Teachers today are beginning to incorporate technology into their lesson plans as it serves as a tool of visual and auditory learning. It also helps them to connect with their students at a level that they enjoy and understand with ease. However, technology is not just for lesson plans and can be used to help both parents and students stay on schedule, organize work, and study.

Middle school students and older are known as GenM, the multitasking generation, because they constantly use technology to text friends, listen to music, watch videos online, use Facebook and Twitter, use a GPS and more. Because of today’s current technological stand point, students are doing their homework assignments online, reading their textbooks on their portable devices, and taking notes on their tablets or computers. While we still use pen and paper for many of our day to day tasks, much of what we do is going online.

Here are a few suggestions of applications for your portable device or computer that both teachers and busy families are using:

1. Cozi, a free app and website that help to manage the entire family’s busy schedule. Parents and their children can access the same calendar and place reminders on the calendar that would be automatically sent to your phone. Never miss a doctor’s appointment or ballet recital again with this application.
2. Your child is in the middle of writing a school report that is due tomorrow, and the power in your house goes out. What can be done? The answer is simple; access cloud storage systems such as: Dropbox, Skydrive or Google Drive. Cloud storage makes student’s work accessible through any device at any moment. If your child goes to the library, a café with wifi, or a friend’s house the child would just sign onto the cloud storage system and be able to continue working and not be stumped by the power outage or family vacation.
3. Quizlet, a website that allows users to create flashcards, take practice tests and play games while learning vocabulary or phrases, is already a top choice for guidance counselors and teachers.
4. Depending on which company your child gets textbooks from, there’s a good chance you can download their application and have the digital version on your portable device. This way, no one has to break their back carrying textbooks to and from school.

For more suggestions, search through your device’s appstore with keywords such as: calendar, scheduler, storage, flashcards, dictionary etc.

~Stephanie Elko, intern at Edwards Educational Services, Inc.

Steve’s Picks:

George Friedman “The Next 100 Years”
Malcolm Gladwell “Outliers”
Doris Goodwin-Kearns “Team of Rivals”
John Wooden and Steve Jamison “John Wooden on Leadership”

Michelle’s Picks:

Sheryl Sandberg “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”
Amor Towels “Rules of Civility”
Malcolm Gladwell “What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures”
Claire Messud “The Emperor’s Children”

Beck’s Pick:

Cheryl Spaulding “Motivation in the Classroom”

Happy Reading!! Let us know if you enjoyed any of our selections!

If you want to hire extraordinary people, you must get away from ordinary practices!

Recently I worked with a school division that needed to fill some key positions. As we looked for the right people, we put our minds together and decided that if we want the right people for these key jobs, we had to take a very different approach to get them in.

We brainstormed about what we needed at each site. We developed some key components of what we were looking for. We began to think of people that we had worked with or had met over the years through conferences, webinars, or just people from our past. What began as a brainstorming activity turned out to be quite a unique experience. We decided that time, procedures, and past practices were not important. We also made the decision that if we followed the normal school of thought, we would get what we always got. Born out of this thinking were three credible leaders who had not only not applied, but weren’t even aware of the openings.

Next we called them and asked them if they were interested in talking about their future. Once they agreed to a meeting, we began to engage in some conversation about what their goals and aspirations were. We talked about some opportunities we had in our division. As we shared these openings, each of them began to realize that what we were describing was a perfect match to their abilities and their aspirations.

Needless to say, within two weeks we had filled three key positions and it was not done by ordinary or traditional means! Today, all three are leaders in their prospective schools or departments. In addition, it has caused the division leaders to think differently about ways to get the right people and streamline the process.

The moral of this story is, ‘Don’t Wait For The Right One, Go For The Right One!’

Michael W. Evans Sr.

AlexandriaNews – T. C. Grads Bring Hope To School Children In Kenya.

~Jeff Harvey

ESTABLISH, FOCUS, & COHERENCE

When creating a collaborative school culture, it is vital to involve teachers in decisions concerning the school’s mission, vision, and goals. During the previous year, the collaborative teams were mostly led by me or our school improvement specialist. This resulted in the teams completing the work, but without an intrinsic dedication to collaboratively dissecting student data and seeking solutions to facilitate student achievement. This year, I have encouraged my teacher leaders to guide the work of their collaborative teams and build structures for mutual accountability, relationship building, and instructional decision- making through best practices, analysis of student data, evidence of teacher and student learning, and a guided focus on student learning. These practices have helped us turn some of those who were new to the system into believers in our core values and alleviate the daily struggles of those who were burned out or overwhelmed.

However, the most significant impact the leadership team has had is on those teachers who were actively resistant to the changes. They have been encouraged to try new strategies and collaborate with others in creating common assessments and aligning pacing guides thanks to a culture of data-based decision making and accountability for student success.

MAXIMIZE CAPACITY

In today’s world, strong leaders cannot be autocratic. Effective leaders establish cultures where all stakeholders are personally invested in the success of the school, creating a legacy of their leadership by maximizing the capacity of teachers to continue school improvement processes even after these leaders are gone.

Our teachers use data collected from culture and climate surveys, conduct instructional practice walk- throughs, and plan professional development sessions based on the learning needs of teachers and students.

A period of time in the schedule is devoted to the leadership team, with the teacher leaders working with the novice teachers, discussing goals and progress, and working with other teachers to support personalized learning for students. Initially, the principals
set the agenda and led the work for leadership team and collaborative team meetings, developed meeting protocols and behavior expectations, and relied on teacher leaders to be in supportive roles rather than in leadership roles. Now, teacher leaders
take on leadership roles within the team meetings in terms of following protocols, providing data and student work samples for discussion, and peer support within the school improvement initiatives. Thus, teachers feel more invested in the work outlined by
their peers rather than
passively following the administrative directives.

We are growing not only as individual professionals but also as a system. Last year’s achievement data reflected an average 10% growth in student scores, which is a tremendous accomplishment.

Ingrida Barker (ingridabarker@gmail.com) is supervisor of curriculum and instruction at River View High School in Bradshaw, WV. 

History is said to repeat itself and the recent horrifying events at Sandy Hook Elementary have proven that to be true. America has mourned after each of these tragic events, but we have only made meager attempts to address root causes after Columbine. Or after Virginia Tech. Or after Aurora. The list continues, although I truly wish it didn’t. In these cases, school children were then taught emergency procedures, metal detectors might have been stationed at the school entrance or perhaps the presence of police on site temporarily increased. These practices are not likely to stop a individual who truly is an “army of one” with an arsenal of automatic weapons and no concern for his own life. So here we are.

I find it disheartening that we as a nation seem to have to completely hit rock bottom before we can have an honest and open discussion about assault weapons and mental illness.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Friday that ‘today is not the day’ to discuss gun laws.  In a sense, he’s very right. The time should have been after the first tragedy. But at this point, it’s not about finding something or someone to blame. It’s now about how each one of us can now become part of the solution.

One in four Americans struggles with a diagnosable mental illness and often, because we don’t talk about these issues, they struggle alone. Events like the shooting at Sandy Hook have previously continued to stigmatize those suffering with mental illness. I am writing this in part to remind you that we are ALL in this together. Our schools, communities, parents, and teachers need to work together to ensure that at-risk children receive the care they deserve. And that now, the survivors receive the counseling they will surely need.

I am an American citizen who don’t have all the answers, but collectively we can find the answers and make all of our public spaces safe and secure. As President Obama stated in his address to the nation after the attack, ‘Surely, we can do better than this.’ We honestly can’t afford not to. The choice is ours.

Each student has also been assigned a mentor. The mentors meet with the students, parents, counselors, teachers, and administrators. The students are given additional support through tutoring, additional phone calls, texting, and one of the schools, Midland Trails, has even set up an internet site for chatting. These schools are using Facebook, Twitter, and Edmodo too to find students who may have left school. Hopefully, using all the technology and knowledge we currently have access to, the dropout rate can be significantly reduced in upcoming years.

Mike Evans

CEO Dr. Steve Edwards is attending the Indiana Youth Institute’s Because Kids Count Conference, this December 4^th and 5th in Indianapolis. This conference will bring together a wide range of professionals who work with the youth to collaborate and share best practices. Dr. Edwards is leading a workshop focused on a problem-based learning approach to create opportunities for skill development. Our participation in conferences like these is essential in empowering the youth to become effective, flexible problem-solvers. As quoted in Dr. Edwards’ presentation, from the book When Helping Hurts, “Don’t do for other what they can do for themselves.” We in the Edwards Ed team believe that leadership development through problem-based learning helps young minds reach their full potential and are eager for Dr. Edwards to share this effective strategy in Indianapolis.