Ed Leaders- What I want, what I don't want

This quick post was sitting alone....long ago ramblings that I'm deciding I want to hit publish on.

What I want and don't want in an educational leader (from principal, to superintendent, to Secretary of Education):

I want an educational leader that has had a kid puke in the middle of the lesson. I want a leader that has been asked "Why do I need to learn this?" I want a leader that has gone home smelling like trash because the student that lives in a shack has given them a hug at the end of the day. I want someone that knows what it's like to have THEIR life changed by a student, not the other way around. I want someone that can practice what they preach.

I don't want someone who has sponsored a backpack drive for a school district. I want someone who has GIVEN a backpack to one of their students. I don't want someone that has served as director of a program that helps inner-city youth learn and give back to their community- I want someone who has done this with ONE student and felt the impact that this kind of outreach has on their own thinking and feelings. I don't want a leader that visits classrooms and then takes off, spouting off about all the inspiring stories they hear. I want them to BE the inspiring story to a student somewhere.

Fake Facebook Page Fun

All right, so a Social Studies teacher came to me with an awesome idea today- she wanted her students to create fake Facebook pages of historical figures and wasn't sure how to go about it. We pondered creating Nings with fake profiles, but she needed it quickly and this was something we could whip up on short notice!

I decided to do a MS Publisher Template and had too much fun with it not to share. Here is Abe Lincoln's fake Facebook page! I can say this was a good review for me, even- and hopefully the kids will like creating their own from this template!

I created a template for a wall as well as a template for just a regular profile.

Here are a couple versions of each:

Abe Facebook Page- Wall Posts

PDF

MS Publisher

MS Word

Abe Facebook Page- Profile

PDF

MS Publisher

MS Word

If you or your students can use this in any way, feel free to pass them on!!!

Call for teacher voices about tools you've used!

Hey everyone-

My publisher, Maupin House, had a great idea- to include classroom teacher voices in my upcoming book, telling about how teachers out there have used the tools that I included in the text. All we need is one or two paragraphs that tell us how you used one of the tools below with your students:

**Updated: The tools in red have had responses already- I still need input from the ones in black!!**

Animoto	Blogs	MS Photostory
Collaborative Whiteboards	ePals	Glogster
Google Docs	Google Earth	Google Forms
Online Pic Editor (Picnik, Fotoflexer, Lunapic, etc.)	UStream	Message Boards
Mind Mapping (Webspiration, Gliffy, Bubbl.us)	Ning	Podcasting
Prezi	Schooltube	Screen casting (Jing, Camtasia, etc.)
Second Life	Slideshare	Spore Creature Creator
Timeline creator (Timetoast, XTimeline, Timerime, etc.)	TodaysMeet	Twitter
Skype	Voicethread	Weebly
Wikis	Wordle	Zoho
	Edmodo

When writing, if you would include not only the nuts and bolts of the project but also the impact this use had on your students and how it affected them. Be yourself and keep it conversational!

If you would like to contribute your information and how you've used one of these tools and the impact it's had, I've created a Google Form for you to submit: CLICK HERE

The publisher, editor, and I will look over submissions and I will email you to let you know if yours has been selected or not. If yours is published, your name and your school's name will be included and you will receive a free copy of the book when it comes out (target is this summer).

If those of you that work as tech facilitators could forward this link to those in your staff that you know have done great things with these tools, it would be much appreciated!!

Thanks again for your help!