Digital Leadership - Chapter 11: Discovering Opportunity

I just joined the Castleberry ISD team as ELA Director a week and a few days ago, so I’m a little behind in the Digital Leadership game.  I’m going to dive right in and absorb everything I can.  Unfortunately, in my last positions and districts all things technology were mostly buzz words with no real training about how to use it best.  That being said, I am thankful to start learning how to really be involved in digital leadership and am excited about the opportunity to learn with my colleagues.

My first task is to read chapter 11 of Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger and blog about it.  This is my first blog, so be kind to me! 

The title of the chapter is “Discovering Opportunity” and the first thing I did was flip through to see what the subtitles.  I found things like, “strategic partnerships”, “university partnerships”, “intraschool partnerships”, and “corporate/community partnerships”. Immediately I made a connection to the community relationships I had to build when I was coordinator of the Pre-K Early Start grant a few years ago. I had to develop partnerships with several daycares that lay within my district.  I trained and mentored the staff at those centers, bought them instructional materials, and created actual ISD classrooms in some of the centers. What I learned from that experience was that the partnership benefited both sides.  It helped the daycares because it increased their level of instruction and made them more attractive to parents seeking childcare.  It helped my district by producing more “school ready” students who would soon be attending our schools.

So as I dive into this chapter, I already have a positive presupposition of the partnerships Sheninger will be writing about.  Let’s see if I’m on the right track…

The Maplewood Richmond Heights School District is the model used in this chapter.  One of the first things highlighted was that during the early stages of creating partnerships with outside groups, it was imperative that the district have a very clear vision  and mission so they would not sidetracked by the goals and motives of their potential partners.  Then they were careful to craft relationships with groups that could actually help them work toward their identified goals, which were leadership, scholarship, citizenship, and stewardship.  In order to craft and maintain these relationships, it was important that the benefits be symbiotic so that both sides benefit.  (Okay, I WAS on track when I made the connection earlier to the ISD’s partnership with area daycares!)

In these partnerships, lots can be shared – expertise, staffing, instructional space, funding, experiences, work, training, etc.  One way to get attention to programs in which you are seeking partnerships is through social media.  “Good news travels fast, and social media transmit the news to numerous stakeholders who are embedded in these spaces.”  That makes me think about what it used to take to get such attention – contacting local newspapers, face to face conversations, community meetings, letters, emails, etc.  All of those are still great venues, but so many more people can be reached through social media and at a low cost.  People who we would’ve never even thought of could catch wind of projects we’re working on and ask to join in.  That’s pretty exciting!  I’m ready to start doing my part!