Public Relations Idea

Almost every weekend, my wife and I pack up the kids and head to Buffalo's Elmwood-Bidwell Farmer's Market. We enjoy the fresh produce and it gives us an excuse to roam the city afterward in search of a local spot to grab lunch.

Today, I was intrigued by a new stand with a sign promoting the Wisteria Charter School initiative. Based on the conversations I heard while loitering nearby the stand and the flyer they handed me, the initiative is comprised of a group of teachers looking to establish a new Waldorf-inspired charter school in the city. Regardless of your opinion of charter schools, you have to admit that setting up a stand in a public and highly trafficked place in order to raise awareness is a pretty good idea.

It made me think. What if public schools did this too? What if they set up stands at local supermarkets, libraries, or malls as a means to connect with the community and share exciting things that are happening in the district? The social perception of education is quite negative lately, so I'm sure teachers would be willing to donate a few hours to staff the booth and help improve the district's public image. What an excellent opportunity to share upcoming events, highlight student work, and reinforce the district's commitment to the community.

Just a thought.

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How to Quickly Create and Share Videos

Next year, my students will walk through my classroom doors holding brand new netbooks as part of my school's 1:1 computing initiative. I am well aware that this is going to be a paradigm shift, so I am already trying to prepare myself for when this happens. As a result, I am quietly collecting resources that I will be able to use when the netbooks enter our building.

Every machine comes equipped with a webcam, and I have been brainstorming how to best use this in the classroom. Tools like Skype are certainly valuable, but a bit difficult to manage with a group of 100+ students. I want something simple that can create and share videos without struggling to upload to 3rd party sites like Youtube, or worrying that large files will cause my inbox to explode.

Mailvu.com seems to be the solution to these problems. Mailvu creates videos that can be shared via a link either copy and pasted from the site, or sent to an email recipient. There is also a free app for iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch that brings this video production to mobile devices.

Below is a student tutorial I made. Feel free to use with your own students!

How to Create and Send Video Messages

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The ABCs of Educational Leadership

While reading Terry St. Marie's (@starbucker) post How Four Little Words can Make or Break your Leadership, I noticed something interesting. Even though St. Marie was not speaking specifically of school leaders - principals, superintendents, etc. - I found value in what he wrote. Teachers emphasize often that education is not a business, yet I was intrigued to find that much of what St. Marie wrote holds true for education as well. He spoke of the dangers of words like I, you, and they and the disastrous effects they can have on the most important pronoun of leadership – we. Being cautious of singular or segmenting pronouns seems obvious, but it's something that many leaders fall into gradually without much acknowledgement (until it's too late).

St. Marie's post made me think about other important words associated with leadership. Below is my list of adjectives needed for strong leadership. How does your principal/superintendent measure up?

The ABCs of Strong leadership

Advocate
BOE-supported
Community member
Delegation
Ethics
Fiscal
Goal-oriented
Humility
Integrity
Jovial
Knowledgeable
Liaison
Mission-based
Negotiable
Organized
Progressive
Quick response
Role model
Strategic
Transformative
Us
Visionary
We
Xenial
Yielding
Zealous

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