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For two months now, I have been exploring the use of my Droid 2 phone, and testing applications. I think that is the key to making a smartphone useful is finding those applications that allow you do what you want to be able to do. That’s a no-brainer. Here’s my current shortlist of applications.

Dropbox

At the current time, I live out of my Dropbox folder. This has to be one of the most versatile applications yet. I have it installed on my work computer and my personal laptop, and being able to save my work to this folder, and have it available on my other computers is amazing. I haven’t even begun to fully test the sharing capabilities, but as a tool to make sure my most useful files are accessible anytime, this program makes that happen. Now that I’ve installed Dropbox on my Droid 2, I can even view files anywhere I go. If I’m in a meeting and I need to look at a letter I typed earlier, I have access to it immediately. For more information about the PC version, check their Web Site here. There are versions of Dropbox for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry. For information about Dropbox for these devices, check the Web Site here.

Quickoffice

Quickoffice is highly useful application that allows me to access MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, and PDF documents using my Android. I can also create, edit, and view documents created by the popular MS Office Suite. While I am increasingly using Google Docs, I still have a great deal of documents in those formats. By having this application on my Droid, along with Dropbox, I have instant access to my documents. For more information about Quickoffice, check their Web Site.

KeePass

I have used KeePass on my desktop and laptop for quite some time. It allows me to store all my passwords and usernames in one application. The PC versions have proved their utility often. Now that I have installed the Droid version on my smartphone, I have made it possible to access my usernames and passwords any where. By keeping the KeePass data file in my Dropbox folder, it is always synced and ready to go. KeePass is available for the iPhone, Blackberry, Palm OS, J2ME, and other smart devices. For more information about KeePass, check here.

Blogger-Droid

The Blogger-droid app is one that I have downloaded and started using recently. With this application I am able to post to my blog directly from my Droid phone. You can also upload pictures and video clips as well. While this app is not very elaborate, it provides a simple means to access my blog. Here’s more information about Blogger-droid from Mash App’s description. On this site you can also access the app with your barcode scanner program.

Tweetdeck Beta Preview

Recently, I downloaded Tweetdeck’s Beta Preview for Android. Tweetdeck for the desktop is my favorite Twitter client. Naturally, I was interested in the Android version. I downloaded it last weekend, and I have to say, it is also my favorite Twitter client for my Droid 2. It is easy to use, and I have easy access to mentions, direct messages, and searches. For information on getting the Tweetdeck Beta Preview for the Android phone, see here.

During my conversations with parents sometimes, they often point out concerns about one class or another if that particular teacher is not assigning homework. For some reason, there are parents who equate the value of a class and its teacher based on the amount of homework assigned. While there are all manner of reasons and arguments about the effectiveness and usefulness of homework, school leaders must be very careful to cave in to the systemic pressures of requiring or expecting homework to be assigned by his or her teachers. Homework in itself is not a sign of teaching effectiveness. The lack of assigning homework is also not an indication that a teacher is not doing his or her job. Homework must serve a legitimate purpose, and that purpose must not be an indicator of effective teacher performance.

I recently read an article in Educational Leadership entitled “5 Hallmarks of Good Homework.” It was an excellent description of what homework that is effective should look like. As school leaders, we can help our teachers understand what effective homework should look like by reminding them of the following:

1. Homework should have a purpose. It should be for practice, understanding-checking, or application of what was learned during the course of the day. As administrators, we should see homework as extension of what is happening in the classroom. To expect that teachers always assign homework is not a legitimate expectation, but we should expect that when students are given homework, it does serve a purpose.
2. Home should be efficient. We should discuss with our teachers the importance of providing their students with homework that is reasonable, and that can be completed reasonably. For example, asking students to create a model castle without providing all students with the same resources to complete that project might not be inherently fair.
3. Homework should allow students to form a personal relationship with the content. School leaders can help teachers find ways for students to make the assigned tasks their own. This might mean providing additional resources to help the teacher do this.
4. Homework should assist students in feeling competent regarding school content. School leaders should work with teachers to help them understand that homework tasks that make students feel inadequate are not productive. Student homework should do the opposite. It should assist students in being more confident and competent in carrying out tasks.
5. Homework should have aesthetic appeal for students. School leaders can assist teachers in understanding that how a homework assignment looks to a student might actually prevent him or her from completing it effectively.

As principals, we need to remind parents when they question homework or the lack thereof, that homework is only part of the education of their children.

Over the past few days I have been reading Steven Johnson’s new book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation and in it he describes some common characteristics of environments that allow for innovation. In the first chapter, he focuses on what he calls the “adjacent possible.” In the book he states, “Innovative environments are better at helping inhabitants explore the adjacent possible, because they expose a wide and diverse sample of spare parts---mechanical or conceptual---and they encourage novel ways of recombining those.” What exactly is the “adjacent possible? According to Johnson, the adjacent possible is “a kind of shadow future, hovering at the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself.” In other words, innovation becomes more possible in those environments where those who work there have the freedom to explore possibilities.

How many times do we sacrifice access to the adjacent possible in our schools by strictly adhering to policy, rules, and regulations? How many times do we as administrators (and I am speaking to myself here) inhibit true innovation for the sake of a rule, policy or even political expediency? According to Johnson, “environments that block or limit new combinations---by punishing experimentation, by obscuring certain branches of possibility, by making the current state so satisfying that no one bothers exploring the edges--will on average, generate and circulate fewer innovations than environments that encourage exploration.”

It would seem to me that the challenge for reforming of our schools falls clearly in the hands of school leaders and policy-makers who control the rules and policy that govern how we conduct our business. If we want true innovation and reform, school leaders need to create conditions conducive to allowing individuals to explore those edges of possibility. What does that look like in practical terms? Perhaps here’s some principles of innovation for school leaders:

• Seriously question the need for each policy, rule, regulation. Does it limit exploration and experimentation? Does it keep those within the schools from exploring what is truly possible? For example. does the current cell phone policy inhibit exploration of innovative possibilities for use of these devices?
• Never sacrifice innovation for political expediency. How many times have school leaders created limits in the form of school policy that was perhaps politically popular but damaged the possibility for future innovation? Perhaps school leaders need to come down on the side of true innovation in those cases, even in the face of political sanction.
• Make experimentation and “exploration of the adjacent possible” the norm. True school leaders are out exploring this “adjacent possible” themselves. They are not waiting for mandates from central offices or even state government entities. They lead their teachers in exploring the possible. Teachers who have leaders “out there” are more likely to be at the edges exploring and experimenting too.

It would seem to me that reform and innovation begins with the school leadership. School leader who truly want reform are at the edges of the adjacent possible themselves, not waiting for permission from the powers that be.

I stood at the front of the room, while Elizabeth who was sitting in the last desk to my right, described how she had recently been mean to her brother when he tried to do something nice for her. She stated, “I’m not sure why, I just had this feeling like I wanted to get back at him or something.” “Yeah,” Billy said. “I felt the same about my little sister one time when I was six. She was just being a kid, but for some reason, I had this feeling like I wanted to do something mean to her, so I reached over and pulled her hair.” At that moment, a low rumble erupted as students around the room started whispering to their neighbors about times when they too had that feeling.

We were discussing James Hurst’s short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” and students were still trying to grasp how the narrator of the story could have run away from his brother who was yelling for him, only to later come back and find him dead. Hurst’s story was a constant winner with my ninth graders, because so many of them could relate to its characters. On this particular day, student engagement was extremely high. It was one of those moments that captured so many of the reasons I went into teaching the first place.

It was in the middle of our discussion, that my principal walked into the room and sat down in a desk at the back of the class. Like all first year teachers, a feeling of panic began to rise from within. “Why is he in my class?” I asked silently to my self. “Is he here because I’ve done something wrong?” These questions raced through my mind as another student began relating an incident that had occurred in his life a few years earlier. I have to confess I don’t remember a lot of what this student said because of our new classroom visitor. As students continued to relate their connections to the characters in the story, I noticed that now my principal was writing something on a legal pad. For all practical purposes, I was rattled.

In spite of the stress, I survived the visit that day. My principal remained in my class for the entire period. Eventually, I was able to move my students from the discussion to completing another assignment, but I spent the rest of the day, wondering why my principal visited my class. That afternoon, I found out why.

At three o’clock that afternoon, I went to check my mailbox next to the office, and I discovered a handwritten note there. It read:

“Thank you for teaching such a fantastic class second period today. Your efforts to engage your students in the discussion of that story was right on! I want you to know that your class was one of the most engaged classes I have seen so far this year. Keep up the good work!”

In all my years as a teacher, this one note gave me the inspiration and drive to do whatever was necessary to become the best teacher I could. I never told my principal how much that note meant to me, because he moved on to another position soon after, but it was powerful. It gave a fledgling teacher enough confidence to continue to grow and learn for quite some time. It was a simple note, handwritten on a memo pad, but it is a gesture I have never forgotten.

I asked the question in the title of this post, “Do teachers every get enough praise from their principals?” I am not sure I can answer that positively or negatively. Praise is one of those things that can be cheap and awkward if it is not sincere, and we are all skilled in spotting its counterfeit versions. But as school leaders, we have got to stop once in awhile and drop a little handwritten note to our teachers and sincerely tell them that we do notice the great things they are doing with our students. Or, perhaps we need to take moment in our next faculty meeting and let them know sincerely, that we notice how hard they are working.

KeePass Idea Update

Thanks to twitter follower @newfirewithin for an additional thought about using KeePass. Sometimes we are too close to the ideas to see it, but he suggested storing the KeePass data file in Dropbox, so that it would be available to any computers linked with this file. I’m just a bit squirmy about the security, but might be a great way to ensure that your KeePass password safe is accessible anywhere. Great Idea.

One of the most difficult problems I have faced as an administrator, is finding a way to remember all the user names and passwords I receive for all of the web services our school system uses. There’s the student database, test score database, teacher evaluation instrument, and countless other web applications that I have to use during the course of my day. Every one of these often requires a different username and a different password. There are also those I only access once or twice and year, and remembering those is even more difficult. It certainly is not good security practice to use the same password for each site, but it is frustrating trying to remember these usernames and passwords.

That’s where KeePass, the open-source password safe software comes in. It allows me to store my usernames and passwords in a single program, that requires only one password. It will also has some other interesting features as well. These other features include:

• Ability to store a URL with the site username and password
• Password quality meter
• Place to enter notes
• Ability to set an expiration date and time
• Ability to allow program to auto-type your password and username
• Ability to use multiple groups of usernames and passwords
• Ability to make it portable to your flashdrive

It is an excellent open source solution for keeping track of all those usernames and passwords.

KeePass Main User Screen

To download or get more information about KeePass, check our their web site here.

For those with smart phones, you can download a version for most phone operating systems. I use the Android version, and it has made accessing my usernames and passwords even easier. KeePass is one of those must have open source programs.

For the past month, I have been working on trying to develop a procedure to govern student use of personal computers when accessing our wireless Internet. In times of shrinking budgets, we just don’t have enough technology, so we decided that providing students with wireless Internet access for their own personal computers was a means increase total student access to Web resources.

I initially turned to the web to find other schools with wireless access policies and procedures. After examining the procedures and policies of several of these schools, I found that they all contained common components. These 5 common components are vital to any wireless access policy for a school.

Technical Requirements for Access

One common component for a wireless access policy are guidelines specifying what technical requirements each personal computer should have. The two most common are:

• Un-expired and functioning Anti-virus protection
• Wireless Network Access Card with Statement That Prohibits Connecting by Cables

Most schools required working anti-virus in order to prevent network infections, and a wireless card for access. By allowing only wireless access, it protects the integrity of the main school network.

General Guidelines for Use of Wireless Access

Guidelines are needed to ensure that students understand that their use of computers and devices are welcome, but that the teacher and instruction drives that use. Some guidelines to include are:

• Clear Statement That Use of Computer or Device Is at Teacher’s Discretion
• Use of Computer or Device Must Support Instructional Activities
• Use of Computer or Device Must Not Be Disruptive to Other’s Learning
• Use of Computer or Device Must Be In Supervised Area of School
• Students Must Have Signed an Acceptable Use Policy
• Students Are Prohibited from Accessing Other Network Resources Other Than Internet

Consequences for Failure to Follow Guidelines

Only some of the procedures and policies I examined included consequences. These issues are often addressed in a school’s acceptable use policy, but consequences often involve some kind of restriction regarding the student’s continued use of the device.

Procedures for Gaining Wireless Access

Another important component for the wireless access policy are the procedures that must be followed to obtain that access. Usually these procedures involve the following components:

• Submitting a Request Form of Some Sort
• Submitting the Device for Inspection and for Recording Device Identification Such as Serial Numbers and/or MAC Address

Disclaimers

It is important to include disclaimers in the policy or procedure as well. These disclaimers should make clear the following:

• Wireless access is for Internet only.
• School technology department is not permitted by regulation to provide technical support for personal computers.
• School does not assume responsibility for damage or loss of these computers or devices.

When trying to set up a wireless access procedure or policy, it is vital that the integrity of the school network be sustained, protections are put in place to ensure proper use of network resources, consequences are outlined for subsequent violations of user agreements, procedures developed for obtaining access, and disclaimers are detailed to make it clear the school is not responsible for damage or loss.

Should anyone wish to see a copy of our procedure, just send me an email at john_robinson@nccs.k12.nc.us and I will be glad to get it to you.

There are many people who have a much better grasp of the difference between these two than I perhaps, and they’ve done a much better job delineating the difference between the two. For example, Changing Minds.Org has a really solid look at these two here. The folks at Legacee have a solid description of the difference between leadership and management as well. But perhaps the best way for me to distinguish between the two is to describe the two roles from my experience.

Several years back, I was a manager of a store in a national drug store chain. I was clearly a manager and not a leader. In fact, this retail chain did not want “store leaders,” they wanted “store managers.” My role as store manager began each day at 7:00 AM. I gathered the previous night’s receipts and register bags, and balanced the registers and prepared the daily deposit. Purely a mechanical task governed by company procedures with absolutely no room for initiative or independent thinking. Next, as my employees came in, I provided them with their register bags and sent them to their various work locations in the store. Then I went to the stock room and turned on the store lights, before walking to the doors and unlocking them so our first customers of the morning could come in. Everything I did was governed by prescribed procedures and company policy. Any deviations from that policy was discouraged. Even how the stock was placed on the shelves was dictated to me by the company. My job was to manage the store not. So, to me management is “taking care of stuff.” I have heard it called administrivia by some educators. Managers are not asked to take the initiative. They are asked to take care of the day-to-day stuff of doing business. And, in some cases, like my job with the drug store chain, initiative and vision were discouraged. The higher ups provided that for us. All we had to do was manage the store according to their vision of what a good drug store should be.

To me, leadership is quite different. It requires the ability to shift from “taking care of stuff” to almost seeing into the future. It involves not blindly following procedures and policies, but perhaps interpreting those for the good of those you serve. Principals have to enforce policy, but in that enforcement, they are always looking to the future.  As a manager, I simply told those who worked for me what to do.  Leadership is different. It is all about trying to influence people to carry out the vision and mission of the organization. As principal, I include staff in all major decision making. I think that’s leadership. As principal, there’s time when hard decisions must be made in the face of adversity. I don’t dump those decisions on staff. I deal with them. I think perhaps that’s leadership. As principal, there’s times when being open to staff ideas and secure enough to let them implement them is important. I think that’s leadership. Finally, being willing to do the same things you ask your staff to do, that’s leadership.

My own experience and definition of leadership continues to change. This is especially true when I take new positions that ask me to work with new kinds of people in novel situations. Truth be known, perhaps true leadership is being able to adapt your approach to situations as you encounter them. At this point my leadership definition continues to grow with my leadership opportunities.