Hey, when every person in the room is the smartest person in the room, who is the smartest person in the room? Ego kills invention. (By @tlonganecker)

7. All administrators / teachers need a system to ensure they check on delegated action items, because often you delegate and forget. (By @TroyMooney)

8. America. Where millionaires are jealous of teachers trying to earn a decent salary. (By @LOLGOP)

9. Why do some argue that the best way to prepare students for poor instruction is to purposefully teach poorly?

10. I have never used twitter but signed up to follow you. Read and implementing The Fundamental 5 at our school. Great book! (By @jenaadan)

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), Advancing Improvement in Education Conference (Multiple Presentations), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), North Dakota Association of Secondary School Principals (Keynote), 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