Innovational Leadership

I've had a strong focus on leadership in my personal and professional growth plan lately. This all started with discovering a book in my garage from one of my husband's classes (Building the Bridge as You Walk On It by Robert E. Quinn). Since this discovery, I've poured myself into learning all I can about leadership and how it is playing a role in how I move forward in my life and my career. I've since moved to another book, Creating Magic, 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies From a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell and to all the online content I can handle on the subject.

I've found that there is one resounding comment from every source and that is the fact that leaders are not born, they are made. You CAN learn to be a great leader, but you WILL have to work at it. Being a great leader does not happen overnight and it also requires lots of continuous reflection.

As part of that continuous reflection, I enjoy finding online articles in my twitter feed about leadership. I recently discovered one titled 10 Tips for the Innovation Leader by Paul Sloan. I love to find short tip guides that narrow down content into a fast read, but overall, the 10 tips given in this article are fantastic. I think anyone in a leadership position should take the time to read over them and spend some time in reflection about each.

The first two tips are "Have a Vision for Change" and "Fight the Fear of Change". I believe that these play a large role in the success of a leader. There is one statement in the article that I feel needs repeated : "Great leaders spend time illustrating the vision, the goals and the challenges". The overall feel for the path that a group ultimately takes needs some thought and planning put into it. The leader of the group is responsible for sharing that overall vision and embracing the fact that moving toward that vision can be difficult and scary, but necessary. I've found in much of the stuff that I've read that many leaders don't become great leaders because of their fear to push through when change is needed. They may see that the change is needed, but fear of the risk of change stops them in their tracks. I believe, for me, that this also plays into tip #5 in Sloan's article, "Break the Rules".

In reflection of my own leadership, I discovered that I had a fear of breaking the rules, which I am still working on, but have made progress. Just because a rule is in place does not mean the rule is necessary and to be quite honest, in the field of technology I have found that many rules are just plain out-of-date. Sometimes it takes an innovative leader to notice that the rules aren't right and question why they are in place. This has been a hard lesson for me, but I understand the importance of it more every day.

So how am I fighting the fear? In the book I was reading by Robert Quinn, he said to accept the fear that you have and then take the initiative to fight it. Honestly, once I realized that I had the fear and then determined where that fear started deep within (lack of confidence), I made the commitment to myself to work on it. If you have an internal goal to change, most of the time your own desire to achieve will kick in and help you through.

I encourage everyone to take a peek at this article or either of the books I have mentioned. Working on your leadership skills is a great way to improve your life, both personally and professionally and you'll learn a little about yourself along the way!

Mutual Mentors and Parking Lot Confessions

Cabarrus County Schools in NC recently wrapped up the technology camp we hold in the summers for teachers. It's a two day event and this year we had 450 registered attendees. (Follow camp tweets at #ccstech) The camp is not only a great professional opportunity for teachers, but also for the technology facilitators in our county that are responsible for most of the presentations throughout the two days. We work very hard in the several weeks prior to the camp to prepare presentation for the attendees and over the course of two days, some of us present as many as 9 times. It is safe to say that we are exhausted by the time it's over, but there are a few things that happen along the way that make the camp a fantastic opportunity for us as well.

During the setup process, the technology facilitators had a great chance to reconnect. We all had the summer off and hadn't seen each other in a while, so stuffing 400 bags with goodies or plugging in 40 smartboards is a great way to catch up! We had the most fun talking about everything from our summer vacations to how we'll do trainings with our staffs this year. While sitting at our opening meeting, I glanced around at some of the great people we have in our group and I realized that we are all each others' mentors. As I moved from person to person, I saw experts in Multiple Intelligences, Google apps, wikis, twitter, 21st century learning, SMART Boards, Internet Safety and more. We all bring something to the table and we all have an opportunity to learn from each other. I can't emphasize how much I believe in the importance of fostering the group relationship so we can all benefit from being mutual mentors.

Later that day, I met up with Tim Gwynn, Denise Yates and Steve Johnson in the parking lot. It had to be 95 degrees out there on the black pavement, but we were so into our conversation, the heat didn't seem to matter so much. We talked about how we need to work together and share what we're doing on a regular basis. That conversation carried over to the next day over dinner. There, I spent time with Ann Gregson, Tim Gwynn and Mo Hax where we talked about all facets of education and how technology plays a role in student learning. Over eastern style BBQ, we discussed how PLN's play a role in education and the importance of technology facilitators assisting teachers and administrators in building their networks. All of this discussion centered around a table of people building their own network over BBQ. All of us had met, a few of us even worked together, but for the most part, this was a time to get to know each other and learn how each of us fit into our own PLNs.

On the final day of the camp we had yet one more parking lot conversation. A few of us gathered again and reflected on what we had learned from the two days. We emphasized the idea discussed on that first day about sharing our knowledge. We had all seen or heard what each technology facilitator had to bring to the camp presentations and now we all wanted to see those presentations ourselves. Those of us in that parking lot group agreed that we would at least start the movement in our county to share more as a team by doing camp presentations again for all technology facilitators and working together to create some presentations. We even discussed sharing presentations with other schools. So, for example, I might go to one school to present on Second Life where someone else might come to my school to present on podcasting. This not only allows the teachers to see a new face, but allows the technology facilitator to learn something new as well!

Mutual mentorships provide an opportunity for growth. The importance of seeking out and fostering those mentorships is an important step in building a personal learning network. Who is your mutual mentor? Think about your goals as we begin the new school year. How will you foster your mutual mentorship and use it as a resource to achieve those goals?

iLab Gets Visitors!

Due to some waxing issues and not being able to get into the other labs at my school, I was able to hold the first workshop in the iLab on Thursday! Luckily, Mo Hax stopped by the day before and offered to help set up all of the computers or I'm not sure what I would have done. There were still boxes all around and the place was a mess, but we made it work! The workshop I held was on GMail and Google Groups which was a continuation of one I did with Denise Yates (on Tuesday) on Google Docs.

It was fun to see the reactions of the teachers as they walked in and saw the new set up. My favorite comment was, "the kids are going to love this!" I heard that comment more throughout the morning as they were introduced to a few programs. I always love the opportunity to show someone Photo Booth, so when asked how to put a picture into google profile, I seized the opportunity. If you've used Photo Booth before, you know the reaction they had. Pure fun for the next 10 minutes! Lots of laughter and excitement.

We also got the opportunity to use the chat feature, which is something I've not had the opportunity to do yet with teachers. Thanks to Chad Lehman, we were able to do a video chat which couldn't have worked out better if I had planned it. He was sitting outside under a tree at the zoo. That got a chuckle from my crowd, but then he went on to explain he was there presenting for a conference where they were demonstrating how to integrate technology into lessons with animals. And the crowd went silent....with wide eyes! They got it! A video chat brought Chad from Milwaukee to us and we learned something from him. I could see the wheels spinning in a few teachers brains. Can't wait to see what they come up with for their classes this year.

We had fantastic conversations after the workshop about how the world is changing with new technology tools and I was so excited to hear the positive comments. During this time with small budgets and high stress, I was a little nervous about the reaction of teachers to a new lab of this caliber being installed at the school. After this workshop, I am excited for everyone to see it, but really can't wait for that first lesson with the students. This year is going to be fun!

Leaders with iPods!

I had the opportunity to present at the leadership camp for administrators in our county this week. All school and district level administrators were asked to come to the week-long camp to learn about leadership, procedures and, of course, technology! I was asked to present 3 sessions on iPods and Podcasting. I took enough iPods for everyone and also borrowed a Macbook cart so we could use GarageBand for podcasts.

As the participants entered the room, it was fun to see their reactions to ipods and laptops on each desk. "Ooh, this one looks like it will be fun" and "Oh, I'm glad I signed up for this one" were common remarks that I heard in each session. All that before they even knew what we were going to do!

The first part of the session was dedicated to ipods. We talked about apps, cost, student involvement, etc. and I allowed lots of time for them to "play". I stopped at one point in the first session to see everyone totally involved in the apps they were studying and I asked them to take a look around and see how engaged people in this room were (funny, no one did because they were too busy with their apps). I explained that this engagement was also evident with the students and part of the reason I believe this is true is because they are working at their own pace with their own personal tool. It was fun to see their reaction to what, for many of them, was something brand new.

After the iPods, we went to the Macbooks and opened GarageBand. I had showed them a few podcasts and explained what a podcast was, but now they were going to create their own. Of course I got a few looks like I was insane to ask them to make a podcast with only 15 minutes left in the session. We kept it very simple. We recorded their voices from a script with fill in the blanks, then we added music in the form of the podcast jingles included with GarageBand. I was going to have them add pictures, but in the end opted to just talk about the fact that you could. Only one person in all three sessions had ever made a podcast, so I really didnt' want to overwhelm anyone.

Interesting, but not surprised by it, many of them wanted to buy a mac after they left! I think a few of them would have stayed and played with GarageBand all day! I was also very impressed that I didn't hear any comment all day that they just couldn't do technology (a response I am learning to get used to). I had a wide range of age and skill levels and impressively, they were all interested in what I had to share with them. It was a really fun day and I was glad I had the opportunity to be involved with such a great group.

iLab Gets Furniture!

I have been working for almost a year now on this new lab at my school and today it all started to come together. SMART Board installers and table installers are here today. I am so excited to see it finally start to look like a computer lab!

I scheduled my first training in the lab for August 3rd (mostly because I knew I'd be pushing to get it all done and wanted to have a date so people would get in here and do it-before normal beginning of year stuff starts-yeah, a little sneaky). Now everyone is rushing around to do final touches. Left to do: finishing plates for the networking cables, ceiling outlets for projectors, paint, connect the new networking to the new server and of course set up all of the equipment.

Still deciding on a paint color, although, I think the my principal wants it to be white. Next week will be interesting, but I can't wait to get it all done.

Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators

I encourage anyone that is, or works with, a technology facilitator to take a look at the Tech & Learning article, "The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration". It was written by Cheryl Whitfield back in 2005, so it is a little older, but I like the view of the position that it gives the reader.

According to the article, there are five things anyone hired for a technology facilitator position should possess. Those are:

1. Experience in teaching. Our state actually requires 3 years of experience and I truly believe in this. As a technology facilitator, I have to be aware of the constraints of the classroom and understand how things are run from a teacher's and a student's perspective before I can effectively integrate technology into the school.

2. Enthusiastic Technophile. I love her choice of words here and can't say enough about how you need to be excited about technology AND be willing to explore and find new tools in the field. One of the saddest things I see in my position are technology facilitators that refuse to change. Working in technology, you have to accept that your job will always be changing and you need to be the driving force of that change by exploring all the options available.

3. Effective Trainer. I hear teachers say all the time that they just don't understand the way some "technology people" talk. As a TF, you need to be able to talk on a non-techie level and mentor teachers in the way they are familiar. I'm also learning now that it is important every once in a while to re-evaluate your presentation skills. Some times we get into our own little groove of doing things and forget what the real goal is. Take some time to read a book on presentation or take some tips from an excellent presenter to make sure you're still on the right track.

4. Eager Mentor. I see the non-eager mentor quite often in my line of work (and have honestly been guilty of it myself at times). This part, in my opinion, is one of the most important. People need to feel comfortable coming to you and know that you're going to do what you can to help them. Being approachable in this position is so important because not only will it help the teachers in your school, but it will also help them to trust you when you are selling them those new tools we talked about in #2 above!

5. Excellent Administrator. To be quite honest, when taking this position the first time, I had no idea how close this job is to being an administrative position. Now that I've been in it for a while, it becomes even more so as I work closer with the administrative team. I'm not totally sure this article explains the administrative duties quite like I had expected, so I will add a few things here myself. I believe the TF needs to be a leader, and not just any leader, but a good one who is not scared to look a tough situation in the face and push through. A TF also needs great communication skills and be willing to put those to work to sell new ideas to students, teachers, administrators and sometimes even district leaders or school board members. And the last thing I'd like to add is flexibility. One of the things I love most about my job is that when I walk through the front door in the morning, I have no idea what the day will bring. One minute I could be helping a student log into a computer and the next figuring out how I'm going to spend a thousand dollars by the end of the day. There are a wide range of tasks given to the technology facilitator and we need to be able to accept those and easily move from one to another depending on importance.

The position of the technology facilitator is always changing. I feel it is important, however, to keep these 5 fundamental parts in our minds and make sure we are keeping in tune with the overall idea of what we should be doing on a daily basis.

Second Life, OpenSim, What do you want to be?