Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Assignment #3
To begin building my personal and professional brand I need to have an understanding for who I am and what I’m about. This past year I was about building a paperless classroom designed to help motivate and engage students in new and innovative ways that pushed them to collaborate more and build systems for efficiency and effectiveness (NETS-A 2.4). While I was doing this I realized my brand was around developing opportunities for students who had less and showing them that when given the tools and opportunities they could achieve at levels they never thought possible. Now, as I head off into the journey of becoming a principal, I will need to reevaluate the brand I want everyone to see. I am not sure if I want it to be the same message or brand, but I do know for sure the belief that everyone deserves opportunity will stick.
I would like for others to view me as a professional who is empathetic, communicative, and supportive of innovation (NETS-A 2.1). I have spent most of my teaching career trying to be innovative with standards, curriculum and processes within the systems our administration created. By taking risks I knew people were watching and were more willing to take calculated risks when they knew it was for student progress and better instructional practices. I know others will be watching and because of that it will be important to model the idea of failing forward and yet continuously reflecting on what worked and what needs to be modified. Because technology is continually evolving, being aware of emerging technologies and the culture that supports them is critical to gaining new followers and engaging with your students (NETS-A 2.3).
The tools I will use to advance a positive school brand is a clear and shared focus on our core values and beliefs that all viewers are aware of. These core values would be succinct and on all publications. I would also work to distinguish our school by using technology tools like facebook, twitter, blogs, infographics, etc to set us apart from others, but also to reach as many followers as possible. Both articles express and stress the importance of being true to yourself and setting yourself apart from the competition by gaining power (in a positive light). This power is used to influence and maintain the brand you worked so hard to help build. Branding your school will be about doing what nobody else wants to do. It is about putting in time and effort when we think nobody is watching or listening. However, if we are using the tools correctly people will always be listening and watching.
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I like your idea of "failing forward"... that's a great way to put it! I would be very interested in hearing more about your innovative ideas in the paperless classroom. We are rolling out 1:1 iPads a year from now in the fourth grade and I would love to spend this next year coming up with ideas and strategies instead of trying to do it right along with the kids! Good work, Ryan!
ReplyDeleteI like that you are thinking about re-branding yourself as a principal. I would say that you definitely want to change your branding when becoming a leader, but make sure you still focus on your core values that make you unique! From what I know about you, you seem to embody many of the characteristics you are wanting to portray. So good job! :)
ReplyDeleteI like that you are thinking about re-branding yourself as a principal. I would say that you definitely want to change your branding when becoming a leader, but make sure you still focus on your core values that make you unique! From what I know about you, you seem to embody many of the characteristics you are wanting to portray. So good job! :)
ReplyDeleteRyan, I like the way that you are looking at teaching and education. The idea of "failing forward" to me is similar to ideas I use when coaching of fail fast- take risks, try new things, figure out what works and what doesn't, and adjust and get better. I also think that re-branding yourself as an administrator is a needed task, however a challenging one if your administration career begins where you are last teaching. Thanks for sharing.
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