When I was still in the classroom, I wanted to be the best teacher I could be. I spent a lot of time reading about new strategies and new philosophies, developing units, lessons, and activities based on this research.
This morning a family member, who is also a teacher, shared on Facebook an excerpt from a book by Perille Ripp that was posted on Mind/Shift a few years ago. The article focused on the author’s desire to be a better teacher and how that meant changing how she did things. I haven’t read the book, but I understood the desire expressed by Ripp to do the best job possible for my students.
As a central office administrator, I feel the same urgency to do what is best for students, but now instead of concentrating on creating better units, lessons, and activities for a classroom, I research and share best practices for improving and innovating schools and districts.
Reading this article just a week after my post about personalized learning felt serendipitous. I believe that personalized learning is a way that districts, schools, and teachers can make changes in education that will improve the school day experience for students.
As a teacher, if my strategy or lesson was not providing me and my students with the results that we sought, then I wanted to do something differently. We all know the cliché about insanity – doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. If I wanted my results to be different, then I had to change something.
The Central Office Perspective
Being in the central office is no different, except that our perspective has widened. No longer are we focused on one class of students. Let’s think about how we are running our departments and programs, how we are supporting schools. Are we getting the results we want? If yes, great. If that is the case, we need to keep on, keepin’ on.
If, however, we are not getting the results we want, we must ask ourselves, are we willing to change? Are we willing to do what we ask our principals and teachers to do?
If we need different results for our teachers, our schools, our programs, the entire district, then we must be willing to change what we are doing. If we are asking that our teachers implement blended learning, then are we willing to learn new technology? Incorporate new applications into our daily work? Model new programs?
For the sake of our students, I sure hope so.
Change is easy
Sometimes, I find the change easy. I support our district’s move to Google for Education by modeling the use of Google apps during my work. If I need to survey teachers, I use Google Forms. If I develop a district calendar, I share it with everyone in the district through Google’s calendar. I use shared folders in Google Drive for collaborative projects.
Change is hard
Sometimes, though, implementing the change is not so easy. Twitter is a good example. I know that many educators use Twitter to share information, contribute to Twitter chats, and participate in professional development. I need a presence there. But, this social media platform is not a natural fit for me. It is not as intuitive as other platforms.
I know I have to up my Twitter game, so I work on it. I share my blog posts via the platform. I tweet when at professional conferences, workshops, and meetings. I re-tweet interesting education articles. I set up a tweetdeck to help me follow specific conversations.
I don’t like it, but I know it is because I don’t have the familiarity with it that I need. Yet. One day I will be comfortable with it.
Modeling change
Meanwhile, I model the struggle that often comes with change. And maybe, maybe my struggle will help someone else begin a change or help someone to hang in there when making a change that they believe is best for their students.
As a central office administrator, how do you support principals and teachers when the district requires a shift or change? What are some of the areas where you have struggled with change? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
Oh yeah. You can follow me on Twitter @BevPayne05.
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