First #21stadmin chat! Joys and Challenges of Being an Ed Admin in the 21st C

Monday evening, March 18, was the first #21stadmin chat!  Several were remarking towards the end of the always-wonderful #21stedchat that there should really be an opportunity for admins to discuss how to best support teachers and administrate the school setting to support awesome 21st century learning... and thus #21stadmin was born!

The following are my summary and reflections:





First post of the night:

Ivan Reyes ‏@IvantheAggie18 MarLeading means to never give up on anyone at any time. #21stadmin Leaders will people around them to find the best they have. #realtalk

Much later followed by a link to this principal's reflection on Maya Angelou's keynote address at ASCD only the week before.  This was a strong, overarching theme of the conversation:

We must support, encourage, and inspire all children to know and use their strength, and one of the greatest callings of an administrator is to challenge and support educators in recognizing their power in that endeavor with children.

Participants in the chat leaped into discussion of *how* to do that!  Modeling was a huge theme: modeling constant learning and growth, modeling accepting mistakes and learning from failure, and modeling openness and trust.  Giving teachers permission to experiment and grow was another major theme.

Some very popular specific suggestions were things like:

• Don't have a private "office" where you sit checking email all day, but be out on campus, and have conversations publicly to highlight openness and collaboration, equal voice of all stakeholders. (I'm not an admin, but I abandoned my "office" and do my prep and grading on a couch in the hallway... LOVE the fun little interactions I have with the kids, plus spontaneous collaboration it affords w colleagues wandering by!)
• "The little things" can keep staff morale high, even if they feel gimmicky: a coffee cart or rolling drink cooler, if you're in a hot zone, covering basic duties like carpool lane, a fun staff raffle... (My school provides 15-min chair massages on student/parent/teacher conference days!)
• Shadow a teacher - or better yet a student! - for a day to see their reality.  Schedules, room transfers, multiple preps, homework load... all sound reasonable on paper!  This can be a great catalyst for empathy and change by design. 

One question in particular came up, that didn't get really thoroughly answered:

• How do we highlight teacher successes to support all teachers in experimenting and feeling successful, and not bringing in any resentment or embarrassment?  There were a lot of mixed feeling here, and very mixed experiences, and the most popular suggestion seemed to be to keep the teacher shout-outs, and made them teacher-driven!  One peer teacher gives a shout-out to a peer, rather than admin pointing out a golden teacher.

And several great suggestions for next #21stadmin chat!

• hiring practices for a 21st century school
• how to break out of the admin closed-door office space
• how to get all stakeholders on board w 21st c changes

Vote for March 25th's topic here!



Below, I've pasted in really just those tweets that caught my eye.  Considering how many are RTs, I clearly missed them the first time, and I'm sure missed other, too!  Posts highlighted yellow contain links to rad resources folks posted, and posts highlighted green were particular popular posts with lots of RTs or responses.


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Shelley Clifford ‏@cliffordshelley18 Mar

What are the joys and challenges of admining in the 21st century? Joy #1: Opportunities to collaborate are endless. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

Biggest challenge for me (aside from time), is finding creative ways to support teachers & change culture. Ideas? #21stadmin

Amanda Stavropoulos ‏@stavrofamily18 Mar

@am_gallagher agreed the culture shift is tough…even with "new" teachers…hard to break the mindset from when they were growing up #21stadmin

Ivan Reyes ‏@IvantheAggie18 Mar

#21stadmin I think simplest way to do this is the hard way. Spending time with your staff and remembering the little things they love.

Akevy Greenblatt ‏@Akevy61318 Mar

@nicolenmartin I am a big fan of leading by example and showing teachers the benefit of a Pln #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

Modeling is key! RT @nicolenmartin: we can model how to grow a PLN; I Skyped an during a PD session with teachers! #21stadmin

Jason Markey ‏@jmarkeyAP18 Mar

@am_gallagher @nicolenmartin i share blog posts I find that relate to certain teachers & hold after school workshops on Twitter #21stadmin

Shelley Clifford ‏@cliffordshelley18 Mar

Administrators must learn more (not know more) than everyone else We must genuinely serve Leadership is about serving & growing. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

Anyone having great success empowering teacher leaders? Here is our recent attempt #lask8 http://lasdilearn.blogspot.com/2013/01/building-teacher-capacity-recognizing.html … #21stadmin

Nicole Martin ‏@nicolenmartin18 Mar

@jmarkeyAP @am_gallagher Great strategies! Holding conference-style PD days is a huge win for us to model where we get our ideas #21stadmin

Dr. Brett Jacobsen ‏@jbrettjacobsen18 Mar

#21stadmin must get dirty, get ouf of office, develop community engagement plan with students, teachers, and parents

Akevy Greenblatt ‏@Akevy61318 Mar

@cliffordshelley the fact that my teachers know that I am always learning&growing has helped build trust #21stadmin life long learners

Isis Stephanie Cerda ‏@Ms_Cerda18 Mar

@am_gallagher agreed, trust takes time. build a campus community much like tchrs build them with ss in their classrooms. #21stadmin

Akevy Greenblatt ‏@Akevy61318 Mar

@stavrofamily being open and transparent and admiring your mistakes as an admin also very powerful #21stadmin

Andrew Carle ‏@tieandjeans18 Mar

@cliffordshelley New norm: Open is better than private for 90% of school conversations. More public record, fewer closed doors. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

Sharing your learning as a leader is key. Have a blog sharing transparent learning process? might be good place to start. #21stadmin

Reed Gillespie ‏@rggillespie18 Mar

@am_gallagher I read of a central office: every Fri closed office and required staff to be in schools, staff worked in library #21stadmin

Nicole Martin ‏@nicolenmartin18 Mar

@jbrettjacobsen it forces us to reach out; being visible invites collaboration, growth of new ideas (& to borrow others' spaces!) #21stadmin

Shelley Clifford ‏@cliffordshelley18 Mar

@am_gallagher People really do want leadership. Use #designthinking with faculty before making decisions. How Might We… #21stadmin

Jason Markey ‏@jmarkeyAP18 Mar

Read about our teacher led PD here: Viral Intelligence: The Multiplier Effect & Institute Day at Leyden http://shrd.by/wklEgT  #21stadmin

Michael Griffin ‏@mg52918 Mar

@am_gallagher We have 3 leadership teams-Instructional; Operations & Technology. We meet each Monday-so once every 3 wks w/ ea. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

YES! RT @JESLeadTeach: we are asking our students to have a voice and choice in their education, we should do the same for Ts #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

New Ed Leadership Book out today #multlpliers The Multplier Effect - Tapping the Genius Inside our Schools http://multipliersbook.com/multiplier-effect-book/ … #21stadmin

Amanda Stavropoulos ‏@stavrofamily18 Mar

Joy of my job: when a T comes running to me saying "look! I did it all by myself!" about a new techy tool #proudmama #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

More on the move desk into the hallway RT @patrickmlarkin: A little about that here http://www.apple.com/education/profiles/burlington/#video-burlington … #21stadmin

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU18 Mar

Gr8 image RT @JosieHolford: And then remember - a school in May is like a 2 year old deprived of a nap. #21stadmin

La'Tasha K. Mines ‏@MinesMiners18 Mar

@rpetitto @mg529 Weekly meet in different classrooms& have that teacher point out what works well in their space&what doesn't. #21stadmin

Shelley Clifford ‏@cliffordshelley18 Mar

@am_gallagher @rggillespie Teacher spotlights have not worked well for me. How can I do it better? #21stadmin

GHSAPrincipal ‏@GHSAPrincipal18 Mar

@cliffordshelley @am_gallagher @rggillespie Make it their spotlight. Have them do shout-outs to one another. #21stadmin

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU18 Mar

Hubby's school does faculty "Roars!" RT @GHSAPrincipal: Make it their spotlight. Have them do shout-outs to one another. #21stadmin

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Mini-conversation about biggest desired change:

Jeff Herb ‏@InstTechTalk18 Mar

If you could change one thing in your building without resistance, what would it be? #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

.@InstTechTalk I would change willingness 2 take risks that are good for kids, step outside of box, teach less, facilitate more #21stadmin

Reed Gillespie ‏@rggillespie18 Mar

@am_gallagher Recently blogged about the role of admin in encouraging risk-taking in classroom http://goo.gl/yRcHA  #21stadmin

Amanda Stavropoulos ‏@stavrofamily18 Mar

@InstTechTalk I would get rid of textbooks and let Ts pull/use the resources they want #21stadmin

Robert Petitto ‏@rpetitto18 Mar

@InstTechTalk the willingness for Ts to experiment with new trends in instruction (flipped, PBL, guide on the side etc.) #21stadmin

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Michael Griffin ‏@mg52918 Mar

@rpetitto Every Tuesday-focus on the 4 guiding questions of PLCs; look @ S work, design common assess, plan next steps. #21stadmin

Isis Stephanie Cerda ‏@Ms_Cerda18 Mar

@am_gallagher yes!tchrs admire ldrs who invest in them, capacity building matters. strong ldrs grow stronger tchrs. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

@JohnFritzky @rggillespie @cliffordshelley hope we get 2 a place where practice is public. can't until we name gr8t practices #21stadmin

Reed Gillespie ‏@rggillespie18 Mar

@am_gallagher @jbrettjacobsen I try to get back in classrooms as a teacher. Plan on shadowing a student for the day. #21stadmin

Andrew Carle ‏@tieandjeans18 Mar

@am_gallagher @jbrettjacobsen Good way to start is having adults live/follow student schedule for a few days inc ALL the work. #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

@tieandjeans @jbrettjacobsen imagine that would be a great way to inspire change - especially with instructional schedule #21stadmin

Mary Cantwell ‏@scitechyEDU18 Mar

With 7 min left of #21stadmin What was your JOY today as an admin?

Nicole Martin ‏@nicolenmartin18 Mar

I have several action steps: 1) move out of office 2) offer to cover more 3) model a growth mindset with my PLN. Thanks #21stadmin!

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

My joy today was hearing a Gr 6 student tell me that #coding was like having a personal assist, you tell the computer what to do! #21stadmin

Ivan Reyes ‏@IvantheAggie18 Mar

@scitechyEDU I go visit my DAEP/ISS kids everyday. No matter what they do they know I care.#21stadmin

Michael Griffin ‏@mg52918 Mar

Not an admin brag this time, but a #proudmomma brag from today. http://ow.ly/jc8GF  #21stadmin

Dr. Brett Jacobsen ‏@jbrettjacobsen18 Mar

#21stadmin Joy today?...walking through students in courtyard creating, imagining and having fun

Robert Petitto ‏@rpetitto18 Mar

It was a JOY to know that the other coordinators wanted to talk big ideas, focus on student achievement, develop Ts PD & become #21stadmin s

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher18 Mar

My action steps: get out of DO & out to schools more, appreciate all that our principals do, rethink office setting #21stadmin

Leslie Thorne ‏@ThorneLeslie18 Mar

My joy? This is what my brain has felt like since joining Twitter in November. #21stadmin http://db.tt/Se6tFeyA 

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher12h

7 Habits of Highly Effective Administrators http://www.teachthought.com/learning/7-habits-of-highly-effective-administrators/ … #21stadmin

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher11h

RT @LizWiseman: Our highest value may be invoking intelligence & bringing out genius in people around us. #21stadmin http://amzn.to/14tu0Ud 

Alyssa Gallagher ‏@am_gallagher11h

RT @elisefoster: Want a free chapter of "The #Multiplier Effect" Check it out here! http://bit.ly/Yr6cyn  @lizwiseman #21stadmin