#8 How can you use blogging to communicate with school stakeholders?

Publicly posted information that is open to the public eye. So blogging could be the answer to community , school board, students , parents and teachers lack of communication with the school faculty and staff. The good public relations is a must in todays society. So the blog could be the answer, it also could be the open door for school board members to get the true information instead of the cover page and no content. I believe that a blog would in our community could assist in our need to build our school pride back up. There is many great things that I as a administrator will use in the world of blogging to assist in producing a successful learning environment.

#7 What are the concerns of blogs and blogging in education?

The battle continues on and on , we will never be ever to filter it all. Blogging is very hard to monitor because you have to control the site 24 hours a day. We could also have a Public Relations nightmare. If the parents are in a negative attitude it will take 10 positives to make-up the one negative. Many times parents are now not as strict on the language uses , so what we see as professionals as appropriate or not is not the same value that all parents are teaching. I also believe that as blogging can be a advantage we also have students and parents that are at a disadvantage of no technology access, so we would have another battle to take on.

#6 What is the educational value of blogs and blogging to the 21st century learner?

There are endless possibilities to blogging and blogs, it open many doors to communication. Communication is one of our shortcomings as principals that you only see teachers in passing and students if they are trouble makers. I believe blogs would allow for teacher input in ideas. Blogging would also allow for a 24 hour open format for faulty meetings. I believe also if you could have a open blog for parents this would open allow for more of open door policy in today's society. Many parents don't have the time to come to into the school during school hours but this would allow a open line of communication that is open all the time. The other form that I think would be a great resource to promote programs within the school is to have all programs have their own blogs, this would allow for students to visit these to view and determine if those are the things they are interested in. The best tool for everyone is the readily available dates that are up to date. This process would be much more user friendly than maintaing a website.

#5 What did you learn from this course... about yourself, your technology and leadership skills, and your attitudes?

The Instructional Leadership course has renewed my love for technology. I believe that I was in the rut of lecture, book work, and then test in my classroom. With this course , I am looking at Jan 5th beginning a class blog and a FFA chapter blog. I believe these will open the lines of communication to ensure that parents and students are informed of events , assignments and the daily procedures. Prior to the course , I thought I was a advanced computer person , that was incorrect. I was lacking many of the skills that this course gave. These skills will be very useful in being a principal , blogs, wiki's general technology. I also believe having the knowledge of the acceptable use policy and know why we have it is a great asset.

POST #4 Were you successful in carrying out the course assignments?? If not, what prevented or discouraged you??

Assignments were a little more challenging than the previous courses I have taken so it took a little adjustment to get my time scheduled out. Also the discussion challenge of approx. 24 post a week was a true assignment that forced me to really read the articles. I really enjoy the post and reflection of the quotes. There was some great things coming out of schools and many that I would like to implement in my district. I did have to overcome the time restraints of my job and have to use the grace period. I believe the grace period was a true gift this five weeks. I have never used the grace period in previous class because I felt that was something that my students use all to much. Also the week 4 assignment was a little vague which cause some delay in determining how I would approach the assignment. I believe to place example or maybe a little clarification early in the week would allow a through Action Plan.

POST #3 What outcomes did you not achieve?? What prevented you from achieving them??

I learned so much in this class it is hard to find a outcome that was not met. I believe that mean of the things we addressed were just touched on and not in depth. I believe that I would have benefited on more ways to implement wiki's and blog's on campus. Also as a administrator so things are very time consuming which is what is very precious , I feel a topic area of time management with Technology as the key tool would be a great objective. I think many of these things could have been achieved with more time in class. Also feel like I have only skimmed the area of legal aspects of technology in school district. Once again I think more time on the subject could have accomplished this area.

#2 To the extent that you achieved the outcomes, are they still relevant to the work that you do in your school? Why or why not?

The information that I learned in this course is definitely relevant to what I do as an educator. It is important that all educators understand how technology can help them teach more efficiently. As an administrator I need to be aware of these issues and help my teachers understand. I also need to know about the Long Range Plan for Technology and STaR Charts. Furthermore, I now realize that better staff development is needed in the area of technology. Teachers are more willing to implement technology if they know how to use it and incorporate it into the classroom. On-going training in technology is essential. As an administrator it is also important that I model the use of technology as well as make sure technology policies are in place. I must also communicate with parents and the community about technology, the use of technology, and safety issues involving technology use.