#BestEdTech Award Nominations

The Lancaster City School District is the Place to Be Innovative

I feel honored to have been nominated by several people in my district to receive #BestEdTech awards at the State of Ohio Educational Technology Conference in Columbus, Ohio Jan. 27-29, 2013.  I have been nominated as the Ed Leader Innovator and as the Technology Coordinator Innovator.  It means a lot to have the support of your organization especially in the field of educational technology.  As educational technologists we need to be supported as we embark upon change programs so we feel free to take calculated risks.  The Lancaster City School District has fostered a culture which enables risk taking and which seeks to constantly improve the education of each child through innovation and creativity.  This is why I enjoy working her so much.  The board of education, administrators, teachers, support staff, students, and parents support our efforts to provide a quality education to our students and values the impact technology makes upon student learning.  

We take technology innovation seriously here at Lancaster.  You can view more things we do to foster innovation at this link from our district website.

Some samples include:

Technology Innovation Grants

Innovative Technology Teacher of the Year

TechToberFest

Lancaster also received several other nominations for #BestEdTech awards.  Lancaster High School is a finalist for the best 1:1 program in the state of Ohio.  The staff at LHS has done a phenomenal job at incorporating iPads into student learning with several staff members engaging students through Project-Based Learning (PBL).  Matt Gillispie at LHS has been nominated as a Teacher Innovator.  He has been instrumental in leading the building toward the 1:1 program.  You can view a video of Matt in action at this link.  Tanya Clark-Cupp has been nominated as the Teacher Innovator as well.  This last year Tanya was named the Innovative Technology Teacher of the Year for the Lancaster City School District.  

Below is some information about the #BestEdTech Awards including the voting link.  Please consider voting for the Lancaster 1:1 program and staff for these awards.  

Voting Link

The nominations are in for the first-ever #BestEdTech Awards! All nominations were received from peers and now voting is open to help make these nominees the winner!

#OETC14 will recognize the work of schools, colleges, programs, teachers, administrators and tech coordinators from around the state through the #BestEdTech Awards. The winners will be recognized on our social media channels and the winners/representatives will receive a free day conference registration to be recognized at #OETC14 in January 2014. These awards are nominated by the Ohio education community for Ohio programs/people only, but voting will be available to anyone on our social media channels!

All nominations have been posted as they were written and submitted to us.

Voting Window: Dec. 16-Jan. 10
Winners Announced: Jan. 15

Spread the word on your social media channels and share the link! You can vote as many times as you wish!

Square Peg in a Round Hole

I have been debating with myself for the last month whether I should write this blog post or not. Obviously, I have now decided to write it.  I want to preface this post by stating that this post is based on my observations and experiences both as an educator and, more directly, as the parent of special needs children.  This post is not intended to take issue with the school district I work in, the district my children attend, or any one individual.  This post is intended to provoke thought, discussion, and hopefully action.  

Now that I have some disclaimers let me start with the idiom of placing a "square peg in a round hole." Wikipedia (I don't like to cite them but they are easy) states that this idiomatic expression describes the unusual individualist who could not fit into a niche of his or society.  I am using this expression to illustrate my experiences working with parents of special needs students, including my own experiences.

As many of you are aware, I work for a great school district and recently have been involved in leading a 1:1 iPad program for all high school students.  During the first two weeks of August this year, we held parent information meetings to tell our parents and students about the program before the school year started.  We also used this time to have the students set up their iPads so they would have them ready for the first day of school.  We made these meetings mandatory for parents and students and the turnout was tremendous.  Our auditorium and cafeterias were packed with parents and students eager to hear about the program.  The meetings were successful, after we worked out some technical bugs, and we had most of our students ready to go for the first day of school.

Now for the nitty gritty portion of this post.  Each evening, I was approached by at least one parent and asked if his or her student would be receiving an iPad.  At first I was surprised that I would be asked this question.  I asked the first parent why he would ask that question.  Of course we are giving each student an iPad.  The first parent told me that his student was in the MH (multiple handicapped) classroom and therefore assumed that his student would be excluded from the program.  I assured him that ALL students get an iPad and that we would help him and his student use it in whatever means possible to help his student learn  This first parent was surprised, maybe shocked, that his student would be included in the program.  Each succeeding night I encountered another parent or two who asked me the same question.  It struck me that these parents have become so accustomed to having their children excluded from the same experiences and learning activities as other children that they had difficulty believing their children would be included in a massive project like this. 

After talking with these parents it also struck me how my special needs child has been excluded from educational activities.  I first thought back to pre-school.  Private preschools would not consider her because of her disability.  We had taken our older daughter through this preschool and it was excellent. This excellent preschool would not take our square peg because she would not fit in the round hole as expected.  I then thought about my daughter and when she started special needs Kindergarten.  The school she was attended approached us before school started and stated that the students in the special program would not be attending school on for three days so the teachers could go to an inservice.  The other students would all be in session.  The school was surprised that I would object to this and that I pointed them in the direction of some laws which clearly stated that this would be in violation of the law.  In the end, the students in the program were in attendance that day with a substitute teacher and the classroom educational assistants.  

There are other examples I could cite but I think you get the point.  I bring all this up because we, as educators, need to look at our services differently.  I know we don't like to think of ourselves as working in a customer service industry but we better change that viewpoint.  In the era of school choice, it is imperative that we serve our customers (students and parents) as we would like to be served.  Or as the Golden Rule (Wikipedia strikes again) says "treat others as you would like to be treated."  If you, or your child were a square peg how would you feel if the school tried to fit him or her into a round hole?  More importantly, how would you feel if your child were not accepted into a good school or excluded from a program because of his or her disability?  How would you like to be treated?

This is just food for thought because I believe that the schools which do not adopt a customer service model will slowly lose students, causing a revenue shortage, leading to fewer programs, and eventually total failure.  I am glad my district has now adopted customer service as a focus area and has started the process of including all students.  In the end, student success equals our success.  Our success equals societal success.   If we fail to build quality customer relationships we will fail our students.

Video Overview of LHS 1:1 iPad Program

Lancaster High School is embarking on a 1:1 iPad program for August of 2013.  The school has been preparing for this massive project for over a year now.  Last May we provided every teacher at LHS with an iPad and some basic training.  Throughout this school year we have provided additional training from our own staff as well as Apple Professional Development.  Our focus has been on the pedagogy of teaching in a 1:1 environment with an emphasis on Project-Based Learning.  We have been training our staff and supporting them as they have moved through the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) progression of technology integration. (New SAMR Pedagogy Wheel from Edudemic) Our most recent survey of staff indicates that more than 80% of them consider themselves as moderately or completely prepared for the implementation the 1:1 iPad program.  Here is our first video highlighting bullet points of the program geared mostly toward parents.

Leading by Learning with Teachers

Throughout my 13 years of educational technology leadership I have typically been out in front of leading change.  I have recently embraced a new role for my myself.  I am now learning alongside my teachers.

What am I talking about?  Let me explain.  For the past twenty years I have been a Windows PC user.  I have deployed, provided training, planned curriculum, purchased software, and installed networks to take advantage of Windows PC's.  Things are in the midst of change for my district...and me.  Two years ago our high school was awarded the Transforming Teaching and Learning Grant which provided professional development for Project-Based Learning and 5 iPad carts.  We chose the iPad because it was more established than android rivals and had the Volume Apps Purchasing Program.  A bonus was the Apple Professional Development Services that could be used to strengthen our teachers.  More on that in a moment.  Once the other teachers in the building started learning how to use the iPad carts in the classroom they demanded more.  The high school and I partnered on a 6th cart of iPads and the demand soared higher.  At this point, we decided the high school staff was ready for a 1:1 implementation.  We decided to give it a calendar year to train the teachers and get them ready for the instructional shift.  We have now completed the year long professional development and are ready to deploy in the fall of 2013.

This brings me to my main point.  The last time I used a Mac computer to any extent was when I was in college.  I graduated from the University of Akron in 1993.  Since then I have been a Windows PC user and I am quite proficient with them.  This change in my district to iPads has thus resulted in a need for Macintosh computers so teachers can produce iBooks.  To help train our teachers on using iPads for instruction and to facilitate the implementation of IBooks author, we have provided 30 Macs and have purchased PD from Apple.  It was during these PD sessions that I discovered I had a deficiency.  I found myself not able to answer every questions teachers would ask during the sessions.  I found myself meandering my way to the answers with them.  I had not felt so lost in a long time (educational technology speaking, on a personal level my wife has to help me find things in the house because I can never find them).  I found that many of the teachers knew a lot more than me and they were showing me tips and tricks.  I contemplated my future and decided to purchase myself a mac book   I have been using, not exclusively though, to accomplish basic everyday tasks.  A lot of times I still migrate back to my Windows PC for comfort.  Using a Mac on an almost daily basis has helped me to learn along with the teachers.  I am no Mac expert at this point, but at least I know how to use one now.

As I reflect upon the process we have undergone in recent months, I realize that one of the most important things we can do in educational technology leadership is to empower our teachers to use technologies in ways outside from our own comfort zones.  These teachers are now using technology to design learning opportunities for students they otherwise would not have access to.  It is important that we allow teachers to stretch our own limits so we can do what is best for the students.

Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices PD Day - TechToberfest

Mark your calendar for October 10, 2013.   Join us to share best practices in integrating technology with teaching and learning.  Most importantly, it is FREE to all who register to attend.  This teacher in-service day, affectionately known as TechToberfest, will be a great way for our teachers to share with one another. We are not stopping there, however.  In addition, we are expanding our knowledge by inviting other educators to come and share their best practices with us.  Together, we can learn from one another.  To take it to yet another level, local businesses will be invited to the teacher in-service through the Lancaster-Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce.  We believe this will create a synergy in the community around our integrated uses of technology and that local businesses should be aware of the skills our graduates possess upon graduation.  

Please consider presenting a session or two at our TechToberfest.  There are so many teachers around Ohio and elsewhere who are using technology in innovative ways to impact student learning.  We are very interested in learning from you and sharing our best with you.  We are accepting proposals until July 31, 2013.  The schedule will then be created in August and registrations will open in September.  Sessions about iPads, Google, response systems, Marzano strategies, RTI, special education, arts, Project-Based Learning, 21st Century Skills and any other cool uses of technology in education are encouraged.

The Lancaster City School District has placed an emphasis on using technology in innovative ways to improve student learning.  Our 2012-2015 Technology Plan laid the foundation for our efforts. 

Goal 1 - Engage students in learning activities that promote 21st Century Skills - Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Collaboration and Communication, Creativity, and Innovation.  

Strategy 1 - Establish a one-to-one student to computer (tablet) ratio at the high school during the 2013-2014 school year.

To accomplish this first strategy, we provided every high school teacher, administrator, and counselor with an iPad in May of 2012.  The teachers were provided with an initial training and then used them at home for the summer.  Upon their return the engaged in year-long professional development activities in their TBT's, during late starts, and from Apple Education.  We were very fortunate to have received the Transforming Teaching and Learning Grant in May 2011.  This grant provided high-quality professional development to four teachers and one administrator in the high school and enabled them to purchase 5 iPad carts.  This group of teachers and administrator (Kelli Marvin, Matt Gillispie, Ashlin Henderson, Denise Rooker, and Scott Matchett) were extremely successful and sparked an interest in the rest of the high school staff.  The demand from the high school staff was clear enough by May 2012 for the district to approve the 1:1 project.

The board of education, superintendent, treasurer, principals, teachers, students, and parents are all very supportive of this project.  The support they have demonstrated has enabled this program to move from conception to reality.

We now have a robust, Meraki wireless network, Apple TV or reflector in every room, and just purchased 1740 iPads and Otterbox cases for deployment to students in August.

Goal 3 - The district will promote new uses of technology to foster student creativity and innovation.

Strategy 1 - Creativity and Innovation Technology Grants

Strategy 2 - Innovative Technology Teachers of the Year Award

To accomplish Strategy 1, we set aside $100,000 from district technology funds to provide mini-grants to teachers who wrote proposals to a committee identifying how they planned to use technology in innovative ways to affect student learning.  The maximum grant award per proposal is $10,000.  The committee received 29 grant applications and awarded 16 of them for a total of over $99,000.  These grants have been highly successful in enabling teachers to use technology in new ways.  

To accomplish Strategy 2, we accepted nominations for the an elementary and secondary innovative technology teacher awards.  The Innovative Technology Grant Committee recently selected two deserving winners from an impressive list of nominees.  Our elementary award has been given to Tanya Clark-Cupp from Medill Elementary.  The secondary award has been given to Jacqueline Yahn from General Sherman Junior High.  These two teachers will each receive $1000 classroom technology grants.  It is important to note that these two teachers, and many others, have been sparking innovation in the classroom instruction in our schools.  

As you can see we take innovation seriously in Lancaster City Schools.  Please come and share in the learning on October 10, 2013.  If you do come please realize that the Fairfield County Fair is in session this day and traffic can be problematic.  

If you have questions or comments about TechToberfest, please contact me at 740.687.7300, k_snyder@lancaster.k12.oh.us, or on Twitter @MrKevinSnyder.

Maintaining the Momentum in Second-Order Change

In my previous post I discussed the book "District Leadership that Works:  Striking the Right Balance" by Robert J. Marzano and Timothy Waters (2009).  This post will be about how districts enacting second-order change can maintain the momentum and not lose sight of the vision.  As we can all imagine, second-order change is tough, and as the saying goes "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."  This also mirrors the advice Marzano and Waters provide to district leadership beginning on page 109.  

In the section titled "Some Advice for District Leaders", the writers provide the following corollary story:

A well-accepted principle taught to Top Gun Navy fighter pilots is that the safest move when encountering an enemy during air-to-air combat is to "turn into the threat" (Driscoll, 2005).  If a fighter pilot's first move is to turn away from an oncoming enemy plane, he or she lose sight of the situation and forfeits the ability to make necessary corrections in behavior.  The same principle seems to apply to district leaders when faced with "threats" regarding their second-order change initiatives.  Turning into the threat means being proactive regarding the change process. 

Marzano and Waters make the following recommendations for proactive district leadership regarding the change process.  I will relate it to the 1:1 iPad initiative my district is undertaking.

Recommendation #1:  Know the Implications of Your Initiatives

The implications of going 1:1 in a school are vast.  We have to consider the effects on curriculum, teaching strategies, learning styles, logistics of the school day, assessment, funding, parents, students, administrators, and of course teachers.  In our case we have had the great pleasure to learn from some districts who have already taken on this change.  We have visited Defiance High School in Ohio and New Lexington High School in Ohio.  I have also engaged in many twitter chat sessions on #1to1techat and exchanged emails and phone conversations with district leaders around the country.  This is where I believe our 1 year phase in process has helped us the most.  We have been able to fully discuss the implications and have been adjusting policies and procedures accordingly.  

Recommendation #2:  Maintain a United Front

This is where the rubber meets the road in district leadership.  This takes me back to "when the going gets tough, the tough get going."  We, as district leaders, must not be afraid to adjust on the fly and privately recognize any problems with the change as they happen.  It is then critical that we engage all appropriate stakeholders and make changes as we need.  Most vital though, is that we stay true to our vision and support the process no matter how hard it gets.  

Recommendation #3:  Keep the Big Ideas in the Forefront

Changing our instructional, curricular, assessment, and logistics can be a daunting task.  We, as district leaders, must make sure that we keep emphasizing with all stakeholders the ideas, theories, and best practices involved in impacting student learning.  Again, we are fortunate that we have taken a 1 year phase in process for our 1:1 implementation.  I believe that when we launch in August 2013 our teachers and administrators will be properly prepared for the most part.  We may experience some backlash from parents and students as we are conducting school differently than has been done in the past.  We must make sure that we continue to communicate with our parents and students about these best practices so they understand how it will benefit all students and better prepare them to be college and career ready upon graduation.

Recommendation #4:  Use What is Known about Acceptance of New Ideas

On page 110, Marzano and Waters reference work by Everett Rogers (Diffusion of Innovations, 2003).  Rogers documented through research how to create an atmosphere in which radical ideas or innovations are adopted.  In his research, Rogers concludes that individuals are more likely to adopt an innovation or accept a new idea when they see in them the following four attributes:

1.  Relative advantage - individuals need to understand how and why new ideas or innovations are better for them personally or for the people they care most about.  In this case, our teachers are the ones who had to buy in early on this change and they did.  Our teachers recognized before we began our 1:1 initiative that this was what was best for students and how it would have a positive on impact on instruction and student learning.  Most parents and students have been voicing positive comments at this point.  It is important that we continue to communicate with them as we implement the change.

2.  Compatibility - stakeholders are more likely to adopt new ideas or innovations when they are viewed as compatible with personal values and prior experience.  In this case, again, our amazing teachers value technology and its impact on student learning.  Our 1 year phase in implementation process has enabled our teachers to further refine their instructional practices to take them to higher level.  We have some teachers who are still apprehensive but the 1 year process has helped to bring them along.  We will not start on day one in August with 100% of our teachers ready for this change and that is OK.  What is important is that we continue to support them when they need it and encourage them to implement as they are ready.

3.  Trialability - pilot testing new ideas or innovations in safe low-stakes settings will increase the rate of their adoption.  In the case of Lancaster High School, our pilot group was formed when we applied for and received the Transforming Teaching and Learning Grant in May 2011.  This group was then trained in Project-Based Learning and embarked upon using iPads in their classrooms.  This group and their expertise set the stage for the rest of the building to see the success and desire to implement on a mass scale.

4.  Evidence - people are more likely to adopt an idea or innovation when the idea is associated with evidence that it works.  Again, our pilot group of teachers from the Transforming Teaching and Learning grant provided the rest of our high school staff with the evidence they needed to accept the 1:1 program.

Recommendation #5:  Communicate with "Sticky Messages"

On page 111, Marzano and Waters reference the book "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (2002).  In the book, Gladwell introduces the concept of "sticky messages".  His premise is the idea that ideas or innovations "catch on" because there is something about them that sticks with people.  The "sticky message" in our case was fostered by our pilot group of teachers and the subsequent inclusion of the goal to establish a 1:1 program from our district written in Technology Plan in May 2012.  The first goal and strategy in the plan, which was unanimously approved by the board of education reads as follows:


Goal 1 – Engage students in learning activities that promote 21st Century Skills –
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Collaboration and Communication, Creativity, and 
Innovation

Strategy 1 - Establish a one-to-one student to computer (tablet) ratio at the high school 
during the 2013-2014 school year.

As we embark upon full implementation of the 1:1 program in August 2013 and beyond we, as district leaders, must continue to communicate the simple messages that are the staple of this change initiative. We must use these "sticky messages" to continue to reinforce the change to all our stakeholders.


Recommendation #6:  Manage Personal Transitions

On page 112, Marzano and Waters reference a book by W. Bridges (1980) titled "Transitions:  Making sense of life's changes".  Bridges makes a distinction between change and transitions.  Simply put, change is external and transition is internal.  In our case, this change is is a gain for our students.  However, it is a transition for our teachers and for some teachers they are losing some of their tried and true teaching practices.  One key to managing the process of personal transition is for leaders to treat the experience the same way they would the process of grieving.  When leaders recognize that for some individuals in the district, second-order change represents significant personal loss (loss of expertise, loss of confidence, loss of relationships, and loss of status), they will respond as they would following the loss of loved ones.  They will organize and schedule events intended to honor the past:  the people and initiatives that helped move the organization forward.  It is important as leaders to allow our teachers to go through the grieving process, acknowledge the past success and the people involved, and allow time for the teachers to mourn the past. 

Bridges (1980) refers to this period of mourning as the "neutral zone."  The neutral zone is a period of time when people are letting go of the past, accepting what has ended and what has started, assimilating new knowledge and skills, and building confidence in themselves and in the future.

We may shorten the period of time our teachers spend in the neutral zone through what Bridges refers to as the four P's to a new beginning:

• Purpose - our teachers need to know why our school has changed and why it is necessary (Student Learning, College and Career Readiness)
• Picture - people need a vision or picture of what the future will look like as a result of the change (Pilot teachers, Technology Plan)
• Plan - people need to know the plans for implementing the changes (our Technology Plan)
• Part - people need to know what part they can and will be asked to play in the future (Teacher Based Teams)

In conclusion I want to emphasize the importance of district leadership stability in the change process.  In our case, the change was started by our pilot group of teachers.  Once they experienced success and other teachers recognized the impact, they demanded more technology to implement in their classrooms.  The demand created a need for the district to put a plan of action together to build upon the momentum and seize the moment.  The plan was approved by the board of education and put into place.  Board approval of the plan is vital to the long-term success of the change because district leadership changes.  Continuity in district leadership can make or break second-order change.  In our case, our superintendent changed immediately after the passage of the Technology Plan in the summer of 2012.  We were fortunate that the new superintendent came from within the district and new the support the board of education had for the program.