Island Life

Tropical Paradise
I want to talk about island life for a moment and full disclosure, I have never lived on a remote island, so no offense to those who have. Living on a remote tropical island really sounds good though, at least for a short amount of time, but long-term, being on an island can become isolating. Not interacting with others, sharing, and working alongside peers that challenge you, will keep us from growing as individuals and we can become stale.

Stay Fresh
It is easy to become isolated on internal islands within our own technology departments. With the grind that comes with answering help desk tickets and trying to maintain normal daily responsibilities while pushing ahead with additional projects, communication between our peers becomes increasingly more difficult. If we layer on top of that the rapid pace that technology changes and the amount of content generated on a daily basis, the island starts feeling like a safe place to be. We all know however that isolation will not help us solve the problems in front of us, keep us fresh with new ideas, and increase collaboration amongst our peers to better serve our students and staff. 
 

PLN Strong
The concept of a professional learning network has been around for quite some time now and still, in my opinion, the most effective way to connect with peers. The power of a PLN is the informal manner that a person can participate, share content as well as consume, and take advantage of a global community. Having a staff that has strong PLN's will benefit our internal technology teams that often struggle with getting out and allows that isolated island feeling to creep in. Although the PLN and PLC terminology is synonymous with teachers and administrators, there is a vast community of technology-related professionals waiting to connect. A few places to connect with other technology-related professionals.

• Twitter: Search hashtags, ie. #itdirector, #networkadministrator, #datasecurity, #programmer
• LinkedIn
• COSN: Consortium for School Networking
• ISTE: International Society for Technology in Education
• State and local listservs 

Creative Time
I am not sure that creative time is a thing, my point here is that time is the magical piece that there is never enough of. Instead of using the old saying that you will find time for what is important, be creative with time and find different ways to get together other than the traditional meeting. A recent post on Engage, an employee engagement blog, on "7 Fun Ways to Host Team Meetings", points out a variety of simple common sense ways to make meetings not boring. Three of my favorites are mentioned below that I have added some ideas on how to make these easily happen with minimal time involved in preparation. 

• Use grouping: We know birds of a feather flock together right, so instead of having everyone count off from 1-5 then split up, which is boring, pass out different pieces of candy to everyone when they arrive and find their table of like sugary fun. Substitute anything you would like if candy isn't your thing. 
• Change the scenery: This one is very self-explanatory and why not meet at the local coffee shop, nothing makes a meeting more enjoyable than sitting in a comfortable chair with an iced coffee. One notable mention here is as the leader, you need to reassure your leadership team that this is OK. Let them know your expectations, traveling an hour across town to a nice speakeasy is probably not what counts as productive for most organizations. 
• Switch up positioning: This is similar to grouping in moving people out of their comfort zone by not having them sit in the same exact chair every week. Here is where you need to lead by example, the next time you walk into the meeting room, you start it off by sitting in a different spot every time. If we expect others to venture out of their comfort zone, we must lead by example.
  
  

Sharing is Caring

I would love to hear what others are doing with their staff for staying fresh, building their PLN's and being creative with time. Leave a comment, tag me on Twitter @jcastelhano, share the great things you are doing!

A Tech Director's Reflection V: Be Happy Now

Part V is going to be a two question wrap up of a Tech Director's Reflection. I have enjoyed sharing these questions with everyone and I hope you have enjoyed answering the same questions yourself.

Satisfaction
When you work in IT, you have to understand that constant change, end user issues, and other variables that you can't always control are part of the gig. If flexibility and understanding are not part of you, then satisfaction on the job is probably going to be hard to come by. Salary in the K-12 setting can also be a challenge for some as it isn't always comparable to a similar industry job. Talking often about other reasons that create personal satisfaction on the job are an important part of a tech director building a strong team.

What is the most important personal satisfactions connected with your position?
Knowing that what we are doing on a daily basis provides our students and teachers with an opportunity to have and provide a relevant education is very rewarding and that makes the stressful situations seem very minor.

What other job(s) does your background qualify you for?
I don’t think there is a specific job(s) that I would name to answer this question. Good leaders develop a style that work in a number of settings because they understand how to build great teams.

A Tech Director's Reflection IV: Leading From The Middle

Everyone Can Lead

I truly believe that everyone can be a leader if they choose to be. Leading up, down and across can be beneficial for an organization if encouraged and there is a way for the communication to happen. The saying is a bit old now, but bringing everyone outside of the four walls of their classrooms and cubicles is still relevant and if we can do that, strong working environments can happen.

How do you promote and encourage the use of new and emerging technology in the classroom and district?
I like to share as much as possible through my social media outlets, write using my blog, and support staff through quality service. More important than that is  providing  a way for the real experts, the classroom teachers, to have a way to collaborate with one another and share what they are doing with emerging technologies and practices. To do this we have a Technology Integration Specialist, Collaboration Coach Leads, and Collaboration Coaches in the district that work to support one another. I do my best to support them with what they need to make that happen. 

A Tech Director's Reflection III: The Journey

cc-by-2.0

Morning Coffee
The great thing about careers is that often we have no idea where our current jobs and experiences will lead us in the future. I understand  that many people may map out a career path from first job to retirement, however I would assume when that plan is reviewed while sipping coffee on the front porch enjoying the morning sunrises of retirement, that there were different roads taken along the way. Reflecting on how you have arrived at your current position is a good reminder of the hard work that you have done over the years and a nice trip down memory lane, give it a try!

Courtesy Jeff Power

What jobs and experiences have led you to your present position?
I feel all my positions in education have lead me to my current position. When I started my career as a classroom teacher, I gained knowledge of what it is like to not only guide students, but what teachers need to be successful in the classroom. As a Technology Integration Coach, I was able to work with adults and develop leadership and collaboration skills and also continue to become familiar with technology on the data center side. These real world experiences prepared me for my current position and everyday is another opportunity for a hands on learning experience for continued improvement.

A Tech Director's Reflection Part II: Why Tech Director?

Morning Commute 
We should all be able to answer in a few sentences why our jobs interest us. I have spoken to a number of people that have to ponder how to answer that question and reply with, "that's a good question." The ride to work everyday should not be dreadful, if you are looking for an excuse to exit the freeway early, it may be time to reflect on why, so you can start enjoying the commute to the office.

Why did this type of position interest you and how did you best prepare for the job?

I enjoy change, moving forward and trying new things regularly. The technology landscape is an ever changing world that continually reshapes itself and that keeps my job fresh and challenging. Preparing for an ever changing set of circumstances takes understanding, patience and the ability to have strong people around you to handle the situations that will arise. I believe I prepared by being in real world situations, working hard, and not being afraid to fail. 

How does your job interest you?

A Tech Director's Reflection: A Typical Day

Courtesy Eusebius

The Assignment I was recently asked by a teacher if I could answer a few questions for them as part of an assignment they were working on in their leadership program. I may be in the minority, but I don't mind doing it, because it is always a good opportunity to reflect. I am going to share one question a day this week with my response and challenge others to think about the same question themselves as a way to reflect.

What does a typical day consist of for you?

Being responsible for the technical well being of an entire district tends to keep most days very untypical. The ever changing landscape of technology and the challenge to keep a network and devices working as efficiently as possible makes each day a little different. What I try to do on a daily basis is be there for my staff to provide them what they need to best do their jobs supporting our network and users. Reviewing and managing technology work orders, communicating with schools and departments, managing department budget, and staying active in my PLN to keep the district current are other typical day activities. What does your typical day look like?

Collaboration or Cooperation?

One Love
I recently came across this tweet from Jenny Wright that complimented what my staff and I were talking about at our gathering earlier this week and wanted to share. A good question to ask ourselves as we sit together can come right out of this tweet, "are we building on our ideas or just working together"? Working happily with each other is important, "one love"-B.Marley, but to grow as a group we will need to build on each others ideas and strengths.

The Challenge
Remember when MTV spun off The Real World and Road Rules reality shows in to the Challenge shows? They brought the craziest of the casts together and made them compete against one another. The group dynamics made for good TV because half of them were crazy, but the point when they had to actually work together to accomplish a task, at times displayed how they pulled together multiple perspectives/personalities to make things happen. When myself or someone from my staff brings forward a thought, idea, or task that we need to get done, I rely upon their ideas and knowledge to figure out the best plan of attack. If we run into bumps in the road, a room full of smart folks is better to right the ship than just one.   

Big Difference
None of the above will happen if you do not possess confidence in yourself. Sitting and sharing with peers is often a very difficult thing to do. Insecurities can keep us from opening up and letting out those magic moments that gives the group that needed lift. Creating a safe environment where collaboration is supported by leadership can instill confidence and ease insecurities. The arrogance piece is pretty self explanatory, an arrogant perspective does not encourage collaboration. Yes, folks will sometimes call someone arrogant when they don't agree with what the other person is saying, but a truly arrogant attitude will cause divide over time and that will show. It is a fine line that should not be forgotten about. Some may say posting my own tweets here is arrogant ;-).

Puzzle Pieces

Another Hero

I am not sure what specifically prompted me to begin singing the Tina Turner song "We Don't Need Another Hero" recently. Usually that song only pops into my head when someone is trying to take a little more credit for something than they should, or when reminiscing about back in the day when my friends and I would jump garbage bags with a metal milk crate and piece of plywood on our bmx bikes. This time however, I believe I was watching a sporting event and thinking about how incredible the athletes really are. I am definitely not a fan of the over the top, look at me athletes, those types can curl up to the Tina Turner song and keep telling themselves how great they are. I admire the humble, hard working athletes who let their actions speak for themselves. Thinking about the leadership role that these athletes play in their specific discipline, lead me to draw comparison to leaders in the workplace.

Behind The Success
The humble hardworking athletes I mentioned earlier will always mention the individuals that help them maintain their regiment that allows them to perform the way they do. If you think that a top level athlete is doing it all by themselves, think again. These athletes have strength trainers, dietitians, specific discipline coaches, personal assistants, family and more that assist with putting together all the proper pieces so the athlete can achieve their goals. I find this very similar in many ways to the role that a leader plays on a daily basis. A leader is out front, answering questions, concerns, planning, influencing, basically performing like an athlete. The individuals behind the leader are all part of the puzzle and that leader will only perform well if all the pieces to the puzzle are fitting together. If an athlete or parts of their program are struggling, they must maintain communication with their support team to quickly address the issue. A leader does this much the same way in the workplace to reach the desired outcome.

On The Podium

I am not a huge Nascar fan, but I think most people have probably seen the winners circle after a Nascar race. There are so many team members you often can't find the driver amongst the group. This is a good example of how many individuals are behind that car making it to the winners circle and if just one of them has a bad day, it can keep the entire team from reaching their goal. One thing you can count on from that driver when interviewed, they will thank everyone behind their win that day. Leaders should not be different than that driver, take every opportunity you can to thank all the pieces to the puzzle that are allowing you to be successful, because you can not do it alone.

Too Big

Backlash
Isn't it just crazy how some celebrities work all their lives to become larger than life and then after they get there, things seem to fall apart? It becomes trendy to dislike them at a point, their decision making skills go out the window, they start believing in their own persona, or they relieve themselves in mop buckets and spit on people, allegedly, (sorry Beiber fans). That is when a good publicists steps in and cleans things up. If the situation is completely out of control an entire team will go to work recreating an entirely new image for the person.

Similar?
It may be a bit of a stretch to compare celebrities to companies, but I can't help but see some similarities at times between the two. They start small and many grow quickly to what seems like a larger than life company that can't do anything wrong. But give it enough time and there will be some backlash or their product lines stay the same for so long that disruptive innovation is not a priority. I am not an expert on Blackberry history, but it seems like a good example of a powerhouse that had to play catch up in a market that quickly passed them by, and it seems like their clientele focus stayed to narrow. I am still a huge fan of Blackberry and their influence on messaging and e-mail use on a mobile device, but their name isn't on my radar when thinking about a new phone.

Microsoft restructure
When Microsoft recently made news with their big restructure plan, I couldn't help but think of the larger than life celebrity that became to big and then starting making questionable decisions. Ballmer seems committed to creating something that is more collaborative and focused, but is the direction a catch up approach or create game changers one, that will put them back on top as an innovative powerhouse. If they decide to keep throwing Hail Mary passes like giving away 10,000 Surface tablets at ISTE this year, I am not sure they are going to reconnect with their audience.

Bring it around
So how does it all apply to the local IT shop? I think it is rather simple, do not become to comfortable with the service you are providing and become something larger than life. When you become complacent and feel there is nothing that you can improve upon, the backlash will begin. Continue to look for ways to innovate and ask your customers for feedback on your service and please, stay away from mop buckets.

Quick Feet

The Future
I have said before that I like change for a number of reasons. Maybe it is because I am not a big story
teller of past experiences or don't spend a lot of time day dreaming about the good old days (there is nothing wrong with that of course). I just personally enjoy looking forward to the new experience, it keeps things fresh and even though it can be a struggle at times, the world we live in waits for no one.

Traditional
Quite often I hear industrial age model, traditional, slow to change, creatures of habit, as words and phrases commonly used to describe our public school system. Having two elementary age children, I would rather hear the words collaborative, innovative, student centered, challenging, and ready to adapt for each individual student. Those environments do exist in public education and we should hold them up as models for others to see.  The question is how did they get to that place many schools and districts struggle for everyday?

An Agile Staff
When I say agile, I am using the word it in the purest sense:

-quick and well-coordinated in movement
-active: lively
-marked by an ability to think quickly: mentally acute or aware

I am not an English major, so hopefully I am using the word correctly, but I can't dismiss the notion that if a staff is agile and prepared to be quick on their feet, they probably have a mindset that is open to change. The question becomes how do we build in a comfort level with our staff that allows them to be quick on their feet, embrace change, and allow that quick thinking, lively personality to take over?

Supportive Environment
Start by building a supportive environment that fosters collaboration, risk taking, and direct answers that address concerns when they arise. If staff members have support from their leadership and peers, change can become more of an opportunity for improvement and not a scary situation that threatens the comfort of what we know.

Change is inevitable and it is necessary for moving forwarding in any school, department, or business. Embracing the concept is difficult for most because routine is something that is built into us as humans from birth, so maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise. But a supportive environment is also something that most are provided from birth and that allows kids to grow and develop and enjoy new experiences. Maybe we just need to provide that supportive environment at the shop and see what happens.

Corner Speed

Get Back On

Lesson 1: If you fall off the horse (even if it hurts), you must get back on and face the challenge that threw you. I remember when I was about 5 years old I was cruising somewhere with my dad when we both spotted a little red Honda Z50 motorcycle on the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. We both did one of those, did you see that, and next thing I know we were loading it up in the back of the truck. The next week we were out in the desert and after strapping on my new helmet with the red pinstripe on top (it was the 70's), I took off. About 100 ft. from the truck I hit a rut, handlebars twisted and down I went. I walked back to the truck, took off my helmet and told my dad to sell the motorcycle. Like any good dad, he very firmly said, "put your helmet on and get back on the bike". Since that day in the desert I have been hooked on riding motocross and a fan of the sport.

courtesy of transworld motocross

Daily Challenges
Lesson 2: Corner speed is the key to winning the race. The number of challenges IT departments face on a daily basis can be mind boggling at times and trying to predict what issues will arise is almost impossible. The key is how will you handle the challenges that present themselves, this is where corner speed comes in. The most important part of a motocross race is the riders ability to navigate corners faster than their opponents. Although the big jumps are exciting, at the professional level, all the riders are jumping everything and time is made in the corners. Day to day challenges are nothing more than corners and every single corner is a little different than the last. For a racer, the proper positioning and repetitive practice makes perfect, sounds familiar doesn't it? Every day is full of corners and lots of opportunity to practice how we navigate through them. Being consistant and using the same form each time will help keep stress levels down, let your staff become comfortable with how you will handle issues, and help increase your corner speed at the next turn.

Keep It Fun
Lesson 3: Keep it fun. Writing this post was very enjoyable to me because I could talk about something I enjoy doing outside of work and relate it to the day to day tasks at the office. The next time you are faced with a challenge at work, think about your favorite hobby and try to draw some comparison to the issue in front of you. You may be surprised at how getting back on that horse and charging the next corner could be so much fun.  

F5

Refresh

Let me preface the use of "F5" up front by saying that I am using the term in a PC kind of way. Like when you lose network connection on your PC and hit F5 to restore your desktop icons, or when your browser doesn't refresh and you hit F5 to reload the page. With that being said, I am sure that we have all hit the F5 button before at some point, and it actually is refreshing when it does its thing.

IT Stress
Stress in the IT field has been studied for some time and there is no doubt that as technology becomes more infused in our classrooms, the need to keep things up and running increases. Throw in 1:1 programs, multiple types of devices and the need for a robust network to handle the ever growing amount of internet traffic and you have an IT staff that is always on the go. It is the exciting and ever changing landscape that makes being in IT so much fun, but sometimes it is hard to shut down at the end of the day.
                                                     
Stress Management
A quick search will return 100's of ideas and even a few really strange techniques to reduce stress. Although I would pass on the extreme techniques of reducing stress, I did find a post titled, Stress Management Tips for IT Professionals. It is a few years old and the stress management tips could probably apply to any profession, but felt it was worth including their 8 tips to help reduce stress. To read the full description of each tip, visit the full article here.

1. Change perspective

2. Breathe

3. Meditate 

4. Get a life

5. Manage your time

6. Talk it out

7. Reduce uncertainty

8. Take control

Burn Out

I have always kind of thought the old rock star saying, it is better to burn out than fade away, made sense, but I don't think burning out at work is what they were talking about. With the amount of data coming at us and the need for 100% up time, the IT profession can definitely burn a person out in a short amount of time. Remember that staying on top of your game means staying healthy and there is nothing wrong with hitting that F5 button! 

Get Out!

The Best

You have the best staff ever, great relationships, hard working, solid plan, and you see the great things they do on a daily basis. So is there a need to tell the world how great they are...I say yes. Sharing your staff with your district, community, and others helps build relationships. Communicating the accomplishments and hard work that is going on everyday in my department also helps generate conversation with stakeholders and allows an opportunity to hear their thoughts and ideas that provides another perspective. Here are a few ways that I like to share with others what is happening in the AJUSD Technology Department.

The Board
Sharing information with your school board should be top priority for any CIO/CTO/Director. Support from the school board is necessary for just about everything that happens in a school district and building a relationship with them is important. Often it is only the administration that has contact with board members, so sharing your staff and their accomplishments makes that connection. I understand every districts' procedures and communications with their board is different,
but suggesting a little time at a board meeting to your superintendent may be a start.

Social Media
A little over a year ago I wrote about the "Social Hurricane" and how this medium of communication can be overwhelming, but worth the effort to get into the game. With little surprise, social media has continued to grow, and as a leader you can not ignore the importance of an online presence. The great thing about sites such as Facebook and Twitter is the ability to not only share what your staff is doing, but showcase what the entire district staff is up to. Many districts however are still nervous about jumping into the social media scene, but this is where your influence as a CIO/CTO/Director can lead from the middle. Take the time to research what other districts are doing and present examples to your administrative team. Discuss how social media will allow their schools to quickly disseminate information and promote just how great their staff is by sharing classroom and school events!

#1 Resource
Good leaders know how important their people are to a successful organization, many leaders have stated in a variety of ways that people are a leaders number one resource. One principal that I work with in AJUSD, Larry LaPrise, has a gift for promoting his staff in a variety of ways. Mr. LaPrise is always speaking of his staff and their successes on his campus, he is very aware that employees often leave their jobs not because they aren't happy with their pay, but the lack of recognition. So get out there and talk up your staff today!

Iceberg Dead Ahead

www.literativa.com

Bad Idea
It is probably a bad idea to really compare any situation to the Titanic, cause at the end of the day, we all know how tragic that ended. So let me start with a little different situation that still has to do with water and small boats, not gigantic ocean liners. About 10 years ago my wife and I had a personal watercraft (which I will refer to as a pw from here forward) and our friends had a boat, so on the weekends we would spend time at the lake. One of the best things to do, although not to safe, was to spray the boat and soak everyone with the pw. You could accomplish this by moving quickly at the side of the boat, turning hard and gassing the heck out of the pw. Our friend who owned the boat was on the pw one weekend and was going to pay me back for all the soakings I had dished out. So he came quickly at the boat and we knew we were in for it, but instead of the pw turning at the last second when he turned the handlebars, the pw kept going straight and he ran right into the side of the boat. Luckily nobody was hurt, but I don't think he ever took a turn on the pw again. I will get back to this story a bit later....

Turn The Ship
The Titanic is a great math problem that I just don't have the skills to figure out, but I get the idea that it takes a lot of space to turn something that is so large. School districts, schools, even departments can often feel like a massive ocean liner bearing down on something that they just can't maneuver around quick enough, and once the iceberg is struck, forward momentum is lost. Often I think that we see the iceberg with plenty of time to avoid the impact, but the thought of turning the ship causes many to shut down the engines, take their foot off the pedal. This choice can lead to doing the "same old thing" not innovating, becoming stagnant. Every organization has reasons that keep them moving forward, always seeking new ways to do things, improving practices, creating better learning environment for their students. How does your organization keep forward momentum?

Walt Disney was very big on curiosity leading to new ideas, dreaming big, and always moving forward. "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new path." Walt Disney

http://shooshan.com/switchon.htm

Power On
Every day there are icebergs in our lives that we must maneuver around to avoid a disaster and sitting idol in one place is not going to move us forward. The reason for the long story above about the pw and the boat was to point out that if he had just kept the gas on, he would have made the turn, sprayed everyone in the boat and accomplished his goal. The second he left off the gas, there was no power moving out the back of the pw which is what allows it to make the turn, and the boat became an iceberg. So keep the power on, maneuver around the obstacles and continue moving forward!

The Administrator Superhighway

I wrote this article for the ISTE Sig-Admin Winter Newsletter, and thought I would put it in my blog as well.

Have you ever driven on a freeway system that is so confusing due to the complex looping off-ramps, the over and under, and super high speed lanes that require exotic foreign sports car to navigate? Even with GPS I seem to add a few extra miles onto each destination when I venture out of AZ and into other states with more freeway twists and turns than I am accustomed to. As an administrator in today’s K-12 environment, there are many different off-ramps and high speed lanes to choose from when considering your leadership goals and how it will influence your organization.

Visionary Leadership ISTE NETS for Administrators (NETS•A): Educational Administrators inspire and lead development and implementation of a shared vision for comprehensive integration of technology to promote excellence and support transformation throughout the organization.

Sounds simple enough, right? Any successful organization probably has a leader that can inspire, create vision and put practices in place to reach a goal, but how many other “leaders” are influencing that person? In my position as Director of Technology, in the Apache Junction USD, I feel the Superintendent has created an environment that allows departments, school staff, and students to collaborate, share, and influence the direction of the organization. Let’s take a closer look at a few areas that support the road to visionary leadership.

Fear of Failing
There are a number reasons why people are afraid to change, try new things, and influence others around them. Two specific reasons that come to mind are:

• The fear of failure itself
• Staff members are not encouraged to fail

The end result of the fear of failure can lead to a stale environment and innovation will be put aside for sustaining old practices. Learning how to fail while maintaining the confidence to adjust and move forward is essential to creating a successful learning environment. I want to share an experience that Tracy Watanabe, Technology Integration Specialist for the Apache Junction USD, shared with me about failing.

“Early last summer, I was asked to do a presentation in a short webinar. I had never been involved in a webinar before, but figured it would not be very different from all of the professional developments I facilitated every week. Boy was I wrong. My computer froze 10 minutes before I was supposed to start, and my backup computer did the same. I was so nervous by the time my computer was rebooted, that I didn't remember what I said, how fast/slow I was talking, and couldn't read my audience, which is something I rely strongly on. I felt like I let everyone down. I was ready to write off webinars as something that was not for me. Luckily, I'm surrounded by others who believe that failing is just a milestone on the path of improvement Fail, Learn, Try Again. When I shared my webinar experience with my boss, and other peers, their feedback was encouraging and inspired me to try again. Recently I facilitated a webinar as part of the Edublogs Serendipity webinars. It wasn't perfect, but that didn't seem to bother anyone, including myself because it's part of the learning process. Next time is an opportunity for improvement. Isn't that what it's about? You see, to grow and improve is like a journey. Failures along the way are just milestones on that journey. Failures aren't the destination, and a journey without failures means you're not traveling far from the safe zone. It takes venturing out of the safe zone to grow and improve. “

Good Teaching vs. Shiny Object

Digital-Age Learning Culture ISTE NETS for Administrators (NETS•A): Educational Administrators create, promote, and sustain a dynamic, digital-age learning culture that provides a rigorous, relevant, and engaging education for all students.

Building and promoting a digital-age learning culture can be difficult with the rapid change of technology. Every week a new shiny device is released and it can become distracting from the educational goals of a district, unless the focus is on good teaching and not the device. The device type will continue to change, but good teaching must remain constant and use whatever tool best meets the needs of their students. Take the time to collaborate and create a foundational plan that will guide good teaching practices that support the learning goals. The “College Readiness for All” is our foundational guide in the Apache Junction USD.

Role of IT
As we continue down the administrator superhighway we have to ask ourselves what role every department and staff member plays in supporting the foundational plan that is guiding good teaching. As a Technology Director, I feel that the Role of IT can have a tremendous impact on a district’s educational plan. IT staff spend many hours in classrooms and cannot make it across a campus without being asked a question by staff and students. The days of IT staff just replacing a video card or upgrading operating systems are becoming a thing of the past. I recently asked my Superintendent what his thoughts were on the role of Technology Directors in the K-12 environment and this was his response.

“The Director of Technology can absolutely play a significant role in helping influence change within the district if he or she assumes the role of instructional leader. Many of today’s school systems are technology-rich, especially compared to just ten years ago. But technology in and of itself won’t improve student achievement. Putting computers, Smart Boards, Doc Cameras, etc., in classrooms without first developing teacher capacity to utilize these tools to create authentic, learning opportunities will do little to change our current school systems.

Great technology, paired with excellent teaching, is what will provide students a better opportunity to learn. This is where the Director of Technology can have a huge influence on change. By being an instructional leader, Directors of Technology can help districts keep a balance on first, good teaching, and then second, how technology can be utilized to provide students with quality learning opportunities. Directors of Technology should be instrumental in shaping professional development opportunities for classroom teachers, focus the conversation about how/what technology should be utilized to support quality teaching, how dollars should be utilized when purchasing technology, how technology fits into a school/district strategic plan, etc. By fulfilling this role, the Director of Technology will absolutely influence change in school districts for the benefit of all.”

Put Me in Coach
Excellence in Professional Practice ISTE NETS for Administrators (NETS•A):
Educational Administrators promote an environment of professional learning and innovation that empowers educators to enhance student learning through the infusion of contemporary technologies and digital resources.

Administrators must model the practices that they want to see happen in the classroom, but who can help support the teachers on a daily basis. One Technology Integration Specialist was not going to be able to support 6 schools by herself in my school district, so we turned to the Microsoft Peer Coaching model developed by the Peer-Ed team. The focus with our collaboration coaches is first on good teaching, aligned to our College Readiness for All plan, with technology embedded in the instruction. If administrators are going to “allocate time, resources, and access to ensure ongoing professional growth in technology fluency and integration” they will need support from departments, staff, and peers to make this happen, peer coaching is an off-ramp worth taking.

The Real Leaders
I hope that you have enjoyed the ride down the road to visionary leadership on the administrative superhighway! The off-ramps I have discussed are few among many that make up the complex K-12 environment in our technology rich world. As long as we keep the real leaders at the center of all decisions, the students, the K-12 landscape will continue to evolve and still be the goal that all others strive to achieve.

"Billy" Beane for the Disruption

Baseball

softdistrict.com

Like most kids I played baseball growing up, Little League and then Senior League, before giving it up for track in high school. It was fun hanging out with friends, developing rivalries with the other teams, yelling hey batter batter batter.....swing, from the dugout. I have to admit that I don't follow baseball very close anymore, I don't know many players names and only keep up with the AZ Diamondbacks, who are doing very well I might add:-). Despite me not knowing every stat of every player in the league, there are many amazing baseball stories that have inspired countless books and movies over the years.


Moneyball
I recently went to see Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, "A story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players." Like any Hollywood movie based on a true story, I am sure there were a number of changes to keep things interesting and people planted in the seats, but what I took away from the movie was very simple. Beane brought disruption to the organization. By using sabermetrics to build his team, he caused discomfort to the traditionalist of the game and was quickly criticized when the team got off to a rough start.

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Sound Familiar
The wheels in my head were spinning throughout the movie as I kept thinking about how disruption is so difficult for most people to accept and when it happens, how quickly the change is condemned unless there is immediate success. Once Beane had his team together, he used stats to build relationships with the players and it gave them an understanding of the why...sound familiar? I won't give away a few great scenes in the movie where others have their aha moments, but there are a number of them that could be used with staff as examples of how change can be something positive and professionally stimulating.


Final Quote
Like I mentioned earlier, I am not a die hard baseball fan and I am sure there are many arguments by purist that may argue Beane's methods of constructing a baseball team. However I think many scenes in this movie will be used by leaders as examples that disruption is not a bad word and changing the way we have always done things is OK. I will leave you with my favorite quote from the movie, "adapt or die!"       

Nothing Without It

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Relationships
I recently was having a conversation with someone and the topic of discussion was successful teams/departments and the relationships among them. While we were discussing the qualities of the leaders that have built these great teams, this person said something which I found puzzling. They said that the person didn't really matter to them, just what they had to say. It quickly put things into perspective about this person, but also confirmed for me the importance of relationships when attempting to build a solid team or connect with anyone for that matter. 



Long Term
So what does it take to build relationships that will leave people truly listening to what you are saying....trust. I believe John Maxwell puts it in very simple terms, "In reality, trust is necessary in ALL good relationships. Good marriages, business relationships, and friendships all require trust. Without it, there can be no open and honest interaction, and the relationship will be only temporary". Have you ever watched a group of people follow someone they don't trust, or work collaboratively together, or sustain a relationship that proves successful over a long period of time? Temporary relationships may yield quick outcomes, but not long term growth.

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Build Them
Relationships exists at every level within a school district and building them is critical for the success of the organization. Everyone must take responsibility for building them, admin-staff, teacher-student, teacher-parent, the list could go on. If we are to build more than a short term relationship between individuals, we must build trust. I was sent a post by Mike Myatt recently, via @LarryLaPrise, that addressed leadership and presence. One takeaway for me was, "Leadership is about trust, stewardship, care, concern, service, humility and understanding. If you build into those you lead, if you make them better, if you add value to their lives then you will have earned their trust and loyalty. This is the type of bond that will span positional and philosophical gaps, survive mistakes, challenges, downturns and other obstacles that will inevitably occur".

Listen
Building relationships, it is the foundation in my opinion, that will allow a successful structure to be built. It opens the door for genuine collaboration, interaction between customer and business, school and students, teacher and parents. And just think, when people are listening to each other, they may just matter.

Students Speak

Kick It Off
Every year in my district we have a welcome back day for all district staff. It usually consists of some kind of breakfast or lunch, a guest speaker or district admin delivering the welcome back message. It is a difficult couple hours to plan as feedback is always mixed on these type of events, and with tight budgets, outside guest speakers are not an option for us.

The Green Light
Our Superintendent, Dr. Chad Wilson, is a dynamic public speaker, he does a great job communicating his expectations for the district and recognizing successes. One element that I thought would be beneficial for this years welcome back, would be to hear from our students, listen to what they feel is working and what they hope to see this school year. With the go ahead from Dr. Wilson, I set off to figure out how to make this happen. With help from Tracy Watanabe, we gathered a group of students from across K-12, and invited them in for a short two question interview. Their responses were not prompted or edited for effect, just honest.



Coming Together
With all the negativity around public education right now I think it is important to share the good things that are happening out there while not losing sight of the high expectations we must hold ourselves too as educators. Our welcome back day this year had a different feel to it than previous years and hearing from our students and teachers (see Reflections video below), things are coming together. We have a ways to go before all students are college ready by the time they leave us, but we are off to a great start.



Thank You
I want to thank all the AJUSD students and parents for taking the time and allowing their children to share their thoughts with us. They were amazing! I would also like to thank Tracy Watanabe for all her assistance with the project and Dr. Wilson for always allowing us to run with our ideas.

Not the end...

Publish It
I began the final day at ISTE 2011 attending the session, "Writing for an ISTE Publication." I am not sure if people are aware just how many publications that ISTE has in circulation, but I suggest checking them out here, there is something for everyone.

Vendor Row
I waited until the final day to really spend any meaningful time in the exhibit hall. I was discussing with my colleagues the days when we used to attend Comdex in Las Vegas during the height of the tech boom. Vendors had gigantic exhibits, some with live music, showgirls, one company even had people high in the air swinging around like Cirque du Soleil! It really was over the top and hard to figure out what some were even trying to sell. The ISTE 2011 exhibit hall was very nice, easy to get around, and had a nice vendor presence. I was able to make some meaningful contacts with a few of the vendors we use and put a few names to faces.

Wrap up
The closing keynote was amazing and started off with the group Street Beats Group, who performed an amazing glow in the dark percussion piece. Their performance was followed by a well done animation by Youth Voices, "Who Do You Think You Are" (both can be watched in the video below).

Chris Lehmann was the closing keynote, but before he took the stage, he had a group of his students present their poetry slam and that was a very emotional piece that moved the entire audience, I would recommend sharing with your staff and not just teaching staff, but any staff in your district. The importance of my technology staff understanding today's students is monumental in helping to clearly define our role in the organization, I believe this applies to every person working on a school campus.

It is difficult to describe Chris Lehmann's keynote in just a few words, but I will just say that he is very passionate about kids and learning and a great inspiration for all educators. It is very obvious that Chris wants to see our kids not just become 21st Century workers, but 21st Century citizens. Take the time to be inspired and watch his keynote address along with the other closing performances below.

You can never doubt the wisdom of the voices of students
-Chris Lehmann

ISTE 2012
Thanks for following my blog this week and I hope to be attending ISTE 2012 in San Diego. Feel free to follow, comment, and share your thoughts here at "this and that" and follow on twitter @jcastelhano.

Change Can Happen

Setup
Recently I wrote about professional development and my district's "Summer Academy" activities. There were a number of district participants and presenters, one being Tracy Watanabe, AJUSD's Technology Integration Specialist. She spent one of her days working with the teachers at CCJH, the district's Jr. High, where we have just finished the first year of a 1:1 program with the 7th grade. Next year the incoming 7th graders will step right into the 1:1 environment and the school will be 1:1 all the way through.

The Growth
There have been a number of amazing transformations take place at CCJH during the year and worth noting, but one of Tracy's activities just grabbed my attention. She had small groups of teachers take the district's "College Readiness for All" plan and make the connection to the

ISTE NETS-S. There was great collaboration between the groups and the way they chose to share their information was also very impressive. They had little time to complete the task and the three groups below all chose different forms of multimedia for sharing.

Culture Change
One short year ago this activity would have not yielded the same results. Not sure how many teachers would have known what the NETS were and sharing would have probably been on a piece of butcher paper or maybe a powerpoint. The culture at CCJH has changed and there are a number of reasons, great teachers, principal, support staff, district support, board support, that can be attributed to this. The overall point that I guess I'm trying to make is, things can change in the K-12 education setting, you just need to be willing.