Why
administrators
should care
about blogs
Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D.
Director, CASTLE

Get this presentation!
www.scottmcleod.net/saisd
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CASTLE
 Nation’s only university center dedicated to K-12
technology leadership issues
 Nation’s first graduate program for tech-savvy
leaders
 Postsecondary Partnership Program
 Lots of resources for K-12 leaders
• Blogs, including Dangerously Irrelevant
• School Data Tutorials and other DDDM resources
• Principals Technology Leadership Assessment
• Did You Know? … and more!
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First things first!
 What is a blog?
• Easy to post thoughts and ideas
• Easy to generate conversations
• Interactivity
• Visitors can’t edit
• Reverse chronological order
• Typically open – many have comments
• You can subscribe to them
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Students
 Why might teachers have students blog?
• Students’ thinking becomes more transparent
• Brings out student voices that may get lost in the
classroom
• A way of connecting students to the outside
world and bringing the world to them
• A way to get public feedback on student work
• Allows teachers to extend learning beyond the
classroom walls / school day
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Teachers
 Why might teachers blog?
• Collaborate / network with other teachers
• Delve into the student world
• Provide materials for instructional purposes
• Network / collaborate with experts
• Share resources
• A vehicle for gaining input from students around
instructional goals and purposes – check on
student learning
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Administrators
 What are some benefits a principal might
derive from blogging?
• Communicate / clarify events that are occurring
in school
• A potentially safe place for parent input / voice
• Collaboration / networking with other
administrators and/or experts
• Officially address the rumor mill
• Increases visibility
• Diving into the world of students, teachers
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Why blog as an administrator?
1. Sharing news and events
2. Progress monitoring
3. Status alerts
4. Marketing
5. Public relations
6. Community building
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Why blog as an administrator?
1. Customer relations
2. Branding
3. Creating “customer evangelists”
4. Thought leadership
5. Advocacy
6. Replacing the school web site
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Principal Blogging Project
 Few principals are blogging
 100 principal blogs in 100 days!
• Free TypePad blog accounts
 ~130 principal blogs created to date
(about half active)
 ~10 central office blogs too!
http://principalblogs.jot.com
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Examples
 Dave Younce
 Chris Lehmann
 Kelly Christopherson
 Kimberly Moritz
 Matt Hillmann
 Tim Tyson
 Paul Doyle
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LeaderTalk
www.leadertalk.org
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Great blogs for administrators
www.schooltechleadership.org/
administratorblogs
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