10. What principles should guide your approach for integrating technology into instruction (as an administrator)?

There is one principle that should guide an administrators approach for integrating technology:
1) Be a believer.  The principal must be a believer that technology will improve student achievement and sell this to the faculty.
2) Keep it simple. The principal must choose technology that has the kinks worked out.
3) Be a believer.  Yes, that's down twice.  The principal must follow through and make sure teacher buy in.

9. Sports and Education

I had a conversation with a teacher/coach the other day about the 6A football teams that always seem to be competing for football state championships.  We discovered that all of these school are strong academically.  Whether it be Hoover, Mt. Brook, Daphne, Bob Jones, etc these school are high academic achievers.  Certainly there are schools that perform academically that are not good at football, but the converse does not seem to be true.  If you are a large school, could investing in sports help academically?  Something to think about...

8. How can technology affect the learning process?

The main benefit of technology is that it can be personalized per student.  These accommodations can be crucial to reaching kids on different learning levels.  Technology allows for individualized instruction in a way that has never been available before.

6. How can technology innovations be sustained in schools?

Technology trends will come and go.  It is the job of the principal or assistant principal to be aware of these and help the faculty focus on the most efficient tech tools that will enhance student achievement.  Without leadership a school will be like a tiny ship getting rocked by all of the various waves of technology.

7. Tis The Season

This is the season for Christmas shopping and Christmas blogging. Buddy the elf is creating quite a stir around the house.   I'm just glad I survived another year of hanging up the Christmas lights!

8. Technology affecting learning

I use MathXL in my math classes.  What's awesome about it is that kids have to answer questions correctly, but they get multiple tries and there are tools that provide help.   It seems to keep students who would tend to be lower achieving more engaged. This is part of the topic of my research paper and I'm looking forward to researching its impact. 

4. Best Practices

All teachers love playing Jeopardy - at least some form of it.  I have finally figured out a good way to make it work that keeps all students engaged.  I randomly form teams of 3 to 4 students and play Jeopardy through a powerpoint presentation.  When a question pops up every student must work the problem on his/her own paper.  I use a countdown timer then each team flashes an answer on a whiteboard, and I award points accordingly.

I've always struggled with assigning students a grade for this .... until now.  Each student must work every question and turn it in at the end of the game.  Every student that does this will get a 50/50.  If their team wins I create a separate assignment and they receive a 100/100.  Second place gets 75/75 and third 60/60.  Everyone gets 100% but the winners get a bigger 100%, not awarding grades above 100% helps prevent inflation.   Awarding first second and third place prizes keeps everyone in the game even if one team jumps out to a lead.

The kids love it and I love it!