I had a great time substitute teaching a graduate class tonight on “Technology for Administrators” at the University of Central Oklahoma here in Edmond, where I live. Links to the resources we discussed are available on a new wiki page I created today for “Technology Leadership.” As proposed last week (and inspired by Marco Torres) we planned and shot a movie we titled “Administrator Video.” Thanks to everyone who provided additional ideas and feedback! This 1.5 minute video is available on YouTube and as a downloadable file from my .Mac Public folder.
This video is not meant to be an insult to anyone or school administrators as a group. Rather, it is intended to humorously focus on worst-practices to encourage thinking about administrative best-practices.
Comments
2 responses to “Administrator Movie”
As an administrator in waiting… (I recently passed the SLLA exam, one of the ways to obtain an administrative credential in CA.) I really liked this video. I think there are too many admininstrators who have lost their soul because of a system that rewards rote memorization and rising test scores, regardless of the process used to achieve these scores.
There has been some talk about School 2.0 over the past few months… more specifically how education may change in the coming years. The debate should actually change to ‘Learning 2.0’ and defining other ways in which students learn and adapting the educational process to those needs of students. Administrators need to be sensitive to the ways students learn, which is more and more outside of the traditional classroom setting and in collective groups. Administrators are integral in the process of advocating for additional services that allow students to learn away from the classroom. This would include allowing libraries to be open after school and evenings. Working with community groups to make the school a community event center outside of the school day. Finding different ways to allow the community to take emotional ownership of the school.
I think you raise some great points, Kyle. I like the title “Learning 2.0” instead of “School 2.0.” That places the focus on learning instead of school. We do need to emphasize learning activities rather than just traditional school activities, which is what we seem to do most when we focus on “doing school.”
I like your idea of community “emotional ownership” of the school as a learning hub as well. Our focus needs to be more on making lifetime learning an educational reality for all members of a community, rather than just those young learners who are “school age” presently. David Warlick talked last week of a community where the school district has bought a building in the downtown area and converted it into a coffee shop and WiFi hub for kids to hang out. I wonder if our school libraries need to add on coffee shops? Often people in communities cringe when they see young people “hanging out” together in the evenings, thinking they may be up to “no good.” Maybe we need to rethink that, and devise welcoming places where young as well as older learners can hang out and find constructive outlets for their energies and creativity.